Satisfaction75 Round 2 is Coming Soon!

The moment you've been waiting for is finally here -- the Mech Madness 2019 board of the year -- the Satisfaction75 -- is running again!
 

TL;DR:

• Group buy Opens October 31st, 11 AM Eastern on CannonKeys using custom checkout
• Group buy Closes on November 6th, 11:59PM Eastern.
• iLumKB Asia Proxy, contact them for release details. No other proxies.
• Colors: Deep Ocean Blue, Cloud White, Pirate Black, Seaweed Green, Mermaid Purple
• More than 1000 units will be available, but limited. We are not revealing the exact number.
• Will cost $480, including a custom knob by default. Extras pricing to be released soon.
• Delivery Estimated Q3 2021

For those of you who don't know, the design of the Satisfaction75 was inspired by Pirate Captain Henry Morgan's flagship vessel the "Satisfaction". The curve in the back of the case is supposed to be reminiscent of a pirate ship. We've kept the overall design of the board, but made a few minor improvements. 

The USB port on the Satisfaction75 was designed to resemble a ship's gun port. The original design did a good job of this, in my opinion, but there was a downside. If you tried to plug in your keyboard from behind without looking at the port, sometimes, you'd miss and end up inserting the USB cable under the port. For Round 2, we kept the gun port inspiration, but removed the room under the port, to avoid this issue
 

We also received feedback that the edges of the bottom of the case were too sharp. So we've made those a bit smoother. It's hard to show in a photo, but very easy to feel when handling the board.
 

Along with those couple changes, we also made a few other quality of life improvements.

• Stab and switch cutouts are not as tight as they were on Round 1
• The Round 2 PCB features improved ESD protection. The case features a grounding point (a screw), and the PCB connects to it via a pad of conductive foam. (Note - build streamers will use R1 PCBs, as we didn't purchase many R2 prototype PCBs)

As far as the case is concerned, that's pretty much all that we changed. It's a refinement of the original round, as opposed to a brand new revision.

We know that some folks really wanted this round to be gasket mounted. But in our opinion, there are a few things which really define a board. One of those things is the mounting style. We wanted to stay true to the original design, so Round 2 will use burger mounting, as Round 1 did.
 

The materials are also going to stay the same as round 1 - aluminum case, brass plate, and brass weight will come default with the case. The brass will be raw and sandblasted, so it will show tarnish. This is intended!
 

So what else is new?
 

We've been hard at work to bring you new components in Satisfaction75 Round 2. Primarily - and we've focused on knobs. We relied on existing knobs on the market for the original run (which are still wholly compatible, by the way), but we really felt like round 2 of this board deserved a themed knob.
 

And here's what we came up with:
 

The side of the knob features some subtle knurling. It's just enough to help you get a grip without really feeling too prominent. And the top features a compass rose - perfect for our pirate ship themed board!
 

By default, every Satisfaction75 in round 2 will come with an aluminum custom knob, in your choice of Gold, Black, or Silver. PVD Gold, Black, and Silver custom knobs of our design will also be available for purchase.

We're also partnering with RAMA once again, to offer RAMA knobs - this time, in your choice of Silver or Black.
 

We're also going to have some other fun addons, but they're not quite ready yet, so we'll sell them after the GB concludes.

What colors will it be available in?
 

For Round 2, the colors offered will be

• Deep Ocean Blue (Navy Blue)
• Cloud White (E-White)
• Pirate Black (Black)
• Seaweed Green (Green, as shown above)
• Mermaid Purple (Lilac, as shown below)

This time around, there is no upcharge for E-White! Hurrah!

When is the Group buy opening? How many spots?

The group buy will open October 31st, 2020 at 11 AM Eastern on CannonKeys, using our custom checkout system.

iLumKB will be our proxy vendor for Asia, and will be the only proxy. Please contact iLumKB for their release plans!

We are releasing a very high number of Satisfaction75s in round 2. There are more than 1000 available spots - but we are not going to release the exact number.

The group buy will close on November 6th, 2020 at 11:59PM Eastern.

We expect units to start to ship to customers in Q3 2021.

This all sounds good... but what about the price?!

The price for Satisfaction75 Round 2 will be $480. This includes:

• Satisfaction75 Keyboard (Aluminum top and bottom, Brass plate, Brass weight)
• Custom Satisfaction75 Carrying Case
• Microfiber Cloth
• Satisfaction75 Round 2 PCB including conductive foam for ESD grounding
• Satisfaction75 Round 2 Authenticity Card
• Custom Compass Knob (Aluminum, in either Black, Gold, or Silver)
• OLED Screen (White)
• ALPS EC11 Encoder

Extras pricing will be released soon. We will once again be offering OLEDs (in both blue and white), Encoders, Knobs, and PCBs as extras. Extra plates will be offered in Carbon Fiber and FR4.

Why did the price go up from the first round?

Well, to start, there's now a 25% tariff on most goods being imported from China (details here). Our goods are not exempt. On top of that, we are including a custom carrying case and our own custom knob, neither of which is cheap!

In round 1, we did not use custom packaging, and some boards suffered for it in shipping. We want to ensure that this isn't the case for Round 2.

Will there be build streams?

Minterly, ApiaryKeyboards, Mechs on Deck, and AndyVNguyen will all be building S75 Round 2s!

What about the PCB group buy?

If you order a PCB alone in an order, they will be fulfilled as soon as they arrive. If you want to add a PCB to your keyboard order, email [email protected]. Otherwise, you'll have to pay shipping for it and we will send it earlier, along with the PCB-only orders.

Can I see more photos?

Yes! Check out this album on Imgur.