The problem with the Leopold Tenkeyless is that, in the end, it is a cowardly clone of the Filco Tenkeyless. Bring it a bit cheaper, provide some very minor improvement such as a detachable cable or two set of rubber feet and enlarge those, and profit. I would have liked it a lot more of they had done their own, new thing, and if the major visual difference (the rounded corners) would not have made it look worse.

I'm happy it doesn't have DIP switches.

webwit wrote:The problem with the Leopold Tenkeyless is that, in the end, it is a cowardly clone of the Filco Tenkeyless. Bring it a bit cheaper, provide some very minor improvement such as a detachable cable or two set of rubber feet and enlarge those, and profit..

cowardly ? perhaps, i think is better for them to have a good solid conservative model upon which the company can come to existence in the minds of the consumers. going straight for innovation can be quite risky. lets hope in the future they come up with something ... more exciting (im still waiting for a almost 99% clone of the HHKB ) and the more competition in the market will force others to innovate also. i for one welcome our new cheaper mechanical overlords

edit: isnt the removable branding something new here ? (if not please excuse my ignorance ).

webwit wrote:I would have liked it a lot more of they had done their own, new thing, and if the major visual difference (the rounded corners) would not have made it look worse

oh i have to agree with this so hard, the rounded edges are so fugly that im willing even to pay more and go for the filco.

Keep in mind both the Majestouch tenkeyless and the Leopold were designed by the very same guy. So if anything, he stole his own ideas. Also there is only so much you can do to make a keyboard different. What really could you change visually? You could make the bezel a bit smaller, but this would force you to use a different construction similar to the Poker, which again comes with other negative side effects such as dust easily entering the case.

So for now it is either every black keyboard = filco clone or too fancy and overstyled like the das/black widow. What else is there really inbetween?

sixty wrote:What really could you change visually?

some funky things with the wristwrest a'la what steelseries has on their 7g or smth stylized like zowie celeritas. true that there is not much you can change or innovate (reprogrammable controllers for the masses?) in a keyboard. i could try to think of more things but then again im a minimalist purist ;x

sixty wrote:So for now it is either every black keyboard = filco clone or too fancy and overstyled like the das/black widow. What else is there really inbetween?

Bluetooth / USB hybrid operation would differentiate keyboard nicely, I think.

neo wrote:

jnewkirk wrote:Although the "No return except for exact replacement" warrant does bother me some.

It's even worse than that. Replacement only for DOA items. Any other defects will be "fixed". That said, most people seem to be happy with the quality of service they receive from EK.

My Filco had chattering keys and EK ended up replacing it instead of making me wait a really long time.

YMMV, that is the listed policy, etc.

Ordered a Leopold Cherry MX Brown switch myself, waiting for it to arrive. It should hopefully be here by next Friday.

My Leopold Cherry MX Brown arrived today! My first keyboard with cherry switches. Was debating between this and the Filco. Based on photos online I liked the boxier corners of the Filco, but the Leo looks better in person than I thought. The only weird things I've noticed is the backspace key is labeled "<- Back space" but the caps lock is "CapsLock", and near where the usb plugs in on the bottom there is a "do not remove" sticker that pretty much removes itself the first time you try to actually plug anything into the keyboard as the side of the plug will rub it off.