NIB? Monterey K110

BlueBär · 23 Jul 2014, 15:14

Thanks to maxmalkav and Muirium I could get my hands on one of these wonderful boards, it arrived just earlier today.
It was still with the orginal packaging in its box but it is quite yellowed. The spacebar stabilizer also needed a quick fix (the base was not properly seated in its plate cutout) which makes me guess that it was a display model. I don't mind apart from the yellowing, the blue SMK Alps mount switches (also known as Monterey Blues) feel really great.

I somewhere read somebody comparing them to MX Blues, that's far off in my opinion. They are a lot (and I mean A LOT) more tactile, if not the most tactile switched I have, and they are also heavier (I would say just a bit lighter than MX Blacks maybe?).

Enough talking, let's see some pictures!

: IMG_1012s.JPG (603.93 KiB) Viewed 4272 times

: Super clean box design - I dig it :3; IMG_1010s.JPG (622.21 KiB) Viewed 4272 times

: Yellowed :[; IMG_1016s.JPG (209.34 KiB) Viewed 4272 times

: Pad printed?; IMG_1017s.JPG (235.1 KiB) Viewed 4272 times

: Monterey Blues - yay!; IMG_1020s.JPG (239 KiB) Viewed 4272 times

: IMG_1021s.JPG (595.28 KiB) Viewed 4272 times

: Backside...; IMG_1022s.JPG (383.99 KiB) Viewed 4272 times

Manual:

Spoiler:

: No caps, no upper case; IMG_1027s.JPG (724.12 KiB) Viewed 4272 times

PCB + controller:

Spoiler:

The board is taking a Retrobright bath right now, my first try at retrobrighting, I hope it turns out alright

Muirium · 23 Jul 2014, 15:28

So you got yours first, eh? Not bad at all, Montereys at that price!

I'll add Webwit to the credit list, as these three keyboards were his find.

Good luck with the Retrobright! I didn't expect to see yellowed caps, so they are probably ABS and therefore not dye-subs. But the form factor and switches make it a little winner in any case.

BlueBär · 23 Jul 2014, 15:46

Yes, definitely worth the price even though it's yellowed! And of course thanks to Webwit too.
The caps look like pad printed ABS to me, you can see the print "sticking out" on some of the pictures.

Grond · 23 Jul 2014, 16:46

"Keyboard"... the box is pretty straightforward!

scottc · 23 Jul 2014, 17:25

Mine arrived today too. Not yellowed like BlueBär's, but looking pristine and new. I'm really happy with the keyboard, though, it looks and feels absolutely gorgeous.

The switches are the most tactile switches I've used apart from some IBM boards. They're moderately stiff, but the switch feel is fantastic.

Daniel Beardsmore, if you're listening, what stuff did you need to know about these?

Daniel Beardsmore · 23 Jul 2014, 20:30

It might surprise you to know that I don't have a name-detection robot that summons me …

What did I want to know? Um … what I wanted was people to post pictures on the wiki of the actual MiniTouch (i.e. the SIIG-branded version). Someone could still post a picture confirming that the jack was wired up in the V1 K110.

That one has the same numbers on the controller chip as mine (not counting the production date), yet the jack is wired up. I am not sure whether there is any difference in the chip numbering of the "the infamous old Monterey controller, which uses a strange PS/2 implementation that has some problems with certain PS/2 to USB adapters": http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=26880.0

I don't remember mine saying "K110" on it either as I would surely have spotted that.

I am not sure which definition of "NIB" includes "yellow and full of dust" ;-)

BlueBär · 23 Jul 2014, 20:40

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: ↑It might surprise you to know that I don't have a name-detection robot that summons me …
*snip*
I am not sure which definition of "NIB" includes "yellow and full of dust"

Wait you don't? Why not?

It is new in the sense of unused and still has the original packaging and in it's original box - so clearly new in box. Don't be so nitpicky

scottc · 23 Jul 2014, 20:40

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: ↑It might surprise you to know that I don't have a name-detection robot that summons me …

That's why I said "if you're listening"!

Ours are unbranded (as you can see), so I don't suppose we can help with the pictures.

Daniel Beardsmore · 23 Jul 2014, 21:14

I can think of two things: the K110 on the PCB (just for fun), and the wired-up 6P6C jack, since mine is a later issue where it wasn't wired up.

Maybe one day we will have enough evidence to confirm whether the SMK and Hua-Jie versions were both made at the same time, and maybe even the order of keycap printing methods etc.

(Based on the controller chip dates, which is all we can go on.)

002 · 23 Jul 2014, 23:58

I didn't know the K110 could *not* have PBT dye-subs

Nice board otherwise!
I'll have to be careful while hunting for mine now. Interesting that scottc's is not yellowed. Makes me wonder how if two identical model boards from the same factory sit in a box with no sunlight for the same period how this can occur...higher concentrations of flame retardant material in one perhaps?

Spoiler:

Daniel Beardsmore · 24 Jul 2014, 01:22

… ?

You didn't see the photos on the wiki of mine, with horrible lasered keycaps?

Pad printing is new on me, though.

BlueBär · 24 Jul 2014, 02:19

002 wrote: ↑ I'll have to be careful while hunting for mine now. Interesting that scottc's is not yellowed. Makes me wonder how if two identical model boards from the same factory sit in a box with no sunlight for the same period how this can occur...higher concentrations of flame retardant material in one perhaps?

My guess is that the shop (or whatever it was) who had these three had mine on display for customers and kept the original packaging in the storage. You know how you can sometimes get display models for a bit cheaper? They usually have the original packaging for them still in their storage - at least from my experience.

002 · 24 Jul 2014, 02:58

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: ↑You didn't see the photos on the wiki of mine, with horrible lasered keycaps?

Sorry yes, I knew the Hua-Jie one had shitty caps, but didn't know that the SMK one could as well. I thought all the SMK ones were dye-subbed.

BlueBär wrote: ↑My guess is that the shop (or whatever it was) who had these three had mine on display for customers and kept the original packaging in the storage. You know how you can sometimes get display models for a bit cheaper? They usually have the original packaging for them still in their storage - at least from my experience.

Ahh yes that's a good point. Is Muirium's still in the post? Wonder what condition it's in.

scottc · 24 Jul 2014, 03:45

Mine doesn't seem to work fully. Lots of keys don't register. I hope Mu's does!

Muirium · 24 Jul 2014, 03:54

So do I! No sign of it today, though.

I'll pop it into the old Soarer box and put it through its paces when it does show up. I'm eager to feel what these lauded Montereys are like vs. clicky space invaders.

Fingers crossed yours can be fixed up, Scott. And that our friendly bär's are no worse.

Daniel Beardsmore · 24 Jul 2014, 09:36

002 wrote: ↑ Sorry yes, I knew the Hua-Jie one had shitty caps, but didn't know that the SMK one could as well. I thought all the SMK ones were dye-subbed.

I don't actually know what all the available combinations are of these. I especially don't know why all the function keys in mine have switches with the travel reduced slightly.

002 · 24 Jul 2014, 09:45

It's interesting that you mentioned that.
I replaced all of the switches in my Hua-Jie minitouch with Matias switches and wondered why the function row caps didn't seem to be sitting right compared to the stock ones. Do you know what the mechanism for reducing the travel is?

Daniel Beardsmore · 24 Jul 2014, 09:55

The little stops inside the switch are taller; the slider doesn't fully depress. The switches are the same size externally so far as I know, though the spring is also different, possibly to reduce the force to compensate for the reduced travel. There are pics of both on the wiki page.

Muirium · 24 Jul 2014, 15:19

Fashionably late, Royal Mail pulled through in the end and my K110 is here now too. Thanks for the double boxing, Maxmalkav! The keyboard looks in fantastic shape. I was instantly surprised by just how svelte it is. This wee thing is a proper, compact, lightweight little mechanical keyboard! Colour me impressed.

Naturally, I plugged it right on in to my Soarer box and I'm giving it a whirl just now. Initially, right Control didn't work — confirmed by running the all-seeing hid_listen which intercepts the raw inputs to the converter — but I jabbed it a dozen times or so in rapid succession and it's fine now. P is another problematic, persnickety, pain in the arse of a pricky key, but it's working almost as well now, too. These switches are that rare combination of unused yet also old. So you have a bit of archaeological breaking in to do! For me, that was just two keys. I've checked all of them with hid_listen. (The one switch it cannot see is Fn, which the keyboard's controller does not expose to the outside world, but Fn combos are working so it is also fine.)

This is my first impression of Montereys. Not bad! I wrote a big old review on clicky black NMB space invaders just yesterday, on that board in this exact position, so the comparison is stark. This keyboard is so much smaller, really less than half the area, and the keys are so much lighter too! Both are good and clicky, but very differently so. Something tells me I'll be typing on this wee keyboard quite a lot, so I'll know more then.

In fact, this could be the perfect keyboard to try my first dedicated Soarer converter, using the Pro Micro that Scott suggested. My Soarer box has never looked as big before! Even my SSK feels huge compared to this.

@Scott: Definitely try your own guide and run Soarer's converter with your board. The diagnostic power of no-bullshit live output in a terminal window from hid_listen is reason enough alone.

BlueBär · 24 Jul 2014, 15:29

What I noticed really quickly is that this board feels surprisingly solid for its size and weight. It does have a plastic plate but this is the first plastic plate that I've used that feels this nice!

scottc · 24 Jul 2014, 15:37

That's a great point, Mu - didn't think of that!

Daniel Beardsmore · 24 Jul 2014, 19:56

I thought mine had a metal plate — I'll have to go back and check.

BlueBär · 24 Jul 2014, 20:06

Specsavers?

Feels and looks plastic to me.

Muirium · 24 Jul 2014, 20:08

There's more variation to these little boards than we think. Both of you might be right…

BlueBär · 24 Jul 2014, 20:31

Actually it might be metal, it doesn't feel cold though. Maybe whatever it's coated with confuses me.

Daniel Beardsmore · 24 Jul 2014, 21:11

Try a magnet on it. I don't have mine to hand at the moment.

BlueBär · 24 Jul 2014, 21:18

Good idea, it's metal.