deskthority

Another two weeks gone, so another review is here! I'm slowly starting to run out of boards to review, but I've got a few left still xD . This one is about the FK-2002 and 2001; hope you enjoy it .

Great review. Thanks for including the historical background.

rsbseb wrote: ↑Great review. Thanks for including the historical background.

Cheers, glad you like it .

Thanks a lot for the review, though it made me a bit melancholic. I bought an FK-2002 in May 1989 (white Alps), the first tactile board I owned and I was quite proud of it. The badge and the label strip were flipped around and sported my own logo and labels. Mine had an Inverse/Normal switch that swapped the positions of Control and Caps Lock, which I gladly would have done, had it been possible to swap the caps, too.
In 1994, I decided to no longer have a PC at home and sold the board along with it.

Thank you for reviewing on of my favorite keyboards. Years ago I was lucky enough to find one with blue Alps. As you can see mine does have a dip switch.

Ahhhh! So some did come with more switches then. Interesting, maybe mine is a basic model? xD

Seebart, does yours still have an AT/XT switch under the badge then? Or even on the other side of the back? EDIT: I see yours has a white plate too, rather than the more common black plate in most Alps boards.

Glad you guys enjoyed it btw .

Chyros wrote: ↑Ahhhh! So some did come with more switches then. Interesting, maybe mine is a basic model? xD

Seebart, does yours still have an AT/XT switch under the badge then? Or even on the other side of the back?

I don't think there was a "basic" model, but rather they changed the production specs over the years like you said in your review. I have two of these. Both are branded. Both are winkeyless and have a DIN connector.Yes both also have AT/XT switch under the badge, but the blue Alps revision has the DIP switches under the flipfoot also. I'm guessing that one is older. Oddly I cannot find a producion date on that one. The sticker on the back is different too. Now I have another one that is new in box with white Alps that comes very close to yours but is HighScreen branded and lacks the inverse/normal switch. The keycaps on the blue Alps FK-2002 are nicer like yours. These are Tai-Hao doubleshots also found on Northgate keyboards.

This is the FK-2002 with blue Alps:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Focus_FK-2002

Knowing how much you like these Focus keyboards (like myself) this might be of interest to you: Focus FK-2000 Plus.I never did a review on it. I'll have to do that some time.

Hmm, strange that it would have two sets of switches to change the protocol. It makes no sense to do that; what happens when they are set in conflicting positions?

But it's definitely likely it's a production difference, yeah. Considering this 2002 is fairly recent it would make sense that it lacks some of the bells and whistles of the older production models. As blue Alps were phased out very quickly indeed (a mortal sin to humanity!), I suspect your blue Alps model will be very close to or identical to what the original models looked like. A board as good-looking as the 2002 with blue Alps, what a combo!

The 2000+ is definitely an interesting-looking board, I saw it on the wiki a while ago (and one on eBay atm that's pretending to be one). Yours looks like it's in ridiculously good condition, nice one! Other than the diagonal keys and turbo button and the switches, are there any major differences?

My major lookout for a while now has been the FK-5001 or FK-9000, one with all the bits working. They both have diagonal keys just like that 2000+, as well as a calculator (which I've found very useful on my 8000) and programmable function keys (which I've found very useful on another board). I'd love to do a review on one of those in the future, should be amazing! (might do a slightly special edition on that one)

If I was an oil sheikh, I'd get one of them and pay someone to stick blue Alps in it. Oh the theoretical amazeballsness.

Yes those dip switches are a little strange, since they seem quite frail I don't touch them anymore. The 2000+ is basically a 2001 with that arrow cluster, a macro key and that wonderful turbo key that modifies the repeat rate of the keyboard. This particular 2000+ is new in box completely unused. Of course it's got that silly dustcover also. I'd have to agree with you that all these Focus keyboards are quite good looking. If you do manage to get either a 5001 or the 9000 I'll expect one of your video reviews.

Of course I'll make a review about it! A damn nice one I hope, too!

I forgot the 2000+ had a macro key, what does it do? EDIT: yours btw doesn't appear to be where it normally is either, the >< key's there Oo .

To be honest I don't know what the default is on that key. But I do have the keyboards manual so I can check. Our wiki says: Macro key between left ctrl and alt and a multiplication key between right alt and ctrl. Strange. I'll have to check that. The truth is I only tested this 2000+ for function once. I've never really used it.

Ah, a thoroughly sensible layout, if you can look beyond ole Big Ass:



If I had one of these, I'd investigate chopping it to 60%. Fn key, masquerading as £$ is in just the right place for the all important pinkie layer access key, and there's even a full set of mods, beyond the HHKB's. Fortunately for you guys, you saved yours from me!

Besides, I bet they're a bit on the metal side. I've similar, well TKL, plans for a Space Invader board someday, but the main things holding me back are its metal plate, which will require some fair old work, and the caps, which aren't as smart as these.

if your going to chop the space invader can i have the one with the nice case

They're both in very similar condition. The only difference you see is a little grime.

I'm not sure I'll chop mine. I'd like to, but I need to prove it's a doable project. Hate leaving things stuck in the middle.