deskthority

Best keyboard is the one under your fingers when you need to get shit done.

I think the clicky Alps is so dependent on the chassis that talking about the switches in isolation is useless. It's the same as with electric guitar: the actual instrument is the guitar AND the amp. I have a Datacomp DFK102 with SKCM blues in excellent condition, but I still somehow prefer my Acer ...

Thanks for sharing the channel. You seem to be using SM57 for at least some of your videos. I've also recorded all the my typing videos with it. It's not ideal but it's all I have so that's my excuse. The mic gives a boost starting at about 3kHz; that's very well suited in bringing out some harsh qu...

I have Monterey K108 with alps mount SMKs and VTech branded board with MX mount SMKs. The one feature the K108 doesn't have is build quality, but it sounds better than the VTech (The Vtech isn't a tank either, but at least it doesn't feel completely like a cardboard box). But the VTech isn't terribl...

Don't know about how Niz domes compare, but at least regular Topre 35g feels mushy to me. 45g is better in that regard.

While sound pressure measurement can give you an idea of how loud something is, it doesn't tell the whole truth about how the sound is perceived. You'd have to take into consideration the frequency distribution too because the frequency response of the human ear isn't flat, and then there are indivi...

I had some serious issues with Matias Quiet Clicks - the V80 I've got them in is unusable because of the chattering. But the Matias clicky switches in my Tactile Pro haven't shown any issues. Sure they aren't as smooth and refined as clicky vintage Alps, but I still like to type with the Tactile Pro...

I was tempted to laugh about Cherry F and J keys with a deep cylindrical well being "not entirely uncommon", but then I remembered how little I know about other keyboard brands and decided to laugh at myself instead. I was guessing it might be a Cherry thing but wasn't intrigued enough to go and in...

An interesting detail is that the F and J keys have an extra deep cylindrical well instead of having nubs, something I have not encountered before. This feature is present at least on the Commodore PC5/PC10 keyboard's caps, see here: https://deskthority.net/wiki/File:G80_0530_ger_web.jpg I had one ...

Muirium wrote: ↑

07 Oct 2021, 09:41

Used to see more of those in the past. Dells too.

Haha, yep, vintage all the way :p

Here's some:











These and few more: https://imgur.com/a/mWuotif

03C1127E-AD27-4A6C-BBED-221B90E9145F.jpeg Does this bottom row layout (1.75u control and alt, 9u space bar, then 1.75u alt and control, no gaps at all) suggest anything about the likely switches? I think the rest of the board is “normal” layout, ie like a Model M, not XT or AT. I forget the right t...

Thanks. I know Commodore PC keyboard is an unorthodox choice for this thread but there something about it that really turns me on. I love that keyboard. I have that same Commodore PC keyboard and thought about posting in this thread too. It's not exactly the most solid of builds plus I don't like t...

Gonna be honest here, I like my Acer 6012s with white and blue Alps and the NEC APC-H412 very much and I use those quite a bit too, but the Realforce 105 is the workhorse that I most likely use if there's any pressure to really get shit done - and even if there's not. Reliable, no bullshit, gets out...

I know quite quickly if I like a keyboard or not, but I take my time with any analytical reasoning about what exactly makes me feel the way I do. Picking up nuances and forming actual worded out thoughts about what makes the whole usually takes a longish period of usage over several rotations. There...

The MX blues will be more fatiguing and that's because of the sound.

I can work with the FC660C all day and some more after that, but MX blues just wear me out. I've made an effort to do something with them, but nope.

I think a keyboard enthusiast is similar to someone who owns a big wine cellar with lots of expensive wines. A guy like this already knows what wine will complement his Sunday lunch best and he takes a whole lot of care in preserving and treating his collection. When it's time he steps in front of ...

Afaik you can't just pull the caps off like on all the other boards. You have to do somewhat of a twisting motion... Maybe check the wiki on this before you proceed. Other than that I'd say just disassemble and clean like any other board. Those switches are also not easy to open up apparently. Than...

Looks good! How does the board feel? SMK 2nd Gen. x SA is quite a combo. It's clunky in a good way. eh, meant to edit the previous post, not quote. But anyway: I wish the VTech was just a tiny bit more solid board overall. But it's pretty much my only MX-mount board I can put the caps on, so I'll b...

mcmaxmcmc wrote: ↑

14 Feb 2021, 00:02

Looks good! How does the board feel? SMK 2nd Gen. x SA is quite a combo.

It's clunky in a good way.

Haha, I somehow knew this was an user error

Sorry for spamming the same thing, but I had to fix it:

Realizing I could get some SA profile caps for my Vtech, I decided to try some domikey SA's as those were easily available. https://i.imgur.com/bJajXWI.jpg Looks quite nice, BUT even though the set has 7u spacebar, the stabiliser inserts are not in right position. Eh. So, original spacebar it is the...

Maybe this will help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4pzSZbGMfo

The loudest I've dared to go and got away with is SKCM salmons in Apple M0118, and it's my current driver at work at the moment. It would be great if I could bring in board with clicky switches and no-one said anything but I highly doubt it would go that way. But I'm still tempted to take my NEC APC...

NeK wrote: ↑

29 Jan 2020, 07:48

I have a question that's being bugging me for a good while now and I can't find a clear answer

That doesn't sound like what they're supposed to feel like. I've couple of boards with pine whites in good condition, and they are quite smooth.

Have you tried cleaning any of the switches?

Khers wrote: ↑

20 Jan 2020, 18:36

Excellent photo!

Finally got some of these, can't wait to have them in an actual keyboard! But I didn't get to get my soldering iron out right away so I settled for taking some photos instead. https://i.imgur.com/9JAd5o5.jpg These will probably get mounted on an Acer 6012 that originally has some white SKCMs once I ...

Acer 6012 with white Alps when I was about 14. It was a beast among all the other boards I had, which were all rubber domes. Some decent Key Tronic and an Olivetti ANK-27 102 were among those but the Acer had class that wasn't matched. It was loud and had a nice solid feel to it. I no longer have th...

Are white alps worse than Monterey switches? If in good condition, I'd say white Alps are better, but it's matter of preference, especially between these two switches which are both very nice. The Montereys have lighter typing feel but the Alps give you fuller sound with more low-end with bit heavi...

Anyone recognize the ICL board(s) here? Worth getting? https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=94063.0 suggests rubberdome, but it's maybe not authoritative Thanks. I bought two and noticed that the second one with the red markings on the keycaps had a peculiar placed escape-key, but as far as I know ...