Mine's bamboo. Just as you say, it feels very rounded without being mushy, and definitely resembles Topre somewhat. Can't compare it to brown just yet as my switch hasn't arrived yet. It's definitely a pleasant feeling for sure.E3E wrote: ↑I've never tried bamboo switches before since I've never played with any of the other switches that came in that variation, which are really just the late complicated switches.Chyros wrote: ↑Needs wiki. How do the pines compare to the bamboos?
To be honest, both of them have qualities that I enjoy.
Pine has a sharper, more "oomph" of a tactility that reminds me of SKCM brown. It's sharp and very definite.
Bamboo has a more rounded, fluffier feeling that's actually quite pleasant. It's not mushy, just rounded. I bet this one probably feels closer to Topre because of that, but I wouldn't know, having never tried Topre myself.
It seems like slits enhance tactility while the absence of them dulls it a bit.
Which do you have in your sample switch set, Chyros?
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I should add that I don't feel like I have it in me to desolder any of these for the sake of a custom. These are just really pretty boards that I don't have the heart to scrap like that. It's the old Alps sympathy card. It always hits me hard.
I'll just throw blues in the Orion, I guess. Haha.
Can you date the keyboards?
The Daybreak 6085was the evolution of the Xerox Star (as mentioned) that was first conceived by research conducted at Xerox PARC and was developed as an early form of desktop publishing. The Daybreak is rare but the Star is even rarer to find. The Xerox Star was the inspiration for the Apple Lisa and was the genesis of the graphical user interface. These keyboard look like the Daybreak keyboard but without a Daybreak, there's no telling if the same keyboard protocol is used. These keyboards are a little more interesting then their lime green key switches.
I'd say they're pretty much on the same level of rarity, but for me, the 6085 is not something I care for. My prime incentive is hunting down rare switch types and neat keyboards, of which this is both. I'm not as much a vintage computing enthusiast as I am a keyboard enthusiast. I definitely admire Xerox's innovation but dear god what's with all the "myeeeh, it's not 6085 so it's myeeeeh"? Jeez, be a buzz kill, everyone. 
I've meant for everyone except keyboard enthusiasts/-collectors (and Xerox printer collectors, of which there will be not that many, I'd guess 
. Xerox workstation parts are very rare and quite sought after (because of their role in GUI history) - and pricey. 
