deskthority

I've been really interested in alps recently, and really wanted to purchase an alps board.
If anyone has recommendations on cheap and available vintage boards or alps clones boards I'd love to hear it.

Plenty .

The cheapest, most easily available one is the Dell AT101W. You can find them easily for $20 or less, or for free in some back room of many buildings. The switches aren't quite like other Alps switches though, and most people think they're the worst in the family. I think they're underrated, but still, I prefer other Alps switches.

A much more representative choice is a white Alps board; these make a great starting point for getting into Alps. Something like a Focus 2001 can be found easily and for $40 or less for sure. They come with nice doubleshot keycaps and sound delicious; the typing sound of Alps is in my opinion easily among the best of any switch series, and a key advantage to them. Note that there are many keyboards that can come with white Alps, but most of them, including the 2001, could come with other switches too, including clones that strongly resemble them. A more up-market version is a Northgate Omnikey which is a white Alps guarantee and which is built amazingly well, better than a Model M for sure. They're more expensive though.

If you like linear switches; many people rate yellow and especially green Alps very highly. Your best bet for these are old Zeniths, which aren't cheap, but not rare, and they're also built amazingly well.

If you're more into tactile switches, you might want to get an AEK. Fairly cheap, easy to find, and well-built, with dyesub PBT keycaps, but some level of Apple weirdness. Salmon and orange Alps are excellent switches.

Blue Alps are often considered the best in the series, but they're somewhat rare and come with a hefty price tag because of their strong reputation. Especially of late they have been going for unbelievable prices. My favourite board is blue Alps though, they're fantastic and sound divine.

Whatever you do MAKE SURE IT'S A CLEAN BOARD. Alps' biggest weakness is their vulnerability to dust and dirt. Genuinely, if they're dirty, don't buy them, the keyfeel WILL be rubbish and it will not be representative of Alps boards.

I have a huge amount of keyboard video reviews, including many on Alps boards. Go ahead and check them out if you're interested . https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... MmLRKpmbfB

I'll be selling a bunch soon. (shameless advertisement follows)

Check out the FS -- 37 keyboards thread (originally 34 keyboards, but I changed my mind).

for-sale-f55/34-keyboards-in-the-near-f ... 13048.html

White Alps or clones should be easily accessible. If you want pointers on what to buy & bid ask Chyros or another prolific forum member.

I've actually been watching all your videos, it's so cool to hear from you.
I just bought an at101w after seeing your video, although I got a GYUM90SK, which I believe is slightly different than the models you have.

I posted this because I really wanted to expand my collection, and thanks for the help, I really want to get my hands on a Focus board now. Also, I love the keycaps on the AEK's. I reaaaaally want to buy one for the caps a try to build my own board like this. https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=75786.0

As for the Model M, I bought a unicomp one and I love typing on it.

Thanks again man, keep up the great work

Chyros wrote: Plenty .

The cheapest, most easily available one is the Dell AT101W. You can find them easily for $20 or less, or for free in some back room of many buildings. The switches aren't quite like other Alps switches though, and most people think they're the worst in the family. I think they're underrated, but still, I prefer other Alps switches.

A much more representative choice is a white Alps board; these make a great starting point for getting into Alps. Something like a Focus 2001 can be found easily and for $40 or less for sure. They come with nice doubleshot keycaps and sound delicious; the typing sound of Alps is in my opinion easily among the best of any switch series, and a key advantage to them. Note that there are many keyboards that can come with white Alps, but most of them, including the 2001, could come with other switches too, including clones that strongly resemble them. A more up-market version is a Northgate Omnikey which is a white Alps guarantee and which is built amazingly well, better than a Model M for sure. They're more expensive though.

If you like linear switches; many people rate yellow and especially green Alps very highly. Your best bet for these are old Zeniths, which aren't cheap, but not rare, and they're also built amazingly well.

If you're more into tactile switches, you might want to get an AEK. Fairly cheap, easy to find, and well-built, with dyesub PBT keycaps, but some level of Apple weirdness. Salmon and orange Alps are excellent switches.

Blue Alps are often considered the best in the series, but they're somewhat rare and come with a hefty price tag because of their strong reputation. Especially of late they have been going for unbelievable prices. My favourite board is blue Alps though, they're fantastic and sound divine.

Whatever you do MAKE SURE IT'S A CLEAN BOARD. Alps' biggest weakness is their vulnerability to dust and dirt. Genuinely, if they're dirty, don't buy them, the keyfeel WILL be rubbish and it will not be representative of Alps boards.

I have a huge amount of keyboard video reviews, including many on Alps boards. Go ahead and check them out if you're interested . https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... MmLRKpmbfB

Hey thanks! I'm gonna put it a few bids when you open the auction.

ohaimark wrote: I'll be selling a bunch soon. (shameless advertisement follows)

Check out the FS -- 37 keyboards thread (originally 34 keyboards, but I changed my mind).

for-sale-f55/34-keyboards-in-the-near-f ... 13048.html

White Alps or clones should be easily accessible. If you want pointers on what to buy & bid ask Chyros or another prolific forum member.

recon8659 wrote: I've actually been watching all your videos, it's so cool to hear from you.
I just bought an at101w after seeing your video, although I got a GYUM90SK, which I believe is slightly different than the models you have.

I must've had about 10 of them by now, I can't give them away fast enough xD .

The AT101W was the first mech I ever bought actually, and my first ever video . It was originally so bad that I redid the video - twice xD . I've often said this should be everyone's first mech, and stand by it.

If you like it, even somewhat, you really should check out other Alps boards too. They have a really huge amount of cool stuff to offer among them, and no matter how many of them you get, there's always more xD .

Is there even anyone who has keyboards with ALL SKCM/SKCL switches? xD

Chyros wrote: Is there even anyone who has keyboards with ALL SKCM/SKCL switches? xD

Probably not, but there are people with rare cool boards:

http://mousefan.telcontar.net/alpsk.htm

http://sandy55.fc2web.com/keyboard/alps.html#Northgate

Chyros wrote: I must've had about 10 of them by now, I can't give them away fast enough xD .

Where do you buy them from, the boards I find on ebay don't usually have great prices, and the shipping costs just make it even more costly.

recon8659 wrote:

Chyros wrote: I must've had about 10 of them by now, I can't give them away fast enough xD .

Where do you buy them from, the boards I find on ebay don't usually have great prices, and the shipping costs just make it even more costly.

I find them at recycling centres quite regularly. I buy all my boards there for about £0.50. The first AT101W I bought was £11 shipped and brand new in box. I notified my mate of a £15 shipped one in good condition not much later and he got it. I see them for ~£9 on eBay somewhat commonly too. But honestly Silitek made MILLIONS of these, you can find them everywhere you look. Sometimes you even bump into the older models which can be considerably better ('97SK is a relatively undiscovered gem I'd happily use any day and the Alps-made versions are fantastic in every way). I don't even desolder them for the switches anymore because it's not worth it (and it's not easy since all the pins are bent).

Actually 10 is a very low estimate. It must've been over 20 by time, I picked up a box of seven a few months ago I just remembered. A fair few have been disassembled though, or given away.

Chyros wrote: Plenty .
Whatever you do MAKE SURE IT'S A CLEAN BOARD. Alps' biggest weakness is their vulnerability to dust and dirt. Genuinely, if they're dirty, don't buy them, the keyfeel WILL be rubbish and it will not be representative of Alps boards.

You can clean them right? I did that with some yellows and it went to super scratchy to super smooth

Redmaus wrote:

Chyros wrote: Plenty .
Whatever you do MAKE SURE IT'S A CLEAN BOARD. Alps' biggest weakness is their vulnerability to dust and dirt. Genuinely, if they're dirty, don't buy them, the keyfeel WILL be rubbish and it will not be representative of Alps boards.

You can clean them right? I did that with some yellows and it went to super scratchy to super smooth

Yes, you can, you might have even seen my tutorial video on it . BUT:

1) linears are more effectively cleaned than tactile or clicky Alps
2) scratched parts due to wear and especially use when dirty is irreparable
3) lubricated Alps are hard to impossible to clean the dirt off without rubbing off the lubricant

I've found that although cleaning can restore a good deal or even almost all of the proper feeling, it's never quite the same as a board in excellent condition.

Speaking of which could we start a thread about alps durability? I need to have this addressed so I can justify buying a second apple iic

Just an additional caveat to Chyros' first post--it seems the Omnikeys that come with Windows keys (they're known as "Ps"--e.g. 101P, Ultra TP, etc.) only came with simplified alps/clones, which are IMHO not nearly as desirable as genuine white Alps. The chassis are still high quality, but due to the hassle I'd recommend staying away from Windows-keyed Omnikeys unless you want to take on a transplant project. I speak from personal experience.

At some point, Northgate's keyboard division was bought out by a company called Avant which continued making the boards using the same chassis (a la Unicomp to the Model M) but unlike Unicomp they used exclusively Alps clones, so avoid those if you can. The black Avant keyboards in particular use incredibly cheap caps that suffer from the same problems as the M13--the white legends are cheap, easily worn off, and they accumulate shine like nothing else (ew).

Definitely +1 on the idea of getting clean boards, though. Look at the pictures the sellers are posting on eBay--if you can see obvious signs of dirt, gunk, or rust under the keys (happens a lot, as many Alps boards used a metal backplate that seems very prone to rusting) the switches are going to feel scratchy and may be difficult to press down, or even get stuck when you do depress them! I've ended up with boards like that and always regretted it.