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Ranting about keyboards
Posted: 16 Sep 2016, 23:42
by Lynx_Carpathica
Place here your comments about a keyboard that was a disappointment for you. It could be as tiny problem as this:
I just recived today my "new" Cherry G80-1800, and it has MX Black switches. I love'em even for typing. I can easily avoid bottoming out. But the spacebar... What the f cherry? Tactile grey switches in a linear keyboard, are you serious right now? I will have to swap the springs and the sliders in it, using a donor switch from the F12 key or from some useless one. It's just distracting! And the backspace? It is damped, therefore it feels a bit tactile when pressed, same goes fot the G80-1000's space that I've tried last week or so (yup, the one with the burnt plastic). Is there a way to remove those rubber pieces?
Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 00:19
by CeeSA
Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 00:43
by Lynx_Carpathica
Nope, this time not. Theese small things ruin the typing experience on this keyboard.
Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 09:23
by kbdfr
Rubber pieces? What rubber pieces?
And I don't remember any of my Cherry boards with blacks having had anything else than linear grey switches in the space bar.
Are you sure you shouldn't blame the previous owner instead of the keyboard?

Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 09:56
by hypkx
Maybe he mean the foots on the stabilizer sliders, he could do a "clipped stabilizer mod" to remove the dampened feeling on stabilized keys.
Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 15:26
by Lynx_Carpathica
I swapped the sliders from the spacebar to the Caps Lock. problem solved.
I havent found any rubber pieces in the damn thing, but the stabilized keys still feels a bit mushy.
Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 16:11
by Wodan
The good thing about G80s ... most of them let you mod the switches so easily. Great starter boards to mess around with.
The "heavy" space bar spring in many Cherry boards is funny though ... i usually keep the slider but replace the spring.
Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 16:31
by Findecanor
Someone must have confused
Linear Grey and
Tactile Grey ...
Cherry is not the only manufacturer that uses heavier switches for the Space Bars. Many rubber-dome keyboards have extra springs under the space bars, even Topre Realforce and Novatouch.
Cherry stabilisers are infamous for their damping. That is the primary reason why some people prefer Costar stabilisers instead. I think clones of Cherry stabilisers tend to not have damping.
The stabilisers are just snapped to the PCB at the top or the bottom. Because all parts are PCB-mounted you can unsnap them without desoldering any switch. Get the sliders out, cut the tiny plastic pieces jutting out from the bottom of the sliders and reassemble.
Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 16:50
by Lynx_Carpathica
I prefer the heavy spacebars, but tactile grey instead of a linear grey...

And yeah, I just disassembled, then reassembled the keyboard, and realized that it's very easy to mod. The sliders were a piece of cake to swap, with a tiny pair of scissors to open the switches. But, some of the switches upper case has started to flake by the slider in the bottom left corners. Is it a common issue? I've already found 10 of theese snapped switches, and if I press the keys on that bottom left side, it will have a bump.
I'm going to try snapping the stuff of it.
Thanks guys! Did a keyboard ever disappoint you?
Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 16:59
by face
Lynx_Carpathica wrote:
Thanks guys! Did a keyboard ever disappoint you?
Yeah, a Pok3r with clear switches. Not the fault of the Pok3r - it was because of the switches. They were that great from the overall conception, the bump was great and everything, BUT the scratchiness and friction was just horrible! Wasn't useable for me. Cherry does really poor work with this... they could do much better.
Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 17:07
by Wodan
Lynx_Carpathica wrote:
Thanks guys! Did a keyboard ever disappoint you?
Model M

Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 17:31
by Lynx_Carpathica
Yupp, theese switches are quite scratchy. The tacle grey is also unuseably bad.
Wodan: Model M? Why?

When I recived my Model M, it was painfully scracthy, but after cleaning the keys in dishwashing liquid, and cleaning the barrels with alcohol and qtips, it slowly faded away in about 3 days, and nowdays, i don't even realize the scratchiness of the Model M. It's a Lexmark one, made in 1994. It has all the goodies, incl. drain channel, removeable cord, and 2 part keycaps.
Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 17:54
by Wodan
Model M because there is a Model F
I would probably love driving a Lada if it wasn't for BMW

Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 18:19
by fohat
Wodan wrote:
Model M because there is a Model F
When you use M first and then go to F, you say "of course!"
When you use F first and then go to M, you say "why?"
Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 18:22
by Lynx_Carpathica
Model M's and F's are shit. Beam Springs are the best
Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 18:30
by emdude
All of this Model M bashing..
Beam springs do have a very refined feel to them, but I still love Model Ms and their membrane buckling springs.

Posted: 17 Sep 2016, 21:28
by Lynx_Carpathica
Naaah... Just kidding, I've tried a Model F about 2 years ago, and I liked it, but I've never seen a beam spring before.
Posted: 18 Sep 2016, 11:16
by POTV
Regarding disappointments... I once bought a Realforce 88UB because of the sound on Youtube and the layout. But although the keyboard is a quality product, the key travel feels like a normal rubber dome.
I very much prefer IBM Model M. The IBM F´s are better - but they need a floss mod and a more modern key layout.
I tend to shift between my SSK´s and some nib full size Model M´s, which have a very delicate feel.
Posted: 18 Sep 2016, 11:55
by amospalla
Topre is said to need its time to get used to it.
In my case it was just the opposite, within the few first keystrokes I felt amazed, but I don't think that is the norm (damn you Topre).
Posted: 18 Sep 2016, 12:02
by POTV
@amospalla, you could be right regarding time needed to be familiar with topre. I actually never gave it much time...
Posted: 18 Sep 2016, 12:16
by Findecanor
I gave time to Topre. My fingers started to hurt ...
Posted: 18 Sep 2016, 12:33
by amospalla
Mines did also on 55g. Moved to 45g which are quite soft (you may untentionally be pressing a key if you rest your fingers on the keyboard which hardly will happen on a 55g).
Posted: 18 Sep 2016, 12:35
by face
amospalla wrote: Mines did also on 55g. Moved to 45g which are quite soft (you may untentionally be pressing a key if you rest your fingers on the keyboard which hardly will happen on a 55g).
Are there different 45g Topre switches? One thing I like about the HHKB switches is, that I CAN rest my fingers on them - which I couldn't on browns e.g..
Posted: 18 Sep 2016, 16:23
by Lynx_Carpathica
Why are topre boards only 10keyless or 60%? The only thing that stops me from buying topres is the fact that 100% topre boards don't exist, afaik.
EDIT: Well... there is...
https://www.amazon.com/Topre-Type-Heave ... B00DGJALYW
Posted: 18 Sep 2016, 16:40
by Chyros
There's also fullsize RealForces, but also quite expensive, unfortunately :/ .
Posted: 18 Sep 2016, 16:56
by Lynx_Carpathica
Eeehh, I mught be better off buying that G80-1000, AND a G80-3000 with dubleshoot keycaps and blue switches. Preferably, without Windows keys.

I love MX switches so far, this G80-1800 just made me type so lightly, slowly, and carefully, without bottoming out, I'm having problems going back to my Model M.
Posted: 18 Sep 2016, 21:28
by citrojohn
Lynx_Carpathica wrote: Why are topre boards only 10keyless or 60%? The only thing that stops me from buying topres is the fact that 100% topre boards don't exist, afaik.
Why stick to just 100%?

The problem's finding one. And paying the shipping...
Posted: 19 Sep 2016, 00:13
by face
citrojohn wrote:
The problem's finding one. And paying the shipping...
Shipping is ok, customs though... (if you're buying through a vendor)
Posted: 19 Sep 2016, 16:50
by y11971alex
I'm one of those people who tried Model F (AT) before Model M (1391472). To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed by the lack of noise from the 1391472 and using it for night typing. Of course, I'm now moving to a dome unsaver for that task since nobody around me thinks SSK are quiet

Posted: 19 Sep 2016, 17:30
by Lynx_Carpathica
Citro: That KB is Fucking huge... XD
y1997alex: good for you, I was struggling to find even a simple Model M for an acceptable price, but after 2 years, I found one on Facebook, for only 10€-s approx. (3000HUF). (It's a 1391403, if you want to know)