deskthority

Hallo,

So I found this cherry g81-3000LANBE for €5. I want to buy it, but the board is azerty. So the question is: Is there any way to make the azerty keyboard qwerty, like changing the keycaps?

Bryan

I suppose you are not asking if the OS can use the keyboard as qwerty (that's a question of selecting a keyboard layout AFAIK). As for changing keycaps, you can't just change the positions of a single (azerty) keyset, since the keys have different profiles on each row; but you can always buy a cheap qwerty set of keycaps and "put them" on instead.

thanks

But if by "qwerty" you mean the US layout (commonly called ANSI as opposed to ISO, which is used in most European layouts including "azerty"), swapping keycap sets will not work because the keyboards are built differently:
- the whole Enter key cluster has a completely different layout, with the switches in different locations,
- the left Shift also differs (longer on ANSI, shorter + 1 key on ISO).

Get a custom PCB from Leeku.


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kbdfr wrote: But if by "qwerty" you mean the US layout (commonly called ANSI as opposed to ISO, which is used in most European layouts including "azerty"), swapping keycap sets will not work because the keyboards are built differently:
- the whole Enter key cluster has a completely different layout, with the switches in different locations,
- the left Shift also differs (longer on ANSI, shorter + 1 key on ISO).

Yes, my answer was incomplete/imprecise, the qwerty set has (also) to be in ISO format (I must've presumed the OP will also visually check for matching keys before buying anything) - or - if the qwerty set has colors similar to the azerty set, one could try to mix-and-match between the two sets the keys that fit (but that check should also be done before buying anything).

axtran wrote: Get a custom PCB from Leeku.

And then?
The question in the OP already shows StrangeFart is probably not a keyboard nerd.

kbdfr wrote: But if by "qwerty" you mean the US layout (commonly called ANSI as opposed to ISO, which is used in most European layouts including "azerty"), swapping keycap sets will not work because the keyboards are built differently:
- the whole Enter key cluster has a completely different layout, with the switches in different locations,
- the left Shift also differs (longer on ANSI, shorter + 1 key on ISO).

Just setting Windows to use the QWERTY rather than AZERTY should be sufficient for most purposes, though. I've got a Belgian keyboard that I use in this way. I know people who can touch type on both AZERTY or QWERTY keyboards without having to switch the layout, but I've personally never had the stamina to learn AZERTY, too.

OP - in case you can't touch type you should be able to switch the keycaps if you find it easier to find the keys that way. Read up on key pullers before you attempt this.

Cattus_D wrote:
OP - in case you can't touch type you should be able to switch the keycaps if you find it easier to find the keys that way. Read up on key pullers before you attempt this.

... the keys on different rows have different profiles (inclinations), so "switching" keycaps works only if one has a qwerty set that covers the same keyboard (ISO etc. - the above discussion). But, since you have such a keyboard, you just have to try it

Laser wrote: ... the keys on different rows have different profiles (inclinations), so "switching" keycaps works only if one has a qwerty set that covers the same keyboard (ISO etc. - the above discussion). But, since you have such a keyboard, you just have to try it

Forgive my ignorance, but what does that mean? That the keys themselves are different? I am mostly acquainted with Model Ms and Model Fs and there switching the keys is not a problem at all. I've also got a few rubber domes lying around (Commodore, IBM), and there the keys don't appear to be different either.

Sorry if I'm derailing this thread somewhat. I genuinely want to know.

EDIT - never mind. I think I see what you mean now. Never noticed that before.

Keep in mind that the MY switches will not feel as good as MX ones. They are linear but in my experience very mushy, I much prefer typing on a rubberdome.

Thank you all guys, I'm planning to buy my first mechanical keyboard and i want to try it out first by buying a cheap one.

StrangeFart wrote: Thank you all guys, I'm planning to buy my first mechanical keyboard and i want to try it out first by buying a cheap one.

Just as a warning, like uncletobai said MY switches are pretty different from common MX switches, and much more disliked, and I wouldn't base any opinions on them. The wiki page even says "The biggest reason for buying [G81 keyboards] might be to harvest the keycaps."

If you do get it, whether you like it or not, I'd recommend a regular mechanical keyboard because you'll probably like it a lot more.

My plan was to buy a cheap g81 keyboard with my switches, but it seems that the switches arent't that good. I just bought a cheap Chinese keyboard with outemu blue switches. Remember that this is just to try out mechanical because I typed all my life on a memrane keyboard and never typed on a mechanical keyboard. And yes i'm new on this community.

StrangeFart wrote: My plan was to buy a cheap g81 keyboard with my switches, but it seems that the switches arent't that good. I just bought a cheap Chinese keyboard with outemu blue switches. Remember that this is just to try out mechanical because I typed all my life on a memrane keyboard and never typed on a mechanical keyboard. And yes i'm new on this community.

I think that was a fair choice. Outemu blues are usually considered the best of Outemu's switches, and some people rank them higher than Cherry even, though that's all opinion. You should get a pretty good idea of what it's like to use a mech with that keyboard. Though don't forget that there are tons of different switches around, if you like the Outemu blues and want to go further that there's a lot to check out.

Oh by the way, I've ordered an Drevo Gramr keyboard