Idea: "Chamber of Horrors" touring box

[citrojohn]

I just had a daft idea. There are keyboards and switches I'm curious about, but by all accounts buying them would be a waste of money. There are people with keyboards that aren't good enough to be used often but are too good to throw away. So we could put together a touring box of keyboards that are interesting but not good, so people can try the inferior oddities without having to buy them. It's sort of like Wodan's rabbit-hole boxes, but with the stuff you don't want to keep.

So far I've thought of

• Cherry G81
• Mitsumi miniature mechanical
• Fujitsu Peerless
• Can Tech buckling spring
• something with Acer switches

and perhaps

• I'm rather tempted to include a bad rubber-dome so the new guys who've only used laptops know what we're being so uncomplimentary about. The worst I've used is a podule-type Dell - but is there a worse one I've been spared?
• the dirtiest, scratchiest Alps board we can find (with a warning label saying "They're not all like this")
• Razer Ornata?
• Cherry J86-4400, or similar metal-over-rubber
• one of those roll-up silicone boards

Anyone always wanted to try a known-bad switch type, or got something that could be contributed?

[Menuhin]

Great, see if I can contribute!

Spoiler:

[citrojohn]

Hmm, I never knew Lucky Strike did a special edition... perhaps they're after KFC-esque publicity from us.

... but is it interesting?

[Chyros]

Acers really aren't bad at all, I don't know why they get so much stick. I'd much rather have them over Cherry MX.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Acer? I have two, and they're very heavy switches. They're not as bad as the super-stiffy later Alps clones (Filco Zero with KSB-C, Monterey K110 with T1) but they require a fair pounding to use. The positive side is the comparatively soft click sound.

I'm not sure I want to part with them yet (I never took sufficient photos of them). Peerless, I could spare that, but I am sure it was nowhere near as bad before I cleaned it, and I suspect I washed away the stabiliser lubricant.

Interesting idea though. I used to hold the opinion that, being contrary, I'd naturally enjoy whatever everyone else hates, but no, I find myself agreeing with the consensus over bad switches. Peerless isn't too bad — I cannot realistically judge it largely because the rubber will have aged and it may have felt better when new. It's a curious idea: a keyboard that emits very gentle clicks.

Being able to prove this to yourself (bad switch is bad, or maybe bad switch is good) by "loaning" keyboards has merit.

[citrojohn]

Possibly I'm severer on Acer switches than they deserve. I met them on a Viglen board which replaced my first PC keyboard - a Model M. The Viglen was a large step down in quality. I don't know what board made a soft click, but it surely can't have been a double-curve 6312 like mine... it echoed to a degree that surprised me considering its comparative thinness!

Now having met more switch types, I can see the Acer switches could be quite nice if you like the way the Alps click-leaf needs very little more force to bottom out than to make the switch click. I preferred the Model M's more cushioned feel. Also it didn't take long before I managed to press a key and hear the click without actuating the key, which I could tell wasn't right even at age 12...

Peerless switches attract me in a perverse kind of way, because they're such a heroically odd concept - making a clicky switch with a material that's so well-known for damping sound!

[y11971alex]

Hi-tek (the original)

[seebart]

From what I have seen one the most hideous switches are Smith Corona leaf-spring-over-membrane but I never tried them and won't bother even if I find some. Cherry MY type 3 is also pretty nasty. Yes Hi-tek's a pretty scratchy, antient scratchiness. Of course people like to rant over Key Tronic Foam and Foil but remember there are different versions of that switch that feel quite different, the dome over slider variant is not bad at all. The oldest "regular" spring over foam version from the 1970's isn't so bad either.

[citrojohn]

From what I have seen one the most hideous switches are Smith Corona leaf-spring-over-membrane

Would that be what was on the Smith Corona typewriter I tried about 1993? Those were probably the weirdest switches I've ever tried (and that's including a ZX Spectrum +) - so springy, and very resilient at the bottom. My theory was, they were trying to replicate the feel of a manual typewriter without the long travel. You know a switch is bad when plain (coil-)spring-over-membrane feels better...

[seebart]

I have no idea, search for the Smith Corona Chyros video that sums it up very well. If I recall that was one of his most entertaining videos ever.

[002]

Novel idea, I like it!
If this gets a bit of traction I might be able to contribute a Topre short-throw keyboard.

[citrojohn]

Novel idea, I like it!
If this gets a bit of traction I might be able to contribute a Topre short-throw keyboard.

Your standards are high, 002!
We're going to have to have a rule that nobody takes out until the end. Otherwise

Hey Citro, I thought this box was supposed to be interesting, but all I've received is a Russian-Italian Cherry G86 and six roll-up keyboards... when's the rest of it coming?