Peripherals Mechanical Keyboards

I find blues to be a little too high-pitched too actually and also a little too easy to actuate (even though I love reds and browns - go figure eh?) Interestingly I found that initially I was double shifting with buckling spring - again it must be what you're used to!

Did you pick up those non-windows modifier keys in the end?

 

Dell AT101W on the way

 

I've leveled up!

 

Buy my Poker - http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=266975

I have found myself strangely falling a little bit in love with Red switches over the past few days. Since my Leopold is back on my desk at home and wearing HyperFuse, I am really enjoying typing on it. I think the fact it had OEM caps on it before made it feel much much worse than it was, though Keycool (slightly thick) PBT caps felt pretty good. I am also really getting on with Browns at work.

This has made me not so bothered about trying Clears as I think stock they would feel a bit too heavy for me. Ergo clears seem like they would be my ideal switch, so I will just keep an eye/ear out for something.

 

I've decided that my new Poker is the keyboard for me, as it's lovely to use and far less clunky than I imagined now that I'm getting used to where the function key is

As such I've cut down my Honeywell order pretty heavily; now just getting two 60% kits; grey and red mods with white alphas. Don't worry Margon your order is still in there!

I'm going to sell my full size Cherry boards, as I've got a Model M for work etc. They'll be going up in the marketplace tomorrow when I get around to taking photos etc, but if anyone here is interested just PM me before I set that thread up and get in early.

G80-3494, US ANSI, Cherry MX Reds, USB. Some light wear to a few of the legends, otherwise very good condition.
£55 inc. postage

G80-8113, UK ISO, Cherry MX Clears, PS/2. Vintage so well used but fully working, inc. POS, touchpad, programming functions. Lovely lasered PBT keycaps with non-stepped caps lock key. One of the five clips on the front underside has snapped but it's firmly held together by the other four.
£50 inc. postage

 

Anyone got a nice cherry 1.75x shift going spare/ for sale?

 

I think Model F has PBT caps where as the filco stock caps are thin ABS. The caps can make quite a lot of difference to the overall typing experience. I don't really like blues, I find them too light, I find all the light switches too light. Blacks, clears, tactile greys, greens, water axis (sapphires/blears) are all nicer to my fingers, but they are still not as heavy as BS.

Now in life I really want this http://www.circuitspecialists.eu/so...-solderwerks-through-hole-desoldering-station I feel it would quite possibly be actually life changing.

 

I think the stock Filco caps are widely regarded as a bit poor in comparison to aftermarket caps. Sounds like the texture on PBT caps would be better for you. Even just some plain white on black Signature Plastics caps have a bit of texture with a much nicer feel and profile.

As for the wobbling, a lot of plate mounted boards can get a bit of a wobble especially full size boards. You can usually rectify it by grabbing both ends and gently twisting in the relevant direction to level things out. My KeyCool 87 had a little bit of a wobble which was fixed with a twist and has been fine since, as long as you aren't Lou Ferrigno you aren't going to do any damage.

 

I'm seriously considering buying a bunch of clears to replace the reds on my MK-85, even though it'll mean desoldering/resoldering the LEDs. How much of a pain is that? Is it just a case of two more tails per switch, or are there further complications?

 

It's basically that really - 2 solder joints per switch and another 2 per led

 

Yeah, what george said - the LEDs are generally speaking a bit more of a pain as well as the hole pitch is smaller. But it's easily doable, have done quite a lot of back lit boards, unsoldering and soldering.

Clears are quite cheap from mechanical keyboards - but for enough clears to do your board and quickly, Yslen's cherry G80-8113 would be your cheapest and fastest way. Is $55 for 110 clears on mechanicalkeyboards.com before shipping and potential taxes.

 

Anybody interested in ALPs keyboards?

Somebody has just listed what seems to be a large quantity of brand new Dell AT101W keyboards on ebay, available in both beige and black. Given that they are brand new, I've put in an offer for one of the black ones. If I like it, I'll get rid of my Quickfire MX Browns board.

Anybody interested? At first I thought the price was kinda high, but all things considered, £20-25 for a brand new, good quality mechanical keyboard is really nothing to sniff at, and the seller is accepting offers below the BIN price.

Boards are ANSI.

Beige

Black

 

Hmm, I hadn't thought about that - I was looking at a Skidata, but that 8113 is very nice, and I could re-use it with different switches.

I'd imagine it'll be gone before I can buy it - I've had to cough up far too much money this month.

 

Skidata is LOTS more switches. I think there is about 180 odd on it, something like that. And tasty orange doubleshots (This guy hasn't ordered one that's for sure.....or something). The 8113 is really decent, really nice set of caps on it. skidata also would come from germany whereas 8113 is already in the country. so there is a few good avenues for sure

PS. Your caps are actually in the post now!

Good spot! Definitely haven't ordered a beige one....

 

German means QWERTZ though... which ruins things a bit for me.

 

I've been tempted to buy a Skidata, but QWERTZ is a no go for me. I want ANSI international