still waiting for my M

[wellington1869]

If you take a keycap off it should be visible on the switch casing.

hmmm, i dont see anything on the switch casing (tho I also dont remember anything on my previous cherry board switch casings either, tho maybe I just didnt notice).

[Chloe]

Could you post a picture of the switch?

[wellington1869]

Could you post a picture of the switch?

sure, will do it tonite... here ya go:

[wellington1869]

It's at the top(front) of the switch:

I dont think even my 18000 had the name stamped on its switches. I dont remember my black cherry smk88 having it either.

[wellington1869]

hmmm, so in my whirlwind attempt to find the ideal 'board for the last few weeks, I'm not sure where I stand now. I'll have to take stock. At this point I've tried virtually every (affordable) switch that geekhackers most commonly talk about.  And what are my conclusions? I dont know! Hahahahahahaha (maniacal laughter as he loses his mind).

But seriously, I guess what I've accomplished (other than a great deal of procrastination and retail therapy), is that I've eliminated some switches from the running and narrowed down the field quite a bit.  I've also come to discover and know my own likes and dislikes (which I did not know before). I've also come to know and classify the main metrics and criteria that I'd look for in a board (which I didnt really know before either).

Basically for me its a case of "tuning" two things in particular: key resistance and noise.

-Cherries were neat but too light for me (or in the case of the clickless blacks, too stiff).
-BS are still my reference, but looks like they wont be my main board. I'd like something a little lighter (even though I switch to BS now and then when I want to really pound on the keys). So still looking for the main board.
-Alps (in particular, strongmans) seem to hit a broad sweetspot for me, particularly in terms of resistance being in between cherries and bs.
So what I'm left with now, I think, is tuning the strongman's noise. For this I'm collecting strongman boards now (grays, blacks, whites). Once I have them I'll decide between those (and maybe apply a mod or two if necessary to tune the noise further - dampers, interchangeable leafs, etc).

So far the gray strongmans is my fav board by far. I havent put it away for any length of time yet. With rubber washers under the spacebar and backspace key, its just about perfect.
Cant wait to compare it with the blacks (and strongman whites if I can manage to buy a board soon).

[Chloe]

Thanks for the pictures.

I dont think even my 18000 had the name stamped on its switches.

Do you mean the Compaq MX 11800? Both of mine have the Cherry logo on the switches.

[wellington1869]

Thanks for the pictures.



Do you mean the Compaq MX 11800? Both of mine have the Cherry logo on the switches.

ya i meant 11800. I never noticed a logo, I opened it up often enough. Maybe I just never noticed.

[wellington1869]

So I may be narrowing down my board options (finally).
basically I think i'll wind up with three boards, each approximating the three different designs I've liked so far (but "tuned" for noise level).
--One is a "topre substitute". This is going to be my smk with gray strongmans with sliders from an AEKII (with the rubber dampers).
--One is my TP2 substitute (until I get a real tp2 and harvest its white strongmans), which will be my AEKII white alps switches (now without dampers) installed into the dell at101w, with a piece of elec tape over the hammer to reduce the click a bit. Should be light and soft like the tp2 (approximately). (I might add dampers to this too).
--One is my endura pro (cushioned with rubber washer or o-rings to reduce clack, and greased springs to dampen the click). This basically should feel like a heavier version of the tp2 at that point.

So my three boards are basically: a quiet one, a light one, and a heavier one. Based around the three basic switches I liked, and modded to taste in terms of noise level.

[xsphat]

I think I could get down to two:
— The real Topre (accept no substitute, Wellington), my Realforce 86U of course.
— One space saver Alps style keyboard (Maybe a Filco but I'd have to try it's XM switches first). For now the Macally MK96 fits the bill, but I would like something with a standard layout like the Topre 86U.

[iMav]

I could easily live with just my HHKB Pro (well, I'd need a few of them because I typically have a few computers up at once in separate locations that I use regularly (and wouldn't want to carry it back and forth)...

However, what fun would that be???  

I think it has been confirmed that the same switches are in the MK96 and the Filco white "Alps" 'board...so I'm guessing that 'board would be just fine for you xsphat.

[xsphat]

I think it has been confirmed that the same switches are in the MK96 and the Filco white "Alps" 'board...so I'm guessing that 'board would be just fine for you xsphat.

Maybe I'll have a huge blowout on eBay this weekend and see if I can get together enough money.

[wellington1869]

— The real Topre (accept no substitute, Wellington), my Realforce 86U of course.

lol, soon as I have $250 or so to spare I'm definitely upgrading to an 86U.

— One space saver Alps style keyboard (Maybe a Filco but I'd have to try it's XM switches first). For now the Macally MK96 fits the bill, but I would like something with a standard layout like the Topre 86U.

did you see bigpooks pics of the XM switch on the Filco? its identical to the mk96 switch...  if you liked the mk96 you'd like the filco, it seems to me.

[xsphat]

did you see bigpooks pics of the XM switch on the Filco? its identical to the mk96 switch...  if you liked the mk96 you'd like the filco, it seems to me.

How could I miss those pictures — they are so big they can be seen from space!

[wellington1869]

How could I miss those pictures — they are so big they can be seen from space!

lol! seriously, I actually have to wait for that page to load

[xsphat]

lol! seriously, I actually have to wait for that page to load

I know, so do I! lol

[wellington1869]

dell black alps arriving tomorrow, yay.  My aek2 should be arriving a few days after that (its currently in MA, according to tracking info. thats not too far, about 5 hours away, lol).
Will have a grand old modding fest after those two arrive.

[bigpook]

I know, so do I! lol

Sorry, I will make them smaller next time : ) some of them are over 1M in size......

[wellington1869]

Sorry, I will make them smaller next time : ) some of them are over 1M in size......

bigP, here's an easy online image resizer utility: resizr. You can just provide it with the url of your image, and it will hand you a resized image file.

(When it asks you how you want to resize, just type "600" or "800" into the "width" section. It will automatically calculate the scaling for the other axis).

[wellington1869]

Just got my dell black alps! Opening it now...  overly hasty first impressions to follow...

ok, first impressions:

-feel is very close to the gray alps (am opening up switches on both now to compare internals). Pleasant, throw seems just a little shorter than gray alps (not in a bad way). Spring resistance may be a touch harder (not in a bad way).

-these brand new black alps (vs the gritty old ones I had tried before) - sure, they're smoother and they dont "catch" if you hit them at an angle. However, I must say I can still feel friction on the downstroke. Not like the grit from before, but just feels like key switch friction. (maybe I should let the board come up to room temperature, it was just taken out the back of the ups truck after all).

[itlnstln]

I think there will always be a little friction in the keys.  As you noted, it could be that the plastic needs to expand after coming up to room temp.  Enjoy (I know I do)!

[wellington1869]

I think there will always be a little friction in the keys.  

ya, and I dont want to get too picky either. Pickiness can be an infinite regress.

As you noted, it could be that the plastic needs to expand after coming up to room temp.  Enjoy (I know I do)!

Funnily enough it did get smoother once it warmed up

Overall I like them (certainly way better than the gritty mess we got before). I may prefer the grays still though. But I'm glad I have this. I may try stuffing the AEKII white alps with dampers into this board.

[wellington1869]

ok, so I'm still steadily gravitating towards 3 (or 2) boards. I put the aekii sliders into the dell at101w and I like it a lot, this one will definitely be one of the 3.
Another one will be a 1391401. Even though I dont like the spacebar, and its key resistance is prolly too much as a daily board for me, its a great reference board and reminds me of why I like the others, lol. Also its still the board on which I type the fastest and most accurately, even tho I think the key resistance is too much for a daily board.
The third one will most probably be a board with white strongmans, whether thats a tp2 (that works, if i can find one) or the tp2's switches that i've installed into another board.  
(This means if I dont use the endurapro too much I may wind up selling it). Funnily that would leave me with two alps boards as my two daily boards - which is something I totally didnt expect when I began this search.

I dont know yet if the white strongman board (tp2) will overtake this silenced dell as my main board, we'll have to see. Also I may put the aekii dampers into the tp2 as well if they fit. I have enough of them left over since I'm only replacing the sliders on the alphabet keys.

What will I do once I have my three boards? the search would be sort of over! I guess I'd have to go back to doing real work, lol.

[xsphat]

Wellington, I really like the Model M. I get it out sometimes to remember it and I always find it fun to type on, but yeah, it's not daily 'board material. It's accurate but the white alps are fabu ...

[wellington1869]

but the white alps are fabu ...

yea, the M is good for that, an occasional reminder, a kind of 'reset tool' for the fingers, lol.

I'm loving the silenced alps. I dont think I'd like them half as much without those aekii dampers in them (for the noise), but with them installed I really like 'em.

[wellington1869]

funny, been using the endurapro more and more ever since I 'silenced' it. Its nice!
This is why I'll always need more than 1 board - cuz there's more than 1 great board out there. At least 3 great boards. That number sounds reasonable to me.  Maybe I'll look like less of a freak with only 3 boards rather than a dozen, lol.

[wellington1869]

Random funny story - So I was throwing out the garbage yesterday and lo and behold what do I see by the dumpster but 2 pretty good looking guitars, one acoustic and one electric. On a whim I looked them up on ebay and found these models selling for about $50 each. So hey, lets roll the dice, I put an ad out on craigslist each for $35. Wouldnt you know it, I was inundated with calls. So now I'm $70 richer, what a country.  
Of course the way I see it that unexpected income paid for at least 2 of my keyboards, lol.

[wellington1869]

So my new year has begun with a much simplified technological arsenal for my writing needs. Sold off nearly all the keyboards I had tried, left with just the ones that I like a lot. The quieted-endurapro is so much better than the kensington c73 I was using. I havent even used the dell black alps (tho I'm glad to have it around). A tp2 would complete my keyboard collection for now. At some point in the future I want to continue resonance-killing experiments on the endurapro (especially filling the inside of the keyboard case with home insulating spray foam, lol. It comes in little spray cans, I'd love to try it out as a resonance killer on boards). But all that can wait till my dissertation is done I guess

Another experiment in simplification is my return to paper and pen for a lot of outlining work (rather than doing them on the laptop) and my new use of the alphasmart dana for first drafts of chapters or sections (simple distraction-free writing). The dana forces you to compose and organize starting with the very first pass on the material. It can be a real time-saver because other wise I tend to accumulate data and defer organizing it into narrative until much later (when I'm generally overwhelmed by the data). Doing it with the dana one is forced to keep narrating what one has found and the revision process therefore starts much earlier (and thats good, productive).

Dont know how long these simplifications will last but for now its definitely boosted my productivity all around and makes the writing process a lot more hands-on, mechanical, and more fun, more tangible and physical. Which I think I was really yearning for.