filco zero keyboard

[change81]

hi, i'm new here. i was in the market for a new keyboard and stumbled upon this amazingly crazy site.

it has caused me great pain trying to figure out exactly what type of switch i want in my keyboard, and i'm about to purchase the 10 keyless filco brown cherry while i'm here in korea. (the pain came after i found the site, i was set on a 7g till i read the hate on the cherry blacks =p) then waffled on the linear and nonclick. man those names in korean had me confused..

however, what i'm curious about is this filco zero.
i have been unable to procure any information on this in english. only on the korean site from which i am purchasing the 10 keyless filco majestouch. and on a japanese site that says click something something zero.

http://www.aijoarashop.com/FrontStore/iGoodsView.phtml?iCategoryId=8&iCategoryIdMain=0&iGoodsId=0008_00009&iCurrentPage=1

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/filco/c/0000000203/

it claims that it uses a alps type switch. i had the pleasure of typing on it a bit, and it seems to be very clicky and a bit noisy as well. however i enjoyed the definitive tactile feedback that it gave.

as i put in an order for 10 keyless, i might be committed to purchasing it, but as the zero is only ~66 usd it seems to be a decent backup keyboard to purchase.

i am unsure if it's an actual alps white, or if it's an alps "type" switch. but the picture shows white stems.

if anyone has any information i would greatly appreciate it.

i have enjoyed reading about all these other keyboards, if i get a chance i mite try out a hhkb or a unicomp one of these days based on the reviews i read.

i never knew i had so many typing options. xD

i'm just shocked that there was a forum for this. pleasantly.

many thanks
e~

[ashort]

Are there other "Alps Type" switches besides strongmans?  

My Tactile Pro 2 has Strongman switches and the tactile feedback is incredible.  So is the noise, this thing wakes the dead.  That is partly the switch, and a good part the unmitigated shame with which Matias not only didn't deaden the sound internally, I think they may have taken steps to amplify it.  Very wobbly too, more so than an Alps, which wobbles, but only a little bit.  (Cherries, by comparison, wobble very little, if at all).

Anyway, the Filco Zero switches don't look like my strongman switches, but that doesn't mean strongman doesn't use other colors, just that I'm ignorant.

I don't know why you'd go through the trouble (and the shipping charges!) to acquire a Filco and not get one with brown cherry switches in it.  =-D

[iMav]

From my experience, the "wobbliness" of Alps and Alps-like strongman switches is entirely due to the keycap and how snug the keycap fits on the switch.  Take the keycap off one that is looser and one that is tighter and switch them.  You'll notice that the amount of wobble follows the key cap.  Alps didn't help themselves with the, IMHO, suspect "slot" interface between key cap and switch.  Cherry switches have significantly less wobble due to the superior "cross" interface between key cap and switch.  (there's a reason that Phillips screw heads strip less often than common screw heads when the correct screwdriver is used)  

[ashort]

Call me crazy, but I like some wobble, just not as much as is in the Tactile Pro 2.  I really like the feel of the classic orange alps of the Apple Extended keyboard (Far more than cherry switch).

[change81]

i'm actually in korea, so i won't be incurring shipping charges.

the 10 keyless cherry browns i am definitely getting.

just wondering what switches the filco zeros are.

the 10 keyless is going ~140 usd while the zeros are only ~60 usd.

the zeros are indeed very loud and very clicky. i just loved the tactile feedback. they did not have any cherry browns in stock so i had to blind order them w.o being able to feel them.

i kind of chose the cherry browns due to the feedback on this site.

i've been looking for cherry blues, but those seem to be really hard to find?  

maybe i'll just buy both... =p

[Ulysses31]

So they have enough Tenkeyless for Korea but not for BeNippon V_V.  Wonderful.

[Bluemercury]

That filco if it has the same switches as the mackally 96 would be lovely for me, benippon doesnt seem that have them though...

[vils]

For my last keyboard purchase I used http://www.crescent-shop.com/ It has worked smoothly so far.
Just register, look up where in Japan to buy the keyboard and ask crescentshop if they can get them for you.
I found my two keyboards here: http://item.rakuten.co.jp/filco/c/0000000112/

/Vils

[Freyth]

For my last keyboard purchase I used http://www.crescent-shop.com/ It has worked smoothly so far.
Just register, look up where in Japan to buy the keyboard and ask crescentshop if they can get them for you.
I found my two keyboards here: http://item.rakuten.co.jp/filco/c/0000000112/

/Vils

Technically, you don't have to find where to buy it in Japan. Just tell them what the item is and they'll find it for you. It's that simple. There is a commission fee, but it's very reasonable and it shouldn't deter you from using their service.

[xsphat]

How does the bank transfer work? I read that's all they accept.

[Freyth]

http://www.crescent-shop.com/shopping/shopping03.htm

[vils]

I paid with PayPal.

[lowpoly]

There is a commission fee, but it's very reasonable and it shouldn't deter you from using their service.

Also, the other shops have commission fees too. They just add it before they tell the price. Crescent is completely transparent here.

[change81]

So they have enough Tenkeyless for Korea but not for BeNippon V_V.  Wonderful.

the tenkeyless for korea is actually a korean version, with korean letters on it.

the reason i preferred this to other korean version keyboards is because they don't have a language change button on the leftside of the keyboard like most korean keyboards.

the cherry browns are nice. definitely not what i expected however.

i think the filco zero's might be better suited for my needs actually.

the click is pretty loud however, but the tactile response when the keypress is finished is amazing.

i should've expected there to be no tactile response on the cherry browns as the korean name for the keyboard is well... nonclick.

i'll post pictures a bit later when i have a chance. but the tenkeyless is amazingly well built.

seems like for typing the cherry browns are king, but for gaming i think i'd actually prefer cherry blacks or alps switch type keys.

[alpslover]

From my experience, the "wobbliness" of Alps and Alps-like strongman switches is entirely due to the keycap and how snug the keycap fits on the switch.  Take the keycap off one that is looser and one that is tighter and switch them.  You'll notice that the amount of wobble follows the key cap.

while it's true that a loosely fitting keycap will have a more pronounced wobble than a more tightly fitting one, i disagree that the wobbliness of alps switches is entirely due to that effect.  most of my alps keyboards have very very tightly fitting keycaps, but they all wobble a bit due to play in the stems.  the stems wobble noticeably with the keycaps off, and with the caps on the wobble becomes more pronounced because of the increased height.

cherry mx's wobble less than alps switches, but i think that has more to do with their stems inherently being less wobbly.