Top printed navy Leopold FC660M mini review

[MJL]

I had a good impression of what to expect from other postings here on GeekHack and elsewhere.

The layout is perfect for my requirements with the way the function keys are to be used and the arrow keys present.

I like the Cherry MX blue switches better than the brown ones that I had in the past (Deck Hassium) and the key click noise does not bother me.

Some things to be aware of:

- the red LED lights under the CapsLock key and the Insert key are bright - too bright for my taste
- the spacebar sits higher than the remainder of the bottom row
- the function key location is awkward, I swapped it with the windows key (switch 3 on the bottom). Now the keycaps do not make sense for these two keys
- laser etched top printing on navy keycaps: It is some form of grey foam. Rubbing slightly with the top of my nail pushes this lettering down and makes it shiny - a clear indication that the lettering is not strong and will not last.

Fortunately I had come across a posting mentioning that the legends on the keycaps faded after a short period. I found a set of dye-sublimated top printed keycaps from the same vendor and bought that as well.

Would I buy this keyboard again? Absolutely, yes, provided I am able to get a proper fitting PBT dye-sublimated keycap set (or even ABS doubleshot). Just be aware that the bottom row is non-standard.

[rowdy]

You might be able to squeeze a resistor in there to dim the LEDs, or get some of those little plastic covers that go under the keycaps.

Many keysets the bottom row is concave whereas the space bar is convex.  That does make it seem a little higher.

Fn and Win keys are the same size =- just swap them around

The legends do fade quite quickly on many FC660M.

[MJL]

Unfortunately the windows key is 1U versus 1.25U for the Fn. I've solved it by using a windows key for both - the functionality has been swapped around by switch 3 on the bottom. I like the grey-blue PBT keycaps that Leopold has as a separate set and which I bought. From that set I put on the stepped capslock key and the non-windows insert key - problem solved of too much LED light.