Unpopular Keyboard Opinions

[ideus]

The POK3R is nothing special, even a little lame.

PBT doesnt deserve the undying circle-jerking surrounding it. I really enjoy POM and ABS caps as well, usually even more.

Not all rubber dome keyboards suck, some are pretty dang enjoyable.

I am pretty much agree with you; still, I prefer a mechanical keyboard, over even the most sophisticated rubber dome.

I'll pretty much agree, absolutely prefer them, but having to use one doesn't always result in this...

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Grand Torino is a great movie, I should see it again this weekend.

[tararais]

I would rather have thin PBT or even regular ABS over thick PBT. Stuff mutes clicks and doesn't allow the feel of the switch nearly as well.

[E3E]

I would rather have thin PBT or even regular ABS over thick PBT. Stuff mutes clicks and doesn't allow the feel of the switch nearly as well.

I do hear thinner caps are happy times for clicky switches, but how about for linear switches? Thicker caps for a nicer thock?

[jonathanyu]

I love sp dcs.
I miss sp dcs groupbuy. 

[ideus]

I love sp dcs.
I miss sp dcs groupbuy. 

What? This opinion is not just unpopular, it is insane.

 ) ) )

[JiveMasterT]

Dell rubber domes when they are brand new are pretty sweet. They degrade to mushy after about 6 months. When I worked in IT I would just swap mine out with new stock every few months to keep the feeling.

[tararais]

I love sp dcs.
I miss sp dcs groupbuy. 

What? This opinion is not just unpopular, it is insane.

 ) ) )

 
I hear a lot of crap going SP's way for their DCS; are theirs worse than, say Ctrl+Alt?

[livingspeedbump]

I love sp dcs.
I miss sp dcs groupbuy. 

What? This opinion is not just unpopular, it is insane.

 ) ) )

 
I hear a lot of crap going SP's way for their DCS; are theirs worse than, say Ctrl+Alt?

Signature Plastics is the only manufacturer that makes DCS, same with SA and DSA. So [CTRL]ALT gets the same DCS everyone else gets.

[intelli78]

Dell rubber domes when they are brand new are pretty sweet. They degrade to mushy after about 6 months. When I worked in IT I would just swap mine out with new stock every few months to keep the feeling.

Are you talking about Dell Quiet Key? The tactility is alright, but they are far too heavy...

[livingspeedbump]

The POK3R is nothing special, even a little lame.

PBT doesnt deserve the undying circle-jerking surrounding it. I really enjoy POM and ABS caps as well, usually even more.

Not all rubber dome keyboards suck, some are pretty dang enjoyable.

I am pretty much agree with you; still, I prefer a mechanical keyboard, over even the most sophisticated rubber dome.

I'll pretty much agree, absolutely prefer them, but having to use one doesn't always result in this...

Show Image

Grand Torino is a great movie, I should see it again this weekend.

Now that you've mentioned it...

The LSB house will be projecting Gran Torino in the backyard this weekend. Everyone can come. NC meetup 1.5 for this month  :p

[livingspeedbump]

Dell rubber domes when they are brand new are pretty sweet. They degrade to mushy after about 6 months. When I worked in IT I would just swap mine out with new stock every few months to keep the feeling.

Are you talking about Dell Quiet Key? The tactility is alright, but they are far too heavy...

I would assume so, I think everyone has a handful (or truckload) of them in the workplace. Still, they are far better than most of the short throw dome keyboards that come with most new PC's I think.

Pic for reference


Not the best domes by far, but not terrible. Much better than the new Dell keyboards that have an extremely short throw rubber dome that we are getting in these days

[jonathanyu]

I love sp dcs.
I miss sp dcs groupbuy. 

What? This opinion is not just unpopular, it is insane.

 ) ) )

I don't know why, but I really really like typing on dcs.  and I think the legend is just awesome.

[jerue]

Dell rubber domes when they are brand new are pretty sweet. They degrade to mushy after about 6 months. When I worked in IT I would just swap mine out with new stock every few months to keep the feeling.

Are you talking about Dell Quiet Key? The tactility is alright, but they are far too heavy...

I would assume so, I think everyone has a handful (or truckload) of them in the workplace. Still, they are far better than most of the short throw dome keyboards that come with most new PC's I think.

Pic for reference

Show Image

Not the best domes by far, but not terrible. Much better than the new Dell keyboards that have an extremely short throw rubber dome that we are getting in these days

Show Image

You all are not alone.

[JiveMasterT]

Yeah I'm talking about the Dell Enhanced Multimedia Keyboard.  There was a variant without the media controls that was almost exactly the same.  I loved that keyboard.  Admittedly, that was roughly 7 years ago.  I haven't used one in a long time.

[intelli78]

I don't know if I've ever typed on one of those.

I'm talking about the old Quiet Key:

[ideus]

.

[tararais]

I don't know if I've ever typed on one of those.

I'm talking about the old Quiet Key:

Show Image

 
I have one of those at home, nicest rubber domes I've ever used. (coughbetterthanbrownscough)

[HoffmanMyster]

Not the best domes by far, but not terrible. Much better than the new Dell keyboards that have an extremely short throw rubber dome that we are getting in these days

Show Image

* HoffmanMyster looks down in shame as he types this message from that very keyboard.   :-X

[livingspeedbump]

I don't know if I've ever typed on one of those.

I'm talking about the old Quiet Key:

Show Image

Ah, yeah and I've only used the older version a handful of times, and wasn't in "testing" mode so don't remember much about it.

[livingspeedbump]

Not the best domes by far, but not terrible. Much better than the new Dell keyboards that have an extremely short throw rubber dome that we are getting in these days

Show Image

* HoffmanMyster looks down in shame as he types this message from that very keyboard.   :-X

or you could buy a HiPro. And you could bring it to work. And then you could remove the shame.  :p

[HoffmanMyster]

Not the best domes by far, but not terrible. Much better than the new Dell keyboards that have an extremely short throw rubber dome that we are getting in these days

* HoffmanMyster looks down in shame as he types this message from that very keyboard.   

or you could buy a HiPro. And you could bring it to work. And then you could remove the shame. 

I could indeed.  I could indeed...

 

[Altis]

Perhaps not popular... but the HHKB is so far the least refined Topre keyboard I've used so far.

In fact, I'd say that some of the old Keytronic keyboards felt smoother and sounded more consistent.

Fire away.

[HoffmanMyster]

Perhaps not popular... but the HHKB is so far the least refined Topre keyboard I've used so far.

In fact, I'd say that some of the old Keytronic keyboards felt smoother and sounded more consistent.

Fire away.

What keyboards are you considering to be Topre?  Do the recent clones count in that group?

[Altis]

What keyboards are you considering to be Topre?  Do the recent clones count in that group?

I've only used the 45g and 55g 87U, HHKB, and Novatouch.

I haven't used the others.

[nubbinator]

Perhaps not popular... but the HHKB is so far the least refined Topre keyboard I've used so far.

In fact, I'd say that some of the old Keytronic keyboards felt smoother and sounded more consistent.

Fire away.

On the other hand, I feel that Realfirce boards,the FC660C, and the Novatouch all feel like crap compared to the HHKB. They bottom it harshly and, in the case of the Novatouch, feel unrefined and crappy due to a case with too loose of tolerances and stabilizers that rattle too much.

[tararais]

Perhaps not popular... but the HHKB is so far the least refined Topre keyboard I've used so far.

In fact, I'd say that some of the old Keytronic keyboards felt smoother and sounded more consistent.

Fire away.

On the other hand, I feel that Realfirce boards,the FC660C, and the Novatouch all feel like crap compared to the HHKB. They bottom it harshly and, in the case of the Novatouch, feel unrefined and crappy due to a case with too loose of tolerances and stabilizers that rattle too much.

 
Bottoming out harshly only has to do with how you press the board. If you slam the key it'll bottom out hard, regardless of whether you're using case or plate mounted switches. While I like the softness of the HHKB, calling Realforce/FC660C something with 'loose tolerances' is ludicrous.

[nubbinator]

Perhaps not popular... but the HHKB is so far the least refined Topre keyboard I've used so far.

In fact, I'd say that some of the old Keytronic keyboards felt smoother and sounded more consistent.

Fire away.

On the other hand, I feel that Realfirce boards,the FC660C, and the Novatouch all feel like crap compared to the HHKB. They bottom it harshly and, in the case of the Novatouch, feel unrefined and crappy due to a case with too loose of tolerances and stabilizers that rattle too much.

 
Bottoming out harshly only has to do with how you press the board. If you slam the key it'll bottom out hard, regardless of whether you're using case or plate mounted switches. While I like the softness of the HHKB, calling Realforce/FC660C something with 'loose tolerances' is ludicrous.

Please reread what I wrote.  The Novatouch is the one with the loose tolerances, not the FC660C or Realforce boards.  It feels wobbly and creaky and the stabilizers rattle.  No board that costs more than $150 should feel that way.

And the metal plate Topre boards all have a jarring bottom out because the actuation point is so close to the bottoming out point that you have to be a wizard to never bottom out with them.

Also, lol:

Oh boy, aggressive "keyboard" warrior..

[JiveMasterT]

Bottoming out is all about how violent you type and how shallow the keys are. I spent about 4 years building a business on an Apple aluminum keyboard. Lots of caffeine and booze and slowly I had etched grooves into the left command key. I used every inch of that keyboard and it paid for itself many times over.

That being said, RSI is very real and it can happen to someone bottoming out keys a lot and sitting in a crappy chair with no support. Lots of people complain about it but no one spends the time to figure out the cause.

Now I run mechs only, with brown switches, and my pain comes and goes. People talk wild **** about browns but at the end of the day if you have an injury and they work for you then just use them.

I didn't get into mechs because I felt like they were magical or I was superior to people using rubber. I got into mechs because they don't further my injuries and they don't prevent me from being productive.

[tararais]

Perhaps not popular... but the HHKB is so far the least refined Topre keyboard I've used so far.

In fact, I'd say that some of the old Keytronic keyboards felt smoother and sounded more consistent.

Fire away.

On the other hand, I feel that Realfirce boards,the FC660C, and the Novatouch all feel like crap compared to the HHKB. They bottom it harshly and, in the case of the Novatouch, feel unrefined and crappy due to a case with too loose of tolerances and stabilizers that rattle too much.

 
Bottoming out harshly only has to do with how you press the board. If you slam the key it'll bottom out hard, regardless of whether you're using case or plate mounted switches. While I like the softness of the HHKB, calling Realforce/FC660C something with 'loose tolerances' is ludicrous.

Please reread what I wrote.  The Novatouch is the one with the loose tolerances, not the FC660C or Realforce boards.  It feels wobbly and creaky and the stabilizers rattle.  No board that costs more than $150 should feel that way.

And the metal plate Topre boards all have a jarring bottom out because the actuation point is so close to the bottoming out point that you have to be a wizard to never bottom out with them.

Also, lol:

Oh boy, aggressive "keyboard" warrior..

   
My bad, misread.

[Altis]

Perhaps not popular... but the HHKB is so far the least refined Topre keyboard I've used so far.

In fact, I'd say that some of the old Keytronic keyboards felt smoother and sounded more consistent.

Fire away.

On the other hand, I feel that Realfirce boards,the FC660C, and the Novatouch all feel like crap compared to the HHKB. They bottom it harshly and, in the case of the Novatouch, feel unrefined and crappy due to a case with too loose of tolerances and stabilizers that rattle too much.

You're certainly welcome to your opinion. I wonder if there are differences in age that make them vary in terms of characteristics.

I listened to a ton of videos of HHKBs on YouTube (yes, yes..) and I didn't notice any of them sounding like this. For example, my G-H keys and O-P keys sound like they're from a completely different keyboard. Or perhaps like the G-H are thick PBT while the O-P are thin ABS and have sound deadening. It makes it strange to listen to typing with so many various sounds.

The stabilizers have absolutely no rattle whatsoever, though, and that's pretty nice for a change. The 87U has a pretty negligible amount of stabilizer rattle compared to the MX boards with Costar stabilizers that I have, though.

I don't know what to make of the grittiness in the keys though. You can feel it as well as hear a hiss-like noise, even if you press it really slowly. It isn't quite as noticeable when you're typing quickly, at least. Perhaps it will break in a bit... who knows. Every now and again a key will kind of squeak almost.

All I really know is that after using this HHKB for a few hours, when I go back to my 45g 87U, it feels softer, smoother, quite a bit quieter, and sounds far more consistent. Maybe I have a bad copy of the HHKB.

[trenzafeeds]

Gonna revive this thread with this: WoB looks really damn bad imo.

[livingspeedbump]

Perhaps not popular... but the HHKB is so far the least refined Topre keyboard I've used so far.

In fact, I'd say that some of the old Keytronic keyboards felt smoother and sounded more consistent.

Fire away.

On the other hand, I feel that Realfirce boards,the FC660C, and the Novatouch all feel like crap compared to the HHKB. They bottom it harshly and, in the case of the Novatouch, feel unrefined and crappy due to a case with too loose of tolerances and stabilizers that rattle too much.

 
Bottoming out harshly only has to do with how you press the board. If you slam the key it'll bottom out hard, regardless of whether you're using case or plate mounted switches. While I like the softness of the HHKB, calling Realforce/FC660C something with 'loose tolerances' is ludicrous.

I have two FC660C's, a black and white one, BOTH have a warped bottom shells, meaning they rock slightly with and without feet down. Pretty damn annoying. They feel great, but they do have some quality issues for sure.

[HoffmanMyster]

Gonna revive this thread with this: WoB looks really damn bad imo.

This is for unpopular opinions, not wrong opinions. 

[livingspeedbump]

Gonna revive this thread with this: WoB looks really damn bad imo.

This is for unpopular opinions, not wrong opinions. 

What he said  )

[jbondeson]

I wouldn't say that WoB looks bad but just like classic beige, it just looks boring to me.

[trenzafeeds]

Gonna revive this thread with this: WoB looks really damn bad imo.

This is for unpopular opinions, not wrong opinions. 

What he said  )

**** ya'll Beige for lyfe

[livingspeedbump]

I wouldn't say that WoB looks bad but just like classic beige, it just looks boring to me.

I won't argue that. I dont have any. But the designs are solid, and the finishes are quite cool.

[ideus]

OG Cherry sets that are in the "common" WoB, BoB double shot combinations; or in the more scarce, TA (the original) or Dolch combinations, or the even rare Red one, are all classics. As with any classic, for some they are boring, for others are just elegant. In any case, they were manufacture in long production runs that increased the stability of the processes making quality defects less likely to occur, small runs, even when they may appear to be large for a group buy, like the recent MD TA run, are more prone to present quality mistakes; therefore, OGs are of higher quality.

[trenzafeeds]

OG Cherry sets that are in the "common" WoB, BoB double shot combinations; or in the more scarce, TA (the original) or Dolch combinations, or the even rare Red one, are all classics. As with any classic, for some they are boring, for others are just elegant. In any case, they were manufacture in long production runs that increased the stability of the processes making quality defects less likely to occur, small runs, even when they may appear to be large for a group buy, like the recent MD TA run, are more prone to present quality mistakes; therefore, OGs are of higher quality.

Don't get me wrong, I refuse to type on anything other than OG Beige.

[jbondeson]

Don't get me wrong, I refuse to type on anything other than OG Beige.

 

[E3E]

Gonna revive this thread with this: WoB looks really damn bad imo.

This is for unpopular opinions, not wrong opinions. 

What he said  )

**** ya'll Beige for lyfe

While I do think I am more a fan of the unicorn vomit custom key cap sets we have today, the OG sets are classy and I can appreciate them. I used to feel disgusted by how plain they were.

[jonathanyu]

there are WAY too much artisan keycaps on gh

[jerue]

there are WAY too much artisan keycaps on gh

But where would we be without them? They cause so much drama and commotion!

[E3E]

The way artisan makers are kind of treated as celebrity figures/gods in the community is somewhat vexing at times.

[trenzafeeds]

The way artisan makers are kind of treated as celebrity figures/gods in the community is somewhat vexing at times.

I mean only some of them are, and that bothers me more personally. I think Binge's caps are freaking amazing, and I'm not demeaning his in any way, but there are other artisan makers who are making equally cool things that don't really get the God status that Binge does. Again, I'm not necessarily saying that he doesn't deserve it, as I said, his work is amazing.

[jonathanyu]

there are WAY too much artisan keycaps on gh

But where would we be without them? They cause so much drama and commotion!

More discussion on keyboard. Just look at the classfield section and the what did you get in the mail today thread..... they are literally full of artisan keycaps. I remeber two or three years ago when I read posts on gh, there was much more discussion on keyboard.

[azhdar]

The way artisan makers are kind of treated as celebrity figures/gods in the community is somewhat vexing at times.

It's downright stupid, you see the same 2-3 people always posting after Bro or Hipster.
DOn't get me wrong they both are very cool, but it looks like people are just mindlessly "upvoting" them around

[jonathanyu]

oh, i know its super unpopular, but i like the look of the hhkb metal case that on md right now.

[swimmingbird]

The way artisan makers are kind of treated as celebrity figures/gods in the community is somewhat vexing at times.

They are the closest things to celebrities within the keyboard community though

Apart from Eiiti Wada - The Godfather of HHKB 

[trenzafeeds]

More discussion on keyboard. Just look at the classfield section and the what did you get in the mail today thread..... they are literally full of artisan keycaps. I remeber two or three years ago when I read posts on gh, there was much more discussion on keyboard.

I can agree with this to some extent. I don't really think there's too many artisans, but sometimes I feel like a lot less interesting keyboard projects are being done because it's easier for people to make artisans if they're going to do DIY. I'm not trying to demean the artisan craft by any means, but I think people see it as being an easy way to make money, not that it actually is. I'm totally guilty of getting into making artisans because I'm scared of board modding, so I don't have a ton of license to complain, but I've never really gotten into collecting mass amounts of them. So, in short, I'm fine with a ton of artisans, but I'd prefer that they not come at the extent of interesting board projects.