geekhack

geekhack Community => Reviews => Topic started by: oTurtlez on Tue, 28 May 2013, 17:53:35

Title: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: oTurtlez on Tue, 28 May 2013, 17:53:35
So my first Leo, second Topre came in the mail today and all I can say is wow. I absolutely love it. Be it the sound it makes, the feel of the keys, or even the construction, I was blown away. Now I COULD give you a nice picture tour of the entire board, but everyone else has already done so, so I thought I might just do a litter write up with the new board and give my first and lasting impressions.

I was previously using an RF 103u and this board seems completely different. The switches on this one being all 45g feel significantly different in comparison to my RF. They feel stiffer, which could be due to them being brand new, and I got my RF when it was almost two years old, but even so, they feel better. It's much heavier than I thought it would be but I can only say that's a good thing. I'll get a little bit more organized now.

Layout:
I don't mind the layout, which was the reason the previous owner parted with it. My previous mini-board was a KBT Pure and this board is miles from it. I'll get into construction later on though. Layout wise, I feel like the function layer isn't very crowded, mostly because it isnt. With the pure, I had to deal with having media keys, as well as LED controls to remember. With this, everything is much more organized and simple. Having the dedicated arrows, which granted I don't use much, is also a nice touch as they aren't too invasive on the layout, and can be handy when I'm trying to navigate a webpage. The insert key isn't really necessary for my use, however I do like it because it gave me a free spot to put my Depth Black CC.  ;D The delete key however I do like and use sometimes but I'm glad it's dedicated. I would've also liked to see a function layer version of the delete key just in case I'm in a funky mood or something where I don't necessarily feel like reaching for it. I have a weird typing style though so key placement isn't usually a problem for me.

Construction:
Let's start off with a WOW. My expectations were surpassed when this thing arrived. I opened the box and found this dense object where I thought there would be a feather. Statistically it's only 20g heavier than an HHKB, which I've never held, but with that extra mass comes many benefits. The board feels very rigid and sturdy as I type on it. I personally love plate mounted switches vs a PCB mount so when I saw there was a mini plate mounted board, I had to have it. The outer plastic shell doesn't feel weak either. The rubber feet also work tremendously well at keeping the board in place. When I had built my new desk, my RF would slide around easily on the polyurethaned wood, but not this thing. There are very few creaks when I squeeze the casing, as well as there is none of that loud popping issue that another member had experienced. Overall I think the board is very well made. One more thing, very well done with the USB port on the back. There shouldn't be any issues with breaking one on this board due to the way they recessed it.

Looks: Not much to say here other than unique. There wasn't a whole lot Leo could do to throw the arrow keys in other than what they did. If the extended the board further to isolate them from the mods, it'd just look goofy and extremely long. I would've preferred a normal set of modifiers but I'll adjust over time.  The board maintains a sleek, slim, and even sexy look even though it's very usable and widely user friendly.

TL;DR:
I like the board a lot and plan on keeping it for quite a while. The only thing to gripe about IS the layout but even that comes down to personal preferences.

If anyone has any questions about the FC660C, feel free to post here or drop me a PM. Thanks for reading :D


EDIT: Here's a beauty album ---> http://imgur.com/a/We3SA
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: Latin00032 on Tue, 28 May 2013, 18:19:44
I guess it may feel denser because of the plate.

Do you think this is your new go to board even compared to mx switch type boards?
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: oTurtlez on Tue, 28 May 2013, 18:30:45
I "switched" off of MX last year and haven't really looked back. My RF WAS my go to board until now I believe. I might use this for a few months as my daily driver, but a full size board might be better suited for that. This was originally purchased to replace my Pure as my go to small board to pack with my Laptop, which it will definitely be, but I might just keep using her as my daily driver as well :)
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: Sniping on Tue, 28 May 2013, 18:31:43
Congrats on your purchase! I just want to let you know that WFD pointed out that there's a spring that you can remove on the spacebar which adds extra weight to the key, so you can take it out if you like uniformity like he does.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: oTurtlez on Tue, 28 May 2013, 18:46:51
Hmm, interesting. Link to the thread or post where he talks about that?
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: Sniping on Tue, 28 May 2013, 19:02:16
It's in his review on his YouTube channel, I can't remember off the top of my head where he says it though inside the 20 minute video.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: oTurtlez on Tue, 28 May 2013, 20:58:20
^^^ Thanks to you sir, I now have a 55g escape key :D
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: jabar on Tue, 28 May 2013, 21:21:40
One issue with the board is that the DIP CAPS <> Ctrl switch disables the Caps LED. However, this board is just as amazing, if not more so, than the HHKB. It's a tank and gorgeous.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: kelske on Tue, 28 May 2013, 22:14:01
This board is just as amazing. It's a tank and gorgeous.

(http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/37046468.jpg)

Funkin love this keyboard
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: daerid on Wed, 29 May 2013, 01:20:09
I have to agree. The more I use it the more it becomes my favorite board. I went to my AE 55g a few days ago, and my hands started cramping up. Granted my AE is much stiffer than my white 55g (for some reason).

But yeah, this board is truly a work of magic.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: oTurtlez on Wed, 29 May 2013, 12:32:26
I love the thing. Unfortunately I'm at school right now typing on some mushy rubber domes. Might have to bring in my own keyboard for the next week :D
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: whiteduck on Fri, 31 May 2013, 11:04:32
nice review - You highlighted one of the most important features - the feet.  They create a very solid feel and the board does not move at all, which is huge compared to every other board I have used.  wooooo
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: SpAmRaY on Mon, 17 June 2013, 11:28:54
Does the backspace key feel different to anyone else? Perhaps it is where I am hitting when typing...
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: blissdev on Mon, 17 June 2013, 15:51:17
Where did you guys buy this board from?
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: SpAmRaY on Mon, 17 June 2013, 16:05:43
Where did you guys buy this board from?

I purchased from Bro Caps here in the classifieds.

Right now member qtan is doing some proxy buying he has a thread in his vendor subforum.

Also EK shows they will get stock towards the end of June.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: Sniping on Mon, 17 June 2013, 20:58:08
Does the backspace key feel different to anyone else? Perhaps it is where I am hitting when typing...

Well to me it sounds different, not so much feel, but I didn't like the extra weight from the spring on the spacebar so I moved the spring from the spacebar to the backspace.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: Sniping on Mon, 17 June 2013, 20:58:27
Does the backspace key feel different to anyone else? Perhaps it is where I am hitting when typing...

Well to me it sounds different, not so much feel, but I didn't like the extra weight from the spring on the spacebar so I moved the spring from the spacebar to the backspace.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: SpAmRaY on Mon, 17 June 2013, 21:16:06
Does the backspace key feel different to anyone else? Perhaps it is where I am hitting when typing...

Well to me it sounds different, not so much feel, but I didn't like the extra weight from the spring on the spacebar so I moved the spring from the spacebar to the backspace.

I ended up doing the same earlier today.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: blissdev on Tue, 18 June 2013, 00:46:19
Right now member qtan is doing some proxy buying he has a thread in his vendor subforum.

Could you point me to his subforum? I don't see one by that name. Sorry I'm a noob.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: rowdy on Tue, 18 June 2013, 01:13:45
Right now member qtan is doing some proxy buying he has a thread in his vendor subforum.

Could you point me to his subforum? I don't see one by that name. Sorry I'm a noob.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=44824.0

It looks like there might be one left.  If you get in quickly, you will stop me from agonizing over whether to get one myself (can't afford it atm, so you would be doing me a favour).
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: blissdev on Tue, 18 June 2013, 01:33:42
Right now member qtan is doing some proxy buying he has a thread in his vendor subforum.

Could you point me to his subforum? I don't see one by that name. Sorry I'm a noob.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=44824.0

It looks like there might be one left.  If you get in quickly, you will stop me from agonizing over whether to get one myself (can't afford it atm, so you would be doing me a favour).

You might just get this one. I should probably wait for for my next paycheck... Maybe EK will have some by then.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: rowdy on Tue, 18 June 2013, 01:38:51
Right now member qtan is doing some proxy buying he has a thread in his vendor subforum.

Could you point me to his subforum? I don't see one by that name. Sorry I'm a noob.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=44824.0

It looks like there might be one left.  If you get in quickly, you will stop me from agonizing over whether to get one myself (can't afford it atm, so you would be doing me a favour).

You might just get this one. I should probably wait for for my next paycheck... Maybe EK will have some by then.

Damnit - you were supposed to relieve me of having to make this choice.  I already have another keyboard on the way.

I was kinda hoping PCCG would get them in at some stage, which is much more local to me.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: deazncy on Wed, 26 June 2013, 12:38:43
I just got mine in yesterday and I am loving it so far. The Topre switches feel really really nice to type on; I can't get enough of them.

The layout is very comfortable and great, and pretty gaming friendly as well. The only thing I would complain about would be that the kb is longer than it has to be because of the wasted space on the right side.

It has some nice weight to it; still light but you can feel that it is very well built. The keycaps feel pretty nice as well, but not really liking the printing method. I can tell that the characters will eventually start to fade, but at least they didn't use any strange font for them.

The Topre switches were actually just what I was looking for; light, noticeably tactile (browns didn't do it for me), and fairly quiet. I'm actually kinda leaning towards the "thock" sound of Topres over the "click" of the MX blues - the sound that Topres make is just music to my ears.

All in all, I am very happy with my purchase and since I really do enjoy Topres, the FC660C will be the last keyboard I buy.

Also, a special thanks to qtan for hooking us up with the fc660c proxy.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: Sniping on Wed, 26 June 2013, 15:12:03
The space on the right is only partly wasted. The keyboard has to be that long because the arrow cluster wouldn't fit if it wasn't that only. They probably could've put one or two more keys there but again, the length of the keyboard is necessary.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: deazncy on Wed, 26 June 2013, 16:24:08
The space on the right is only partly wasted. The keyboard has to be that long because the arrow cluster wouldn't fit if it wasn't that only. They probably could've put one or two more keys there but again, the length of the keyboard is necessary.

Yeah, you're right about that. I guess than that the only thing that bothers me is the free space they didn't use.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: Sniping on Wed, 26 June 2013, 16:39:16
Yeah, that gets me a little bit too. I would've liked a dedicated print screen or something, because I don't even use the insert key, I heard it was put there for programmers or something, but I to me it's an LED clack holder like everyone says it is :D
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: kelske on Wed, 26 June 2013, 17:21:25
Glad you finally managed to get your hands on one dude :D

I honestly can't think of any other keyboard I'd like as much as I like this thing. All day every day.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: deazncy on Wed, 26 June 2013, 18:25:21
Glad you finally managed to get your hands on one dude :D

I honestly can't think of any other keyboard I'd like as much as I like this thing. All day every day.

Real talk.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: Exoverture on Thu, 27 June 2013, 00:18:10
Just received one, and it's great. Mimic a lot of what's said here.

Just a question, does anyone else have their modifier keys make more noise than the other keys? Backspace and enter / left shift are especially quote noisy (sounds like a metal ping-ish noise)
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: kelske on Thu, 27 June 2013, 00:22:36
Just received one, and it's great. Mimic a lot of what's said here.

Just a question, does anyone else have their modifier keys make more noise than the other keys? Backspace and enter / left shift are especially quote noisy (sounds like a metal ping-ish noise)

I think those keys have a metal wire stabilizer on them on the underside of the plate, so that might explain the difference.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: deazncy on Thu, 27 June 2013, 21:12:46
Just received one, and it's great. Mimic a lot of what's said here.

Just a question, does anyone else have their modifier keys make more noise than the other keys? Backspace and enter / left shift are especially quote noisy (sounds like a metal ping-ish noise)

I think those keys have a metal wire stabilizer on them on the underside of the plate, so that might explain the difference.

I kinda like it though. It gives it a nice feel and sound when pressing them.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: oTurtlez on Wed, 10 July 2013, 08:46:30
Just received one, and it's great. Mimic a lot of what's said here.

Just a question, does anyone else have their modifier keys make more noise than the other keys? Backspace and enter / left shift are especially quote noisy (sounds like a metal ping-ish noise)

I think those keys have a metal wire stabilizer on them on the underside of the plate, so that might explain the difference.

I kinda like it though. It gives it a nice feel and sound when pressing them.

Sorry for not responding in almost two months haha. Yes, to confirm there is a stabilizer under the plate for wider switches. And my backspace key hasn't made me think about it too much so I wouldn't say it's too different. I dig my 55g escape though :D
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: TimIsABat on Fri, 02 August 2013, 23:01:07
What do you think of the flat caps? I am using a FC660M right now in lieu of my out of commission modded poker and I have been making mistakes a lot more with the flat caps (or maybe a combination of this and linear reds).

I really want a Topre board and am debating on a Realforce or a HHKB but the prices on both are ludicrous.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: SpAmRaY on Sat, 03 August 2013, 01:05:53
What do you think of the flat caps? I am using a FC660M right now in lieu of my out of commission modded poker and I have been making mistakes a lot more with the flat caps (or maybe a combination of this and linear reds).

I really want a Topre board and am debating on a Realforce or a HHKB but the prices on both are ludicrous.

In my short time with the FC660C I didn't have a problem with mistaken key presses.

It could be more the reds and getting used to the layout on your FC660M

There have been some good deals in the classifieds recently on topre boards.
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: tehsprayer on Sat, 03 August 2013, 21:52:14
oTurtlez, how do you like this board compared to realforces?
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: oTurtlez on Mon, 05 August 2013, 08:17:21
oTurtlez, how do you like this board compared to realforces?

About on par quality wise. The board does not feel cheap whatsoever. It's a great board. I actually prefer it over my older 103u because of the 45g uniform switches :))
Title: Re: FC660C Mini-Review
Post by: TimIsABat on Mon, 05 August 2013, 15:58:12
What do you think of the flat caps? I am using a FC660M right now in lieu of my out of commission modded poker and I have been making mistakes a lot more with the flat caps (or maybe a combination of this and linear reds).

I really want a Topre board and am debating on a Realforce or a HHKB but the prices on both are ludicrous.

In my short time with the FC660C I didn't have a problem with mistaken key presses.

It could be more the reds and getting used to the layout on your FC660M

There have been some good deals in the classifieds recently on topre boards.

The deals I have been seeing are amazing, I just don't have the money atm... Hopefully I can get a job soon, and Christmas is only coming closer XD.