Not long ago my venerable ten year old Logitech keyboard lost the reliable use of a few important keys. I could probably fix them but I though what the heck, it's just a rubber-dome keyboard - I might as well get a no-frills Cherry to tide me over. I had heard good things about this model; how it was very reliable and the universally positive customer reviews. Since I know that recent Logitech and Microsoft boards are pretty abysmal, having tried several of them, I thought i'd go for a cheap and cheerful Cherry. Sure i'd like to get a truly "mechanical" keyboard but with the economy as it is, it would be a huge gamble to pay so much for something I couldn't even try out first.
Anyway, this keyboard arrived today. I immediately noticed how light it was compared to my old Logitech. There was no steel back-plate, and a lot of flex. I plugged it in and tried it out and from the very first touch, I can't really explain it better than this, but I recoiled. Or rather, my fingers did. The key-tops are extremely slippery, even though they're textured. Imagine that Teflon coated frying pans are also textured but slippery and you'll get the idea. Furthermore, these keys have a much shallower "scoop" in them, so in combination with the slippery texture, it's very easy to hit the wrong key by mistake unless I am looking directly at the keyboard which I don't usually have to do. I pried a cap off to see if I could explain the hollow, unsatisfying "thunk" that the keys made. I almost broke the damn thing because these keys are made from the lightest, thinnest and cheapest plastic I have ever seen. Imagine melted-down black bin-liners and you'll understand what this keyboard appears to be made from. In comparison with my old keyboard this Cherry has key-tops that appear to be half the thickness all around.
In its favour... um, well... the keys do something when I press them! The whole thing has this cheap feel to it; the plastic is injection moulded and you can see the swirls where the plastic was not mixed properly.
I got this keyboard to tide me over while I consider what kind of "real" keyboard to purchase. It succeeds in the sense that the keys are functional. In every other measure, it is far inferior to my previous keyboard, and it's a horrible experience having to use it. If anything it has hardened my resolve to find a decent "clicky" keyboard made by someone who actually gives a damn about what they are selling, rather than about profit margins.
I read a review someone else posted on their recent purchase of a black Cherry G80 and that also had some of the flaws i'm seeing here, so it seems that you can't escape shoddy manufacturing from Cherry simply by handing over more cash. It's very disappointing really.
I'll get used to this thing if I can but I don't rate my chances. I am amazed that consumers give this keyboard good reviews, when it can't even hold a candle to a rubber-dome keyboard of a decade ago. I apologise for any typos but I have become less accurate thanks to this wretched device.
In closing: Cherry G83? You look bad and you should feel bad! You'd do better as a frisbee than as a keyboard.