[UK] Focus FK-6200

[Rajagra]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180399474745
£1 + £6.99 postage
9 available

Asked seller for details, he replied:
"they are clicky, the name is focus electronic co.limited the model number
is FK6200, hope this helps"

Wiki says click tactile module over membrane switch.

Anyone know if these are as good as the FK-2001 boards that some people rate so highly?  Never mind, I see the 2001 has simplified Alps.

[skriefal]

As good as an FK-2001?  Nope.  The FK-6200 feels like a rubber dome keyboard with some sort of module added to give it a loud-ish, "clacky" sound.  Not the nice thunk of a Topre, but more of a loose, clanky, or "jangly" sound.

[weavol]

I've always LOVED clicky keyboards.  They are getting much harder to find.  I'm currently using a Focus FK 6200 and it's ok not great.  The Focus FK 2001 had a much better feel to them.  I still have one that works but they have the old AT keyboard plug.

What kind of clicky keyboards do you use?

Where can you find Focus Keyboards any more?

[ch_123]

I've always LOVED clicky keyboards.  They are getting much harder to find.  I'm currently using a Focus FK 6200 and it's ok not great.  The Focus FK 2001 had a much better feel to them.  I still have one that works but they have the old AT keyboard plug.

What kind of clicky keyboards do you use?

Where can you find Focus Keyboards any more?

It's very easy to adapt an AT keyboard to USB or PS/2.

If you like White Alps (the switches used in the FK-2001) you might want to consider an IBM which are, IMHO, similar except much better.

[microsoft windows]

I personally like both the IBm and the old white ALPS switches. They feel similar except the ALPS have a lighter touch.

[kishy]

If anything I'd say BS has the lighter touch (in the sense that there is less resistance in pushing down the keys).

However what my fingers feel completely trashes every bit of research, Rip-O-Meter tests and so forth that can be found here. Gravity must be inverted in Canada.

[microsoft windows]

One thing I forgot to mention in my post was wear. IBM's wear much better than ALPS.

[ch_123]

Too much friction in Alps. They're good switches but not the best.

[kishy]

Too much friction in Alps. They're good switches but not the best.

Hmmmm...

Like typing on potato chips.

Switch condition is a big influence, I have two boards with varieties of simplified switches, one's really smooth, the other is crunchy.

[keyb_gr]

All I know is that I can't type very fluidly on either a AT102DW or my new FK-3002. With two such boards around I think it's pretty safe to say I'm not an ALPS guy. I always get along with Cherry MX switches, blues in particular, as well as BS. MLs are OK too, as are the annoyingly clacky but otherwise decent Futabas.

[kishy]

I'd take the smoother sort of simplified white Alps (as found in my Laser keyboard) over Futabas any day.

I've been trying to get a NIB Futaba keyboard out of my sight for ages, nobody wants it.

[ricercar]

One thing I forgot to mention in my post was wear. IBM's wear much better than ALPS.

Yeah, those ALPS never fit right through the shoulders.

[keyb_gr]

I'd take the smoother sort of simplified white Alps (as found in my Laser keyboard) over Futabas any day.

Whatever it was that they used there. I don't think it's impossible that there is something good out there in the Alps switch and clones jungle (apart from the "Montereys" in newer Laser/VTech boards - maybe they used an earlier version of these in yours?), but I haven't found it so far and wasn't too fond of complicated blacks and whites.

I've been trying to get a NIB Futaba keyboard out of my sight for ages, nobody wants it.

The switches aren't *that* bad for it to deserve that. Yes, they are annoyingly clacky, and tactility is a bit on the weak side for a medium force switch, but ultimately I think they're actually quite pleasant to type on (once I put some other keycaps onto my "inverse-stem Futaba" KB-5182, at least - the original ones had rather sharp edges). Less heavy than BS or MX blacks but lighter than MX blues, that's not a bad force range to be in.

[kishy]

Whatever it was that they used there. I don't think it's impossible that there is something good out there in the Alps switch and clones jungle (apart from the "Montereys" in newer Laser/VTech boards - maybe they used an earlier version of these in yours?), but I haven't found it so far and wasn't too fond of complicated blacks and whites.

I think they're your typical run-of-the-mill simplified white ALPS, nothing unusual. I do however find their action rather smooth, with a crisp but not dramatic tactile point. My Leading Edge, believed to have simplifieds also but age would suggest genuine ALPS, is quite a bit harsher.

Unless there were "white Montereys" I've probably got typical simplifieds.

The switches aren't *that* bad for it to deserve that. Yes, they are annoyingly clacky, and tactility is a bit on the weak side for a medium force switch, but ultimately I think they're actually quite pleasant to type on (once I put some other keycaps onto my "inverse-stem Futaba" KB-5182, at least - the original ones had rather sharp edges). Less heavy than BS or MX blacks but lighter than MX blues, that's not a bad force range to be in.

True, it's not really that bad...but I've found the more I bash a type of switch, the easier it is to get someone to take the board from me

(re: peerless...)

But yeah, it's not bad at all. I would probably enjoy it if I got used to it; I just don't want to hurt the NIB-ness of it because it'll cut whatever little value the keyboard seems to have.