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Author Topic: Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.  (Read 4864 times)

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Offline zeph

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 6
Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« on: Wed, 12 May 2010, 23:10:03 »
A week ago today I didn't even realize that anyone still made mechanical keyboards. I grew up using an IBM Model M (my dad's) and always loved it, but started using rubber dome keyboards a long time ago after the Model M disappeared. Recently I've been using a Logitech G15 and Wireless Wave and while I've never had any problems with either (other than the fact that wireless peripherals are the worst thing ever) and have been largely satisfied with both purchases.

Bored at work last week I stumbled upon geekhack.org (how? I have no idea) and was intrigued by the prospect of a "new" mechanical keyboard. I do software implementation so a major part of my job is typing and I'm a firm believer in using the right tool for the task at hand. So I put some heavy research (at least half here) into the various mechanical keyboard options and eventually settled on the Tenkeyless Tactile Click "Otaku" from elitekeyboards.com based on the glowing reviews it gets here. Unfortunately when I went to order it it was out of stock. I have a bad habit of being tremendously impatient when it comes to purchases, so I immediately went looking for an alternative. I ended up ordering a Das Keyboard Ultimate from ncix.com (Canadian) a couple of days ago (102$ rather than the all-in 170$ for the Filco made it an easy choice); it shipped yesterday and arrived this morning.

Verdict? Absolutely amazing. I was honestly skeptical about the difference a mechanical keyboard could possibly make over a higher end dome keyboard but my skepticism has proven to be (happily) absolutely unjustified. The first thing I noticed was that I was thoroughly enjoying typing on the DK; the clicky Cherry blues were miles ahead of the mushy keys on my Logitech G15. I've also noticed that I'm actually typing faster than I was with the G15; the decreased resistance, higher activation point, and increased feedback seem to make typing far more efficient. Because I wanted to have some kind of baseline WPM before I plugged the DK in I took three different typing tests on typingtest.com and average about 85 WPM with relatively few errors. I plugged in the DK and took three more tests (different texts from the G15 tests) and ended up with an average 95 WPM. Although I made more errors my gross WPM was significantly higher and I think I can reasonably attribute the errors to the blank keycaps and relative unfamiliarity with the keyboard. Whether that's just a product of a psychological need to justify the 100$+ purchase I don't know, but either way this thing just feels so, so much better than my G15.

The point of this post? None really. Just wanted to share my experience moving to a mechanical keyboard and thank you people for facilitating it. I have a feeling this won't be the last one of these things I buy (HHKB inc. when I get a raise).

So... thanks!
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Offline Pixel_Outlaw

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Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 12 May 2010, 23:56:52 »
I wish I had the money for one too. I've heard mixed reviews myself mostly regarding durability but again I don't own one. I can honestly say that if I had the dough I would give one a whirl.
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Offline clickclack

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« Reply #2 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 02:08:13 »
Congrats on indulging in a keyboard fetish =)
Oh, welcome to geekhack too!
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Offline ch_123

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« Reply #3 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 03:59:52 »
Quote from: Pixel_Outlaw;181769
I wish I had the money for one too. I've heard mixed reviews myself mostly regarding durability but again I don't own one. I can honestly say that if I had the dough I would give one a whirl.


I think in fairness they have fixed a lot of those issues. There was a time if someone came on telling us how they bought a Das we'd be like "Uh oh"
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Offline Mental Hobbit

  • Posts: 461
Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 05:58:40 »
Congrats on your purchase! Yes, blues are just pure fun.

Of course you need some other mechanicals for comparison now, to verify that blues are indeed most fun. And then you need to find out how much better blues can sound and feel with good keycaps.... :biggrin1:
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Typing on blues.

Offline skcheng

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Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 06:08:55 »
I've been using a Das S with the media controls and I must say that it's an awesome board.  Keycaps are MUCH nicer than the standard Filco caps and the media functions work well.  I just won't attach it to my IMacs LOL.  

My favorite part of the board......the stealth LED lock indicators on the upper on the upper right.   Too cool!!!

And I like the glossy finish.  Das could have made a matte board like eeeevveryone else, but they chose to differ.  

Add a USB hub which works nicely for me with a short USB extension and a nice $99 price and I think it's a winner.

Nice purchase OP......even though I would have opted for the non-Otaku version.
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Offline odyssomay

  • Posts: 21
Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 06:16:38 »
I actually ordered my first mechanical yesterday, otaku whith blues. I hope that my experience will be as good as yours!
As for the das, in contrast to skcheng, the glossy made me not buy it (also, the keypad is annoying).
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Offline skcheng

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Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 06:21:02 »
Quote from: odyssomay;181844
I actually ordered my first mechanical yesterday, otaku whith blues. I hope that my experience will be as good as yours!
As for the das, in contrast to skcheng, the glossy made me not buy it (also, the keypad is annoying).



If Das made a Tenkeyless, I'd buy two today  :)

The glossy finish is beautiful.   Geekhackers are just too Geeky to realize that.
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Offline Mental Hobbit

  • Posts: 461
Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 06:26:30 »
Quote from: skcheng;181846
The glossy finish is beautiful.   Geekhackers are just too Geeky to realize that.


Dentists are just too anal to realize how annoying a keyboard that needs to be polished three times a day is to normal people. ;P
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Typing on blues.

Offline skcheng

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Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #9 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 06:34:18 »
Quote from: Mental Hobbit;181847
Dentists are just too anal to realize how annoying a keyboard that needs to be polished three times a day is to normal people. ;P


LOL.  My fingers are so precise that I never touch any of the glossy parts.  I don't even know how they got that thing so glossy??
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Offline odyssomay

  • Posts: 21
Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #10 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 06:56:10 »
Quote from: skcheng;181850
My fingers are so precise that I never touch any of the glossy parts.  

That might be so, but it's not nice when something is so glossy that you're scared of even touching it.
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Offline skcheng

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Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #11 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 07:15:38 »
Quote from: odyssomay;181851
That might be so, but it's not nice when something is so glossy that you're scared of even touching it.


What are you scared of???  LOL??  

Me likey shiny things!!  After I place a dental restoration, I take 5 to 6 steps with polishing burs/points/paste to restore luster to an enamel like shine.   Yeah, it's OCD ......
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Offline zeph

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« Reply #12 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 09:32:42 »
I definitely like the shiny finish, but I have no doubt that it'll become less attractive as time passes. I've already got an epic scratch through the LED portion; I think I was typing somewhat overzealously last night.
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Offline skcheng

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Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #13 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 09:36:26 »
Quote from: zeph;181901
I definitely like the shiny finish, but I have no doubt that it'll become less attractive as time passes. I've already got an epic scratch through the LED portion; I think I was typing somewhat overzealously last night.


I never thought about scratching the shiny finish.  Not that scratches/scuffs look good on any surface.  I wonder what Das recommends as a scratch remover for their boards??
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Offline bionicroach

  • Posts: 121
Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #14 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 10:03:52 »
Quote from: skcheng;181905
...I wonder what Das recommends as a scratch remover for their boards??...

Not sure what Das officially recommends, but I agree with Ripster that the Novus polish products work pretty well.  I used to use them all the time to polish my garish plexiglass trimmed subwoofer enclosures when I was a car audio enthusiast back in the day.

Congrats on the Das, Zeph!  I've had a Das III Pro for about 2.5 years and it's been a great board.  I was lucky enough not to have any of the key transposition problems of that era (maybe I just don't type fast enough?)  One other thing the Das has going for it is excellent customer support from Metadot.  When I originally purchased mine, it arrived with what I presume where mis-printed J and K keys, because the raised "nub" was on the K key, while the J was smooth.  Needless to say, this drove me nuts for touch typing.  Metadot immediately offered to ship me replacement keys for free, or exchange the entire board if I was not comfortable pulling keys (lol).  Very nice people.
« Last Edit: Thu, 13 May 2010, 10:14:38 by bionicroach »
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Offline itlnstln

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Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #15 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 10:09:26 »
Quote from: ripster;181929
Now that they never clean the windows Novus has moved on to other markets.

I was about to say.  It sure as Hell doesn't look like they use it.
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Offline itlnstln

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Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #16 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 10:25:48 »
True that.  There's not a whole lot to see at 30K feet, anyway, I'm just trying to take a nap.
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Offline itlnstln

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« Reply #17 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 10:44:45 »
I was going to make a snide comment about that making you feel "reeeaal safe."  After some careful consideration, though, at least you know there aren't any bombs on that plane. As a matter of fact, I might request that on my next flight this Summer.
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Offline itlnstln

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« Reply #18 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 11:04:11 »
Didn't they already do that in the UK and Spain?
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Offline Rajagra

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« Reply #19 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 11:23:43 »
Quote from: itlnstln;181949
True that.  There's not a whole lot to see at 30K feet, anyway, I'm just trying to take a nap.


You aren't a pilot are you?
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Offline itlnstln

  • Posts: 7048
Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #20 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 11:28:28 »
Autopilot, duh.

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Offline Rajagra

  • Posts: 1930
Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #21 on: Thu, 13 May 2010, 11:59:22 »
Does the autopilot know how to work the wipers?

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Offline iMav

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Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #22 on: Sat, 15 May 2010, 21:42:54 »
Quote from: zeph;181901
I definitely like the shiny finish, but I have no doubt that it'll become less attractive as time passes.

I warned the wife of this very thing (regarding me, that is).

:)
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Offline InSanCen

  • Posts: 560
Das Keyboard, Thanks Guys.
« Reply #23 on: Sun, 16 May 2010, 02:24:49 »
Quote from: iMav;182815
I warned the wife of this very thing (regarding me, that is).

:)


My missus says it's already happened with me... :-(
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