Review #2: Das Keyboard II

[theXavier89]

The following is the second review I ever did over on /r/mk. Those who saw my first review know that I'm looking for some feedback or any thoughts.

So, while officially, this is a review of a Das Keyboard, it's the Das II, which means it might as well serve as a review for the Cherry G80-3000 as well. I've also only been using this keyboard a for a total of a few hours, so I won't be able to get as fully detailed as I was with my previous review. Again, as much of this review as possible is going to be objective, and without reference to other keyboards; done in a vacuum.

• Baseplate: This keyboard is actually not plate mounted at all. It's PCB mounted, which means that the keyboard is very light; around 2 lbs (1 kg at max). The lack of plate also means that there isn't so much rigidity in the down stroke, especially if one was to bottom out the key. Also, when I really press down on a key, the PCB does flex a little, showing some give.
• Switches: Being a genuine Cherry keyboard, these are genuine Cherry MX Blue switches. One thing to bear in mind is that this board was made in 2006, and I have not done any maintenance on the switches in any way; so, the fact that the alphanumeric keys are still somewhat crisp shows Cherry switches can stand the test of time. (Since they are rated at several million keystrokes, this is to be expected.) The Das II only came in the option for MX Blues, and these have a well defined click and clack. The tactile bump is very much present and the auditory response still rings clear. Since this keyboard uses (what Deskthority refers to as) leveling mechanisms, rather than Filco stabilizers, the backspace, both shift keys, both enter keys, the space bar, and the numpad + key all feel a little squishy, and this does extend to the auditory response for those keys.
• Keycaps: True to Das origin, the Das II came with black blank keyscaps. Cherry put POM caps on these boards, rather than ABS or PBT, and I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think these are a Cherry profile. These caps also do not have the homerow bump on the F or J keys, but there is one on the numpad's 5 key. While I received this board with very little shine (only really noticeable on the left side of the spacebar), I can see that the modifiers have almost no texture to them at all, whereas the the numrow and the numpad all feel textured. The alphanumerics all feel pretty smooth, but they have yet to start shining. A good portion of the keys (especially the modifiers) have the stems visible from the top side. This may be due to the face that the keycaps are thin, meaning there was not enough material on the topside to fully cover the warping/shrinking the caps went through during manufacturing.
• Case: The Cherry G80-3000 bezel has a very basic, textured rectangular design, with no shiny/glossy finish or USB hubs, and the num/shift/scroll lock indicators are at the top right. I may be wrong, but the case feels like ABS plastic. I came to that conclusion because there feels to be some wear/slight shine on part of the case where the original owner may have rested their hands when typing.

FINAL RATING: 75/100
 
I have been looking to find a Das II for just about 2 years, ever since I got Betty , and I finally found this one on eBay last week. At long last, I got the Das II, the precursor to my beloved board. Since this was Das' foyer into mechanical boards I call this one Lucy (as a reference to the famous australopithecus bones, humanity's ancestor). Before writing this review, I did a little (read: very little) research on the Cherry G80-3000. Just cursory glance stuff. Now, I know the G80-3000 is, to an extent, a legendary keyboard, but it's also relatively cheap. No plate mounting, very basic design, and nothing special really going on. Nothing negative in any way about all of this, I'm just stating some facts. To me, the G80-3000 seems like a great entry level MK. These things are cheap, and can last forever...if you take care of them. Which is why I gave this one an "okay" rating, rather than a good or a great one. The fact that there's an "if" to qualify the Das II's longevity is a little concerning.
This Czech-made Cherry board doesn't have anything special about it's construction, other than the Cherry MX switches themselves. The stabilizers feel squishy, the keycaps are cheap, and the lack of plate mounting sorta bugs me. (I really don't like the amount of give the PCB has.) Don't get me wrong, I'm not disappointed in Lucy in any way. In fact, I knew what I was getting into. She's a great "cheap" board. This model was the precursor to Das' heyday with the Model S's, before Metadot went cheap, and switched to Greetech switches and moved all manufacturing to China.
If I could go back in time and do things all over again, back in 2005, I would have gotten the original membrane Das Keyboard, just to show off the fact that I don't need symbols, and then upgrade to the Das II the very next year as my introduction to MK, and then, in 2008, graduate to the Model S while in college. (I had fun with the wordplay, since I graduated highschool in '07). Then when Das/Metadot sold out, I would make my switch to either Ducky or Realforce. I really want to try Topre.