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Leopold FC660M Cherry MX Red
TimIsABat:
This is my first mechanical keyboard and this is my first mechanical keyboard review.
Some things to note is that I do not know much about PCB boards so I did not take it apart and talk about the PCB, but rather this a general review for anyone who just wants a general feel about the keyboard.
So a little backstory to how I bought the board:
I bought the board off of eBay from GH netizen Valerie. She didn't want the board because she rather have the MX Browns and this was a steal because she was selling it for $50. So I was like, "Instead of buying an uber expensive board. I will buy this one and buy another board later." So, I bought this with MX Reds (although I wanted to try brown at first, but reds are still very nice and I like it).
Here is a side view of the box where it says how many keys, operating systems , etc.
This is what was included in the box. What you see is what I got. Nothing more, nothing less. I read somewhere that the colored caps were a promotion. I was pretty bummed out, but it's whatever.
This is the manual for dipswitches and Fn functions. I don't read Chinese, so I hard to peruse around elitekeyboards website to the FC660C page to find out what the dipswitches do.
*Captain Falcon* Okay! Now to review aspects of the board!
Build Quality
Right when I picked it up I knew it was a solid board. It had a great heft from the plate mount, and the shell felt very sturdy. No qualms about the chassis.
Grade: A
Keycaps
The keycaps are PBT with gold print. They felt really sturdy and the texture is a nice rough texture that I like because I have sweaty hands so it feels good to know that my fingers won't just slip around. The keycaps are quite small in height compared to the KBC black blank PBT keycaps sitting here on my desk, and they are almost flat. I personally don't like the flatness of the keycaps, because I end up misclicking. Even though my fingers are sausages, I find that the small keycaps combined with the flatness of the tops causes me to misclick. This was a huge curveball when I first started typing.
Grade: B
Format
This board is unique in that it is not a full 60% board. I like the small form factor as it is easy to carry with me to school, and doesn't eat my desk like my old HP keyboard did. It really is easy to get to my mouse, and it helps in games like League of Legends where I like to communicate with my teammates. The one problem I do have is that the left control key feels awkward. This is particularly the case with FPS games where my left-ctrl is crouch. I used to use shift as crouch and ctrl as walk (CS:GO), but I found my palm accidentally activating the left ctrl key. To solve this issue, I used dipswitch 1 to make my capslock key my ctrl key which made it more comfortable. I like the format, but the size of the keys kinda threw it off as well.
Grade: B
Dipswitch
There are four dipswitches on the underside of the keyboard that have different functions. You could change the capslock to left ctrl and vice versa, the left alt to windows and vice versa, the Fn key on the right to windows and vice versa, and the final switch is to turn the windows key off.
The only two switches I use out of these are the first and last switches for FPS gaming. I like it, but having to unplug your keyboard, turn it off, get the switches activated with your nail, turn it back over, and the replug it may turn some people off. I'm not that lazy so I don't mind it too much. The other switches I have not found a use for so I can't really say much about them.
Grade: A
Function Layer
Due to its small form factor and reduced keys, the FC660M, like the FC660C, has a seperate layer for different keys activated by the Fn key. 1-0 are F keys when pressed with the Fn key, and print screen, home, end, pgdn, etc. are also activated on the main keys with the Fn key. Pgup, pgdown, home, and end can also be accessed by Fn + arrow keys. Hitting Fn+Q turns the Esc key into a permanent [~] key (which lights up the insert key led).
There wasn't too much to get used to because of the arrow keys being dedicated and work better than the other keys for home, end, pgdwn, and pgup. I don't really use the ~ key too much so that wasn't really a problem either.
Using the F keys were pretty easy so not much learning there either. Even though it doesn't have media keys, Authotkey does wonders, so no complaints about no media keys.
Grade: A
Cherry MX Red
This was a learning curve for me. I was so used to typing on a membrane keyboard (like many of you might recall), and at first I was struggling. I misclicked so many times I dropped a whole 20 WPM. I'm starting to get used to it the more I type in daily functions (like this review), but I am still getting used to the switch, caps, and form factor. I haven't tried any other switches (besides the blues on a Blackwidow Ultimate in the Microsoft store), so I can't really compare it to other switches, but I can tell you how they generally feel.
These things are like, but have a nice resistance. I have the WASD switch, cap, and o-ring tester (review misplaced in the keyboard section), and I enjoyed the reds on the single switch. I think it is the keyboard, but they feel kinda stiff compared to when I tested it on the switch tester. They feel stiffer on my left hand (specifically my left pinky [left shift, left ctrl, etc.), but that might be from my left pinky being a little weird. I also suffer from slight carpal (drumming :P) so that might be it too, but my wrists hurt a bit when typing on it.
Bottoming out is like the only way I can type efficiently right now. I am getting better and better at a turtle's pace, but I still end up bottoming out on typing tests. I am waiting on red silica o-rings from IMSTO coming in the mail so maybe that might remedy the harshness of bottoming out. I love the sound when it doesn't bottom out though.
In terms of overall feel, I really enjoy the typing experience on MX Reds. Very smooth and light but with a nice resistance that pushes your fingers up (but not as much as blacks of course).
Grade: A- (they feel stiff on this board so can't be an A)
Typing Sound
Instead of telling you what I hear I can show you a bideo!
I don't know if you can hear it in the video, but you can hear a slight ping from the plate, but it is slight so it doesn't really bother me. I like how PBT caps sound. Doesn't sound mushy but sounds more concrete than ABS.
Grade: A
Notes
I don't know if its because its defective or if its just the nature of this board, but whenver I hit the ['] key there is a delay. I'll press it and the action doesn't occur unless I press a key after it. When I hit ["] sometimes it would double up. I'm wondering if anyone else is having this issue.
Conclusion
Overall good board. Small form factor is a learning curve and sometimes the left ctrl makes my hand feel weird and ache. The build is sturdy, hefty, and strong. The keycaps are a solid PBT. MX Reds are great but definitely a learning curve for those new to mechanical keyboards such as myself.
Overall Grade: A-
CPTBadAss:
I really like the detail you put into this review. Like your struggle with carpel tunnel and how it affects your typing. I have some things I'd like to point out though:
- On the Nostalgia theme, you can't see the "Uploaded by ImageShack" tag. It's black on black
- Don't ever TL:DR if you want people to read your reviews thoroughly. People will just look at the pictures and then the TL:DR then say on great review, it was too long but I liked it. Make them read it to the bitter end :P
- I'd love to see pictures of the backside and maybe the profile of the caps so a side view picture.
I really loved the font you used for your headers and your grading system. Also I've found with longer reviews, if people are looking back to them as a reference, you can use like in article links. Let me know if you want some examples of this.
TimIsABat:
--- Quote from: CPTBadAss on Fri, 21 June 2013, 13:27:53 ---I really like the detail you put into this review. Like your struggle with carpel tunnel and how it affects your typing. I have some things I'd like to point out though:
- On the Nostalgia theme, you can't see the "Uploaded by ImageShack" tag. It's black on black
- Don't ever TL:DR if you want people to read your reviews thoroughly. People will just look at the pictures and then the TL:DR then say on great review, it was too long but I liked it. Make them read it to the bitter end :P
- I'd love to see pictures of the backside and maybe the profile of the caps so a side view picture.
I really loved the font you used for your headers and your grading system. Also I've found with longer reviews, if people are looking back to them as a reference, you can use like in article links. Let me know if you want some examples of this.
--- End quote ---
Examples are great! Thanks for the advice. I'm still new to writing reviews. I will post pictures of the backside and the profile of the keycaps. I will also show picture comparison with ABS and my KBC PBT keycaps.
Edit: Changed TL;DR.
Jack Karneval:
Awesome review Tim, I find it interesting you're bottoming out which is what happens when I type on MX Blues switches (basically same spring resistance as Reds). After trying MX Green switches I don't think I'd go back to a lighter resistance switch. You might want to try MX Blacks, Greens, or Whites if you can get your hands on any of those.
TimIsABat:
As per request of CPTBadAss:
Back Label
Back Dipswitches
Keycap Profile
NOTE: I know the picture isn't the best, but I did my best :P. They red cap is an ABS red blank cap that came with my sampler kit. Added on it just to see how it would look with a single red cap.
Keycap Profile
From order of left to right: FC660M keycap, KBC PBT keycap, ABS Keycap from WASDkeyboard.
Full backside
The rubber feet are nice, and with the raisers it makes it even better. Doesn't slide at all around my desk.
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