Cherry crush

[xsphat]

I just ordered an M10 so soon we will have a direct comparison of the browns and the blues, the MLs and the blacks, oh MY! Everyone talks about the blues like they are the bomb, so it was only a matter of time before I got around to pulling the trigger on one of these.

I looked around for a Cherry G80-3000, but all I found had funky layouts, and I want a Das II like I want a toothache, so I settled on the M10. I ordered it from ErgoGeek.com and it qualifies for free shipping, so I got it for $10 American less than their eBay store charges. Stupid, huh?

[sashomasho]

I just ordered an M10 so soon we will have a direct comparison of the browns and the blues, the MLs and the blacks, oh MY! Everyone talks about the blues like they are the bomb, so it was only a matter of time before I got around to pulling the trigger on one of these.

I'm very interested in direct comparison with the filco, of course ignoring the build quality of the keyboards. I have the M10 and the blues really rocks, bought the hhkb pro2 and it's quite pleasant too, even more pleasant than the M10, but still can't stop bottoming down the keys . the last thing I want to add (at least for the next couple of months) is one filco, it's a pity that they don't offer blues with us layout, and I'm not very sure about the browns, so i'll be looking forward to your impressions about these keyboards...

[rodney]

How is the build quality of the M10?

[iMav]

How is the build quality of the M10?

Check this topic out.

[xsphat]

I don't plan to take it apart for fear it will fall apart ... but it has these damned blue switches and if I like them a lot, I might pull a Karlito with some other keyboard than the SMK88.

[sashomasho]

How is the build quality of the M10?

i know that what lambition says is warring, but mine is ok, really it's ok, not excellent but quite satisfactory. i opened it and the pcb looked as it should be - nothing like what's shown on the pictures.. i guess that the quality control has been at vacation for his batch...

[iMav]

... but it has these damned blue switches

I really like the blues... I can't imagine any lighter feedback being at all satisfying.  

But, then again, I haven't touched the browns yet.  

[karlito]

cherry blues feel fine but the noise kills me (i only use my blue cherries when playing games so i cannot hear the keys).

I had an M10 for about a week and a half and had no problems at all. I also took it apart and the construction was fine.  I think that dude just got a dud or two (but who's to say you wont?).

I really want to get that Filco xsphat bought but $165 for a keyboard i know i wont like (because of the numpad) is just too much.  If only they made a model w/out the numpad and/or the arrow keys.  I mean really numpad has arrow keys and pg up/pg dn wtf is w/ all the redundancy!?!? ARGHHH

[zerogravitas]

They do make a "mini" FKB100M/JB that may have the brown cherries, but it has japanese characters and extra modifier keys which may or may not be a problem. It still has a numpad too.  

http://www.diatec.co.jp/products/det.php?prod_c=394

[xsphat]

Karlito, it's not like the Filco is a B-52 like the Model M:



It's the same size as just the keys on the Model M!



For another size reference:



With the M it was like the mouse was in a different county. The Filco isn't really a bad size at all.

[karlito]

Yea, I kind of figured it was around the size of the scorpius m10.

I've also always thought that I could switch from using W A S D when gaming to I J K L then it wouldnt really matter if the numpad was there.

hmm I'll have to see what kind of tax refund im getting (if any) and maybe blow it on this keyboard

[Ulysses31]

That Filco is drool-worthy.  Xsphat, do you know what the final shipping weight was of that keyboard?  Did you have to pay any additional import tax?  I am sorely tempted by this keyboard despite the cost.

[xsphat]

The original quote says 1300g, but I never received an updated shipping weight. In the end, it took me a total of 13 days to get from Japan to my fat hands and it ended up costing $165 American. It's worth it in the end, and in this case, I got what I paid for.

[skyian]

I just wanna join this topic... ^_^

As a taiwan citizen, I live closer to Japan than USA citizen. Hence it's comparatively easy for me to buy Japan keyboard. (Though they are made in Taiwan... LOL )

I have

1. FILCO FKBN 104ML (black switch with N-key Rollover function)
2. FILCO FKBK 104M  (brown swithch with the same NKRO funciton)
→ I tend to call N key rollover function as NKRO function.
3. FILCO FKBT 104 ML (black switch with Bluetooth function)

As for the weight, it's around 1.5 KG with the box.

I like the touch of FILCO FKBN ML more (light black switch with a steel board).

However, I also like cherry G80-3484 (brown swithch with black 2 shot keys) and Realfroce 103.

It's quite hard to quit cherry keyswitches. ^_^

[iMav]

skyian,

Are you aware of any blue Cherry switch-equipped Filco's?

And...when are we going to see pictures of your collection?  

[skyian]

skyian,

Are you aware of any blue Cherry switch-equipped Filco's?

And...when are we going to see pictures of your collection?  

iMav,

As far as I remembered, there's a Filco 108 keys JP Layout keyboard equipped with blue switches.

Unfortunatedly it's a Japan Layout, and I don't collect any JP Layout keyboards.

(That's because the second hand price of JP Layout keyboard in Taiwan is extremely unreasonably cheap. Almost no one would like to buy one in Taiwan.)

Anyway, I do know a Seller in Shan-hai, Main land of china. He sells FILCO keyboard equipped with blue switches. Also it's a standard 104 keys US Layout, IBM standard Layout keyboard.

The only question is, I don't know how do the seller get that kinda of keyboard, because I haven't seen this kind of keyboard on DIATEC's website.

Besides, the price of that blue switches equipped FILCO keyboard is a bit high.
It cost 1259 RMB (about 177 USD), and you have to add the shipping fee from China to USA.

That's all I know.
Here's some pics of that FILCO keyboards with blue switches.
(I know the seller. Hope him wouldn't mind... ^_^)








That seller also sell FILCO keyboard in Red color. The price is also a bit high (RMB 1500, about 210USD)

Here's some pics








Hope these information is useful.......^_^

[xsphat]

Does he "switch" the switches or what? If he does, he must switch the LEDs as well (green = blues).

[iMav]

That seller also sell FILCO keyboard in Red color. The price is also a bit high (RMB 1500, about 210USD)

That red looks pretty sweet.

[Ulysses31]

I'm not overly concerned with the costs, I just need to know anyone who could mail me a KBtalking or a Majestouch.  I assume the KBtalking would function in the same way and be cheaper than a Majestouch, if the key-switches used are identical.  Having said that i'm sure there must be some quality differences in the overall construction.

[xsphat]

There's more to a keyboard than the switches it uses. I have a feeling the KbTalking keyboards are more expensive than the Filcos.

But I can't for the life of me find any sort of official or company site on the net. At first i thought they were home-brew mods. Does anyone know where to get any real info on this company?

[Ulysses31]

I couldn't find the manufacturer information either.  All I did find was a site that sells a lot of them:
http://www.inpad.com.tw/shop/index.php

They seem to sell most of the major mechanical keyboard brands.

I read in a forum that this was the KBtalking site but it looks more like an informational page:
http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.talkdigi.net%2Fkbt%2F&langpair=zh%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8

Whatever, it sure is a stylish piece of kit:
http://www.xfastest.com/viewthread.php?tid=4937

[xsphat]

I saw all those links in my search. That Inpad site looks good, and the other night I emailed them to see if they ship to the US. I doubt they do.

And it looks like the KbTalking keyboards run about $110 to $125 (converted to American). Not a bad price, and it looks like some models let you pick which MX switch you want as an option which how it should be.

[skyian]

I guess probably it will be okay if I say something about FILCO keyboard and KBtalKing keyboard.

Because most of you guys cannot read chinese (no offence ^_^), there are things about KBtalking and you don't know.

Actually the worst part is the factory keep on delaying the deadline they claimed to ship KBtalKing keyboard. All buyers paid whole amount of money in advance, but they wait about half an year to get the keyboard. It's a bit out of control. Many pre-order customers discussed about this issue since 2 months ago.

That's the first run of KBtalKing pre-order activity.

About 3-4 months ago(I don't quite remember how many months ago), the seller open the second run of KBtalking keyboard pre-order activity. (Surely they change some thing like FONTS or LEDs during the second run. The second run of Kbtalking keyboard is a bit different from the first run)

As far as I know, the factory haven't ship the second run of Kbtalking keyboards.


Besides the delay of the Kbtalking, the buyers also argue the quality of Kbtalking. Some users reply that their Kbtalking's keycap word fading too quickly. It only takes about less than a month and the words are truly fading.

Probably because of that they try to change the printing skill from ink printing to Laser printing.

What's more, the key is not straight in the line, especially those double space keys like Enter or SHIFT. I mean those keys should be right parallel to the up and side of the keyboard, but it turns out some of the keys are not. it is a bit crooked, not so parallel to the up and side of the keyboard.

What's more, we find out the same type of keyboard which is now selling in Japan (it's a JP Layout keyboard), but the price is about 500 NT cheaper than they sell in Taiwan. The point is not they sell cheaper in Japan. The point is the seller in Japan is a seller with at least four stores in Japan and we could understand he have to pay an amount of money for those house rents and hiring people to sell products. But the seller in Taiwan is only a web-seller, and he has no real store. Besides, the keyboard is made in Taiwan, so you guys could imagine that the Japan seller need to pay for the extra shipping fee to Japan and probably have to pay for some Japan local keyboard examination fees. But the seller in Taiwan just get the keyboard directly from the factory. No shipping fee and surely don't need to pay for the local japan keyboard examination fee. However, it turns out the final price of japan seller is about 500 NTD cheaper than taiwan seller's price. That's the outcome we see.

Anyway, it's a nice keyboard and it's customized by user's keyboard. Hence it has its strong point.


I myself suggest buyers shall consider the Filco keyboard first, and than kbtalking keyboard. the quality of them two are different.

Finally, the website  
http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.talkdigi.net%2Fkbt%2F&langpair=zh%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8

is the officially site of selling kbtalking keyboard. This is the seller's own forum.

The webpage
http://www.inpad.com.tw is one store in Tainan(another place of taiwan ). They corporate with the seller, so they also sell kbtalking keyboards.

[skyian]

If you would like my advise about buying KBtalking, I guess probably I will pick a laser key one, just in case the font fading too quickly.

Anyway, I had a quarrel with the seller about years ago over one keyboard's selling on Taiwan's one Famous BBS called "PTT". From then on he said he will not sell me any keyboard, and he will not buy any keyboard from me. (I do gather some people to buy keyboards together to get a nice price or get some keyboards which needs a big MOQ to ask cherry to manufacture. But I don't do that kinda of thing for a long time)

So I cannot buy a KBtalking. I could just borrow one from my friends. ^_^

[xsphat]

If you would like my advise about buying KBtalking, I guess probably I will pick a laser key one, just in case the font fading too quickly.

Anyway, I had a quarrel with the seller about years ago over one keyboard's selling on Taiwan's one Famous BBS called "PTT". From then on he said he will not sell me any keyboard, and he will not buy any keyboard from me. (I do gather some people to buy keyboards together to get a nice price or get some keyboards which needs a big MOQ to ask cherry to manufacture. But I don't do that kinda of thing for a long time)

So I cannot buy a KBtalking. I could just borrow one from my friends. ^_^

What does the PTT look like? I seen it mentioned on sites but I don't know what it is.

[zerogravitas]

Anyway, I had a quarrel with the seller about years ago over one keyboard's selling on Taiwan's one Famous BBS called "PTT". From then on he said he will not sell me any keyboard, and he will not buy any keyboard from me.

Sounds like a Seinfield episode.  



No keyboard for you!

[skyian]

What does the PTT look like? I seen it mentioned on sites but I don't know what it is.

PTT is a Bulleting Board System product
If you would like to go to PTT. you may try to enter those words on your XP system


telnet ptt.cc

Then you may see the entrance page of ptt.

PTT is a NO.1 BBS site in Taiwan. You may see there's always about 60,000 to 100,000 ID (if you regard one ID as one person, there's that many people on the BBS site) on this BBS site at the same time.

Surely there's are hundreds of different boards in this PTT. Hence you may choose boards you like to join or view their message.

Among those hundreds of boards, there's one board callled "Key_Mou_Pad". It's one of the hot web forums which we taiwan people talk about keyboard and mouse on.


As for the quarrel between I and the kbtalking seller..yap.. it's a long story and I could not make it short enough to write them all down here.

At least that's a conclusion... right... ^_^