Recent Update: But I have yet to switch out this keyboard since it took over as my daily driver. It has very quickly become my new favorite which was NOT expected at ALL going into it. I have not even had the urge to look into buying other boards which is a relative first for me.
I would have been very happy with the Francium, unfortunately the order could not be fulfilled by the vendor. In hindsight it worked out OK: the Leopold FC660M better fits my needs. I really like Deck's PBT double shot keycaps (in spite of the unusual font).
I had to buy a replacement after a mishap happened with my Leopold FC660M keyboard. I also had bought genuine Leopold blue dye-sublimated keycaps to replace the laser etched ones but with my wife (who has eye problems) found the legends hard to distinguish (on the odd occasion that she used my computer). As I often use my computer late at night I was considering if I should go back to a Deck Francium (for having backlighting) or get the Leopold FC660M PD (comes with double shot PBT
) in white with top lettering.
It was a very difficult decision
, almost came down to a coin toss
, and in the end I went for the Leopold FC660M PD. Both keyboards are that good.
A few things stood out as difference (going by memory of the earlier Deck): The Leopold having less noise (has a noise damping matt) in spite that the Deck was MX Brown and the Leopold MX Blue, the space bar on the Leopold seemed to work a tad better, the backlighting of the Deck uneven (I had blue LED's and that color annoyed me no end so had it mostly switched off) and the surface of the keys (Leopold being very smooth, the Deck textured). The choice mainly depends on your personal preference and as when I wanted to buy previously a Deck Francium: availability at the time you buy.