Borrowed this pic from AkimbO’s Dell AT101 thread. Since I’ve been holding off on buying keyboards until after the Chicago and Nashville meets, I signed up for
AKIMbO’s Dell AT101 tour to have something to play with in the meantime. For those who don't know, it has Tactile Black Alps switches. It’s my first experience with a full Alps-switch keyboard and I must say that it’s been very pleasurable. Prior to this tour, I tried out the single Black Alps switch from the Mr. Interface Switch Try Bag. You can find my thoughts on it
here. The thing that threw me off most in the beginning is that the actuation point is all the way at the top of the travel distance. Anyways, I’ll set this up like my other
board reviews.
AestheticsThe keyboard is a bit yellowed, but the case is/was a beige color. The cap color scheme looks a lot like
WYSE keyboard pictures I’ve seen. The font and logo are pretty awesome; simple but very nice. Plus the coiled cable looks really cool and stretches out a lot. My keyboard tray is pretty far from my rig so I need longer cables. There was no issue with the AT101’s cord length.
There’s something to be said with the WYSE color scheme and beige case; it’s just simple and I respect simplicity and functionality. Finally, the LED setup for the num/caps/scroll lock is a nice retro windowed setup with a green light.
The bezel is ENORMOUS though and it’s been annoying me. The top edge is just huge and even the other edges are way thicker than my other boards.
Keyboard Macro DetailsSince I don’t actually own this board, I don’t want to open this up. I’m sure the rest of the tour would appreciate a working keyboard when they got it
However, I did find a few pictures for those who are interested:
**Last two pictures found in this thread.I’m really surprised with the weight. Considering how much bigger its footprint is compared to my Filco or my Leopold, it’s not TOO much heavier. It feels super solid; I’d happily use this as a backup weapon in the zombie apocalypse along with my Filco. There’s a steel plate in it according the pictures I linked so I guess that would help. The profile of the caps and the curve in the top of the board feels great. And the little cutout/groove for the cable in the back is a nice touch as well.
What’s really lacking in this keyboard is that there is no windows key. As a person who’s constantly using the search function in the Windows 7 start menu, it’s really bothering me. I know there’s work-arounds like hitting Ctrl-Esc or AutoHotKey but I’m lazy. And the missing key there feels really odd. I’ll try to hit the windows key only to meet no key/bezel.
Typing on this keyboardAs mentioned in the beginning, the actuation point on the Alps switches were throwing me off at first and took a little getting used to. However, after a few days of typing on it, I adjusted. The actuation is a bit crisp. It feels like there’s a bit of resistance, then a crisp bump and a linear finish. And the rebound on is pretty springy; I think it’s more than MX Blues.
The board is also pretty quiet. Most of the noise is from the bottom out. The actuation noise isn’t too bad, unlike the click in MX Blues which is very noticeable. If you’re really worried about the sound, I think that it’d be pretty nice in a place like office or in class.
Just as a side tangent though, if your workplace is anything like mine, there is SO much background noise that it doesn’t matter. Between the people constantly talking, everyone pounding away at their rubber-domes, the air conditioning/heat, and phones ringing, barely anyone hears my blue switches. I’ve had my Filco at work for a couple months now and no one has ever complained about the board being too loud. So I’m probably a bad reference source for how loud switches sound.
Final ThoughtsThis board is pretty awesome. I really liked the Alps switches. If these are the “worst” Alps switches”, as reported by
AKIMbO then I have high hopes for trying out other Alps switches. The actuation point threw me off for a few days but after I got use to this, they felt wonderfully crisp at the top and really smooth/linear after the acutation. The board isn’t that loud if you’re worried about that. It’s construction feels solid and I like the retro look. Plus they’re cheap. According to AKIMbO’s posts in the previously linked thread, the going rate for one is around $30-40 USD shipped on eBay. Another member muguts managed to find one in a thrift shop for $1.60!