Alps Electric vs Silitek Alps Bigfoot Keyboards

[Mattr567]

I just picked up a SGI Granite from Ebay for a nice price , and was wondering how the later Silitek made Bigfoots like the Dell AT101/W's compare to the older made Alps ones.

Especially in build quality, the oldest Dells and SGI's use thick PBTs and am thinking the build was nicer as well. How do they compare?

[Hak Foo]

The caps on AT101Ws are lasered and terrible.

[nubbinator]

The caps on AT101Ws are lasered and terrible.

Not always.  Some from older ones are PBT. Even the lasered ones are still better than a lot of the OEM crap out there though.

[E3E]

I'd definitely like to know this as well, since I have an old logo Dell AT101 made in the US by Alps Electric. The second gen old logos made by Silitek look ostensibly the same, so I'm also curious if there's any difference in build quality aside from the caps and plate being different (space bar is different on the second gen).

Caps from Alps Electric are definitely some of the finest Alps caps that you can find.

[chyros]

I have or have had pretty much the entire series so let me see if I can sum it up. Have to work from memory though because I'm away from home.

In chronological order:

GYIAT101-102: made by Alps. Old logo. Dyesub PBT caps, SKCM Salmon. Winkeyless.
GYUM97SK: made by Silitek. Old logo. Dyesub ABS, SKCM Black/Early. Winkeyless. Includes a 160 g steel weight.
GYUM95SK: made by Silitek. New logo. Lasered ABS, SKCM Black/Late. Winkeyless. Includes a 160 g steel weight.
GYUM90SK: made by Silitek. New logo. Lasered ABS, SKCM Black/Late. Has winkeys.

Note that the early black Alps are way better than the late ones, and feel and sound more like salmons. They're great to type on, so much so that I made a video about it:

Essentially you want the GYI ones, or GYUM97SK. Hope this helps .

[sintklaas73]

I have or have had pretty much the entire series so let me see if I can sum it up. Have to work from memory though because I'm away from home.

In chronological order:

GYIAT101-102: made by Alps. Old logo. Dyesub PBT caps, SKCM Salmon. Winkeyless.
GYUM97SK: made by Silitek. Old logo. Dyesub ABS, SKCM Black/Early. Winkeyless. Includes a 160 g steel weight.
GYUM95SK: made by Silitek. New logo. Lasered ABS, SKCM Black/Late. Winkeyless. Includes a 160 g steel weight.
GYUM90SK: made by Silitek. New logo. Lasered ABS, SKCM Black/Late. Has winkeys.

Note that the early black Alps are way better than the late ones, and feel and sound more like salmons. They're great to type on, so much so that I made a video about it:

Essentially you want the GYI ones, or GYUM97SK. Hope this helps .

Why did t

[chyros]

Why did t

xD

[Lepidus]

GYUM97SK: made by Silitek. Old logo. Dyesub ABS, SKCM Black/Early. Winkeyless. Includes a 160 g steel weight.

What? Can ABS be dyesubed?

[chyros]

GYUM97SK: made by Silitek. Old logo. Dyesub ABS, SKCM Black/Early. Winkeyless. Includes a 160 g steel weight.

What? Can ABS be dyesubed?

Yes, I did a pretty conclusive test on the Acer 6311. As I recall, the 97SK also has them.

I haven't had a chance to prove or disprove PBT can be doubleshot, though.

[bocahgundul]

really really cool to see ABS can be dyesubbed 

[chyros]

Btw there's also a new-logo 97SK but I don't know the specifics of that one yet as I don't have one. So could be really good, could be fairly crappy.

[Mattr567]

I have or have had pretty much the entire series so let me see if I can sum it up. Have to work from memory though because I'm away from home.

In chronological order:

GYIAT101-102: made by Alps. Old logo. Dyesub PBT caps, SKCM Salmon. Winkeyless.
GYUM97SK: made by Silitek. Old logo. Dyesub ABS, SKCM Black/Early. Winkeyless. Includes a 160 g steel weight.
GYUM95SK: made by Silitek. New logo. Lasered ABS, SKCM Black/Late. Winkeyless. Includes a 160 g steel weight.
GYUM90SK: made by Silitek. New logo. Lasered ABS, SKCM Black/Late. Has winkeys.

Note that the early black Alps are way better than the late ones, and feel and sound more like salmons. They're great to type on, so much so that I made a video about it:

Essentially you want the GYI ones, or GYUM97SK. Hope this helps .

I wonder why they deemed the extra 160g weight necessary. To make the keyboard feel it is higher quality than it actually is? Whats the weight difference between the Alps made AT101s vs Silitek without the extra weight. The main thing I was getting at was is the Silitek lower quality than the Alps made ones in general.

[chyros]

Whats the weight difference between the Alps made AT101s vs Silitek without the extra weight. The main thing I was getting at was is the Silitek lower quality than the Alps made ones in general.

I no longer have my GYI, I got it for free but it was practically smashed. You can see it in the comparison video I made about it. As such, I can't weigh it right now, but I think they'd be similar weight. Silitek AT101s are lower quality all-round than the Alps boards, but the earliest Silitek ones are still excellent boards that run circles around most modern mechanical keyboards IMO. The later ones are okay, but aren't really in the same league as the old ones. They do only cost a fraction of what old-logo ones generally go for, though.

[Mattr567]

Whats the weight difference between the Alps made AT101s vs Silitek without the extra weight. The main thing I was getting at was is the Silitek lower quality than the Alps made ones in general.

I no longer have my GYI, I got it for free but it was practically smashed. You can see it in the comparison video I made about it. As such, I can't weigh it right now, but I think they'd be similar weight. Silitek AT101s are lower quality all-round than the Alps boards, but the earliest Silitek ones are still excellent boards that run circles around most modern mechanical keyboards IMO. The later ones are okay, but aren't really in the same league as the old ones. They do only cost a fraction of what old-logo ones generally go for, though.

I can weigh my SGI when I get it, its also a Alps made board like the original Dell AT101. When you have a chance i'd be interested in seeing how much the early and later Siliteks are with and without the weight, then comparing it to the SGI Bigfoot board. Alps Bigfoot in general is a little messy on the Deskthority wiki.

I dont see why the Alps made Dell AT101 goes for so much. The SGI is just as good, if not a bit better and I got it for $50 USD (33 pounds)

[Hak Foo]

I like the SGI caps better; I use a set on my Tactile Pro.  However, I suspect the SGI prices are held back by the fact some models only speak that non-PS/2 SGI protocol and thus can't be used on a real PC.

[Mattr567]

I like the SGI caps better; I use a set on my Tactile Pro.  However, I suspect the SGI prices are held back by the fact some models only speak that non-PS/2 SGI protocol and thus can't be used on a real PC.

Maybe, but Its not that hard to look for them. The one I bought is a PS/2 9500900 Granite, said right in the title of the listing. I think not a lot of people know about them. There arent very many Geekhack threads on the subject, most of them being just ebay listings.

[chyros]

Maybe people are put off by the italic font on the SGI. Or they really want salmons couldn't the SGI come with damped switches as well? Those aren't very well liked by some people). The SGI also appears to be ANSI for the vast majority (I'm not sure if I have ever seen an ISO one, must be rarer).

[claup]

In my opinion, this is the best AT101 ever made. I also own a GYIAT101-102 and a GYUM97SK.
The GoldStar comes with a painted metal switch plate and thick DS ABS, one of the best set out there. Thick long coiled cable with PS/2 connector. The switches are SKCM White (pine). Feels as good Blue Alps but doesn't sound that good. The sound in the SKCM Blue is definitely baser and richer. However they are by far the best SKCM White switches i ever typed on and i have tried at least 10 different keyboards with SKCM White pine switches.
Doesn't come with the added weight Thomas was talking about which i think is terrible. They should've used thicker plate and heavier materials instead like ALPS did not adding a chunk of metal to fake the quality.
It came with a GoldStar PC (see photo) made in 1991. I never seen another one like it before until i got my hands on it. Probably the keyboard is more known in ASIA than the EU and the States.

I just got the case retro-brighted, keycaps follows. Also i will clean and lube the switches.


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