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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: blakespot on Fri, 09 September 2011, 17:11:03
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So I've gotten way more into quality keyboards in the past three months or so than I've ever been before.
Seven years ago or so I grabbed a Matias Tactile Pro v1 (grey Alps) and have been happily using it since. Three months ago I played with a Das w/ Cherry MX browns and liked what I felt. I grabbed a Das with blues and also a Topre and also a Unicomp (buckling) and found and dusted off an old Focus that has white Alps.
It seems, after thinking of the nature of the switches involved, that it's kind of odd where my preferences seem to lie.
I like the Topre best. I like the buckling keys next best. Then comes the Das with blues.
The Topre and the buckling switches seem so different, it is a curious thing how my preferences have ended up like this. I guess they both feel very "solid" or "tight" without the sort of looseness I see with the Cherry and Alps switches. Perhaps that's it. There's also the fact that I like the Topre the best, but it feels less "exciting" than more audible mechanical keyboards. It's like I wish I did not like the Topre best. :-) Perhaps that's why the buckling switches are next -- dramatic but solid.
Just sharing.
bp
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hey, it makes sense to me.
If you feel like a challenge, try putting some Cherry Corp. keycaps on one of your Das. Don't have to be doubleshots, even the regular lasered PBT are fine. I bet you will find that the switches will feel noticeably less loose. The lower profile of the Cherry Corp. keys makes the slight stem wobble of the MX switches less noticeable. Unfortunately only Cherry and Noppoo (am I missing anyone?) use the lower profile keys; pretty much everyone else uses the same higher profile keys that Das and Filco do. The transition from my WASD keyboard with the keycaps that it came with to my Filco w/ Cherry keycaps is surprisingly dramatic - and the Filco feels better. Not because I think that the Filco is a markedly better keyboard, but because I like the keycaps better. (but the WASD looks so darn cool, I'm hesitant to change the keycaps to anything that would be, self-evidently, less cool.)
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SP = Signature Plastics DCS, yes?
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TY. (See what I did there?)
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I was referring to keycaps that come with NIB keyboards. Yes, SP - sorry, Signature Plastics - keys are (apparently, I don't have any other than a handful of Esc keys) similar in profile to Cherry.
Nobody does make a keyboard - at least not one that a typical serious writer/typist or gamer would use - with SP keys, do they?
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Topre and buckling springs are my favorites as well, following by clicky white ALPS. The only Cherry switch I actually like is the MX clear, though I've yet to try reds. I do prefer a heavier switch though, so I don't have much hope that I would enjoy them.
Anyway, Topres and buckling springs are definitely the best, and weirdly easy to switch between. They feel totally different, which might actually be a help.
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i actually like BS the most, but because of ergo reasons and the "sound" i just opt for cherry browns or ergo clears(currently).
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So if it was the wobbly nature is why you didn't like the others, you should try space invaders. You'll eventually find some.
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Space Invaders?
bp
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Your prefs aren't odd... I think most people who have tried Topre know that they're the best.