(http://i.imgur.com/Y5XRiIG.jpg)
My Leopold: Imsto Blue PBT Cherry. Stock Spacebar. TeamLiquid and GH January novelty caps. Shadovved GH sticker.
I’ve had this keyboard for about 2 months now and I felt I’ve had enough time with it to write a review. I was really excited for this keyboard too because this is my first TKL board. For home use, the layout is nice. The lack of the tenkeypad puts my hands closer together which is more comfortable. And since I don’t use the numberpad at home too much, I’ve grown very fond of the new layout. I still require the pad at work so my fullsize Filco MJ2 is good for me there.
I snagged this board in the classifieds for a seriously good deal. Before I bought my Filco, I did tons of research on the Leopolds for sale at EliteKeyboards. And just to let you know what I’ll be comparing this to, at the time, I had a Blackwidow and a Filco MJ2. Since then I’ve sold the Blackwidow and have a Cherry G84-4100. Like the majority of the keyboards I've owned, this keyboard has Cherry MX Blue switches.
Anyways, here we go:
Aesthetics
The older Leopolds have rounded edges (http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,fullsize&pid=fc500rcab) and have odd branding/LEDs. But the FC700R has been updated to have squared edges like a Filco and has LEDs shifted. There are ones under the scroll lock, caps lock, and F5 (which shows when you do Win-Lock, disabling the windows key). I think the LED shift and the squared edges look amazing. There’s also no branding on the top so the board looks very clean. Of course, I had to ruin this by adding a personal touch and threw on this sick-nice metallic GeekHack sticker :P
FC700R also comes in white, black, and graphite (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=25649.0) forms. I was fortunate enough to snag a graphite one. The dark grey looks super nice and I think is a fun change from the standard black that many commercially bought keyboards come in.
Keyboard Macro Details
Unfortunately I haven’t opened up this keyboard (or any other keyboard) yet. I’m still not confident in my abilities to do so. I will attempt it one day and post pictures here of the PCB and soldering. In the meantime you can check out pictures from BroCaps here (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=41048.msg818722#msg818722) (Thank you!). For a TKL board, it seems pretty hefty; seems like maybe it is 2-3 pounds. If you like using the flip-out angled feet, the board has really solid ones. They flip out and have rubber tips. However I find the angle too extreme and prefer it flat. The only thing I don’t like is the cheap rubber feet on the bottom. If it wasn’t as heavy as it was, I think it might slide around. The detachable USB cable is nice but the female port is really tight and it’s almost impossible to remove by hand. I usually have to use some pliers to help me out. But I guess that’s actually a good thing since the cable won’t come out easily. Plus, I get to use Mimic’s hot cable (purple and pink is super hot).
Typing on this keyboard
The flat profile on the Leopold OEM caps feels nice when you press down on the keys; it seems to slightly reduce the actuation distance. That’s opposed to my Imsto Cherry replica caps which cup my fingers a little more. After trying both the stock Leopold caps and the Imsto caps, I really prefer the Imsto caps. The profile is amazing and somehow the PBT feels smoother than any other caps I’ve tried besides POM.
That being said, the stock thick PBT caps are still nice. The texture feels nice to type on and the keys feel more “solid” when I press down on them. The board also sounds different from my Filco with Valentine’s set. The sound is less high pitched and seems to only emphasize the actuation click. My Filco has a higher pitched click and the thin ABS seems to amplify and resonate the click.
However, I felt that when I typed on the Leopold, the bottom out was very jarring. I could feel every impact in my hand and it was very awkward for me. I think I wasn’t used to typing on the heavier PBT caps and pressed too hard to try and compromise by smashing down on the keys. Regardless, I didn’t like the impact I felt on this board. So for me, I felt this board was infinitely more amazing if I added some soft-landing pads from EliteKeyboards. O-rings reduced the travel too much and the 50A black o-rings from WASD still had that awkward bottom out. Soft-landing pads took away the impact feeling and slightly reduced the noise. Beautiful. I’m not sure why I don’t get this feeling on my Filco but for me, this board is now perfect. I get the wonderful clicky tactile feeling of blues without any of the jarring impact.
Final Thoughts
I’m not sure if the bottom out feeling is the same for everyone else’s experience for the FC700R but I wouldn’t say this is a detractor from getting it. I think it’s one of those hyper-personal, nit-picky things that we all love so much. Overall, the stock board is super nice and I’m glad I got to buy a Leopold after all. I think the departure from the old Leopold styling and the change to the new look really helps the aesthetics. And the board just feels solid to type on. I’ve grown to like it as much as my Filco. I think the build quality is pretty great but I wish that the feet were a little better. Maybe I’ll add some weight to the board somehow to compensate.
If anyone has pictures of the PCB that I can borrow, I’d be very grateful. BroCaps linked some pictures. The link can be found in the edit in my article above or in the comments below (Thanks again!). Some other nice pictures of the board can be found here (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=25649.0). And if you want some of my thoughts on o-rings and soft pads, please check out my review (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40227.0).
Edit: Flacman contacted PC Case Gear in Australia and got this answer concerning the finish on the stock keycaps.
So I emailed the retailer and this is his 'official answer.'
The FC700R keyboards we carry use a laser etch with a coating over the top, which is why we have had many customers assume these are printed. The initial revisions of the FC700 we received did not wear well, so this extra clear coat was added in order to improve durability of the keycaps which it did do.