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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Rafen on Sat, 13 July 2013, 22:13:35
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I can't make up my mind which one of these boards I would like to purchase to use with my laptop. I like the Poker because its size and looks. The Leopold is nice because it has the arrow keys and it's not laid out like the Race. Is there any benefits to either of these boards?
Things to take into consideration about which keyboard to use:
- Use my laptop to code for websites, java, and app for mobile devices
- Also use my laptop to troubleshoot network connections
- I use the Windows key a lot to perform different actions
- Would also like to add custom keycaps (Not sure if the spacebar on the Leo is still an odd size.)
Thanks for reading.
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The boards are pretty even, but if you are wanting to add custom caps you should go with the Poker. It has a more standard 60% layout and you shouldn't have to deal with the Cherry stabilizer of the 660m, although I don't know whether or not the Poker has costar or Leo stabs. I'm assuming it has costar.
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I recently bought the Leopold FC660M with Cherry blues. I really like it, because of the mostly standard layout and the dedicated arrow keys. I also use the other two "extra" keys (insert and delete), although I use delete more than insert. Of all the boards out there, the Leopold (FC660M and FC660C) seems to offer the best design in a nearly 60% layout with the addition of dedicated arrow keys. Its build quality is also top-notch. The only thing that bothers me is the rather unaesthetic asymmetry introduced by the overhanging arrow cluster and extra insert and delete keys. However, if you try to embed these in a purely 60% format, you necessarily disrupt the standard layout or you crowd the Fn layer.
The stock keycaps are PBT, but they are rather dark and not as legible as keycaps with a lighter background. Accordingly, I replaced the keycaps with gray and white dye sub PBT sets from Originative. I had previously replaced the keycaps on a Filco, which has costar stabilizers, but I had to use the Scotch tape workaround to get the stabilizer inserts to stay put in the stabilized keycaps. I actually prefer the feel of the Cherry stabilizers in the Leopold, and they were much easier to deal with when replacing keycaps. However, the Leopold uses non-standard spacing of the stems in the spacebar, and so I was not able to replace the spacebar; at present, this would require harvesting stems and using epoxy to cement them into place. I hope that Leopold might start using a standard spacebar or make its spacebars available in various colors.
Although I think that the FC660M (or the FC660C with Topre switches) might be the ideal board for me because of the dedicated arrow keys and its minimal and highly intuitive Fn layer, I am drawn to the even more compact and more symmetrical layout of 60% boards. For these reasons, I am considering getting a Filco Minila, Tex Beetle, or Poker. I like what I have read about the build quality of the Minila and Beetle, but the non-standard keys would make customization difficult. The Poker does not quite have the Fn layer I would prefer, but it has the most standard layout of all of the 60% boards and would be the easiest to customize with new keycaps.
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I think that I am most likely going to get a Poker 2. Just waiting until I get some extra cash flow before I decide to pull the trigger, wish I would have had it during that mass drop that recently happened. Thanks for the replies.
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The boards are pretty even, but if you are wanting to add custom caps you should go with the Poker. It has a more standard 60% layout and you shouldn't have to deal with the Cherry stabilizer of the 660m, although I don't know whether or not the Poker has costar or Leo stabs. I'm assuming it has costar.
What is a Leo stab?
It uses Cherry stabilizers BTW.
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If you like 60% keyboards with dedicated arrow keys, then Pure Pro is an option too. It has very small right shift though.