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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: RimenX on Mon, 04 November 2013, 12:41:40
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Hi guys, what is your opinion on Alcatel MFII Keyboard? There is not much information about it on web, I found only that this keyboard is build on acer switches. If anyone know something about it post in this theard. Thanks for reply!
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Never used that specific keyboard, but the switches are ..... interesting.
The one thing about them that is really nice, is that—like with Fujitsu Peerless—they have a fairly delicate and unimposing click (at least, they do in the basic Acer 6311/6312 of which the MFII is a variant). They are the opposite end of the clicky scale from buckling spring and simplified Alps/Matias click switches.
On the other hand, it does take a fair amount of effort to force that gentle little click out — it's a switch for people with strong fingers.
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So what kind of switches are these acer switches? Like heavy blacks?
I only knew Alcatel as a cellphone company for low budget phones. So I'm curious about this keyboard as I never heard of something like this.
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It's a clicky membrane switch.
Summary:
Alps-mount sliders. Alps-style click leaf, though a different shape.
Under the slider is a spring, which sits on a pivoting arm. The bottom of this arm has a nub that presses down on the membrane sheets.
If you pull a keycap, you see what looks like a switch (like Alps or Cherry), but it's just a support shell for the slider that snaps into the keyboard case itself. The shell is open at the bottom.
Somewhere there's probably a decent, comprehensive set of photos of one. My photos of the Acer boards are woefully incomplete — it's somewhere on my list to finish that off.
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Somewhere there's probably a decent, comprehensive set of photos of one. My photos of the Acer boards are woefully incomplete — it's somewhere on my list to finish that off.
If there is interest I can pull mine apart.
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Somewhere there's probably a decent, comprehensive set of photos of one. My photos of the Acer boards are woefully incomplete — it's somewhere on my list to finish that off.
If there is interest I can pull mine apart.
I'm interested
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Alright, here it is. Please excuse the dirtyness.
(http://i.imgur.com/HKezCTWh.jpg)
The sticker on the back
(http://i.imgur.com/t64bAc0h.jpg)
Upon removing a few screws and undoing some tabs along the sides of the case, it splits in half, revealing the plastic-plate mounted switches. The plate isn't held in by anything; it's just sitting there.
(http://i.imgur.com/GMMsQC3.jpg)
A close up of the controller -- looks generic to me, which is no surprise given that this is a membrane keyboard.
(http://i.imgur.com/0e5ZZ5n.jpg)
Removing the plate and flipping it over, we find the membrane sheets held in place by a steel plate which is screwed into the plastic plate.
(http://i.imgur.com/MIMt1fy.jpg)
After removing the steel backplate:
(http://i.imgur.com/XkNCSkL.jpg)
The switches push into the membrane sheet to actuate.
(http://i.imgur.com/uOpgUwH.jpg)
I couldn't figure out how to remove a switch from the plate or I would've taken pictures of that too. The Deskthority wiki has some pics of a disassembled Acer switch, though.
This was all I could think of, feel free to ask if there's something else you want pics of. I imagine the Alcatel board is very internally similar to this one.
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I couldn't figure out how to remove a switch from the plate or I would've taken pictures of that too.
It is a bit of a pain to get the "switches" out, yes. I think there's two or four tabs that have to be squeezed in from the top — it's been a while since I did this. Disassembling the switches is tricky too — IIRC, you have to carefully bend the click leaf around a small plastic protrusion somewhere.
It is a tad overengineered for what it does.
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Thanks for the pics ComradeSniper! Looks very neat, I wonder how the feel is.
This keyboard is not for sale anymore, is it?
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Opinion varies, as with any switch. For me they're fairly comparable with stiff Alps clones (Xiang Min, Hua-Jie) — typing requires a fair amount of effort and you get missed keystrokes. Not a keyboard of choice for me.
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Always good to see different keyboards. Thanks for the pics