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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: willhs on Tue, 06 January 2009, 16:49:54
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Hello,
I've been interested in trying a mechanical keyboard for sometime, and have been lurking on these boards for the past month. I finally decided on the M10, mainly because it has the cherry blues and it's extremely affordable by any comparison -- at the very least, I figure it's a great entry level item.
I have a few questions I can't seem to find answers to on the board.
1. Keyboard covers. I was wondering if it's possible to get a huge amount of key-sized stickers to put on my keys, both to cover them and to assign hotkeys. Something similar to the gmail stickers at the address below, but blank so I can write in stuff.
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/get-your-gmail-stickers.html
2. Replacement keys. There are no posts that I can find regarding the best replacement keys. Is there a known source for high quality replacement keys; do people even do this; and has anyone tried this for the M10?
3. Laptop mod. I saw one pic somewhere where someone placed a laptop-sized keyboard right on top of the laptop's keyboard. I'm curious if anyone has ever tried to actually mod a keyboard to include a clicky keyboard.
Sorry for the generally random questions, but these are the ones I just haven't been able to get an answer for, so I thought I'd just put them in one post.
My M10 arrives this Friday, and I'll be sure to post my thoughts -- I was somewhat surprised by the lack of many reviews on all of the internet for this board.
Best,
Will
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Tell us if it lives up to its infamous reputation.
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For Cherry MX compatible keycaps:
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=1128
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=1031
Hooleon (http://www.hooleon.com/menu-cust-ov.htm) can make stickers for you. They also have blank stickers.
Regarding the laptop mod, I don't know of any low profile keyboard switches that click. Cherry ML switches might be too deep and are not clicky. ALPS tactile switches (http://www3.alps.com/WebObjects/catalog.woa/E/HTML/Switch/Tact/Tact_list1.html) have an audible click but are probably not suitable for typing. For these you will also need a button or membrane overlay.
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Lexmark designed a transverse scissor+buckling spring mechanism, but the mechanism works by having a pin that pushes directly on the membrane, and the spring buckling isn't directly connected to the signal being sent - the key has to bottom out to send the signal.
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For Cherry MX compatible keycaps:
Hooleon (http://www.hooleon.com/menu-cust-ov.htm) can make stickers for you. They also have blank stickers.
also in the past I've found stickers on ebay and amazon for pretty cheap. hoolean ones might be better quality tho.
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I wonder if the switches would really need to be low profile. Conceivably, couldn't you mod the laptop case itself to accomodate the larger keys? I'm not saying it would be easy. The fact that no one has done it, and so many insane mods HAVE been done, probably means that it's even harder than it sounds.
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You could have a larger case made but that raises the cost.
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Get an IBM PC Convertible, install Lowpoly's board in it, toss in a Mini-ITX Atom motherboard, and put in a widescreen LCD panel. Oh, and put in a giant LiPoly battery pack while you're in there. Voila, "laptop" with 11tybillion hour battery life and a clicky keyboard. :p
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I think lowpoly's next project should be a membrane-mechanical switch-swap for laptops.
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I agree. :-)
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As long as it's all Steampunk or Goth :eek:
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Get an IBM PC Convertible, install Lowpoly's board in it, toss in a Mini-ITX Atom motherboard, and put in a widescreen LCD panel. Oh, and put in a giant LiPoly battery pack while you're in there. Voila, "laptop" with 11tybillion hour battery life and a clicky keyboard. :p
I actually started something like that with my Toshiba T-5200 (http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=704). A 14" 16:10 display should fit into the lid but those are not easy to get (yet) if you want just one. You probably don't even need a Mini-ITX board as there is a lot of space. Some Mini-ITXs have special hardware for LCDs though. Getting a donor notebook with the correct display would be easiest. Simply feed the ALPS keyboard into the USB port of the notebook pcb and fit everything into the Toshiba case. Including the power supply if you want to.
The original keyboard is already mechanical, not sure if the old Alps switches can be converted to clicky.
Work on that stopped when I started with the Trackpoint-Mini. I don't know if I will ever continue it.
There's also the smaller T-5100 from the same era:
(http://www.homecomputermuseum.de/comp/detail/271.jpg)
The T-1200 seems to have the same keyboard. I really should get one of these:
(http://www.computermuseum.li/Testpage/Toshiba1200Laptop.jpg)
The IBM PC Convertible would be nice too.
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Getting a donor notebook with the correct display would be easiest.
14.1" notebooks are available in 1440x900. Those are still expensive though.
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This guy makes a ton of laptop xbox 360s, which is an interesting concept. This one I'm linking below is especially cool because it's made inside a Pelican 1490 case -- water tight and virtually indesctructible with a lifetime warrantee.
http://benheck.com/12-24-2008/pelican-case-xbox-360
Technically, I could probably do this with an old xbox and load it with linux, and it'd probably do everything I need and cost very little. I'll look into this more after I get my M10.
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Well, after an hour or so typing on this keyboard, I must say that I'm absolutely in love! I've never used a mechanical keyboard before, so my opinion might not be worth that much (or to people who are considering switching over, maybe this is useful advice).
I really recommend this board. I'm still getting used to not bottoming out the keys, and I'm already actually doing really well in that regard. I'm a little bit scared that I"ll never be able to go back to a membrane keyboard now...
Regarding comments on the build quality of this board, I have to say that it seems extremely solid, especially for a $50 board. It's plenty heavy, but not too heavy. I'm considering taking this thing to work with me.
I've also seen comments that the switches are higher pitch than other blues on, say, the Das III. That might be true, but my comment would be that I really like the clicky sound that this board makes. It does not annoy me in the slightest. But, again I don't have much of a basis for comparison.
As an aside, mine has no logo on the top of the board whatsoever, which I actually really like. Now, if only I can dye the keys...
Anyway, my conclusion is that this is truly a wonderful keyboard, and I highly recommend it to anyone who just wants to try out a better typing experience. I'm sure that by spending a lot more money, and trying out a lot of other keyboards, a better board can be found, though.
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my m10 is the third keyboard i've had with cherry blue switches in it. the first was a das ii, which i gave away because i just couldn't remember all the punctuation on the number row. eventually i got a (labeled) das iii, and the m10 shortly after that because i just couldn't deal with my dell rubber dome keyboard at work after one weekend of typing on the das at home.
they're all very similar to type on, but i feel like the m10 has just slightly less resistance than the das keyboards. it's also noticeably quieter and higher in pitch than the das iii; you might want to check out the sound files i put up in another thread for a comparison.
is your m10 in black? can you dye black keys? mine came in a box depicting a beige keyboard but all my stuff is in black/silver so i bought it to match and never even checked to see if there was a beige version.
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Yep, mine is black but with no logo. I was thinking about trying out the Ritt dye. I'm also getting into autohotkey big time, so I might just put stickers on the keys with hotkey stuff. Haven't decided. I really don't think having totally blank keys is that functional, since i don't look at the board when I'm typing anyway.
I've actually listened to those sound files, and my keyboard sounds similar.
I've definitely found that the key to really enjoying mechanical keyswitches is the light touch. I'm worried that I'm being ruined for any other keyboard.
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well... apache made me VERY ANGRY today and my ... reaction ... managed to break both the little height adjustment legs off my M10... AND i managed to unseat the stabilizer bar on the Enter key.
finding a replacement height adjustment device around my cube was the easy part. i did finally manage to get the stinking stabilizer bar back in place under the Enter key but man... i never want to have to reseat one of those flipping things again.
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You know, I have those days, but I tend to take my anger out on less breakable things - like cubicles. :)
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the M10 cannot handle the fist-pound! it's not a model F!
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I remember those days. I used to give keyboards a regular beating. (of course, never a keyboard I had purchased myself) ;)
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I hit the desk instead of the keyboard