You aren't using the right ABS caps, sir. GMK/Cherry thick ABS are the best. PBT is teh yuck.
Yep, they still shine, but I've read lots of comments from people on how the feeling on them still remains very pleasant despite it.You aren't using the right ABS caps, sir. GMK/Cherry thick ABS are the best. PBT is teh yuck.
Do they shine? I don't care how thick they are if they shine. Shine == teh yuck.
Honestly POM are pure perfection. It baffles me that they never caught on.
Honestly POM are pure perfection. It baffles me that they never caught on.
I'm trying to get a POM buy going soon. THEY WILL CATCH ON.
Honestly POM are pure perfection. It baffles me that they never caught on.
I'm trying to get a POM buy going soon. THEY WILL CATCH ON.
I'm not optimistic that they will catch on. A few years ago all of the Chinese boards had them ... but today not so much ...
Cherry and Keycool might be the last hold outs ... not even sure PLU/PLUM is making any more boards with these.
edit: Noppoo was another one but I read rumors on a badly translated Chinese site that they going to cease producing Cherry keyboards soon in favor of their own switch.
If it doesn't have double shot legends, I'm not interested. Which is why ABS wins. :)
If it doesn't have double shot legends, I'm not interested. Which is why ABS wins. :)
Or Vortex PBT DS?
If it doesn't have double shot legends, I'm not interested. Which is why ABS wins. :)
Or Vortex PBT DS?
If it doesn't have double shot legends, I'm not interested. Which is why ABS wins. :)
Or Vortex PBT DS?
Two problems with those, beyond the unpleasant texture of the PBT.
1. Have you seen the legends on those things?
2. Vortex
;)
I like ABS because it's super smooth, and the shine is awesome because it's like "this is how much I love my keyboard"
You aren't using the right ABS caps, sir. GMK/Cherry thick ABS are the best. PBT is teh yuck.
If it doesn't have double shot legends, I'm not interested. Which is why ABS wins. :)
Or Vortex PBT DS?
Two problems with those, beyond the unpleasant texture of the PBT.
1. Have you seen the legends on those things?
2. Vortex
;)
I used to think I prefer PBT until I tried some good ole shiny Cherry doubleshots. It was love at the first type, so to speak. It ruined thick PBT for me. I have these neat dye sub PBTs from a Royal Alpha typewriter, and I had them on for a bit, having read how BSP's PBT is smoother and all that, and unfortunately it still has that sandpaper feel. Went back to thick doubleshot ABS!
I used to think I prefer PBT until I tried some good ole shiny Cherry doubleshots. It was love at the first type, so to speak. It ruined thick PBT for me. I have these neat dye sub PBTs from a Royal Alpha typewriter, and I had them on for a bit, having read how BSP's PBT is smoother and all that, and unfortunately it still has that sandpaper feel. Went back to thick doubleshot ABS!
I used to think I prefer PBT until I tried some good ole shiny Cherry doubleshots. It was love at the first type, so to speak. It ruined thick PBT for me. I have these neat dye sub PBTs from a Royal Alpha typewriter, and I had them on for a bit, having read how BSP's PBT is smoother and all that, and unfortunately it still has that sandpaper feel. Went back to thick doubleshot ABS!
That's honestly what most people go through I think. I never got that cheap vortex or ducky pbt set early on, always stuck with my stock sets and then raindrop, so my first PBT experience was an original cherry dye sub one.
ABS doubleshots always "look" good color-wise, but shiny keys feel greasy and horrible to me.
I used to think I prefer PBT until I tried some good ole shiny Cherry doubleshots. It was love at the first type, so to speak. It ruined thick PBT for me. I have these neat dye sub PBTs from a Royal Alpha typewriter, and I had them on for a bit, having read how BSP's PBT is smoother and all that, and unfortunately it still has that sandpaper feel. Went back to thick doubleshot ABS!
That's honestly what most people go through I think. I never got that cheap vortex or ducky pbt set early on, always stuck with my stock sets and then raindrop, so my first PBT experience was an original cherry dye sub one.
Would original Cherry dyesub be similar to BSP typewriter caps or much smoother? BSP I have is smoother than IMSTO's ABS or Vortex ABS, but still not ABS-smooth. And by ABS-smooth, I mean shiny ABS.
Would original Cherry dyesub be similar to BSP typewriter caps or much smoother? BSP I have is smoother than IMSTO's ABS or Vortex ABS, but still not ABS-smooth. And by ABS-smooth, I mean shiny ABS.
ABS doubleshots always "look" good color-wise, but shiny keys feel greasy and horrible to me.
New abs vs new pbt, abs wins. Abs shines way faster though and yes I get the greasy feeling too.
I like all 3 materials if the caps are thick and good quality. POM is my favourite cap material, though. It's denser than the others, so it makes for heavy caps, with an interesting teflon-like texture that I don't find greasy like smooth ABS (slick, but not greasy). I don't really like the "dry", ceramic-like feeling of some PBT caps, but "smooth" is alright.
The white medium thickness PBT caps (KeyCool) I got from BangGood (which I'm using on my other daily driver board) are rough and sandpaperish and collect dirt easily, although they look nice. The texture still hasn't worn smooth enough for my taste, so I'm probably going to swap them for the thick Black on Black PBT caps from Ivan's GB when those arrive. If I still don't like the feel by the time the Dolch sets arrive, I'll put Dolch on both my boards :)
Just say no to ABS
I prefer the sandpaper feel, and want as much texture for as long as possible personally.
I like all 3 materials if the caps are thick and good quality. POM is my favourite cap material, though. It's denser than the others, so it makes for heavy caps, with an interesting teflon-like texture that I don't find greasy like smooth ABS (slick, but not greasy). I don't really like the "dry", ceramic-like feeling of some PBT caps, but "smooth" is alright.
The white medium thickness PBT caps (KeyCool) I got from BangGood (which I'm using on my other daily driver board) are rough and sandpaperish and collect dirt easily, although they look nice. The texture still hasn't worn smooth enough for my taste, so I'm probably going to swap them for the thick Black on Black PBT caps from Ivan's GB when those arrive. If I still don't like the feel by the time the Dolch sets arrive, I'll put Dolch on both my boards :)
That's interesting how subjective that is about POM. I personally really got that "sweaty" feeling from trying out someone's keyboard with clean POM keycaps on them (thick Cherry profile POM)--didn't like it at all. Felt cool and slick. But I love shiny smooth GMK ABS. Same experience with light-toned PBT keycaps looking dusty quickly.
It's all in your head :). Rougher surfaces collect more sweat, grime, and dust--they just conceal it better by not feeling greasy as quickly.
IT'S LIKE SEX ON MY FINGERTIPS.
It's all in your head :). Rougher surfaces collect more sweat, grime, and dust--they just conceal it better by not feeling greasy as quickly.
That rougher surface is indeed collecting more grime; which means it's NOT on your fingers, because it has been "collected" by the rough surface of the keycap (which you are still touching anyway...).
The smooth keys allow that same grime to remain on your fingers, rather than sanding it off for you automatically as you type. It then collects on the edges of the cap surface, and at the edges of your fingertip-pad/contact point, and absorbs into your pores... which is why it "feels like there's crap on your fingers." There is! (but you're still touching that icky grime, regardless of whether the surface is rough or smooth!)
If you don't sand the surface, the impurities remain on said surface. If you do sand the surface, the impurities "collect" within the grit of the roughness.
You're still touching ickiness with ickified fingers, regardless.
You should thoroughly clean every contact point in your entire environment, including (especially) your PC peripherals, and then insist on thoroughly washing/scrubbing your hands, prior to using your interface devices. Stuff will still get gunked up, gradually... but you can significantly mitigate and minimize this, which, A) keeps your stuff un-yucky longer, and B) extends/prolongs your enjoyment of your various contact surfaces, while, C) also minimizing the potential vectors for pathogens to be spread among contact-point-sharing individuals.
This is why i despise people who refuse to properly wash their hands after taking a dump, or having a crotch-scratch-fest: they then proceed to invisibly contaminate EVERY shared contact point (doorknobs, fridge handles, game controllers, TV remotes, etc.), which then requires me to be inevitably exposed to whatever germs they've acquired elsewhere, through such careless and unhygienic practices. I can't run around cleaning up after everyone all the time. I have things to do; even when i don't have things to do!
But yeah. I'll just mention Deck's nearly indestructible backlit caps. People seem to hate the font/legends, but i don't see it as a bad thing; just different. Nothing inherently wrong with "different" (unless in the context of social conditioning, and the fact that herd-think tends to cause people to fear and reject anything perceived as "different;" which i don't THINK should apply to keycaps... but probably kinda does, because that's how people are).
DS ABS Cherry caps feel even better when they get that shiny texture. It is very easy to type on them, and the greasy feeling help to "grip" on the caps.
DS ABS Cherry caps feel even better when they get that shiny texture. It is very easy to type on them, and the greasy feeling help to "grip" on the caps.
This thread really shows how personal and individual keycap feel is. It's awesome we have such variety available to us, although I think we could get rid of thin ABS OEM profile caps altogether and noone would complain.
DS ABS Cherry caps feel even better when they get that shiny texture. It is very easy to type on them, and the greasy feeling help to "grip" on the caps.
This thread really shows how personal and individual keycap feel is. It's awesome we have such variety available to us, although I think we could get rid of thin ABS OEM profile caps altogether and noone would complain.
PBT > POM > ABS
Rough texture > Fine texture > No texture
For me the texture is more a "comfort" thing and not about performance...
The sticky feel of non textured caps makes me think the caps are dirty/filthy.
Just say no to ABS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I prefer the sandpaper feel, and want as much texture for as long as possible personally.
DS ABS Cherry caps feel even better when they get that shiny texture. It is very easy to type on them, and the greasy feeling help to "grip" on the caps.The shiny, greasy texture is the exact reason I'm still on the fence about the current GMK group buy. I have some GMK keys, but seeing (and having to use) glass-smooth-with-finger-gunk-surround ABS keys
You aren't using the right ABS caps, sir. GMK/Cherry thick ABS are the best. PBT is teh yuck.
A lot of people are neglecting the fact that PBT will still develop a shine. It just takes a lot longer than it does with ABS caps.
A lot of people are neglecting the fact that PBT will still develop a shine. It just takes a lot longer than it does with ABS caps.
Very true. I have had my realforce for a little over a year now and it is beginning to develop shine on some of the most used keys.
I like both PBT and ABS. PBT can be a bit harsh on fingers as it is a harder plastic, But abs can tend to stick to your fingers if they get sweaty. Depends on what you are into.
i don't find the texture to be "important".
abs shiny will stick a bit sometimes, during humid weather / hot weather / serious gaming time/ but it's really not enough that I could blame them for performance drops..Show Image(http://emoticoner.com/files/emoticons/onion-head/hehe-onion-head-emoticon.gif?1292862507)
I prefer the thick pbt only because the stem is well made/ smooth/ and looser, which makes the keytravel down very smooth.
Currently i have yet to try pom. But my favorite so far is cherry profile doubleshot abs. Pbt is nice but a bit harsh.
Gotta agree with the OP. For a bit I was actually using a set of ABS caps from WASDKeyboards instead of a set of dye-sub PBTs from Imsto, because I wanted caps in OEM profile (PBTs from Imsto are Cherry profile). Then after a while I just got tired of the texture of the ABS keys - it was like wearing a pair of really uncomfortable shoes, functional but just really uncomfortable - and then switched back to the PBTs from Imsto.
It was an instant improvement, and it made me wonder why I went with the ABS caps from WASD for the sake of OEM profile, to begin with. :( Maybe I just wanted to test them out, and/or thought I would get used to the different texture of ABS.
So, yea... PBT = 1,000,000x better than ABS. IMO, of course.
Gotta agree with the OP. For a bit I was actually using a set of ABS caps from WASDKeyboards instead of a set of dye-sub PBTs from Imsto, because I wanted caps in OEM profile (PBTs from Imsto are Cherry profile). Then after a while I just got tired of the texture of the ABS keys - it was like wearing a pair of really uncomfortable shoes, functional but just really uncomfortable - and then switched back to the PBTs from Imsto.
It was an instant improvement, and it made me wonder why I went with the ABS caps from WASD for the sake of OEM profile, to begin with. :( Maybe I just wanted to test them out, and/or thought I would get used to the different texture of ABS.
So, yea... PBT = 1,000,000x better than ABS. IMO, of course.
Don't let that turn you off ABS all together, WASD caps are probably the nastiest ones available IMHO. Check out a GMK set and you'll see what all the fuss is about.
Marble or polished granite, I think, we will have to leave out of consideration.
So I just put a set of Vortex thick white on black DS PBT caps on my Code keyboard, and HOLY **** IT'S LIKE SEX ON MY FINGERTIPS. How does anybody stand ABS keycaps? They just feel so, ugh... flimsy and fake and just stupid.
Stupid ABS and their stupid feeling stupid keycaps.
</rant>
Just had to get that off my chest.
You aren't using the right ABS caps, sir. GMK/Cherry thick ABS are the best. PBT is teh yuck.
You aren't using the right ABS caps, sir. GMK/Cherry thick ABS are the best. PBT is teh yuck.
excuse me, self confessed noob here... you got me curious... What are GMK/Cherry thick ABS keys are? Looking for a lime green keycaps maybe i could get them in that quality..
You aren't using the right ABS caps, sir. GMK/Cherry thick ABS are the best. PBT is teh yuck.
excuse me, self confessed noob here... you got me curious... What are GMK/Cherry thick ABS keys are? Looking for a lime green keycaps maybe i could get them in that quality..
GMK has a nice green, but you'd have to wait on a massive interest check then group buy to go through...
You aren't using the right ABS caps, sir. GMK/Cherry thick ABS are the best. PBT is teh yuck.
excuse me, self confessed noob here... you got me curious... What are GMK/Cherry thick ABS keys are? Looking for a lime green keycaps maybe i could get them in that quality..
GMK has a nice green, but you'd have to wait on a massive interest check then group buy to go through...
you cant just buy it? :(
can you send a link? thanx!
[9:49:33 PM] taylor craig: i thought i loved pbt raw texture but this buttery smooth feeling of penumbra is amazing...
[11:05:39 PM] taylor craig: okay actually typing on it feels kinda weird. just poking at it felt really nice though
[11:05:40 PM] taylor craig: idk its kinda nice
[11:05:44 PM] taylor craig: fk
[11:06:11 PM] taylor craig: :-\
[11:50:57 PM] taylor craig: I'm in love with Penumbra.
[11:50:59 PM] taylor craig: Please help.
[11:51:14 PM] *: Deal with it :P
[11:51:55 PM] taylor craig: HOW DOES THIS ABS GARBAGE FEEL SO GOOD
[11:51:55 PM] *: Comment in daerids thread
I;ve only tried ABS
Honestly POM are pure perfection. It baffles me that they never caught on.
Honestly POM are pure perfection. It baffles me that they never caught on.
Why? What's so awesome about POM? (zero experience with POM, only ABS/PBT)
I actually like the feel of smooth ABS. I just bought a poker ii---like an hour ago. I like it, but the texture on the keycaps compared to my clicky QFS is somewhat distracting. Maybe it's cause I prefer typing on the Cherry MX green more than browns. Gotta keep the peace at home in the night though.
The problem for me is finding ISO sets of the DS/PBT sets I like. I bought a vortex blue/white DS set from MK.com but no ISO :( I can't seem to find decent sets on a regular basis.
Admittedly I only have one ISO board, but it's also the only one with WASD caps. Thats why I have them, because it was the easiest place to find an ISO set.
@Crazyhendrix: If you like Greens, I think you'd prefer Clears to Browns. More tactile and stronger springs.
they have poker II with clears on massdrop. they just finished, but this is their second in a month i believe. it'll most likely be back many times over.
the era of no 60% clear boards is gone :D
After your try Cherry POM caps, you're spoiled for life. Really hard to go back to anything else.
After your try Cherry POM caps, you're spoiled for life. Really hard to go back to anything else.
Ftfy ;D
After your try Cherry POM caps, you're spoiled for life. Really hard to go back to anything else.
Ftfy ;D
After your try Cherry POM caps, you're spoiled for life. Really hard to go back to anything else.
Ftfy ;D
What POM have you used that is that super incredible? I don't think I've ever seen thick POM. I use rainbow jellies, and while they are better than ABS, they feel very similar to my thick vortex PBT in terms of texture. I prefer the Vortex though because they much thicker and make a better sound.
After your try Cherry POM caps, you're spoiled for life. Really hard to go back to anything else.
Ftfy ;D
What POM have you used that is that super incredible? I don't think I've ever seen thick POM. I use rainbow jellies, and while they are better than ABS, they feel very similar to my thick vortex PBT in terms of texture. I prefer the Vortex though because they much thicker and make a better sound.
Lol, this thread is the definition of a first world problem.
I have SP ABS, I have GMK ABS, and I have Vortex PBT. They all have their different feels, but in no universe would I rant about hating "ABS so much."
I actually slightly prefer ABS.
Most available PBT caps have a certain roughness or grainyness to the surface that I do not like over the smooth surface of most ABS keycaps. Though I realize this is due to the production process and not the material. I also do not really like how the keycaps feel as though they are made of a harder and less pliable material. Hard to explain that one, but you can feel it when you use the keycaps.
That said, I still use PBT caps on my keyboards
-So that they do not change color (white)
-So they develop less "shine" (black)
But I could get by on either. I do not find the differences between how they feel as significant as some others do.
I actually slightly prefer ABS.i fully agree with you, PBT has certain roughness / graininess that feels not as smooth as ABS.
Most available PBT caps have a certain roughness or grainyness to the surface that I do not like over the smooth surface of most ABS keycaps. Though I realize this is due to the production process and not the material. I also do not really like how the keycaps feel as though they are made of a harder and less pliable material. Hard to explain that one, but you can feel it when you use the keycaps.
That said, I still use PBT caps on my keyboards
-So that they do not change color (white)
-So they develop less "shine" (black)
But I could get by on either. I do not find the differences between how they feel as significant as some others do.
^ where were the downsides to PBT?Well, double shots not available except for Vortex, but those sets are good only for standard boards and not custom ones. Banana spacebar ...
;)
I really like the POM keycaps on my Cherry G80, they are laser etched, but I'm hoping the letters will stay.The infill will fade eventually… luckily for me, because I prefer to touch the smooth caps, not lettering. I wish I could find some blanks POM sets. For Ivan's GB I shall wait.
They feel awesome. Does anyone know if they get smooth/oily/icky after a while?
... I wish I could find some blanks POM sets. ...
Yup, it's my only hope (unless SP starts selling POM SA blanks), because I've lost all belief that I'd find a Das II somewhere. I like my keycaps thick and home row dished without nibs.... I wish I could find some blanks POM sets. ...If Ivan does a GB for a POM set, though, that's definitely the one I'd go for. He doesn't GB poor sets, only top grade stuff :)