geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: TheAngelicWolf on Sun, 02 November 2014, 16:37:22
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Soooo.....during my eBay expedition, I found a few Cherry branded keyboards. A few of them were claiming to have mechanical switches at ridiculously low prices. Do you guys think what I saw was realistic? I think it was a little too good to be true. :blank:
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Model numbers would help tremendously.
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Model numbers would help tremendously.
+1
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I've found Cherry G80-****H models, the ones with MX and doubleshots for as low as $15 NIB and $5 used so...
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I've found Cherry G80-****H models, the ones with MX and doubleshots for as low as $15 NIB and $5 used so...
You wouldn't want to link those would you?
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I've found Cherry G80-****H models, the ones with MX and doubleshots for as low as $15 NIB and $5 used so...
You wouldn't want to link those would you?
he probably bought them
you get good at looking for these things after a while
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Model numbers would help
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Model numbers would help tremendously.
Ok, I'll try and find it again...
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some just haven't had bids yet: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cherry-G80-8113-G80-8113LRBUS-Wired-Keyboard-Brown-Switches-/201206003285
Some are actually mechanical but nobody likes to type on them http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-NIB-CHERRY-G81-8016LQNUS-KEYBOARD-G81-8016-POS-IBM-HP-Dell-/261637408917
Cherry ML switch keyboards (g84) are usually cheap but aren't too bad for a low-travel switch http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHERRY-ML4100-PS2-MINI-FOOTPRINT-KEYBOARD-WIRED-/141459440506
Some are poorly listed: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHERRY-COMPUTER-GAMING-KEYBOARD-G84-5529LUMEU-2-USB-DELL-GATEWAY-TOSHIBA-/251698585239
I lol'd at the last one.
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I found this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHERRY-G81-3000-G81-3504LADUS-0-USB-keyboard-4-PORT-HUB/350547996727?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D27538%26meid%3Dac334bdbbecc414e8c1e45f677d4142b%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D11353%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D350444813662&rt=nc
It claims to have white switches...
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I found this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHERRY-G81-3000-G81-3504LADUS-0-USB-keyboard-4-PORT-HUB/350547996727?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D27538%26meid%3Dac334bdbbecc414e8c1e45f677d4142b%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D11353%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D350444813662&rt=nc
It claims to have white switches...
Cherry G81 are MY switches not MX.
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it doesn't say it in the auction but cherry MY are mechanical by many definitions, they just are horrible to type on, making them pretty cheap.
You can in most cases tell what switches a cherry KB has by the model number. G81 is MY. G80 is MX (the one everyone wants) G84 is ML (low profile, used in some laptops back in the day)
Others like G86 and G83 are various rubber domes.
It is possible to find cheap cherry G80 keyboards with MX switches. Many are G80-8200 and G80-8113 point-of-sale keyboards.
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A lot of those have other switches than Cherry MX.. Chery ML and MY are quite common, for instance. Also, most of the newer Cherry MX boards (G80-3000 series for instance) are fairly cheaply made in terms of being just a PCB with switches in a plastic case. No plate, poor PCB support, thin keycaps and not very solid. Some come with PBT keycaps, but they're thin, light and the legends are lasered, not dyesub. If you add a backplate for support they can be acceptable to use, though. But if you also want to put better keycaps on, etc, it's better to have a more solid board as a starting point.
I think some of the POS boards have plates, though, and probably feel better to use than the modern G80-3000 series.
I recently bought 2 new Cherry G80-3000 boards for the switches alone (Clears) since they cost less than buying the same number of switches separately would. As a bonus I got some thin PBT caps and PCB mount stabilisers ;)
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True, the current MY are very terrible feeling... but the older types that look like this
(http://valenciaope.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/cherry-my.jpg)
or this
(https://i.imgur.com/oTE9hDA.jpg)
are considerably better. Sure they are still no MX, but they are nicer than a good deal of domes or things like Fujitsu leaf springs for example.
The majority of G80 are PCB mount. There are only a few MX models that came as plate mount most of which are very vintage and less likely to come across. The easiest plate G80 to find would be the newest G80-3850.
Even the nicest old PCB mount boards are going to be considerably different feeling if you are used to plate. Too many people do tend to equate light with cheap... of course not having a huge sheet of metal inside is going to make it feel different. Some of us think it's a good feeling.
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are considerably better. Sure they are still no MX, but they are nicer than a good deal of domes or things like Fujitsu leaf springs for example.
I don't know. Fujitsu leaf springs (first gen) are some of the best linear switches I've tried. Almost as good as hall effect.
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I found this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHERRY-G81-3000-G81-3504LADUS-0-USB-keyboard-4-PORT-HUB/350547996727?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D27538%26meid%3Dac334bdbbecc414e8c1e45f677d4142b%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D11353%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D350444813662&rt=nc
It claims to have white switches...
Cherry G81 are MY switches not MX.
Oh. I didn't know that.
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I have a Tandy still from around '85 which was my first ever computer. It has Fujitsu leaf springs and I think they are just about the worst keyboard I have ever felt other than those terrible flat membrane sheet things.
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are considerably better. Sure they are still no MX, but they are nicer than a good deal of domes or things like Fujitsu leaf springs for example.
I don't know. Fujitsu leaf springs (first gen) are some of the best linear switches I've tried. Almost as good as hall effect.
ahem
"fujitsu leaf springs are the worst switches"
-Dorkvader when we met up
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I think it is not that unusual to find cheap Cherry boards. I just bought 3 Cherry G80 for 20€ including shipping at ebay. On one of the I was the only one placing a bid. You might have to wait a bit but eventually you will find a cheap board this way. I guess they are simply not that sought besides some specific rare versions.
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I think it is not that unusual to find cheap Cherry boards. I just bought 3 Cherry G80 for 20€ including shipping at ebay. On one of the I was the only one placing a bid. You might have to wait a bit but eventually you will find a cheap board this way. I guess they are simply not that sought besides some specific rare versions.
You are one lucky person.
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Are they really so much more rare/expensive in the US? I mean I am living in Germany so I only monitor the german part of Ebay, but here a G80-1800 or G80-3000 with MX blacks rarely sell for more than 15€ from what I have seen in the past. Maybe that is different for other switches since I haven't seen any in the past days iirc. Although I have to admit that many of these auctions are poorly described, so if don't search directly for "Cherry G80", they probably won't even show up in the results.
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Are they really so much more rare/expensive in the US? I mean I am living in Germany so I only monitor the german part of Ebay, but here a G80-1800 or G80-3000 with MX blacks rarely sell for more than 15€ from what I have seen in the past. Maybe that is different for other switches since I haven't seen any in the past days iirc. Although I have to admit that many of these auctions are poorly described, so if don't search directly for "Cherry G80", they probably won't even show up in the results.
I suppose so, people are really going crazy over them on ebay.