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geekhack Community => Reviews => Topic started by: chyros on Sat, 07 May 2016, 10:39:31
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I teased this last week, and here it is now! Hope you enjoy! :)
**** knows how I managed to avoid making a **** joke through the hole thing :p .
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Fantastic! Looking forward to these every week.
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Neato. Is it possible these are the rarest ALPS switch?
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Great review!
Makes me want to try some Alps switches even more, if only I could decide which of the 50,000 variants I'd like to try first :))
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Neato. Is it possible these are the rarest ALPS switch?
It's probably quite close between Lime, Brown linear, and Cream tactile. Tactile browns are also pretty rare, but a fair amount of people actually have them - I think the amount of people with Lime boards can be counted on one, possibly two hands xD .
Great review!
Makes me want to try some Alps switches even more, if only I could decide which of the 50,000 variants I'd like to try first :))
Start off with white. They're cheap, easy to get, and really nice - as always though, make sure it's in GREAT condition! Don't settle for anything less!
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Great review!
Makes me want to try some Alps switches even more, if only I could decide which of the 50,000 variants I'd like to try first :))
Have my first alps keyboard on the way, its pretty exciting! :D
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Neato. Is it possible these are the rarest ALPS switch?
It's probably quite close between Lime, Brown linear, and Cream tactile. Tactile browns are also pretty rare, but a fair amount of people actually have them - I think the amount of people with Lime boards can be counted on one, possibly two hands xD .
Great review!
Makes me want to try some Alps switches even more, if only I could decide which of the 50,000 variants I'd like to try first :))
Start off with white. They're cheap, easy to get, and really nice - as always though, make sure it's in GREAT condition! Don't settle for anything less!
As far as I know, the documented cases of SKCM Lime are just enough for a full hand. Nubbinator, Jacobolus, whoever owns the DKSaver with SKCM Lime, Chyros, and myself are the only ones who've been seen with them. Daniel Beardsmore has also ordered some himself, so then I guess we do roll over onto two hands!
Not many documented Docutech owners, aha.
As far as documented cases of SKCL Brown, there's been a few on youtube and on other blog sites and forums.
I'd say cream tactile is a bit of an outlier. There are quite a few NeXT Non-ADB boards with this switch, but people seem to overlook them. They're a bit of an outlier in the sense that they might be the next rarest, but they are far common than SKCL Brown and SKCM Lime. I would say SKCL Brown and SKCM Lime are probably the rarest, withe pine SKCM Lime being on top there.
For full-board switches, I'd say the rarity is something like this:
SKCM Lime > SKCL Brown > SKCL Cream > SKCM Amber > SKCM Brown > SKCM Cream > SKCM Blue > SKCM Black [pine] > SKCL Green > SKCL Yellow > SKCM Orange > SKCM Salmon > SKCM White > SKCM Black [bamboo]
- SKCL Cream can only be found in Bondwell 8T Pro laptops, as far as we know, and those are quite a bit more rare than Apple IIc A2S4100s or IBM 5140s.
- SKCM Amber can only be found in those certain Apple IIC models.
- SKCM Brown can be found in the IBM 5140s, but is also found in models like the Xerox 6085 keyboard, the Docutech's predecessor, as well as some Texas Instruments boards and so on, so it's not as rare.
- SKCM Cream can always be found in NeXT non-ADB boards with AAE in the FCC ID, which aren't very rare. It's just a scarcely documented switch.
- SKCM Blue is all over the place, but it's just very sporadic.
- SKCM Black pine is not very common, but it can also be found in the other variant of NeXT non-ADB boards and the Silitek AT101, which makes it a bit more rare than Salmon and Orange imo.
- long plate unbranded SKCM White might be more rare than SKCM Blue. The alternate tactile leaf design (contact leaf style) SKCM Brown might be more rare than everything but SKCM Lime and SKCL Brown.
If you want to add SKCL Grey because it was included in the SGI button box, which had around 32 switches, then I think it'd be pretty rare. Not sure where to put it though.
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SKCM Lime > SKCL Brown > SKCL Cream > SKCM Amber > SKCM Brown > SKCM Cream > SKCM Blue > SKCM Black [pine] > SKCL Green > SKCL Yellow > SKCM Orange > SKCM Salmon > SKCM White > SKCM Black [bamboo]
Yeah, that sounds about right to me. The damped ones are a bit harder to place., probably between Salmon and White I think.
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SKCM Lime > SKCL Brown > SKCL Cream > SKCM Amber > SKCM Brown > SKCM Cream > SKCM Blue > SKCM Black [pine] > SKCL Green > SKCL Yellow > SKCM Orange > SKCM Salmon > SKCM White > SKCM Black [bamboo]
Yeah, that sounds about right to me. The damped ones are a bit harder to place., probably between Salmon and White I think.
Oh wow, those TOTALLY slipped my mind. I was thinking about them right before I made the list too, haha.
Don't they only come in SGI Granite and AEKIIs? I haven't followed them closely, but it seems like that's the case. Only found in two keyboards, but those keyboards happen to be pretty common. :) Yeah, I agree with that placement. :thumb:
Since I'm not too familiar with them, I'm not really sure which out of the two damped varieties is more uncommon.
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SKCM Lime > SKCL Brown > SKCL Cream > SKCM Amber > SKCM Brown > SKCM Cream > SKCM Blue > SKCM Black [pine] > SKCL Green > SKCL Yellow > SKCM Orange > SKCM Salmon > SKCM White > SKCM Black [bamboo]
Yeah, that sounds about right to me. The damped ones are a bit harder to place., probably between Salmon and White I think.
Oh wow, those TOTALLY slipped my mind. I was thinking about them right before I made the list too, haha.
Don't they only come in SGI Granite and AEKIIs? I haven't followed them closely, but it seems like that's the case. Only found in two keyboards, but those keyboards happen to be pretty common. :) Yeah, I agree with that placement. :thumb:
Since I'm not too familiar with them, I'm not really sure which out of the two damped varieties is more uncommon.
Later Alps-made boards often came with them too, often the white ones. I'd say the white ones are probably slightly more common, but the difference isn't huge.
Also, this list is based purely on the volume of keyboards that have switches, not how many different models came with them, obiously. Because in that case the bamboo black Alps would be ones of the "rarest" instead of the most common, and white and blue Alps would be very common indeed. Blue Alps might have appeared on even more different boards than white Alps, even.
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SKCM Lime > SKCL Brown > SKCL Cream > SKCM Amber > SKCM Brown > SKCM Cream > SKCM Blue > SKCM Black [pine] > SKCL Green > SKCL Yellow > SKCM Orange > SKCM Salmon > SKCM White > SKCM Black [bamboo]
Yeah, that sounds about right to me. The damped ones are a bit harder to place., probably between Salmon and White I think.
Oh wow, those TOTALLY slipped my mind. I was thinking about them right before I made the list too, haha.
Don't they only come in SGI Granite and AEKIIs? I haven't followed them closely, but it seems like that's the case. Only found in two keyboards, but those keyboards happen to be pretty common. :) Yeah, I agree with that placement. :thumb:
Since I'm not too familiar with them, I'm not really sure which out of the two damped varieties is more uncommon.
Later Alps-made boards often came with them too, often the white ones. I'd say the white ones are probably slightly more common, but the difference isn't huge.
Also, this list is based purely on the volume of keyboards that have switches, not how many different models came with them, obiously. Because in that case the bamboo black Alps would be ones of the "rarest" instead of the most common, and white and blue Alps would be very common indeed. Blue Alps might have appeared on even more different boards than white Alps, even.
Yeah, of course it's based on volume, haha. There'd be a lot of one-off switch boards like SKCM Amber and SKCL Cream and switches that are -close- to that sort of exclusivity like SKCM Orange being incredibly rare because of that, but nah. A lot of those one-off makes come in common boards.
The Docutech is like the best example of low volume and exclusive compared to the hundreds of thousands of other boards with a particular switch.
Blue Alps is all over the place. The keyboards that exclusively used blue Alps are pretty uncommon, but DC-2014s have popped up like weeds lately. There's a lot out there but it's just spread out like crazy.
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Great review!
Makes me want to try some Alps switches even more, if only I could decide which of the 50,000 variants I'd like to try first :))
Start off with white. They're cheap, easy to get, and really nice - as always though, make sure it's in GREAT condition! Don't settle for anything less!
Not much choice down here - I've been looking around ahd have found no Alps keyboards at all yet. Might have to just take whatever I can find, if I can ever find it!
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Neato. Is it possible these are the rarest ALPS switch?
It's probably quite close between Lime, Brown linear, and Cream tactile. Tactile browns are also pretty rare, but a fair amount of people actually have them - I think the amount of people with Lime boards can be counted on one, possibly two hands xD .
Great review!
Makes me want to try some Alps switches even more, if only I could decide which of the 50,000 variants I'd like to try first :))
Start off with white. They're cheap, easy to get, and really nice - as always though, make sure it's in GREAT condition! Don't settle for anything less!
As far as I know, the documented cases of SKCM Lime are just enough for a full hand. Nubbinator, Jacobolus, whoever owns the DKSaver with SKCM Lime, Chyros, and myself are the only ones who've been seen with them. Daniel Beardsmore has also ordered some himself, so then I guess we do roll over onto two hands!
Not many documented Docutech owners, aha.
As far as documented cases of SKCL Brown, there's been a few on youtube and on other blog sites and forums.
I'd say cream tactile is a bit of an outlier. There are quite a few NeXT Non-ADB boards with this switch, but people seem to overlook them. They're a bit of an outlier in the sense that they might be the next rarest, but they are far common than SKCL Brown and SKCM Lime. I would say SKCL Brown and SKCM Lime are probably the rarest, withe pine SKCM Lime being on top there.
For full-board switches, I'd say the rarity is something like this:
SKCM Lime > SKCL Brown > SKCL Cream > SKCM Amber > SKCM Brown > SKCM Cream > SKCM Blue > SKCM Black [pine] > SKCL Green > SKCL Yellow > SKCM Orange > SKCM Salmon > SKCM White > SKCM Black [bamboo]
- SKCL Cream can only be found in Bondwell 8T Pro laptops, as far as we know, and those are quite a bit more rare than Apple IIc A2S4100s or IBM 5140s.
- SKCM Amber can only be found in those certain Apple IIC models.
- SKCM Brown can be found in the IBM 5140s, but is also found in models like the Xerox 6085 keyboard, the Docutech's predecessor, as well as some Texas Instruments boards and so on, so it's not as rare.
- SKCM Cream can always be found in NeXT non-ADB boards with AAE in the FCC ID, which aren't very rare. It's just a scarcely documented switch.
- SKCM Blue is all over the place, but it's just very sporadic.
- SKCM Black pine is not very common, but it can also be found in the other variant of NeXT non-ADB boards and the Silitek AT101, which makes it a bit more rare than Salmon and Orange imo.
- long plate unbranded SKCM White might be more rare than SKCM Blue. The alternate tactile leaf design (contact leaf style) SKCM Brown might be more rare than everything but SKCM Lime and SKCL Brown.
If you want to add SKCL Grey because it was included in the SGI button box, which had around 32 switches, then I think it'd be pretty rare. Not sure where to put it though.
Old thread but to add to this I would put SKCL Amber at the top.
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Old thread but to add to this I would put SKCL Amber at the top.
Well, I was speaking of switches that could be found in full keyboards, not one-off switches or space bar switches. Single switches would be something different altogether; I wouldn't know where to start, haha.
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Old thread but to add to this I would put SKCL Amber at the top.
Well, I was speaking of switches that could be found in full keyboards, not one-off switches or space bar switches. Single switches would be something different altogether; I wouldn't know where to start, haha.
Ah. Lol, SKCL Heavy Grey or Heavy SKCL Cream even :eek: is at the top likely.
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SKCL Cream can only be found in Bondwell 8T Pro laptops, as far as we know,
Pretty sure I saw one as a spacebar switch in a SKCL green keyboard. I might be imagining it though.
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SKCL Cream can only be found in Bondwell 8T Pro laptops, as far as we know,
Pretty sure I saw one as a spacebar switch in a SKCL green keyboard. I might be imagining it though.
No, they are used for space bar switches on some boards; I've seen them in certain typewriters with SKCL Greens. I'm talking board-wide switches, not just singles here though.
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Great review!
Makes me want to try some Alps switches even more, if only I could decide which of the 50,000 variants I'd like to try first :))
Start off with white. They're cheap, easy to get, and really nice - as always though, make sure it's in GREAT condition! Don't settle for anything less!
Not much choice down here - I've been looking around ahd have found no Alps keyboards at all yet. Might have to just take whatever I can find, if I can ever find it!
It costs so much to buy keyboards and get them shipped too...
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I want to add that once I bent a click leaf on my White ALPS by accident and it had an extremely unique key feel. All of the tactility was at the top. I wish I could replicate it because it felt excellent.