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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Philister on Wed, 01 March 2017, 13:46:16

Title: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: Philister on Wed, 01 March 2017, 13:46:16
Bought this thinking it would have some nice Alps mechanical switches. Boy, was I disappointed. It's one of the worst rubber domes I've ever set my fingers on! The keys are so irresponsive that about every 15th or so keystroke doesn't register even though the board has apparently seen very little use (I wonder why...).

Label says "Low Profile Keyboard", "WB series", apparently it's from 1999.

"WB" - wastebasket? worst board? welcome bankruptcy?

Be warned!

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Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: chyros on Wed, 01 March 2017, 13:59:54
Yeah, I've had a really bad rubber dome board by Alps once too, although in all fairness it was very dirty. There's really only a few names I'd recommend when it regards rubber domes, tbh.
Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: kekman on Wed, 01 March 2017, 17:05:04
more like avoid all rubber domes - apart from cup rubber
Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: davkol on Thu, 02 March 2017, 02:33:47
Cup rubber, literally rubber dome…
Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: Daniel Beardsmore on Thu, 02 March 2017, 17:44:28
Try putting your coffee in a dome and see how well that works.
Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: ander on Fri, 03 March 2017, 16:39:10
Too bad. Can't blame you for seeing "Alps" and being mislead. Cherry makes boards with MY switches, too... The KB world can be a treacherous place. Caveat emptor.
Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: Puddsy on Fri, 03 March 2017, 17:39:04
99% of membrane keyboards are right ****
Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: losing_ctrl on Sat, 04 March 2017, 10:08:16
Yeah, I've had a really bad rubber dome board by Alps once too, although in all fairness it was very dirty. There's really only a few names I'd recommend when it regards rubber domes, tbh.

I'd be curious what brands of rubber dome that you would recommend to someone who is looking to buy one.

I've got a Lenovo 73p5220 that's pretty decent (that came with a workstation I bought last year), and I've had a Keytronic Lifetime Classic-P2 that had a great feel.
Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: justinmtype on Sat, 04 March 2017, 11:19:12
Keytronics are good.
Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: chyros on Sat, 04 March 2017, 13:00:49
Keytronics are good.
Personally I'd say there are so many rubber domes out there that are so much better than Key Tronics ;) .
Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: losing_ctrl on Sat, 04 March 2017, 14:15:59
Keytronics are good.
Personally I'd say there are so many rubber domes out there that are so much better than Key Tronics ;) .

Well, the best non-Topre switch rubber dome keyboard I've ever used was my Keytronics Lifetime Classic-P2 that I gave away unfortunately when I moved.

So I'd still love to get some brand recommendations for quality rubber dome KBs, so I can keep my eye out for those companies and give them a try if I get the chance.
Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: Philister on Sat, 04 March 2017, 14:26:01
I can wholeheartedly recommend a BTC-5100c: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=84303.0 (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=84303.0)
Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: losing_ctrl on Sat, 04 March 2017, 14:39:22
I can wholeheartedly recommend a BTC-5100c: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=84303.0 (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=84303.0)

Looks very interesting, thanks.
Title: Re: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost
Post by: Daniel Beardsmore on Sat, 04 March 2017, 15:31:17
It would be interesting to try another Silitek-made Dell QuietKey (SK-1000REW) although owing to the rubber degradation, and the fact that mine died years ago (between 2005 and 2008), it would be hard to get another one in the same condition that mine was in. I really liked it. It was conductive dome, and the conductive coating must have worn out as the domes needed constant cleaning, and one day cleaning a contact pad killed a load of keys— I never had it apart, so I guess I tore part of the membrane.

At the time, I knew nothing about keyboards, although this was several years after I'd discovered the blue Alps keyboard that I later stashed away and largely forgot about.