geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: jshel2000 on Wed, 09 May 2018, 10:25:44
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I just restored an IBM model F xt, and love it to death, but I want to get a little bit of a variety going, especially since my IBM is my only mech, and only good keyboard for that matter (my only other board is a dell membrane board with a HIDEOUS binding problem even though I cleaned its keys and the case with pressurized water).
I've been watching a lot of Chyrosran's videos lately, in fact, I would say his videos are responsible for getting into good mechanical keyboards in the first place (thanks m8). A lot of the alps boards he looked at seemed very interesting to me, so I want to give one of those a try
But I would prefer a board with a decently good key rollover since I do some gaming that would benefit from that, and I would like a board with a fairly rugged design just because I'm a bit picky in that regard. I also would prefer complicated alps.
I looked on ebay at at101s and they all are about $100 USD and they don't have n-key rollover anyway, so I am looking elsewhere. I have a good deal on what looks like a zenith z-150, and a northgate omnikey 102 key board. Both are in very good condition, and the zenith actually comes with the computer it originally came with, but that makes it about 20 dollars more than the omnikey. I also am looking at the ace pad tech board, but I want to wait a little longer for Ace to polish them up a bit more.
Any boards I may be missing? And I would prefer something cheaper. I spent a fortune on fixing my model f.
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Focus FK-2001 if you want a beautiful white Alps board. Bonus points if you can get one with the dust cover.
Their build quality is kind of meh, but dayum they are sexy.
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I never understood the appeal of the Focus 2001. I think they are kind of ugly.
Dell AT-101 is a great cheap starter, if you can find one in good condition, otherwise the Northgates.
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I just restored an IBM model F xt, and love it to death, but I want to get a little bit of a variety going, especially since my IBM is my only mech, and only good keyboard for that matter (my only other board is a dell membrane board with a HIDEOUS binding problem even though I cleaned its keys and the case with pressurized water).
I've been watching a lot of Chyrosran's videos lately, in fact, I would say his videos are responsible for getting into good mechanical keyboards in the first place (thanks m8). A lot of the alps boards he looked at seemed very interesting to me, so I want to give one of those a try
But I would prefer a board with a decently good key rollover since I do some gaming that would benefit from that, and I would like a board with a fairly rugged design just because I'm a bit picky in that regard. I also would prefer complicated alps.
I looked on ebay at at101s and they all are about $100 USD and they don't have n-key rollover anyway, so I am looking elsewhere. I have a good deal on what looks like a zenith z-150, and a northgate omnikey 102 key board. Both are in very good condition, and the zenith actually comes with the computer it originally came with, but that makes it about 20 dollars more than the omnikey. I also am looking at the ace pad tech board, but I want to wait a little longer for Ace to polish them up a bit more.
Any boards I may be missing? And I would prefer something cheaper. I spent a fortune on fixing my model f.
You could go for a Dell AT101W. Not N-key rollover (not many Alps boards are), but it's ruggedly constructed, comes with SKCM black Alps, and is picked up fairly cheaply.
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If you are up for a bit of customization, you could always buy the switches you want and then swap them into a KBP V60 or V80. I know someone here sells V80 PCBs with no switches and you can buy your own case.
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AT101w usually should be $30~$50 if you're patient, I would recommend V80 with matias switch if you're not limited to complicated alps. Also you can consider buying apple extended II from taobao, shipping is steep but vintage keyboards are cheap in China.
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Unless you are building something custom, I would find something cleanish with salmon alps, orange alps, green alps or white alps. 'Starter' alps boards are going to have dampened cream alps, dampened white alps, and black alps, all of which are pretty meh. M0116s are pretty good for around $50 plus a converter, pick a Zenith for linear switches and of course Omnikeys have great build quality with Blindassassin just running a GB for custom PCB. There is probably more I just can't think of right now.