Das Keyboard versus Tactile Pro 3?

[hari]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the world of mechanical keyboards and I'm finally gearing up to buy one!  I'm super excited but need some advice.  I've been scouring the forums here and I really appreciate y'alls depth and generosity of insight!  So I'm hoping for some guidance :-)

I'm a Mac user on a very limited budget as a grad student raising a family on one stipend -- but I'm also a writing teacher and I do a lot of writing myself.  I think I'm down to two choices, based on my constraints, but of course, as I see from the forums, I'm quite open/willing to change my mind ;-)  The two choices I'm contemplating are:

A: Matias Tactile Pro 3
B: Das Keyboard Professional Model S

Here's what little I know so far, from my reading in this forum and elsewhere: The Das Keyboard uses Cherry blues, while the TP3 uses ALPS-type simplified whites, presumably Fukkas.  Both are from small companies with excellent customer service.  Both have good reviews.  Both have a history of previous problems in earlier models, that seem to have been responded to very quickly by each company.  Both, importantly, have a 30-day return policy.  Also importantly, both are around $150, which is the upper end of my budget.  The Das Keyboard offers an education discount, not sure if the TP3 does also.

So I guess it comes down to whether I want Cherry blues or ALPS whites.  And also whether I like Mac keyboards or PC keyboards (I'm a Mac user).  I'm leaning toward the TP3s, but admittedly only because I kinda like that they're so focused on bringing back mechanical keyboards for Macs.

One option I'm considering is simply ordering both, trying them out, and returning one within 30 days.  Given how generous both companies are with customer service, though, I would feel like I'm abusing their return policy just for the luxury of trying out their keys... So, I wonder if any of you could help me decide one way or other -- or even confuse me even further with more choices? :-)

Thanks in advance!!!  I'll post updates here :-)

Take care,
hari :-)

[iMav]

Is the numpad a requirement?  Or is that a concession based on your budget?

GHSS keyboards are $99.  (I always map caps lock to control and control to command for Mac use)

[t13]

I can't speak to the Das, but I have a MT3, and love it. It is loud, but is also extremely comfortable to type on. OWC has it for a great price right now, too, FWIW (I have no relation to the company, other than being a happy customer).

[Pylon]

Have you considered a Unicomp? They still make Model Ms and derivatives with all their buckling spring awesomeness, and offer USB too. Plus the baseline Space Saver is only $69. No 6-key rollover though like the other two.

[ch_123]

I'd wait and see what those Leopold keyboards are like before buying a Cherry keyboard.

[hari]

The numpad isn't a requirement -- I hardly ever use it -- and I was actually curious about Filco tenkeyless boards, but when I went to elitekeyboards it looks like they no longer have Filcos as they are switching suppliers.  The GHSS is an option I guess, although I am a little intimidated by the prospect of buying a modified vintage keyboard without having any previous experience on that type of keyboard.  It feels like something I would definitely buy if I knew a lot more about keyboards and had typed on similar boards before...

I did look into Unicomps too, but I think I'll find the buckling springs to be both too loud and too heavy for my typing.  Although, now that the idea has been planted in my head, I'm waffling! :-)

[hari]

Well, now I'm seriously considering a Unicomp, but I'm confused with the various options -- the Customizer 101 versus the 104 versus the 102/103 and then there's the Space Saver model and so on.  I think I'm missing something basic here, but for some reason they all kinda look the same to me on Unicomp's website.

I *really* like that Unicomp is manufactured completely in Lexington, Kentucky and I would like to support them if possible, but I'm also a little wary of the build quality mentions in some of the reviews here.  I don't mind cosmetic blemishes on the injection moulding so long as the keys and the electronics themselves are top notch.  On the other hand, the $69 price is *REALLY* appealing to my budget situation!

So... how do I go about getting some clarity on what the different Unicomp boards are and what issues to be aware of with them?

By the way, thanks so much for the advice everyone, especially given the holidays!!!  Merry Christmas!!!

Take care,
hari :-)

[Pylon]

Also, ivory & olive vs black & metallic gray color scheme. Mostly a cosmetic thing.

I think the former will give you two piece caps (jpc got 2-piece caps with his white Endurapro), which the latter usually come with one piece caps. The former is easier to clean and easier to swap out keys with, but they tend to fall off fairly easily, while one piece caps stay put.

[hari]

Hi everyone,

Thanks to everyone for your feedback and advice!  After some serious waffling introduced by the Unicomp options, I finally decided to get the Matias Tactile Pro 3.

And, it is awesome.  I really really love it!  And I have a customer service wow story to share here too.

Although there were other places that were selling the TP3 for cheaper, I ordered the keyboard directly from Matias through their website because I wanted to be able to return the keyboard within 30 days in case I didn't like it.  Well, by the next day they shipped it out using UPS Ground -- they ship from Buffalo, NY, and I live in Massachusetts, so I got the keyboard within just two days, right on December 30.

I enjoyed typing on the keyboard right through New Year's Eve and New Year's, but then I noticed something odd -- I seemed to be typing the letter 'o' a lot sooner than I thought, i.e. it was very easy for me to type two or three 'o's when I intended to type just one.  Slowing down a bit, I realized that the letter 'o' was activating well before the click-point, just pressing lightly on the key seemed enough to trigger the keypress but without clicking.  More troubling, just wiggling the key while resting my finger on the key lightly was enough to activate several 'o's in a row.

Taking a tip from the Rip-o-Meter on these forums, I tried measuring the activation force using several nickels while having a text editor open.  I added a nickel at a time until the letter 'o' showed up on the screen.  Sure enough, about 6 or 7 nickels were enough to activate the key, about 30-35 grams.  It took about 10 or 11 nickels to actually 'click' the key, i.e. about 50-55 grams.

So, here's the wow part of the story -- on Monday Jan 3 I emailed the Matias helpdesk and described the problem.  I wasn't sure if what I was seeing was an issue with just the 'o' key or whether the activation-before-click was normal behavior for the ALPS type switches.  This being my first mechanical keyboard, I was also not sure whether this was just something I would have to get used to.

Well, within a couple of hours, someone from Matias emailed me back saying that based on how I had described it (I included my Rip-o-Meter readings above), the Tech Support staff were pretty sure that it might be a problem with just that keyswitch.  So, the person from Matias wrote that she was shipping me a new replacement keyboard immediately through UPS Ground -- she asked me to test the replacement and see if it resolves the keypress issue, and that we could handle the return later.

!!

I don't know, maybe that's standard practice these days, but this is the first time I've had a company ship me a replacement product absolutely free with no hassle on my part!!

And, well, the replacement keyboard got here today, a few hours ago, and no problems at all with the keys -- all of them activate close to the click point, and the keyboard feels quite solid.

I'm still getting used to the keyboard, but I *love* how it feels and how it makes typing so much fun! I think I'm hooked on mechanical keyboards now :-)  I can see how these can become quite an expensive addiction :-)

Anyway, thanks all for your advice and insights!

[patrickgeekhack]

Congratulations on your first mechanical keyboard. I don't own a Matias Tactile Pro 3, but I do own a Das. I had good customer service from Metadot too, which is documented in a thread on this forum.

Now, I would give you a good piece of advice: run far away from here and never ever come back, or your wallet will hate you. In fact, I do think you have already spent too much time here already :-)

[ChThoniC]

For some reason I really like browsing this forum, even though I doubt I will purchase another keyboard for many years when my Filco comes.

I managed to get in and out of head-fi with only spending about $250, so it's possible to be a member of one of these niche forums and not lose all your wallet contents.

[typo]

$250 at head-fi? you must not have stayed very long

[hari]

Congratulations on your first mechanical keyboard. I don't own a Matias Tactile Pro 3, but I do own a Das. I had good customer service from Metadot too, which is documented in a thread on this forum.

Now, I would give you a good piece of advice: run far away from here and never ever come back, or your wallet will hate you. In fact, I do think you have already spent too much time here already :-)

Hah!  How did you know that I'm already scheming of ways to convince/cajole my partner into letting me spend money on more keyboards later this year? ;-)  Actually the only keyboard I'm thinking of getting next is a Unicomp -- I'm really curious now what buckling springs feel like.  I think I've gotten used to typing heavily on mushy keyboards, so I find myself bottoming out on the TP3 a lot, and I think I might like the heavy feel of the buckling springs.  But that's for a different day/year/decade -- if Unicomp manages to stay in business that long and if they keep their prices relatively reasonable.

Yeah, I've been scouring these forums quite a lot these past few weeks :-)  I should now focus on putting the keyboard to work on my primary project -- my long overdue thesis!!

[patrickgeekhack]

Hah!  How did you know that I'm already scheming of ways to convince/cajole my partner into letting me spend money on more keyboards later this year? ;-)

Because this happens almost all the time. When you think you have tried/bought all the keyboards you wanted, another one starts teasing you.  Only here can you find people (at least me) whose new year's resolutions include "not buying anymore keyboard."

[typo]

i figured i'd chime in as well. as for metadots customer service....it is good as it gets.
other keyboards and things in general should take a lesson from them.

[patrickgeekhack]

i figured i'd chime in as well. as for metadots customer service....it is good as it gets.
other keyboards and things in general should take a lesson from them.

The general feeling I got from Metadot was that they know who are the people who buy their keyboards. They seem to know that most of their customers are people who know what they are looking for in a keyboard. They seem to take teh complaints seriously. After all, we are kind of keyboard evangelists.