Are 'Tai Hao' made Alps Clone Switches any good?

[Kamen Rider Blade]

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Tai-Hao_APC_series

Are any of there keyboards / switches any good?

Just curious since there are still fans of Alps Switches, yet Alps has stopped manufacturering switches from what I can tell.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I was tempted to buy a Tai-Hao keyboard just to try out the switches, but discovered that reviews indicate significant key failure rate. I don't know if the key failure is due to the controller, soldering or the switches themselves. The switch samples I received seemed fine, so I don't know what the problem is. They're not a keyboard that people here or at DT go for (I can only think of one person who reported buying one), otherwise someone would have figured out now exactly what failed and why.

[tuxsavvy]

Not that I have the proper APC mechanical series keyboard but I have the semi-mechanical variants. I can honestly admit that the feel of the keys are inconsistent. Imagine something like Realforce variable weights but instead of them matching up to clusters of keys that a finger is responsible for hitting - they are all mixed.

Besides cleaning semi-mechanical is a real pain as well.

[Hyde]

Well I don't know about the Tai-Hao switches, but I remember Matias mentioning that it's actually really really hard to create a switch.

Even though they copied the design of ALPS switches it still took them 2 years until they get it right.  So I'd imagine if Tai-Hao didn't invest in a lot of time refining the switches then it might break easily.

But that's just a wild guess so don't take my word for it.

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I think my issue with the Tai-Hao Alps clones are from my research of all the clone makers, they have the best durability.

Yet at 20 million clicks, a high end rubber dome with 15 million clicks isn't that much worse.

Yet Cherry MX's & Topre's have a 50 million click lifespan.

So where do the Alps clones sit in this day and age?

They're not good enough to compete with Cherry / Topre cause those have 2.5x the durability.

A very good Rubber Dome can be competitive with Tai-Hao's product.

So I can't see them ever penetrating the western KB market.

Yet there are people who still love Alps switches.

Yet Alps themselves have long since stopped production.

If only Alps kept their switch manufacturing lines going and just let the KB makers make KB's with their switches.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

The Tai-Hao design is one of the oldest. The movable contact design has not really changed since it was introduced — above is a comparison between a 2013 issue Tai-Hao APC BSW series switch, and an alps.tw Type OA2 ("Simplified Alps Type IV") switch from something like 1989 (no date anywhere on that keyboard).

From photos of old APC BSW switches, it's clear that one of APC BSW and OA2 copied the other, as they're almost identical. The only major change to the APC BSW design since is that the stationary contact has been significantly reduced in size.

As for Alps, they stopped production of their classic switch range ("complicated Alps") around 1996, probably as they were far too expensive to make. We're talking 11 components in every switch! That's one of the highest part counts of any switch:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Parts_per_switch

(The winner to date is vintage Futabas at 16 — nothing yet has managed to top that!)

Cherry MX clicky switches on the other hand only have 7 parts per switch. (The click collar system is a bit fiddly to assemble though.)