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Author Topic: Trying out keycap profiles?  (Read 3682 times)

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Offline br4n_d0n

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Trying out keycap profiles?
« on: Sat, 23 April 2016, 18:40:34 »
Is there anyway to try out the different types of keycap profiles without blowing tons of money on this curiosity?
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Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 23 April 2016, 19:06:41 »
What profiles are you interested in?

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Offline jacobolus

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 23 April 2016, 20:28:44 »
Sure. Find a local meetup of keyboard fans.
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Offline br4n_d0n

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #3 on: Sat, 23 April 2016, 21:14:26 »
I'm interested in trying as many as I can whether it be SA, DSA, DSC, etc.

As for meetups, I don't think there are any near me.
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Offline rowdy

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #4 on: Sun, 24 April 2016, 00:36:27 »
If you want to try different keycap profiles, and can't get to a meetup, about the only way is to buy some sets.

Or see if you can participate in one of the occasional keyboard tours - generally only a single keyboard but at least you could cross one off your list.
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"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline br4n_d0n

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #5 on: Sun, 24 April 2016, 10:45:01 »
Dang. Well, would there be a super cheap way to buy some then? I'm trying to figure out which keycaps I want for the board I'm making, but don't want to spend tons of money on trying to find the right keys.
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Offline jacobolus

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #6 on: Sun, 24 April 2016, 12:00:48 »
Last year I made some little props for demonstrating keycap profiles: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=68550

As far as basic typing comfort is concerned, you can’t go wrong with Cherry or DCS profile. I also think Tai Hao keycaps are fine. I’m not a big fan of DSA, SA, “OEM” profile, because I don’t think any of them are aggressive enough with their sculpted shape, but some folks like them. YMMV.

If you care about the wear resistance/shine, printing options, color scheme, other aesthetic considerations, or sound, then you might care about keycap thickness, type of plastic, etc.

Summary pic from that linked thread:
« Last Edit: Sun, 24 April 2016, 12:03:53 by jacobolus »
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Offline br4n_d0n

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #7 on: Sun, 24 April 2016, 13:53:42 »
I actually saw your post (on a couple of sites) about the different profiles and thought it was really cool; I even bookmarked it. It was what sparked my interest in trying out the different kinds.
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Offline rowdy

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #8 on: Sun, 24 April 2016, 19:08:27 »
Another option to try DCS, SA and DSA would be to grab a bunch of random keycaps from an SP crap bag.  They might not match colours, and you might or might not have a full keyboard's worth of each profile, but there should be enough there to give you an idea.
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"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline br4n_d0n

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #9 on: Sun, 24 April 2016, 20:17:32 »
I looked into that, but they sold out hours before I even knew they had a sale.

Spamray was kind enough to try and help me out, but I may have upset him so I don't want to bother him just in case.
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Offline AgentZen

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #10 on: Sun, 24 April 2016, 20:31:44 »
What I have found is that keycap sets, the more desirable ones at least, hold their value, or if they are highly desirable, will only raise in price in time. If you can afford to buy a set you think you might be interested in, you really shouldn't lose any/much money selling it again. You may even be able to trade it for a different profile set.
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Offline -musubi

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #11 on: Mon, 25 April 2016, 01:03:21 »
A lot of grab bags have been sold recently, maybe you can ask someone that has a couple different profiles to send you some? (I guess that's mainly SP profiles) but maybe you can ask em to add a few others as well.
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Offline pwade3

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #12 on: Mon, 25 April 2016, 09:04:21 »
Quote from: -musubi on Mon, 25 April 2016, 01:03:21
A lot of grab bags have been sold recently, maybe you can ask someone that has a couple different profiles to send you some? (I guess that's mainly SP profiles) but maybe you can ask em to add a few others as well.

Yeah, I picked up my grab bag to check out how DSA and SA felt before any of my SA group buys came in/so I could decide if I ever want to hop on a DSA buy. Haven't bothered sorting a DCS set yet though since I figure it's close enough to OEM and it's not like DCS is a common profile anyway.
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Offline rowdy

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #13 on: Mon, 25 April 2016, 22:04:40 »
Quote from: pwade3 on Mon, 25 April 2016, 09:04:21
Quote from: -musubi on Mon, 25 April 2016, 01:03:21
A lot of grab bags have been sold recently, maybe you can ask someone that has a couple different profiles to send you some? (I guess that's mainly SP profiles) but maybe you can ask em to add a few others as well.

Yeah, I picked up my grab bag to check out how DSA and SA felt before any of my SA group buys came in/so I could decide if I ever want to hop on a DSA buy. Haven't bothered sorting a DCS set yet though since I figure it's close enough to OEM and it's not like DCS is a common profile anyway.

DCS is closer to Cherry profile, and is very common!

All of the keycap sets were made by SP and most were DCS profile before GMK was "re-discovered", and before JTK came along.
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"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline jcoffin1981

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Re: Trying out keycap profiles?
« Reply #14 on: Thu, 28 April 2016, 17:23:09 »
You should look on ebay for Leopold keycaps.  They don't name the profile, but it's quite similar to Cherry  or DCS.  They are roughly 1.5 mm shorter than OEM keycaps.  It's difficult to explain,  but having your fingertips closer to the stem of the switch changes the feel of every keystroke.  I just don't  think that taller keycaps are desirable in anyway.  This is of course highly subjective.  They are inexpensive too. I see some sets going for 90 dollars or more.  These are 40 dollars plus 10 dollars shipping. 

Also to me, radical stepping between rows is awkward.  These  are only slightly  contoured.  The model number is LEO-KEYCAPS-PBT-LAS
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