First impressions of the Cherry Blue switch, and the Rosewill RK-9000

[Pretendo]

Hello, all.  My new Rosewill RK-9000 arrived in the mail today.

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I would like to document that fleeting 'first impression' point of view for other new people out there who are considering buying one of these boards.

The very first thing that I noticed, right out of the box, is that the board looks fantastically plain.  It's quite small in size compared to the Model M that previously owned my desk space, but is comparable in footprint to most of the full travel keyboards you'd see in any big box store.  Think of the ubiquitous Dell keyboard and you'll get the idea. Build quality, however, is leaps and bounds ahead!  The board isn't a tank like my trusty M, but it certainly is solid feeling.

It's like comparing one of those children's plastic sewing machines to a professional model.  You feel like you're typing on an actual tool, rather than a gimme that they threw in with the PC.  Safe to say it won't be migrating on my desk or losing its little feet any time soon.  Comes with two detachable cables, USB or PS2, which is also handy in case I need to hook it to an older computer or suddenly find a need for NKRO.  Has a red panel behind the keys which I actually quite like.

As for Cherry Blues, they're not anything like what I was expecting.  Fresh out of the box they actually felt sticky and flimsy, but after typing awhile they either loosened up or I just got used to them.  Probably some combination of both.  They are a very light switch compared to the buckling springs the M houses.  To me, the Model M feels more like a programmers keyboard while the Cherry MX feels like it would do better on a writer's desk.  The M gives off a utilitarian vibe, while MX's feel more creative.  That's all subjective, though...

So that's it.  For anybody out there that still types on a rubber dome, I would recommend this keyboard, especially if you write allot.  You'll notice a huge difference in quality.  You'll WANT to get to the computer and type that next bit of literature, rather than dread it.  For those typing on Ms, it's a toss up.  I would personally try to borrow one for a day or so before purchasing, but go for it if you come across the extra spending money.  At the very least, you could always put it up on the market around here if you're dissatisfied.  Personally, being a programmer and a free time writer, I'll keep both

[dorkvader]

I have my unicomp sitting at my "work computer" desk for just that reason. It projects a "get things done" vibe.

Very nice first impression. Do you get any key wobble? I don't know if rosewill uses that large keycap height, but I remember having to get used to the "wobble" from the taller keycaps in my WASD

[Pretendo]

There is a very slight wobble.  Maybe between 1-2mm total movement of key cap from farthest left to farthest right.  Less than that up and down.  The only reason I even took notice of it is the complete lack of wobble on those old BS keyboards.

[Chobopants]

I am finding these Signature Plastics doubleshots wobbly on my Camo Filco.  Plus loose fitting.

Filco = Rosewill plastic and molds.  Different texture and lettering technology.


And the loosening up thing is the Cherry Blues "breaking in".  I notice it every time I buy a new Cherry Blue keyboard.

Yeah, I actually was really disliking the feel of my board with the SP keys on my cherry blues. I eventually just bought another set of KBC PBTs and now it's my main work board.

[N8N]

I'm going to have to do a keycap comparison... I threatened to do it and now I have pretty much everything I need to do it...  reason I bring this up is that of all the keyboards that I have, the one that felt the "wobbliest" was the WASD which was also the only board that I had with "tall" keycaps.  But then I couldn't resist any longer and bought a set of WASD keys and put them on my Noppoo Choc Pro...  the funny thing was, that I was replacing only a few caps at a time, and noticed that while the Noppoo keys were definitely shorter than WASD, due to (I assume) a difference in the relative location of the bottom of the stem and the bottom of the skirt of the keycap, the WASD keys were really only a very small amount higher when installed on the same board.

I also noticed that the Noppoo (brown) felt less wobbly than the WASD (blue) even when both have WASD keycaps on them.  So I'm revising my theory to say that I think it's the blues that are wobblier than the browns or clears.

I do also have Cherry lasered and Cherry doubleshot keys... really need to put a few of each all on the same keyboard and take a picture to settle this once and for all.  (yeah right)