Cherry German Brown Stem to UK?

[Eclairz]

I've been wondering about this, what if I bought the german G80-3000 with the brown stem mx keys, and just rearranged the keys to a british format and set windows to british layout would it work like a british keyboard, as the are very similar to normal british keyboards with the fat enter key :-), or would the keyboard still mess up the arrangement of keys?

The keyboard in question is the
http://www.amazon.de/Cherry-G80-3000-Tastatur-DE-USB/dp/B000KN43CS

and its model number is G80-3000LQCDE-0 so it should be a brown stem

[nrp]

Hi Eclairz,

I tried to buy this same G80-3000 keyboard from Cherry distributors in US (the US version), with the browns.

They don't have it in stock. Cherry demands a minimum of 10 pieces to ship from Germany. Price is around $80 USD.

Maybe we could see if there are others in the group interested in these keyboards and buy 10 units as a group. Not sure if that would work, but it's worth a try.

[Eclairz]

i think there are many more individual German keyboards with brown stem than there are US-EU keyboards, would simply buying a German keyboard and replacing the keycaps or using sticker keycaps work? That is my question, amazon and other german distributers seem to sell the brown stem keyboards individually, and I cherry is a german company? so this would make sense.

The main problem is the keyboard layout where germany use a "QWERTZ" so a complete new set of keys are required, it is still cheaper than buying a filco or hhkb pro2 for UK people like me, since germany is in the EU. So I could buy a german QWERTZ brown stem keyboard and a british QWERTY blue stem keyboard and just swap them and still be cheaper than importing the expensive japanese keyboard.

But I am unsure if the keyboard will have the same mechanical layout when using it when plugging it in?

The US G80-3000LQCEU is very hard to find but the German G80-3000LQCDE are more widely available, just find a german speaking/reading friend to help buy the board

[lowpoly]

WRT G80-3000LQCEU I just did a quick look:

This shop lists shipping outside Germany/Austria so you should be able to order from them:

http://www.mylemon.at/artikel,nr,16249,CHERRY,G80-3000LQCEU-0_PS_2_USB_Win95_Tastatur.htm

LQCDE will have the vertical return key, but maybe LQCEU has that as well.

[Bluemercury]

Yes i would like to buy a cherry brown g80-3000 since i already have the das keyboard with blue cherrys and a g80 with black ones. What would be the best place to buy a brown one with Euro layout cheap?53€ isnt very cheap....i bought my g80-3000lmcp0 with linear switches for 11€....new....

[Ulysses31]

Eleven euros seems an amazingly low price.  For a G80 with UK layout and black switches, i've seen between £40-£55.  That's about $80-$110.

[Bluemercury]

i think there are many more individual German keyboards with brown stem than there are US-EU keyboards, would simply buying a German keyboard and replacing the keycaps or using sticker keycaps work? That is my question, amazon and other german distributers seem to sell the brown stem keyboards individually, and I cherry is a german company? so this would make sense.

The main problem is the keyboard layout where germany use a "QWERTZ" so a complete new set of keys are required, it is still cheaper than buying a filco or hhkb pro2 for UK people like me, since germany is in the EU. So I could buy a german QWERTZ brown stem keyboard and a british QWERTY blue stem keyboard and just swap them and still be cheaper than importing the expensive japanese keyboard.

But I am unsure if the keyboard will have the same mechanical layout when using it when plugging it in?

The US G80-3000LQCEU is very hard to find but the German G80-3000LQCDE are more widely available, just find a german speaking/reading friend to help buy the board

So you want the brown switch version for uk layout right? Well my das keyboard is practically a G80-3000, so the keys can be swapped, and i was thinking of you doing the same thing you're thinking. My g80 3000 with black linear switches has the Portuguese layout, so i can swap the keys with the german brown ones, my doubt is if choosing any other language in windows it will change it back to qwerty mode.

Keep me informed, if you find a cheaper priced brown g80, im interested.

[lowpoly]

I don't think it will get much cheaper than the link I posted which was around EUR 54,-. But maybe someone will find something.

This shop in Poland seems to have it in black (LQCEU-2), no idea if they will ship it though. Around EUR 70,-:

http://www.prodata.com.pl/shopping.asp?action=showsel&category=KB&category2=CH&category3=PS

[Bluemercury]

Eleven euros seems an amazingly low price.  For a G80 with UK layout and black switches, i've seen between £40-£55.  That's about $80-$110.

Well i can buy one for you if you want lolol the shop is just downstairs, the problem is that this keyboard is a bit strange component wise. It has the windows keys but it still uses the DIN contact......which is strange...oh and it has the Portuguese layout.

[Bluemercury]

I don't think it will get much cheaper than the link I posted which was around EUR 54,-. But maybe someone will find something.

This shop in Poland seems to have it in black (LQCEU-2), no idea if they will ship it though. Around EUR 70,-:

http://www.prodata.com.pl/shopping.asp?action=showsel&category=KB&category2=CH&category3=PS

Well acording the g80-3000 datasheet i have around there's no black keyboard with brown switches:

here's what i can see:

 
G80-3000LQCCH-0 light grey 105 soft Switzerland 4025112058622
 
G80-3000LQCDE-0 light grey 105 soft  Germany 4025112058639
 
G80-3000LQCEU-0 light grey 104 soft  US-English / € - symbol 4025112058646

But i think this datasheet is not the latest i assume. I would love to get the black version too.

[lowpoly]

Yes, the datasheet doesn't list G80-3000LQCDE-2 either but if you google it it's out there.

[Bluemercury]

Yes, the datasheet doesn't list G80-3000LQCDE-2 either but if you google it it's out there.

Yeah i just noticed that too, for both the LQCDE and LQCEU there both -0 and -2 models.....

Edit: and it seems the -2 models are black at least according to some sites. Amazon.de does have that model, but it shows a grey foto....hummm

Edit2: nevermind when you click on the page it shows a black version.....so its probably confirmed, -2 are all black. And its 54€ too.
http://www.amazon.de/Cherry-G80-3000-LQCDE-2-Tastatur-Schwarz/dp/B000TNEVBC/ref=pd_sbs_ce_4_img?ie=UTF8&qid=1210265975&sr=1-16

[Eclairz]

will 'amazon germany' ship to uk though as i cant understand german, and btw the das keyboard seems way overpriced, for blank keys. edit: i thought das was £90 but actually was 90 euros so actually price is reasonable, but still have to pay for more shipping due to its german origins

[Bluemercury]

will 'amazon germany' ship to uk though as i cant understand german, and btw the das keyboard seems way overpriced, for blank keys. edit: i thought das was £90 but actually was 90 euros so actually price is reasonable, but still have to pay for more shipping due to its german origins

I bought from getdigital.de but beware that this keyboard comes with blue cherry switches. Not brown. I might buy the g80 from amazon.de. Ill decide later, but i would prefer a different keyboard, because i already have a g80-3000, the DAS KEYBOARD is exactly the same although black and another g80 well.....thats the best we can get in Europe it seems.

[lowpoly]

nevermind...

[Eclairz]

i'm about to get my first taste of mechanical keyboard with a british blue stem G80-3000, i ordered one this week. If I don't mind the noise I probably wont get a brown stem keyboard, but seeing all the raving around brown stem keys i thought i would do some research around the area, since the key caps are compatible swapping my british caps with the german ones should be fine and make the brown stem german keyboards into a british keyboard.

The filco even with their n-key rollover and other stuff is far too expensive for £100+ anyway

[Bluemercury]

i'm about to get my first taste of mechanical keyboard with a british blue stem G80-3000, i ordered one this week. If I don't mind the noise I probably wont get a brown stem keyboard, but seeing all the raving around brown stem keys i thought i would do some research around the area, since the key caps are compatible swapping my british caps with the german ones should be fine and make the brown stem german keyboards into a british keyboard.

The filco even with their n-key rollover and other stuff is far too expensive for £100+ anyway

Yeah and dont forget that the filco misses one key since its only in us layout.

The only other keyboard ill probably buy without being in euro layout is the HHKP2 because its very different.
I was also interested in an alps switch keyboard, but finding it in euro layout is probably impossible too.

[Ulysses31]

Like I mentioned in another thread, you could probably have the Filco wired with brown switches for less than £75 including VAT delivered if Mr. Shikano is to be believed.  No fancy features but it'll do for most people.  I'm only hesitating to order it because i'm interested in seeing how successful others are in getting a Cherry blue/brown model.  I'm not too concerned any more about adapting to a US-layout; when I was a little kid those were all we had at school, and I can always remap the key for the "£" symbol.

I'm eager to know how loud these blue switches are

[Bluemercury]

Well, i dont know the differences between the us and uk layout besides missing one key, but the Portuguese layout is very different. What does the n-rollover means anyway?

[Bluemercury]

Like I mentioned in another thread, you could probably have the Filco wired with brown switches for less than £75 including VAT delivered if Mr. Shikano is to be believed.  No fancy features but it'll do for most people.  I'm only hesitating to order it because i'm interested in seeing how successful others are in getting a Cherry blue/brown model.  I'm not too concerned any more about adapting to a US-layout; when I was a little kid those were all we had at school, and I can always remap the key for the "£" symbol.

I'm eager to know how loud these blue switches are

From which country are you?

[Ulysses31]

It means you can press multiple keys at the same time and have them all register on the computer.  There are usually varying numbers of keys one can press, indicating how effective this feature is from one manufacturer and model to another.  More than ten keys registering at once is pretty pointless though, considering most people have only ten digits.

EDIT: Britain/UK, England

[Bluemercury]

It means you can press multiple keys at the same time and have them all register on the computer.  There are usually varying numbers of keys one can press, indicating how effective this feature is from one manufacturer and model to another.  More than ten keys registering at once is pretty pointless though, considering most people have only ten digits.

EDIT: Britain/UK, England

Hows the uk layont compared to the us one?

[Ulysses31]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout

The #, @ and \ keys are in a different place and there's no £ symbol.  There are probably a few others too.  It's a pretty trivial difference as far as i'm concerned.  The ENTER key is not an inverted-L shape either.

[nrp]

Regarding the Cherry with browns and US layout, the data sheet I have shows part number G80-3000LXCEU-2.

The distributor that was trying to get one of these for me was Allied Electornics.

But Cherry was firm saying 10 units was the minimum.

[Bluemercury]

Well, i might buy the g80 from amazon.de, but i dont understand anything german at all. I assume they send to europe with not problems.

[Eclairz]

i can see from the data sheet here : http://www.cherry.de/english/products/documents/e_Datasheet_G80-3000_COMBO_V07.pdf
The G80-3000 LPxxx series is linear(black stem), LQxxx series is soft tactile (brown stem?), and LSxxx series is click tactile (blue stem?)

But i've never seen the LXxxx series? new version of brown stem/keyboard? or even white stem?

Ulysies, wheres the link to getting a Filco for £75?, because I must have missed the page while searching for brown stem keyboards

[Bluemercury]

Regarding the Cherry with browns and US layout, the data sheet I have shows part number G80-3000LXCEU-2.

The distributor that was trying to get one of these for me was Allied Electornics.

But Cherry was firm saying 10 units was the minimum.

Where do you got it?

[Ulysses31]

It's not a link, Eclairz.  Email Mr. Shikano as I did, using the contact details from the Diatec website.  First he'll probably ask you if you agree to certain trade terms - basically he'll only accept a bank transfer which your bank should be able to help you with.  I did it once when I purchased thousands of dollars worth of components from California a few years ago.  It can be a bit of a hassle but it's worth it.  Then he'll give you a quote for the keyboard you're after as long as you give him the destination country and model number.  For me he quoted $86 for the wired US-layout Filco, and $45 for EMS shipping.  Assuming approximately £1=$2, it comes to £65.5.  Since you usually have to add V.A.T to anything purchased outside of the E.U, that makes it about £77.  He might quote something a little different now, due to small fluctuations in the exchange rate.

[IBI]

But i've never seen the LXxxx series? new version of brown stem/keyboard? or even white stem?

Probably an old version.

The XXXEU keyboards are the 'international english', that is they're US keyboards with a Euro symbol on them.

[Bluemercury]

Do amazon.de ships to any parte of the  Europe?i cant understand a thing, might as well open amazon.uk to compare the pages. lolol

[Bluemercury]

Just found this website that sells cherry keyboards and lots of them:

http://www2.computeruniverse.net/

They have the brown models in black for 51€

[Eclairz]

good find Bluemercury they are in english and ship everywhere they even take paypal

edit : too bad the brown stem cherry keyboards are all german "qwertz" layout, also i've gone off g80-3000 for now, i seem to be happy with my current blue stem keyboard, yep its loud but somehow i actually enjoy listening to the keyboard, maybe its cos i used to have a noisy cherry membrane keyboard before so I don't get irritated like silent typers like my old friends who thinks it causes a racket. worst thing is the g80-3000 i got has only 2 key rollover which is not that great for gaming, so my next keyboard will be either steelkeys, raptor k1 or the new gigabyte. But i did only test the keyboard on usb and haven't got a pc with ps/2 to test's its n-key rollover ability on that which may be different

[Bluemercury]

good find Bluemercury they are in english and ship everywhere they even take paypal

edit : too bad the brown stem cherry keyboards are all german "qwertz" layout, also i've gone off g80-3000 for now, i seem to be happy with my current blue stem keyboard, yep its loud but somehow i actually enjoy listening to the keyboard, maybe its cos i used to have a noisy cherry membrane keyboard before so I don't get irritated like silent typers like my old friends who thinks it causes a racket. worst thing is the g80-3000 i got has only 2 key rollover which is not that great for gaming, so my next keyboard will be either steelkeys, raptor k1 or the new gigabyte. But i did only test the keyboard on usb and haven't got a pc with ps/2 to test's its n-key rollover ability on that which may be different

what keyboard do you have with blue switches??

[Eclairz]

British Layout Cherry G80-3000 LSCGB
Makes a raquet but I enjoy typing on it, although my friends hate noisy keyboards, I am perfectly fine with it and gives some rhythm and noise to my coding now.

Using with my laptop so won't beable to use it on ps/2 until i rebuild my desktop computer which blew up two power supplies last month.

On usb it doesn't have n-key rollover though minimum of 2 keys pressed anywhere which will always register. So its not a great gaming keyboard, but for normal coding and text it is perfectly fine, haven't tried playing any warcraft on it yet as desktop blew up though, but I think it should do well since you only ever use one alpha button at any one time

edit: heres the place i bought it at was fairly cheap compared to dabs and others in the uk and they had some in stock too
http://ccktechnologies.eu/search.asp?

[iMav]

what keyboard do you have with blue switches??

I have this virgin SMK-88 with blue Cherry keyswitches:



I've never used it.  I had bought two when they were available.  The used one is on loan to ashort.  We actually traded for a while (his black cherry one for my blue)...but I believe he wants his back.  

[Eclairz]

I've never enjoyed squashed up keyboards like this as i like to have my ctrl button at the bottom left corner and the right corner, so keyboards like the hhkb are fine since they are nearly normal and don't try to cram every key on to the keyboard, it gets annoying when u the include the arrow keys page up and page down, if i were to design a small format keyboard i'd probably just make a tall hhkb pro2 and put all the extra keys above the "F" keys.
And remove the damned Fn key they suck on any keyboard laptop or desktop and should be banned from being put in obvious place to click

[iMav]

I've never enjoyed squashed up keyboards like this as i like to have my ctrl button at the bottom left corner and the right corner, so keyboards like the hhkb are fine since they are nearly normal and don't try to cram every key on to the keyboard, it gets annoying when u the include the arrow keys page up and page down, if i were to design a small format keyboard i'd probably just make a tall hhkb pro2 and put all the extra keys above the "F" keys.
And remove the damned Fn key they suck on any keyboard laptop or desktop and should be banned from being put in obvious place to click

If I was to design a keyboard, it would have the exact same layout as the HHKB.  I MIGHT consider a Lite 2 layout with the arrow keys (I like them for cheesy flash games).  And I'd probably throw blue cherry keyswitches in it.  (have to have the USB hub like the Pro 2 has...and detachable usb cable)

[Bluemercury]

good find Bluemercury they are in english and ship everywhere they even take paypal

edit : too bad the brown stem cherry keyboards are all german "qwertz" layout, also i've gone off g80-3000 for now, i seem to be happy with my current blue stem keyboard, yep its loud but somehow i actually enjoy listening to the keyboard, maybe its cos i used to have a noisy cherry membrane keyboard before so I don't get irritated like silent typers like my old friends who thinks it causes a racket. worst thing is the g80-3000 i got has only 2 key rollover which is not that great for gaming, so my next keyboard will be either steelkeys, raptor k1 or the new gigabyte. But i did only test the keyboard on usb and haven't got a pc with ps/2 to test's its n-key rollover ability on that which may be different

You can always swap the keys from your blue switch cherry and it will be the same.

[Bluemercury]

I have this virgin SMK-88 with blue Cherry keyswitches:

Show Image

I've never used it.  I had bought two when they were available.  The used one is on loan to ashort.  We actually traded for a while (his black cherry one for my blue)...but I believe he wants his back.  :)

That seems a nice keyboard. How much does it cost?

[Eclairz]

this is what i think a good layout for a compact keyboard would look like, although it looks abit messy, this is europeon british layout thats why theres a big enter key (just how i like it), alternatively a keyboard with no number pad or direction buttons would look much smarter, and you could leave a few macro buttons for volume control.

edit: i still much prefer full size keyboards, i love numpad too much for heavy numerical data entry

[iMav]

that left shift would be totally unusable for me.

[Eclairz]

that left shift would be totally unusable for me.

Well thats probably because this is british/europeon layout, changing to american layout you lose the key next to left shift and extend the left shift, and add a button next to right shift and cut the size of the right shift. Many manufacturers use different versions for different areas.

for comparison between layout look here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout#UK_and_Ireland
(below is american layout)


Like you I can use an american keyboard but getting used to your layout like the \ above enter would piss me off too

[IBI]

that left shift would be totally unusable for me.

Having used that style all my life I'm fine with it, in fact if I were designing I'd shorten the right shift to match and add an extra key in there.

[hsnoob]

I ordered a Cherry G80-3000LQCEU-2 ( -2 means its black ) from keybo.de tuesday and it arrived today. The guy on the phone told me that they had one in stock, and that's the one i got

Paid 63 Eur for the keyboard itself + shipping, 67,95 Eur total.

Now i'll have to get my hands on a camera so i can post a few pictures.