Suggestion for best brown cherry keyboard

[Desperado]

Hi everyone,

I just recently acquired a filco tenkeyless blue cherry keyboard and although i really love typing in it because i get a great feedback about keystroke registration i'm starting to get some complains from my co-workers about the noise. So i'm considering getting my hands on a brown cherry mx keyboard and see if that's a bit quieter. What would you do? Would you go with filco again or maybe try a cherry branded keyboard?

Thanks for your suggestions.

[Viett]

I would see if I could find anyone that would be willing to trade. Otherwise, you can probably sell your FILCO for $20-30 off retail and buy a new one, and you wouldn't be out too much money.

Otherwise, if you want to try Brown Cherries before making any big decisions, you can buy a trial board (Compaq 11800 is a good one) for about $30 shipped. Ask the classifieds, I'm sure someone has one they'd be willing to sell you.

I would not try for a Cherry G80-3000, only because they can be difficult to find. Datacal has one that goes for around $100 if I recall correctly.

[didjamatic]

Full Cherry Brown keyboard

Compact Cherry Brown keyboard

[salcan]

I'd just get the 87 key filco. You can get a budget brown keyboard and then get the filco later, but based on what people on geekhack use, it looks like you are probably going to end up with the filco anyway. And you know what you are getting since you already have one.

And yea, I'm typing this on a filco 104 w/ browns. It's pretty quiet, though not as much if you tend to bottom out.

[Desperado]

Thank you guys for your opinions,

can you guys provide some information on how the tactile feedback feels on the brown cherries? I do like the tactile feel i get from the blue cherries but i'm not sure if it's not more of a psychological thing derived from it being clicky. Are the brown cherries as/more/less tactile than the blue cherries?

Thanks.

[didjamatic]

Buy this and find out.  I personally don't think you know how a switch feels until you type on it for a few days at minimum, let alone having someone explain on the internet.

[Mental Hobbit]

I do like the tactile feel i get from the blue cherries but i'm not sure if it's not more of a psychological thing derived from it being clicky. Are the brown cherries as/more/less tactile than the blue cherries?

Browns are a lot less tactile than blues. You can easily feel the subtle tactile bump when slowly pressing a key. It doesn't really help with touch typing though. The crispness in the tactile feedback of blues comes from the click mechanism - you won't find that crisp feel in any other switch.
Blues and browns are completely different animals. If you expect something like brown=blue-click, then you'll most likely be disappointed.

[itlnstln]

Full Cherry Brown keyboard
 
Compact Cherry Brown keyboard
 

 
Good job with the "Clicky" in the description.

[didjamatic]

Good job with the "Clicky" in the description.

Yes, that's to lure in all of the lowball offers

[itlnstln]

I think I am going to sell a Bic ballpoint pen on the 'Bay with "clicky,""ergonomic," and "tactile" in the description and see what I get.  If I can find one with the IBM logo on it, even better.

[didjamatic]

See, it works for more than keyboards.

[itlnstln]

See, it works for more than keyboards.

That mug is hilarious.  It's been mentioned here before, but it's still funny.

[elbowglue]

Look at PCB mounted brown cherry Keyboards.  They are significantly quieter than plate mounted brown cherry keyboards.

Best feeling brown cherry is the "ricecar spos" listed on didjamatic's auction (g86 blah blah)   He may be the only live source for these, and there probably arent that many around (maybe 50?)

They layout of the ricecar spos is wonky, I have to use autohotkey to remap keys on it so I don't go insane with it.  See my picture under my name.

The big brown cherry board listed by didjamatic, I have used these kind of boards (the large POS boards) they aren't good, cause they sag in the middle due to PCB flex.  In my book it's a big thumbs down I wouldn't recommend it.

G80-3000 from datacal is a good choice.  I have something almost exactly this (I have the g80-3000lscrc-2 with brown switches swapped into it), it's a very good board, just full sized is all.

Consider the Mx11800.  Most people don't like the layout of the mx11800, and the keyswitch and keycap feel is much better on the ricecar spos.

[itlnstln]

I tried to get my company to sponsor my keyboard habit.  They tried to get me to use some Fellowes, split-layout piece-of-****.

[Brodie337]

Just a note, even the plate mounted Browns on my Filco Tenkeyless are ALOT quieter than I expected. To my ears, they're about equivalent to a loud rubber dome like these horrible Dell things we have at my university:

[itlnstln]

Those are the keyboards we have around my office as well, and the Filco creates about the same level of noise, like you said.  The G80-3000 w/browns is quieter.

[Desperado]

Well, i do have a HHKB Pro2 at home which i have also used from time to time at work, but since it cost me a lot i didn't want to bring my beloved one for work, i'd like to get a cheaper keyboard while still not having to use a completely crappy keyboard (which would happen if i was to let the company decide this, it is a really *cheap* company). I could also bring my HHKB Lite 2 but that to me that doesn't actually qualify as a good keyboard. It's too bad that my co-workers are really complaining with the blue cherry, i actually think it rocks. Still trying to make up my mind if i sell it or keep it anyway...

[itlnstln]

You could get a carrying case for your HHKB from Elitekeyboards and take it back and forth if you are concerned about theft.  I just leave mine on my desk.  Nobody likes it, they think it's weird.

[Desperado]

Lol, i like the idea of having my own office at work. i wouldn't mind having one of those old cubicles i see in movies. Really, openspace offices are a big pile of horse ....

[spolia optima]

All 3 of the 'boards didji posted are fine contenders. If you're a gamer, consider the full-size 8200. Programmability and FULL rollover are a godsend if you play FPS and strategy games.

[elservo]

Have you tried to dampen the sound at all?  Maybe if you sit the keyboard on a couple mousepads you'll get less complaints.  

And really, your keyboard isn't that loud.  You're using brown cherries!  There are a bunch of mods you can try to dampen the noise, which obviously comes from you bottoming out, because as everyone knows, the browns are super quiet switches.  Maybe you can try to not be so heavy handed with your typing.  

In closing, maybe you should tell your co-workers that you don't complain about their hideous B.O., so maybe they shouldn't complain about your superior keyboard.

[elservo]

OH!  Goodness I'm a stupid-head!

Yeah, blues are so tasty loud.

[SLM]

Take in a nice quiet Model M!  :evil:

[Desperado]

My model M should be arriving any day now :biggrin: . Meanwhile I've been using the filco blue cherry ontop of a magazine and it so much much quieter. Truth is the complaint level has decreased substantially, maybe i'll still manage to keep and use this keyboard at work

[bigpook]

I'd keep the keyboard if I were you.  A lot of Geekhackers sell their keyboard and then turn around 6 months later and buy it back.  

True words that is.

[bigpook]

I meant Welly, not you BigPook.

Hey, I figured out how to do that Kensington Expert mod where you pull the magnet.   I'll post pics someday.  Helps the scratchy scroll ring.

A bit.

: ) I am just as guilty though, 2 brown filcos and 1 HHKB....got the second HHKB and am thinking of one of those white filcos with browns...

The magnet removal is fairly trivial on the Expert and I felt it improved the feel of the ring. But yeah, its still not enough ( still servicable though). If it was as smooth as the scroll wheel on the CST then that would be something...

[ricercar]

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Hey don't knock the dells. The volume control works.