Should I have bought the DAS instead?

[leqin]

It seems like I've spent these past few weeks reading so many threads I think I'm dreaming about buckling springs or rainbows of MX switches, but driven on by the knowledge that my trusty old model M is due some tender love and care... a new cable and some new springs if I can find them. Having had the chance to try out a friends DAS Pro Model S I was quite convinced I was going to invest in one myself until I read somewhere that the DAS is actually based on Cherry's G80-3000, so today I placed a order for one of those instead.

http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard_details.asp?PRODUCT=510

Unfortunately it seems I can no longer find the page I read saying that the DAS is based on the G80-3000, so while I am sat here waiting for my parcel to arrive next week can anybody here abouts confirm that for me.

Oh and if someone could point me in the right direction for spare model M springs I would be most grateful.

[itlnstln]

The Das 2 was a relabeled G80-3000.  The Das III and the Das S are completely new keyboards.  Unicomp can sell you springs for the Model M.

[netwebber]

It seems like I've spent these past few weeks reading so many threads I think I'm dreaming about buckling springs or rainbows of MX switches, but driven on by the knowledge that my trusty old model M is due some tender love and care... a new cable and some new springs if I can find them. Having had the chance to try out a friends DAS Pro Model S I was quite convinced I was going to invest in one myself until I read somewhere that the DAS is actually based on Cherry's G80-3000, so today I placed a order for one of those instead.

http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard_details.asp?PRODUCT=510

Unfortunately it seems I can no longer find the page I read saying that the DAS is based on the G80-3000, so while I am sat here waiting for my parcel to arrive next week can anybody here abouts confirm that for me.

Oh and if someone could point me in the right direction for spare model M springs I would be most grateful.

The Das keyboard is just a black keyboard with Blue Cherry switches. It has a slim profile and USB ports but an otherwise standard layout.

The keys offer less resistance than the Model M. Blue Cherries have more of a "click" and the sound is higher pitched than the "snap" of a Model M. You can listen to samples in the sound section.

In New York City, J&R Computer World actually has a Das Keyboard on display in its keyboard section. I gave it a few presses -- it's nice but nothing wonderful. The build quality might be slightly better than some other keyboards (like the Adesso Mechanical keyboard with Cherry Blues, also on display), but it's not any sturdier than a decent rubber-dome replacement keyboard.

Try to suppress your buyer's remorse. If you don't like your Cherry, the Das Keyboard isn't going to be a huge improvement.

[Superfluous Parentheses]

The Das 2 was a relabeled G80-3000.  The Das III and the Das S are completely new keyboards.

Still, G80 boards aren't bad, and they do use the exact same switches DAS (and Deck, and Filco etc) use. The difference between them is mainly build quality and design of case and key caps.

[leqin]

The Das 2 was a relabeled G80-3000.  The Das III and the Das S are completely new keyboards.  Unicomp can sell you springs for the Model M.

Thanks for setting me right itlnstln and for the heads up on who's got spare springs because that will be really useful.

I wouldn't say I have buyers remorse netwebber, but I did want a good keyboard to take over at home and work while my trusted model M is in the garage being overhauled. Having rescued it from a skip back in 1997 and used it ever since, the last thing I expect is to replace it - the Cherry looks and sounds like a nice board and is well reviewed so far as I can tell. If it is rubbish then I can always sell it and try another.

[SmallWalrus]

Thanks for setting me right itlnstln and for the heads up on who's got spare springs because that will be really useful.

I wouldn't say I have buyers remorse netwebber, but I did want a good keyboard to take over at home and work while my trusted model M is in the garage being overhauled. Having rescued it from a skip back in 1997 and used it ever since, the last thing I expect is to replace it - the Cherry looks and sounds like a nice board and is well reviewed so far as I can tell. If it is rubbish then I can always sell it and try another.

Unicomps are making modern versions of them too, so don't worry too much if your M from 1997 did died

[Rusty Rat]

The Cherry corp should be fine.  $91 U.S.  Too bad US buyers can't get a Cherry Corp Blue Cherry easily.

That's the trouble with globalisation (or expensive shipping) You pay peanuts for internal US delivery and in Aussie we are up for about $70 to get a keyboard from the USA. At least we have one advantage over Europe - they don't stick us for duties and if you get caught for Tax - its only 10%.

[Superfluous Parentheses]

That's the trouble with globalisation (or expensive shipping) You pay peanuts for internal US delivery and in Aussie we are up for about $70 to get a keyboard from the USA. At least we have one advantage over Europe - they don't stick us for duties and if you get caught for Tax - its only 10%.

The HHKB Pro 2 I ordered from the US was 43 euros Tax (at 19%) and 17 euros "import fees" (that means; the money I have to pay the tax man to determine how much more I should pay him). Shipping was $43, IIRC. Not cheap at all; total cost was about 300 euros (or 380 US dollars). You could get a decent desktop computer for that money.

[microsoft windows]

Oh and if someone could point me in the right direction for spare model M springs I would be most grateful.

If I remember correctly, clickykeyboards.com has some springs and hammers.

[leqin]

Unicomps are making modern versions of them too, so don't worry too much if your M from 1997 did died

She isn't dead. She's got a few keys that have twisted springs and a PS2 plug that showing signs of intermittent contact and its also awkward to plug in, but I can use a soldering iron and I'm perfectly familiar with her inner workings so I have every confidence I can strip her down and put her back together good as new.

Now that's not to say I wouldn't mind a model M in black (completely including keys thank you very much Unicomp) or a whole PC built into a model M's footprint, but that is a mod for another day and another model M and not this particular one which I yanked out of the skip because someone had spilled coffee on it and after a good dry out she's worked without complaint for well over a decade

[leqin]

If I remember correctly, clickykeyboards.com has some springs and hammers.

I've checked their site and I don't spot none, but I'll keep my eye on them just in case. Thanks.

[leqin]

That's the trouble with globalisation (or expensive shipping) You pay peanuts for internal US delivery and in Aussie we are up for about $70 to get a keyboard from the USA. At least we have one advantage over Europe - they don't stick us for duties and if you get caught for Tax - its only 10%.

Funnily enough I have ordered lots of things from overseas, but never had to pay duties so far... touch wood (hand on head).

Having said that I must not be only person to notice that on eBay especially they seem to have gone crazy with the amount they expect for postage/shipping, in fact so much that it puts me off bidding.

Funnily enough a few weeks ago I was looking around to buy some new earpads for my Sennheiser HD650 headphones and in the UK the very minimum I could find them for was £49.50, which is about $77 US. Considering that they happen to be made from cheap upholstery foam with a tiny piece of cloth and a couple of small plastic parts and that all compression welded automatically in a machine - I feel the price they want is absolutely ridiculous and even more so considering that the same set of pads is shared by much cheaper headphones. Now if I used my fingers and trawled the net I could buy them for $55, but with $20 for shipping that made them almost the same as buying in the UK... my answer was I made my own and paid nobody nothing because when I bought my HD650's I seem to recall replacement pads cost about £10 which is about $15.55 and a price that sounds just about right considering what they are made from and the skill required making them.

Sorry that wasn't about keyboards, but shipping costs have grown stupid these past few years.

[nathanscribe]

Funnily enough I have ordered lots of things from overseas, but never had to pay duties so far... touch wood (hand on head).

I've had a few things from overseas to the UK - most of the stuff from the US has been collared by customs and I ended up paying a substantial amount extra - which I'd budgeted for, luckily.  I bought some used music gear from a US dealer who filled in all the correct paper work, and my £450 spend became nearly £700.  Around the same time I bought something similar but bigger and heavier from a private seller in the US, and they must have just bypassed it as the only trouble there was expensive shipping.

It's an issue that might tip me away from a Unicomp and towards something I can get over this side of the pond, but that depends.  I'm resigned to thinking if I want something, I just have to pay for it.  If it's that good and lasts that long, it'll be money well spent either way.  On something like a keyboard, the amount overall will still be relatively low.