Got my Filco Cherry Red! Made a U9BL-S comparison video.

[whocares1195]

I've had my Filco Red for close to a week.  I love the keyboard.  Turns out that I prefer the linear type switch.  The Cherry MX Red switch is hype though.  Not much of a difference between the browns but their is a difference.  The lightness is just about the same between the two.  The browns actually felt a smidge lighter to me and better for typing due to the bump but not by much.  

The two switches are too close in comparison in my opinion.  I'm choosing the Filco Red as my daily keyboard right now because the Filco is more solidly built and the linear switch edges the brown up for gaming by like a millimeter.  You don't even really notice the bump in the brown in gaming but I digress.

I keep thinking what if it was the browns in the cherry reds position?  Would the browns get as much hype as the reds are right now?  Anyways, I decided to make a couple of comparison videos between the U9BL-S and the Filco Red.  Enjoy.


[video=youtube;4ZdSgjaaJWA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZdSgjaaJWA[/video]


[video=youtube;rEPFLcxCLu4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEPFLcxCLu4[/video]


   

[Zhuni]

I did suggest that a month back on here. That if you swapped the browns around with the reds I think people would be going just as crazy maybe even more so for them, for typing and gaming.

I got to spend a while with the reds without investing. And I prefer the browns for both gaming and typing still. Nice that people have more choice though

[The Solutor]

What about pinging switches ?

Look like you are lucky enough to find a not pinging filco...

P.S. what about the original Xarmor keycaps ? Do you plan to sell them ?

[whocares1195]

What about pinging switches ?

Look like you are lucky enough to find a not pinging filco...

P.S. what about the original Xarmor keycaps ? Do you plan to sell them ?

My tab key does it.  It's very pronounced if you bang on the key.  A couple of alpha keys have a slight ping to them but you have to hold your ear to the board to hear it.  Overall I would say the board is a normal sounding mechanical keyboard.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  

As for the Xarmor keycaps, I was planning on keeping them in case I got tired of having blanks or wanted to go back to having back-lit characters at night.  I edit video and work on music at night so I might go back to stock down the line.  Plus, my wife uses my PC sometimes and hates the blanks. Even though she learned to touch-type QWERTY, she still looks at the board.  Like that makes sense?!?! I flipped it on her even more by switching my system to Dvorak so she especially hates blanks.  I taught her though to run the Portable Keyboard Layout to load QWERTY.  

Did you need replacement keys?

[The Solutor]

Even though she learned to touch-type QWERTY, she still looks at the board.

I'm with her (figuratively, I mean :redface:)

Did you need replacement keys?

Not really, but as I like to experiment with backlight having two sets could be nice.

[Haes]

Nice review! Wanna buy a filco red in the next weeks for gaming - got a filco blue. I like playing on blues, but I tested reds and felt they're better for gaming then blues.
On the other hand for typing purposes nothing is better then blues. The tactil feeling on the mx brown is pretty "mushy" compared to blues. That's why I don't like them.

[whocares1195]

Nice review! Wanna buy a filco red in the next weeks for gaming - got a filco blue. I like playing on blues, but I tested reds and felt they're better for gaming then blues.
On the other hand for typing purposes nothing is better then blues. The tactil feeling on the mx brown is pretty "mushy" compared to blues. That's why I don't like them.

I love typing on blues.  I've been learning Dvorak for the past month and a half so I've been typing a lot.  I probably practice close to 30 minutes to an hour each day solely on typing; not counting anything else I'm doing on the PC like being on the web, emailing, gaming, etc.  I'm up to 60 WPM right now.  My best with QWERTY was about 100 WPM.  I decided a couple weeks back to bring out the BlackWidow Ultimate.  I found that the Cherry MX blues slowed me down quite a bit and my hands/wrists started getting to me.  Then again I've been typing close to 17 years now so even the weight of the cherry blues, which isn't much, can still affect me.  

Maybe Cherry Co. can make a new mainstream switch where they have the lightness of a red and the tactility and click of a blue.  I'd get that in a sec, no question.

[The Solutor]

Maybe Cherry Co. can make a new mainstream switch where they have the lightness of a red and the tactility and click of a blue. I'd get that in a sec, no question.

 
This already exist, just cherry doesn't realized to sell it.

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?17357-U9BL-Beige-edition-(clear-switches-brown-springs)&highlight=beige+edition

Frankly, brown switches are pointless switches, not too bad and not too good to do anything.

Cherry should sell just reds, beige and blue switches, and discontinue blacks and browns.

[Wallach]

I don't understand why Cherry should stop selling any of their switches unless people aren't buying them.

[The Solutor]

People buys the switches that are available. I think no one will mess with browns if beige/ergo clears will be commercially available.

[Wallach]

People buys the switches that are available. I think no one will mess with browns if beige/ergo clears will be commercially available.

I'm not sure we have a good reason to assume that, really. Even if that were the case, why would they discontinue the Black switches? It's going to take quite a long time to get an idea if the market really takes to Red to the point that Black becomes less popular. As it stands Black is still one of the most widely used switches out there.

[The Solutor]

I'm not sure we have a good reason to assume that, really. Even if that were the case, why would they discontinue the Black switches? It's going to take quite a long time to get an idea if the market really takes to Red to the point that Black becomes less popular. As it stands Black is still one of the most widely used switches out there.

 
Balcks are widely used, true. But reds are available since not long ago, and still not so easy to get.

Btw maybe blacks could still makes some sense, but browns are really pointless. Just bought by people that want tactility and hate clicks, they get a switch that feels more like a red switch with some lube problems rather than a tactile switch.

[brkim1324]

Yup Red is good for gaming indeed.
Blue is great for typing really. But as time goes on, blue do get little bit bored when it comes to typing feeling. The audio feedback is still great.
Brown is mushy and yes it is kinda in the middle. I did make a review on that
But as time goes on, I felt Brown doesn't fall short on any purpose.
It's good for typing, audio feedback is good, tactile response is good, great for gaming too.
At first I was kinda disappointed and didn't really understand why ppl were so crazy about browns since there was really no big difference compared to membranes.
BUT that was only my first glimpse of it.
I now know why blue and brown are the first recommendations to new comers.
BUT Brown is NOT the best.. it just doesn't fall short any purpose, but doesn't have it's real uniqueness nor strongest points against other switches.
For example,  Blue is renowned for its clickness, audio feedback, and great for typing purpose.
Brown is just GOOD for all purposes.
Red I think.... is not so great for typing.
It's just too smooth and weak response feedback when typing. When fast typing it's almost unnoticeable whether you typed it correclty or not.
ESPECIALLY space bar
but for gaming, it's GREAT.
So... yea RED switch is great!
Topre is best... lol.

[whocares1195]

I'm not sure we have a good reason to assume that, really. Even if that were the case, why would they discontinue the Black switches? It's going to take quite a long time to get an idea if the market really takes to Red to the point that Black becomes less popular. As it stands Black is still one of the most widely used switches out there.

I'm pretty sure if a company like Razer or SteelSeries brought out a red version of their current keyboards, cherry blacks would take after the reds.

[Haes]

Maybe Cherry Co. can make a new mainstream switch where they have the lightness of a red and the tactility and click of a blue. I'd get that in a sec, no question.

That would be pretty sick and for me a mustbuy. The spring which cherry is using in reds is the same as in blues or browns. So in the end it comes down to the form of the stem which should be flatter then the original blue.

[keyboardlover]

It's a normal mechanical keyboard.

9/56 people at Geekhack are anal retentive.  I actually expected that survey to show more.

No, 9/56 people have experienced an issue that you haven't.

Therefore its not an issue??

[The Solutor]

No, 9/56 people have experienced an issue that you haven't.

Therefore its not an issue??

 


Looks like two users (over maybe 500 or 1000 ones) with a dim led on xarmor are enough to define it a poor product, while 9 users over 56 are just a typo, when looking at Filco.

This happen when you talk with the less biased expert on the planet. :laugh:

[woody]

(Attachment Link) 19529[/ATTACH]
Photo courtesy of Brkim before returning his HHKB

Honestly, this is not the usual HHKB sprue mark. It's more like somebody cut it off manually ... improperly.

[dreamingftw]

All this talk about cherry reds makes me want to buy one but waiting on a Tenkeyless one. I might do some ghetto reds on my filco but don't know if I can pull the trigger and do it.

[woody]

Like the ping issue I'm not saying it didn't exist.  But is it Significant?

The ping? It's just a noise. Forum noise.

[keyboardlover]

The ping issue is significant, yes. It makes cherry browns louder than blues!

[woody]

Here's the inspiration:

[Haes]

All this talk about cherry reds makes me want to buy one but waiting on a Tenkeyless one. I might do some ghetto reds on my filco but don't know if I can pull the trigger and do it.

reds are browns without brown's tactility. so if you like the tactil feeling of browns and you do like to play games with browns, there's no reason to buy one besides for collection purposes.

[oddsratio]

reds are browns without brown's tactility. so if you like the tactil feeling of browns and you do like to play games with browns, there's no reason to buy one besides for collection purposes.

1.) So on that point, if I'm finding browns heavier as I use them more (I've developed a lighter touch over the past few weeks), does that mean that reds are going to be just as heavy to press (yes yes look at the force diagrams and they say so, but what's with the cloud of boobs BS then)? If OP's assertion that reds are hype is correct, that will kill my curiosity and I can be done with this 2-month process that began with XArmor in April.

I'm actually having trouble actuating the browns sometimes because I type so lightly now.

2.) So is there a fix for the pinging? I emailed the keyboard company about it, and I expect to be laughed at, because it is such a nitpicky issue, though not so nitpicky when all I get with the poker is a series of gentle clacks. There are only a few keys that are bothering me, but they're part of the alphabet so I use them a lot and the damn tuning fork can be irritating as sin. The Xarmor when I had it pinged like crazy, but I threw that in with the board's general crap craftsmanship. I'm not bottoming out on them, so it's really the fast typing that sets it off. Was that a T I just typed? My dog's ears perked up.

Edit: And no, before anyone suggests it, I'm not going to foam my keyboard.

[alaricljs]

I'm actually having trouble actuating the browns sometimes because I type so lightly now.

If you're being honest about this then reds *might* fit the bill for you.  The tactile bump on the browns does present a bump in force required if you haven't got the inertia behind it.  Reds are the same spring rate without that friction bump so it might work out for you...

Oh yeah, check around the 'ringing complaint' threads and listen to some samples.  If your KB is worse than any of those is there any chance you could get a recording of it?  I don't think we've got a real sample of the nasty ringing that a few users have apparently experienced.

[oddsratio]

Yeah, I'll post in that thread so I won't threadjack (further) here.

[sordna]

1.) So on that point, if I'm finding browns heavier as I use them more (I've developed a lighter touch over the past few weeks), does that mean that reds are going to be just as heavy to press ?

No, I switched to Red switches on my Kinesis Advantage in an effort to reduce the actuation force. It is noticeably easier to type on the reds, I'm very happy with the change from browns to reds. I agree with the previous posters who said the browns feel like reds with friction problems. The smoothness of the reds is superb.

[enoy21]

I am really enjoying the Blues and reds at the moment as I'm learning to touch type. I still have reds on my "next to buy" list and will likely be in the tenkeyless variety. Hopefully their will be much better availability by then.