Author Topic: Ducky 1087 XM w/ Green ALPS type switch (Read 46956 times)

reaper · « **on:** Thu, 27 October 2011, 19:30:18 »

PC Home delivers it again, from Taiwan to L.A. took them exactly 2 days (I bet it would've been faster if it didn't get stuck at U.S. Customs lol). Anyway, the materials used and the fittings seem much better than the original 1087 series. The green ALPS type switch I suppose is their Chinese clone version which seems pretty clicky (ie. loud). It feels like a cheaper version of Filco Zero.

Link to PC Home's product page

The keycaps legends are dark brown/gold (I guess they take cue from their Year of the Tiger Edition which is a lot nicer than just plain white on black) and they gave me something extra which is a Ducky switch keychain. You can see the pictures below.

Spec from PC Home page with the help of Google Translation:

Model: DK 1087 XM
with bearings: XM shaft
key configuration: US ASCII 87 key
connection interface: USB & PS / 2
Cap Material: ABS
Printing: laser engraving
Size: 353X135X40 (mm)
Weight: 1.0kg
Warranty: one-year warranty

The newly redesigned box looks much more modern, gone are those cryptic Chinese characters which is good since I can't read Chinese. =P

You can see the new keycaps from the pictures below

ABS keycap

Green ALPS switch

And here is the included freebie...

Bottom of the darn thing

Last, with GH ALPS keycap

The whole thing costs me around $50 something shipped (including the freebie you see above) so that wasn't too bad. Any question please let me know. =)

Oh, forgot to add... it doesn't come with any extra keycaps, key puller or that velvet carrying case like their previous 1087 series. Just the keyboard, a USB cord and that was it.

flyball · « **Reply #1 on:** Thu, 27 October 2011, 19:41:04 »

linear switches?

reaper · « **Reply #2 on:** Thu, 27 October 2011, 19:43:54 »

Clicky and tactile, non-linear.

Hak Foo · « **Reply #3 on:** Thu, 27 October 2011, 19:51:36 »

My 1008 with greens showed up today (ordered Sunday), and I notice that the switches don't sound like old ALPS-- the entire room doesn't shake when you type.

reaper · « **Reply #4 on:** Thu, 27 October 2011, 20:08:15 »

Quote from: Hak Foo;440811

the entire room doesn't shake when you type.

Haha.. I know what you mean. =P I still pound on the keybaord pretty hard so it's still loud for me. =D

SmallFry · « **Reply #5 on:** Thu, 27 October 2011, 23:08:50 »

I really am considering getting one of these, would you recommend it Hak Foo? I'll be modding it to most likely real greens (linears). But dont want a cheap feeling board.

REVENGE · « **Reply #6 on:** Fri, 28 October 2011, 00:49:53 »

Nice to see ALPS alive and well.

jpm804 · « **Reply #7 on:** Fri, 28 October 2011, 02:59:38 »

Thanks reaper for doing this review... I was looking to pick up this board since it was so cheap to try some alps tenkeyless love... I still want the filco zero though.

I just wish it came in the 1008 model which is non-clicky came in tenkeyless also.

One question, how clicky is it compared to blues?

flyball · « **Reply #8 on:** Fri, 28 October 2011, 03:17:00 »

Quote from: jpm804;440961

Thanks reaper for doing this review... I was looking to pick up this board since it was so cheap to try some alps tenkeyless love... I still want the filco zero though.

I just wish it came in the 1008 model which is non-clicky came in tenkeyless also.

One question, how clicky is it compared to blues?

http://global.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item&func=exhibit&IT_NO=DCAH0X-A59130655&SR_NO=DCAH0X&ROWNO=39&tm=u

jpm804 · « **Reply #9 on:** Fri, 28 October 2011, 03:22:21 »

Quote from: flyball;440969

http://global.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item&func=exhibit&IT_NO=DCAH0X-A59130655&SR_NO=DCAH0X&ROWNO=39&tm=u

Thanks Flyball... I missed that.

reaper · « **Reply #10 on:** Fri, 28 October 2011, 09:02:19 »

Quote from: jpm804;440961

Thanks reaper for doing this review... I was looking to pick up this board since it was so cheap to try some alps tenkeyless love... I still want the filco zero though.

I just wish it came in the 1008 model which is non-clicky came in tenkeyless also.

One question, how clicky is it compared to blues?

You're welcome and I wouldn't say it's as noisey as the blues. The sound I hear mostly comes from bottoming out the switch. It's definitely tactile though. I can feel the bump when I slowly pressing the key.

flyball · « **Reply #11 on:** Fri, 28 October 2011, 13:03:55 »

i bought one. glad to see a tenkeyless still rockin the num lock and alps as well

laffindude · « **Reply #12 on:** Mon, 31 October 2011, 12:37:04 »

It's a wobbly goblin. The switches are pretty wobbly.

itlnstln · « **Reply #13 on:** Mon, 31 October 2011, 12:42:43 »

Quote from: laffindude;442688

It's a wobbly goblin. The switches are pretty wobbly.

Well, they got that part of the ALPS switch right.

Grimey · « **Reply #14 on:** Tue, 01 November 2011, 17:01:52 »

Thanks for the review, went ahead and ordered one myself. ~$53 isn't bad for a tenkeyless board shipped from Taiwan.

magey · « **Reply #15 on:** Tue, 01 November 2011, 18:28:56 »

How does this compare to the one with the black switches? how much force for the greens vs. the blacks, what kind of noise do they make and are they linear/tactile? I can't make much sense out the engrish Google Translate spits out when I visit PCHOME.

reaper · « **Reply #16 on:** Tue, 01 November 2011, 18:34:43 »

Quote from: Grimey;443642

Thanks for the review, went ahead and ordered one myself. ~$53 isn't bad for a tenkeyless board shipped from Taiwan.

You're welcome. Glad the review has helped someone. =)

Quote from: magey;443690

How does this compare to the one with the black switches? how much force for the greens vs. the blacks, what kind of noise do they make and are they linear/tactile? I can't make much sense out the engrish Google Translate spits out when I visit PCHOME.

Sorry but I don't have a board with black ALPS to compare. The only other ALPS I have is Filco Zero and I can tell you that the tactile on this one is more pronounced. I can definitely feel it in each keystroke. As for the sound, it's pretty similar to Filco Zero.

leotnnz · « **Reply #17 on:** Tue, 01 November 2011, 19:06:31 »

great review , reaper. how is the activation force? do not need the precise measure like ripster's method. just compare with mx switches.

reaper · « **Reply #18 on:** Tue, 01 November 2011, 19:38:49 »

Thanks and someone has already done that on my other thread over at OCN (link). I was gonna test it with some nickles but there's no point since he has already done it. lol

Grimey · « **Reply #19 on:** Mon, 07 November 2011, 11:55:22 »

Trip report.

I received my Ducky 1087 with XM greens this morning. That makes it a 1 week turn around including the weekend to ship to the middle of the US.

The switches are really quite nice to type on. The ALPS rattle is there that my at101w exhibits, but nothing that would cause me any annoyance (if I shared an office with someone maybe as this is reasonably loud, like blues with some extra rattle). The key travel is shorter than my Cherry MX boards, but still within reason as the actuation point is nice and high.

I am glad I ordered the tactile version instead of the linear one. The CAPSLOCK and NUMLOCK keys are the linear variety and they feel rather mushy in comparison. I much prefer my Cherry MX Reds to the linear keys on this board, but as I only use CAPS as a second backspace and will rarely hit the NUMLOCK key this is acceptable (also integrated numlock like my old choc mini is cool).

So in the end I will recommend this to anyone wanted to tread water in the mechanical keyboard world. The price is excellent and the board is a adequate quality.

** I was attempting to transfer my at101w keycaps to this board but the spacebars are not compatible without producing a new stabilizer wire. I ended up just transferring my non-modifier keys over from the dell, and it looks quite nice.

ITzNybble · « **Reply #20 on:** Wed, 09 November 2011, 00:12:50 »

Just wondering if anyone who has one of those freebie key switch key chains is willing to let it go for a small fee? Pm me with a price and shipping to Nixa Missouri USA. Thanks

elbowglue · « **Reply #21 on:** Wed, 09 November 2011, 02:19:43 »

Thanks for the review- how does the clicky switches compare with XMs (say, siig minitouch?) and fukkas? If you hit a key off center does it bind a little like XM's do? Thanks again!

reaper · « **Reply #22 on:** Wed, 09 November 2011, 09:04:33 »

Quote from: Grimey;447363

** I was attempting to transfer my at101w keycaps to this board but the spacebars are not compatible without producing a new stabilizer wire. I ended up just transferring my non-modifier keys over from the dell, and it looks quite nice.

Pics or it didn't happen! =P

Quote from: curro123083;448385

Just wondering if anyone who has one of those freebie key switch key chains is willing to let it go for a small fee? Pm me with a price and shipping to Nixa Missouri USA. Thanks

Good luck with your search. I have a Topre one coming in.

Quote from: elbowglue;448441

Thanks for the review- how does the clicky switches compare with XMs (say, siig minitouch?) and fukkas? If you hit a key off center does it bind a little like XM's do? Thanks again!

I'll check on it later tonight or sometime tomorrow and will report back.

ITzNybble · « **Reply #23 on:** Wed, 09 November 2011, 12:46:06 »

Is there a place online to get a keyswitch keychain? or is it gonna be a scavenger hunt? lol

Grimey · « **Reply #24 on:** Wed, 09 November 2011, 12:51:41 »

Quote from: curro123083;448626

Is there a place online to get a keyswitch keychain? or is it gonna be a scavenger hunt? lol

Do you want it for the ducky keycap or for the switch thing itself? I have no particular connection to the device itself, but the wife grabbed the keycap already. If you are just in the market for the key ring without a keycap (I guess I could provide one if you really wanted), send me a PM and we can talk about it.

Also the keyswitch chain thing is a cherry blue switch, not a XM as I expected it to be.

elbowglue · « **Reply #25 on:** Wed, 09 November 2011, 16:33:28 »

Pulled the trigger, got the last two Chinese text ones. Thanks reaper for posting this review, hope they come back in stock soon..

ITzNybble · « **Reply #26 on:** Wed, 09 November 2011, 16:39:52 »

Sent you a PM, although I have a feeling ripster has a btter chance than me, I no have double shot novelties? :sad: Anyways if you are still willing let me know!

magey · « **Reply #27 on:** Mon, 14 November 2011, 07:41:35 »

I got my 1008 XM with green switches yesterday, a few impressions (my basis for comparison is my 6Gv2 with cherry blacks):

- The keys are really wobbly
- The space bar is misaligned and makes a loud metallic noise when you hit it
- Build quality is mediocre at best; plastic feels flimsy, the corners of the keyboard are really sharp and could injure you if you brush against them the wrong way
- It's EXTREMELY loud, even louder than cherry blues (like my friend's Das)

Despite all these shortcomings the keys feel really good, I like the tactile feedback more than my linear blacks (although for gaming I might still prefer the blacks), and the noise is pretty awesome. I originally planned to use this at work but after testing it out yesterday it is way too loud for the office or for home, my girlfriend threatened my life if I kept it at home, so now I'm not sure what I'll do with it.

rich0d · « **Reply #28 on:** Mon, 14 November 2011, 08:46:14 »

Is it easy to get replacement caps for ALPS keys? Can't seem to find them anywhere (obvious) on the net.

reaper · « **Reply #29 on:** Mon, 14 November 2011, 11:52:22 »

Quote from: magey;451746

Imy girlfriend threatened my life if I kept it at home, so now I'm not sure what I'll do with it.

Sell it in the Classifieds section. I'm sure someone will wanna take it off your hands. And also if you find it's too loud, might wanna get some o-rings from WASD.

Quote from: rich0d;451763

Is it easy to get replacement caps for ALPS keys? Can't seem to find them anywhere (obvious) on the net.

There are a thread in Classifieds and another thread in Group Buy for APLS keycaps.

elbowglue · « **Reply #30 on:** Wed, 16 November 2011, 11:40:33 »

Ok got my duckies in:

Ordered on Nov 9th Late at night (almost november 10th) and they attempted delivery on November 14th. That includes veterens day and a sunday. That makes the shipping ****ING FAST. They paid 1650 new taiwan dollars (54 USD) to ship this package (two keyboards) which costed me a total of about $100 USD including shipping! (OMG). Pchome is definatly losing money on this international shipping promo!

Impressions: This keyboard is loooud. Not significantly louder than other clicky white alps. Build quality is not up to part with filcos, but what do you expect from a ducky... Nothing about the build quality makes the keyboard un-usable. The plastic thing that goes above the arrow keys and around the insert / delete / home/ end cluster had sorta popped out, but I just popped it back into place.

Key feeling: Great. ****ing fabulous. These are very light compared with say XM's found on the siig minitouch. I didn't ripometer it but it looks like it's be cheren done before. There is ZERO off center keypress binding. I'm not sure I have actually used a fukka alps board but I think this is what they would feel like.

Roll over: appears to be pretty much 6kro

Compared with cherry blues? Click is much louder. Travel is less (all of this is typical for alps). Actuation force seems slightly higher. The tactile point and click is more pronounced. The click is meatier. This keyboard is much much louder overall.

Does the keyboard Ping? Bwahaha. Who cares it's already as loud as a mofo.

Spacebar is a little squeaky, needs a little stabilizer lube.

Oh yeah I got two ducky bonus keys, one in orange and the other in purple.

So far this keyboard is AWESOME. It's sorta like a cheap version of the Filco Zero Fukka's. I have not been able to find any transposition issues on this keyboard, although I'm not sure how bad the transposition problem was on the Fukka's either. Although the reports of it were bad enough to make me not want to get the Filco Zero.

Keycaps: Lasered; has english lettering and chinese lettering too, looks very similar to the G80-3000 LSCRC-2

Overall: This keyboard is awesome. I have to decide if alps are for me or cherry is for me, before clicky alps was always out because of the bigas-ed enter key.

reaper · « **Reply #31 on:** Wed, 16 November 2011, 13:10:56 »

^ lol Thanks for including your impression here and yeah, the XM is pretty loud so I added some o-rings to soften the landing and the sound a bit. The panels on my XM were ok but I have another white Ducky 1087 where the panels were a little loose like you described so I pushed them back in and that was it.

digitalleftovers · « **Reply #32 on:** Sun, 18 December 2011, 02:26:17 »

Quote from: ripster;453458

I'm still amazed that the clone Green ALPS are clicky.

Oh wait, it's ALPS.

Somebody take one apart and take pics.

I want pics too! basically, I want to know if its like those things in the alpsulator (because i want a whole board of those for the lulz). Given what people keep saying about shorter travel than blues, I'm starting to doubt that its quite what I'm looking for.

reaper · « **Reply #33 on:** Sun, 18 December 2011, 19:35:23 »

It should be ok... there was still some chattering noise on mine but I tend to bottom out a lot. =(

coffeejunky · « **Reply #34 on:** Sat, 24 December 2011, 16:56:06 »

Okay, just got some switch pics that might help you guys.

Q. The green ALPs in the Ducky XM are lighter clicky versions of the standard run of the mill WHITE XM switch?
A. Weight is around 55g at a guess, no chance to do a ripometer as I don't have any change laying around but its marginally heavier than browns. They definitely click. Looking at pics of white XMs it seems identical other than a softer spring.

Q. And the White switch on Capslock/Numlock is the normal STIFFER WHITE XM switch?
A. I don't have any experience with White XMs as they've never been a switch I've seen as desirable. The whites on the capslock/numlock are light for the first 3mm of travel to the actuation point, then get very heavy towards the bottom, then very light just before bottoming out. I absolutely hate the whites on this board, they are so mushy.

Quote from: digitalleftovers;473131

I want pics too! basically, I want to know if its like those things in the alpsulator (because i want a whole board of those for the lulz). Given what people keep saying about shorter travel than blues, I'm starting to doubt that its quite what I'm looking for.

The actuation point on these is super high, in fact if you press the key and wiggle a little bit you can get it to actuate before the click, this would never happen in normal usage but you can if you really try. Actuation point is much higher than the MX browns I have, and I really like this. The click is what causes the majority of the actuation force though so some people may not like this. It is not a fatiguing keyboard to type on at all, I've typed around 5,000 words today and my fingers are not tired yet.

Without further ado, switch pics!
Not amazing quality but lighting conditions are not ideal and its only a cheap point and shoot.

Stem, spring and leaf -
[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 35878[/ATTACH]

Switch mechanism -
[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 35879[/ATTACH]

And a pic of the white switch for numlock with LED, I cannot for the life of me open the LED switches, any tips?
[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 35880[/ATTACH]

An interesting piece of trivia, if you remove the click leaf the switches feel remarkably like MX browns, almost identical as far as weight, there still feels like there is a tactile bump there (though there shouldn't be), not quite as pronounced as on MX browns though.

If you want to know anything else, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

If anyone wants to know what I think of the board overall, you can find a mini review I did over at the OCN ducky thread.

Hak Foo · « **Reply #35 on:** Mon, 02 January 2012, 18:04:17 »

Cut up a spare ALPS board. Dell AT101W is dirt cheap and common, but laser etched. Older Focus boards (2001) have the right caps, except for a big-ass enter.

Some dome boards (i. e. Focus FK-9200) also have ALPS-compatible caps

Topic shift: Has anyone tried to remap the four key cluster in the top right of a 1008? I find both KeyTweak and SharpKeys record all four keys
with the same scancode.

Update: Foobar2000 can access the volume up and down keys for a remap-- check "global" so they behave the same way when it's in the background. Calculator, still, is a dead end.

royalsego · « **Reply #36 on:** Sun, 15 January 2012, 17:02:30 »

for a hair over $54 dollars shipped, it's not a bad keyboard, but i will say this, had this been my first mechanical keyboard, it would have put me off buying more

coincidentally, i do enjoy their alps white switch(found on the num lock and caps lock of this board)

herbyscrub · « **Reply #37 on:** Tue, 28 February 2012, 20:59:26 »

I just received my keyboard this morning...ordered from PCHOME last Friday for $55.00 shipped it came extremely quickly.

It feels really good, even compared to my Das Silent (browns). A couple things though, the keys with the LEDs (CAPS LOCK + NUM LOCK) feel extremely mushy, like membrane keys. The letters on the keycaps themselves look faded, like a inkjet printing with extremely low ink. Another thing is when you double tap most keys, it doesn't seem to register right away like the Das did.

Overall though, very happy with this keyboard for $55.00 - I'm going to try a Quickfire Rapid with blues soon.

Video of my typing for curious people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9191WpqpgI

sordna · « **Reply #38 on:** Thu, 08 March 2012, 22:31:10 »

There's a better way: put the keyboard on a digital scale, set it to grams, zero the scale, and see at how many grams of pressure it takes to activate the a key that falls at the center of the scale, and how many grams it takes just before bottoming out.

huttala · « **Reply #39 on:** Thu, 15 March 2012, 14:29:27 »

I just got this keyboard shipped to sweden in under a week, really fast shipping.
I love it, but as other people said it's really loud, so I got soft landing pads from EK installed on the board, and it doesnt make loud noices buttoning out anymore, exept the klicky noise then, but that I love. Too bad I bought a topre realforce 2 weeks ago, this keyboard is way more fun!

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=access,slpads&pid=sl120_cf

sordna · « **Reply #40 on:** Thu, 15 March 2012, 14:45:00 »

Good choice going with the gray pads. Do they fit ALPS well? Do they reduce key travel at all?

huttala · « **Reply #41 on:** Fri, 16 March 2012, 02:44:06 »

Quote from: sordna;546907

Good choice going with the gray pads. Do they fit ALPS well? Do they reduce key travel at all?

They fit pretty well, I have to open up the hole a bit to get it on the switch, but it's not hard at all.
They reduce the keytravel, it feels like the key buttons out right after the click feedback, I personally like it since it makes me write faster.

I'll take pictures when I get home from work.

The only problem I have right now is the spacebar it rattles like hell and I can't get it loose and don't want to use force. I'm scared that I'll brake the keystabilizer.
Is there anyone that has removed the spacebar? Is it safe to use some force?

Grimey · « **Reply #42 on:** Fri, 16 March 2012, 11:07:58 »

Quote from: huttala;547574

The only problem I have right now is the spacebar it rattles like hell and I can't get it loose and don't want to use force. I'm scared that I'll brake the keystabilizer.
Is there anyone that has removed the spacebar? Is it safe to use some force?

I have removed mine before, and yes it took some man handling to get free. Though in general ALPS keys take more force to remove than most from my experience.

The stabiliser bar came up with my space bar when I removed it. The plastic tabs holding the wire on the keyboard didn't require much effort to put back in place (I was attempting to swap my Dell AT101W spacebar with the one from my Ducky 1087, but they are too different for an easy swap). After taking mine off and making sure it was correctly put back in place it still rattles pretty bad, so you might just be experiencing the norm.

huttala · « **Reply #43 on:** Fri, 16 March 2012, 12:32:31 »

Aight, got a picture of it if someone wants to see how it looks with the softlanding pads applied.

huttala · « **Reply #44 on:** Fri, 16 March 2012, 12:43:37 »

Quote from: ripster;547922

Nice.

Got any Nickels! RipOmeter

I live in Sweden, so no I don't.

sordna · « **Reply #45 on:** Fri, 16 March 2012, 12:45:42 »

Quote from: huttala;547925

I live in Sweden, so no I don't.

Try this:
http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:6189&p=540512&viewfull=1#post540512

huttala · « **Reply #46 on:** Fri, 16 March 2012, 12:57:10 »

I'm sorry but I don't have a digital scale either. And I left my wallet at work so I can't try it with Swedish coins either. :/

huttala · « **Reply #47 on:** Fri, 16 March 2012, 15:15:27 »

Yeah, bummer.. But i'll try it out when I get some coins tho.

andyhoang · « **Reply #48 on:** Sat, 17 March 2012, 00:10:40 »

Thanks for the awesome review.

huttala · « **Reply #49 on:** Sat, 17 March 2012, 01:27:08 »

Quote from: ripster;548094

Swedish Krona are in the RipOmeter post.

I don't know why Deskthority.net hates the RipOmeter so. I give International coin suggestions for all the world's major currencies. I should do rupees sometime.

I found some coins at home last night, it was a mix of swedish krona and some euros, but I didn't have enough, I had 49.7G coins, so atleast it takes more then that to activate the key. I'll update the post when I get home from work today.

News:

Author Topic: Ducky 1087 XM w/ Green ALPS type switch (Read 46956 times)