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Author Topic: Best keypad for the money?  (Read 4337 times)

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Offline Rhinofeed

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Best keypad for the money?
« on: Thu, 03 January 2013, 21:47:03 »
Hello! I'm looking for a keypad to go along with my tenkeyless leopold. Some will say I should have just purchased a full keyboard but I like the flexibility of a detachable number pad. The only two I've heard about so far is the Filco Majestouch keypad and the Cherry G80-3700. Any recommendations?
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Offline Turbo Slaab

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 03 January 2013, 23:32:19 »
Filco is always a good choice.
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Offline Rhinofeed

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 03 January 2013, 23:37:11 »
Do you know of any others besides the two I listed?
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Offline TheProfosist

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 03 January 2013, 23:38:29 »
Theres the goldtouch and kenesis.
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Offline quake4mhg

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #4 on: Fri, 04 January 2013, 00:24:58 »
Not too many mechanical keypad around, pick your favorite switch first :)
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Offline spacecase

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #5 on: Fri, 04 January 2013, 03:32:18 »
It's not exactly a good keypad for the money but the best one I know of is the Realforce 23u. The issue is that it's $150.27 after tax and shipping; a tad less if you're not in the special state of California.
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Offline Rhinofeed

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #6 on: Fri, 04 January 2013, 11:12:50 »
MX Browns would my favorite switch so far, and it would then match my TKL Leopold.

What switch is Goldtouch and Kenesis?

I'd love a Realforce 23U but it's a bit out of my price range at the moment.
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Offline damorgue

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #7 on: Fri, 04 January 2013, 11:21:42 »
They are called Kinesis I believe.

Goldtouch are MX brown I believe. MX Black is otherwise common in numpads.

There are also some small Tipro ones which can be used as numpads. Possibly even a Genovation?
« Last Edit: Fri, 04 January 2013, 11:35:44 by damorgue »
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Offline natas206

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #8 on: Fri, 04 January 2013, 12:11:58 »
Quote from: nathaniel_h on Fri, 04 January 2013, 11:12:50
MX Browns would my favorite switch so far, and it would then match my TKL Leopold.

What switch is Kenesis?


Kinesis keypads are cherry brown.
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Offline Rhinofeed

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 19 January 2013, 15:21:37 »
Sorry to bring this thread up again, but now I know what I'm looking for:

USB not PS/2
Cherry MX Browns
No double zero key, but a full width zero key. This way if I buy a keyset for a full keyboard, I can use this set both on my keypad and my tkl Leopold.
Unfortunately, this makes the Filco and many others not an option.

The reason I want USB is because PS/2 requires a restart, and I may be bringing this to work. They won't appreciate me restarting their computer all the time just so I can use my keypad.
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Offline Lastpilot

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #10 on: Sat, 19 January 2013, 17:00:34 »
I still want a backlit Keycool-22 but no way to get one. D:
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Offline IvanIvanovich

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #11 on: Sat, 19 January 2013, 17:22:59 »
Kinesis AC210 is probably your best choice. Make sure you don't get the freestyle numpad, its a domes not MX.
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Offline codymaust

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #12 on: Sat, 19 January 2013, 17:49:56 »
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Offline Rhinofeed

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #13 on: Sat, 19 January 2013, 20:23:21 »
The Kinesis AC210 and that Adesso might be the only options for a keypad without a double zero... so I had a random thought:
Does IMSTO do custom caps; Would he make a double zero keycap for me if I needed one? (just to make things complicated)

edit: Although I can't figure out what switch type the Adesso has. Very odd.
« Last Edit: Sat, 19 January 2013, 20:26:10 by nathaniel_h »
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Offline codymaust

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #14 on: Sat, 19 January 2013, 20:51:55 »
Quote from: nathaniel_h on Sat, 19 January 2013, 20:23:21
The Kinesis AC210 and that Adesso might be the only options for a keypad without a double zero... so I had a random thought:
Does IMSTO do custom caps; Would he make a double zero keycap for me if I needed one? (just to make things complicated)

edit: Although I can't figure out what switch type the Adesso has. Very odd.
Yeah.. the info is extremely limited on the Adesso haha

I looked into it before and I think I finally found a source that said it has Browns, but I don't remember for sure
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Offline Rhinofeed

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #15 on: Sat, 19 January 2013, 20:58:50 »
Quote from: Lastpilot on Sat, 19 January 2013, 17:00:34
I still want a backlit Keycool-22 but no way to get one. D:
Keycool looks excellent. I love their 87Key Grey version. But there's no way to purchase them if you live in the U.S.?

----

The Adesso seems kinda sketchy, especially at that lower price point. I'll probably stick to Kinesis or a Filco / Keycool (if possible) and try to get my hands on a double zero keycap whenever I do decide to get new PBT.
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Offline jabar

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #16 on: Sat, 19 January 2013, 21:03:47 »
My girlfriend has a Lenovo keypad with scissor switches that isn't bad at all, and I imagine she got it for pretty cheap.

I think it's this one: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=460&Code=AKP11US&category-id=B462438691FF48A9BB1FF35595DA583E&hide_menu_area=yes
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Offline IvanIvanovich

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #17 on: Sat, 19 January 2013, 21:04:02 »
The adesso has blues, or sometimes MX knock off Taiwanese clicky white switch. It's made by iOne (I think) and isn't made well. I would probably stay away from it unless you find one on ebay for dirt cheap.
Also, no need to rule out the G80-3700 if you find one for a good price. Shouldn't be hard to source some brown stem and springs and swap them out, it's really easy since it's pcb mount.

If you like the Keycool, you just need to have a taobao proxy. There are some Chinese forum members that may help you, or you could always use a taobao agent if you need to.
« Last Edit: Sat, 19 January 2013, 21:06:56 by lysol »
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Offline nullstring

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #18 on: Sun, 20 January 2013, 02:18:08 »
This thing is $15 shipped, and I've heard good things.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/260902522660#shId
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Offline rowdy

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #19 on: Sun, 20 January 2013, 03:16:43 »
^ That one uses ALPS switches, which might limit you a bit if you plan on changing the keycaps at some stage.
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Offline czarek

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #20 on: Sun, 20 January 2013, 03:36:24 »
Unicomp :) it's a steal!
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Offline RickyJ

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #21 on: Sun, 20 January 2013, 14:12:57 »
I have the Adesso, feels cheap and wobbly.  Swapped out the PCB blues for some PCB ergo-clears, and the keys feel even more unstable now.  The centering holes in the PCB for the switches are not tight like in my Cherry donor board.  It gets the job done and was cheap, but I was really hoping for better.
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Offline Germiphene

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #22 on: Sun, 20 January 2013, 16:36:38 »
Just bought a Realforce 23u, it's beautiful! 
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Offline esoomenona

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #23 on: Sun, 20 January 2013, 16:37:48 »
Where'd you buy it from, germi?
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Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #24 on: Sun, 20 January 2013, 17:05:52 »
Quote from: czarek on Sun, 20 January 2013, 03:36:24
Unicomp :) it's a steal!

it is NOT a steal,, it's $1.05 +    ~ $15.00 shipping
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #25 on: Sun, 20 January 2013, 17:10:26 »
Quote from: czarek on Sun, 20 January 2013, 03:36:24
Unicomp :) it's a steal!

*     *     *     *     *

If you are in the US, you can have a brand new Unicomp, black, native USB (the contemporary standard) delivered to your doorstep for a C-note.

That is absolutely a steal, by anybody's definition.

http://pckeyboard.com/page/UKBD/UB40P4A

And that includes a few beautiful colored replacement keycaps, too.

edit - sorry, I did not read the title properly "keypad" oh yeah, that ....
« Last Edit: Sun, 20 January 2013, 17:30:33 by fohat.digs »
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Offline The_Beast

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #26 on: Sun, 20 January 2013, 17:12:34 »
I just bought 5 of these:


Hopefully they're good. If not, 150 black switches for $0.23 each
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Offline Rhinofeed

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Re: Best keypad for the money?
« Reply #27 on: Mon, 21 January 2013, 16:07:55 »
Quote from: lysol on Sat, 19 January 2013, 21:04:02
The adesso has blues, or sometimes MX knock off Taiwanese clicky white switch. It's made by iOne (I think) and isn't made well. I would probably stay away from it unless you find one on ebay for dirt cheap.
Also, no need to rule out the G80-3700 if you find one for a good price. Shouldn't be hard to source some brown stem and springs and swap them out, it's really easy since it's pcb mount.

If you like the Keycool, you just need to have a taobao proxy. There are some Chinese forum members that may help you, or you could always use a taobao agent if you need to.

Thanks Lysol you've been most helpful. I didn't know Taobao had agents or anything of the sort. I'll definitely be looking out for deals on any one of those keypads, and I'll find out if it's possible to get a double zero keycap.
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