Hail, I seek advice my lords

[Rebel]

Well, as the subjects points, i need kinda help.

I am reading this forum since I' ve bought my first mechanical keyboard 1 year ago (Razer BlackWidow) and that, happened by accident (not the reading, the buying ). Just happened to try it at a local store and all of a sudden my mind worked backwards reminding me the feeling of my old Schneider Euro XT keyboard, which of course probably rests at the keyboard heaven for quite a time.

From then and forth I threw all my other keyboards away, despite the fact one of them had cost me more than the BlackWidow, methinks it was a backlit logitech with a lcd screen on it, (G15 if i can recall)

In fact you can say that I' ve bitten by the mechanical keyboard bug for good.
I have done quite a research from that time and i i have learned a lot.

BUT suddenly, something came to my hands as "junk" but it proved itself real gold.
It was a keyboard, by Ortek as i saw when i opened it for cleaning. It is stamped as a Datamicro keyboard, as this was a Greek old pc company at the time.

I attach some photos below,  and I need some info if somebody knows something / anything.
I need these infos because even I love my blue cherry MX keyboard, even I love more the typing sound / feel of the Model M, I trully adore the switches on this keyboard and I think they are "my type", heavy - tactile - clikcy. Seems to be equipped with White ALPS switches. So, of someone knows something similar in sound and feel, i would appreciate his recomendation! It wouldnt be so hard to find something that has  ALPS type switch (like the Matias Pro - MAC only) but out there, there are SO DAMN many variations / immitations of ALPS switches.

The photos:

[Rebel]

I have to add that I' ve done A LOT of work on it as far as it concerns the cleaning part.
Even though it seems kinda yellowish / unclean, you should have seen it at its primary condition 

[poxeclipse]

I have two Orteks: one with white Alps, one with green Alps. The white Alps are heavier than the greens, and you can find them in many keyboards, like Focus 2001, for example. But, the green Alps are quite exquisite, they used to be my favourite for a long time. Too bad that the keyboard construction is not as solid as one would expect. My Ortek with greens was actually bent when I bought it.  I still use it. The keycaps are also high quality double shots.
If you find one, you should try it.

[SmallFry]

Agreed, I love green ALPS. I have a bucket of 104 of them and a keyboard with them.

[Rebel]

I must add that CLICKY is the key factor. In fact, to be honest, I type much faster at the Razer than the Ortek. Still, I fell in love with white Alps.
In a quick view at deskwiki, I have seen that there are quite many variations of Alps; White Alps and Alps Buckling Spring excused of course.

Second key factor, cause is gonna be placed at my job's desk, has to be full and not tenkeyless.

The majority of decent new keyboards with alps that i found online, they are either tenkeyless or they are for mac (Matias).

So, due to the fact that besides Matias Tactical Pro, if there aren't any white Alps out in the market (referring to new stock), should i buy myself a green Alps board?
i Think these are Alps XM switches if I am not mistaken.

Thanks for your patience

[FoxWolf1]

So, due to the fact that besides Matias Tactical Pro, if there aren't any white Alps out in the market (referring to new stock), should i buy myself a green Alps board?
i Think these are Alps XM switches if I am not mistaken.

If you mean a Ducky 1008/1087XM, then no. Stay far away.

The green XMs are (IMO) not very good compared to other ALPS (or, for that matter, non-ALPS) switches that I have used...even more wobble than other ALPS + high actuation point + light force (by ALPS standards) = 19028390128 unwanted extra letters while typing at anything resembling sensible speed. At the same time, the slight bit of initial "stubbornness" + slow return + lots of extra letters = not good for gaming, either. But the switches are the least of that keyboard's problems...the plate is not strong enough to keep from flexing, and the switches aren't that solidly connected to the PCB, so over time (a little shy of a few months, in my case), the switches begin to tear free of the PCB, often ripping off pads/bits of trace with them. Nor is the case very good...it warps easily in production, so you may get one that (like mine) does not sit firmly on your desk, but instead wobbles from side to side; also, the case design includes sharp corners that can easily irritate your left wrist.

Find a different way of getting your ALPS fix.

[Rebel]

I think i ll follow that advice, your are the second person that indicates situations like these for the XM.
So, this leaves me for either cherry blue or cherry green.
At least, for blues there are plenty of choices out there, and as for the green i will take a deeper look for them.

Probably the best deal will be to move the blackwidow to my office desk at work and buy something for myself for home pc to cure my k.a.s. whatsoever.
(K.A.S. is paraphrasing the G.A.S., which means guitar acquisition syndrome, its something like buying keyboards but with guitars. hell you got my point  )

Thanks for the advice people!

P.S. I think a unicomp is a nice addition though I have already a Model M.

[tp4tissue]

I think i ll follow that advice, your are the second person that indicates situations like these for the XM.
So, this leaves me for either cherry blue or cherry green.
At least, for blues there are plenty of choices out there, and as for the green i will take a deeper look for them.

Probably the best deal will be to move the blackwidow to my office desk at work and buy something for myself for home pc to cure my k.a.s. whatsoever.
(K.A.S. is paraphrasing the G.A.S., which means guitar acquisition syndrome, its something like buying keyboards but with guitars. hell you got my point  )

Thanks for the advice people!

P.S. I think a unicomp is a nice addition though I have already a Model M.

You need very strong tough guy fingers for Cherry MX Green...

For me I only have a Green in my space bar, delete, and esc key..

They are MUCH heavier than blue...

[Rebel]

If the greens are similar to the feel of this Ortek I've shown above, it will a perfect match for me.

[rootwyrm]

If the greens are similar to the feel of this Ortek I've shown above, it will a perfect match for me.

I would have to type on the Ortek to answer that question. Alps Whites are rated for 60cN - +-25cN. Huge, huge swing value. So they might be closer to MX Greens (80cN) or they might be closer to MX Blues (55cN). It could go either way. My advice would be to try MX Blues at a local retailer and see if they're significantly lighter. If they are, you got a heavy batch, go to Greens. If they aren't, you got a light batch, go to Blues.

[1839cc]

All the ALPS I have tried have had that same high initial force followed by complete lack of resistance, so it falls through the floor characteristic. I'm not a huge fan. That said, the white XMs I have in my Focus are slightly better in that regard than the black ALPS in my Dell. Maybe it's the click.

Also, my white XMs are slightly heavier (require more initial force) than the black ALPS. Both cause me more fatigue and distraction than light or medium Cherries... Just my 2¢.

[Rebel]

rootwyrm, as i said at my first post, I already a Model M and a blackwidow.
Unfortunately, to find mechanical keyboards here in Greece besides razer (has its own representative here) and steelseries, is quite difficult. Some warehouse - eshops have some cherry G80s (UK / DE layout only) but i am not concerned to trade my blackwidow for it.

So, that was the whole point of this help post, to gather some info about a similar white alps keyboard that I have no luck to try it live here in Greece.
It seems that a unicomp spacesaver will do the job after all.

[Rebel]

If i buy a matias tactile pro, will work with a pc in a decent way?