The switch on this SMK-85 is labelled differently than my beloved black ALPS keyboard which distinctly says ALPS. Peering through my magnifying glass, this switch says IAI -- a capital A framed on each side by a straight line. Is there a recommended way to pop keys off without making a mess? WIth this logo, are these ALPS switches?
No, they're not. They're Strongman switches, according to Justin at DSI:
http://geekhack.org/viewtopic.php?p=1236&sid=9664757c0fb5b99021d013b8a926e47d#1236I also bought a couple of these from the DSI storefront at eBay. And my experience has not been a happy one either, but maybe for different reasons.
Here's the lineup:
The silver and black one on the left was bought from ergo-tech.ca a few weeks ago. The two others, with the gray and cream keys, were the ones just bought from DSI on eBay.
The silver and black one (and may I say again how ugly, annoying, and tacky the silver enclosure is):
has white Alps sliders. You can see the "ALPS" on the base:
The middle keyboard:
has white sliders, the "Alps-compatible" Strongman sliders as described by Justin at DSI.
The two shown here say "IBI9" and "IB8."
This middle keyboard is being sent back to DSI. For one thing, none of the keys click. A definite defect. What's more, closer inspection reveals that this keyboard bears definite signs of being shopworn. Look at the bottom:
The patch on the lower left is sticky, as if a gummed label has been torn off;
There's a scuff on the upper rignt hand corner:
and what the hell is this piece of Scotch tape doing here?
The third keyboard, the one on the right in the lineup, actually does click the way it's supposed to:
Like the middle keyboard it uses Strongman switches:
The characters here read "IA50" and "IA58". (By the way, can someone explain what these characters signify? Is it some sort of numbering system? They vary from key to key. The white Alps sliders have characters on the base as well, on the opposite of the base from the "ALPS" characters.)
This was the keyboard of the two from DSI Gear that I was going to keep, and in fact I had already made arrangements to return the non-clicky one to DSI in exchange for a clicky one. But I decided to test out every key on this one, the keeper, and it turns out that the three keys on the upper right corner of the board would stick or be sluggish on the return when pressed.
Here the INSERT and DELETE keys are stuck:
Here the INSERT key has popped back up after being struck again, the DELETE key remains stuck;
So I'll be returning both of these to DSI, and am no longer interested in an exchange, but will be getting a refund on the purchase price for both keyboards (no refund on shipping, though).
On the question of white Alps sliders vs. black Alps sliders, we still don't have a direct comparsion, since these SMK-85's from the DSI store on eBay don't have real Alps sliders but Strongman switches that are Alps clones. But I do believe that these white Strongmans, when working properly and *
clicking*, are almost identical in feel to the white Alps sliders on the silver and black SMK-85 and on my Avant Stellar. The click sounds slightly different in pitch, but I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the Strongmans and the white Alps sliders in a blind test. So if elmomax doesn't like these white Strongman switches, chances are she wouldn't like the white Alps switches as well.
That being said, I'm a little puzzled by:
As some of you know, I have a SMK-85 with black ALPS switches. I recently ordered from DSI on EBAY a SMK-85 which apparently had white ALPS switches. I am so not happy. It feels and sounds different. The touch is stiffer and the sound is less clicky. I now have two of these white alps keyboards.
because the white Alps sliders are very clicky, and the Strongman switches on the rightmost SMK-85 in my lineup, the one with the stuck keys, is just as clicky as the white Alps sliders. So I'm wondering if ergomax might have gotten a non-clicking lemon like I did, a keyboard that doesn't click but clacks when the keys hit bottom. If a key is depressed very slowly, there should be an audible click when the key registers. If this is missing, as is the case with the the middle SMK-85 in my lineup, the net effect is still very loud, but is more like a clackety racket than a clickety-clack racket.
I'm still wondering what the difference is between the black Alps sliders on the older SMK-85's and the white Alps sliders on some of the more recent ones (and on the Avant keyboards). From elmomax's remarks, I'm guessing that the white ones require more force, and that the black ones have more of a "soft tactile" feel, while still being clicky. Maybe they're like the blue Cherry MX switches, which are clicky but have a much lighter touch than the IBM buckling springs or the white Alps sliders.
And let me say again, because it cannot be repeated too many times, that the silver casing for the SMK-85 is irredeemably tacky, an offense to taste and a crime against all that is good and moral.
