The gold label Omnikey 102s typically have blue alps,
Your link is not gold label, and the seller even noted "white" Alps.
It's not?
Because it seems that way to me.
No mention of white Alps here. Perhaps the link got broken since it's a board I sent an offer on or perhaps you're looking in the wrong place.
A blue Alps under $200 would be a good deal.
Out of curiosity, what is so special about blue alps?
A blue Alps under $200 would be a good deal.
Out of curiosity, what is so special about blue alps?
Blue Alps, like most of the older complicated Alps varieties, have a long contact plate, which imo gives a more solid and stable feel to the switch. Blue Alps has a light-ish 65g actuation and a click that sounds very refined.
Unlike Cherry MX, which uses a two-piece slider that slaps into itself to create the click, Alps switches use metal click leaves (leaf springs). Blue Alps combines a light actuation with a solid feel, nice tactility and clickiness. It somehow just got it all right.
They're very popular for those reasons, I guess. I haven't found another Alps clicky switch that quite matches blues.