so while dsi was incommunicado the whole time I was trying to email them about exchanging this board, suddenly today I received in the mail a UPS shipping label from them. (So apparently someone had been reading my emails to them after all. dont know why they didnt bother replying!). So now I have the option of a paid return shipping label if I want to just return this. I am torn.
Pros:
1) Layout is nice, compact. I can always swap out these alps for blacks or white and retain this layout.
2) I still like the grays a lot. They're still novel to me.
Cons:
1) In a few days I will have both black and white alps to compare grays with. Those might be novel too
2) In a few days I'll have a full size layout (at101) if I want that over spacesaver. When I returned to the M recently the full size didnt bother me like I thought it might. I kind of liked having the numberpad again (which tho I dont use much, when I do use, I'm glad its there and I enjoy it). So I can also stick whites, grays, or blacks, into the at101 layout.
So I am torn because I dont yet know which alps switch I want to keep, or even which layout I want to keep. I hope the other alps boards arrive in a few days so I can make up my mind and then decide on whether or not I'm going to return this one.
As far as the gray switches themselves, having typed on them for a few days:
Pros: I do love the grays. I type really well on them and effortlessly. I like that they have more resistance than cherries (and less than BS).
Cons: While resistance is at the right level, I would like it if they were slightly noisier (ie, more audible feedback). This is why I'm thinking I will like the whites more, in the end. So just like the way I found a good balance in terms of key resistance, I'm still searching for a good balance in terms of audible feedback. I can always tamp down white alps volume a bit, but one cant really 'ramp up' silent switch volume.
Also, on the compact layout, I do find myself hitting adjacent keys more often that I do on a full size board. So maybe the dell at101 layout is more suited to me, I dont know yet.
If I can decide in the next week, I guess, then I could return this...