There are some who call me...Tim?

[dram]

Hello I'm dram and I'm a boardaholic. Time for some introductory rambling.

I began my quest for the holy grail about 10 years ago and since then have dropped a fair chunk on maybe two dozen different boards. From Fentek to Enermax and Filco, from IBM, Das, Logitech, HHK, MS, Deck, and Leopold to TypeMatrix and all the way down to the 'lowly' standard Dell's. Ergo's, mech's, whatever. Anyway, you get the picture.

I'm not a switch zealot (in fact I really liked my "crappy" dell and IBM-8923 keyboard rubber domes). Historically, I've been attracted most to classical key layouts (rectangular enter-key, standard island/arrow keys) and thoughtful minimalism in the chassis (FC200R, Aurora, RF87U).

These days, build quality and replaceable components are what's important to me. I just checked out GON and KMAC for the first time tonight. I'm intrigued. I need to learn about these DIY kits a bit more before I comment on them.

Right now, I'm typing on an MS sculpt ergonomic pro - I could write an essay on this thing. It's okay. It feels delicate and the function keys blow pretty hard. I can't get used to the arrow keys and the inline island keys are not working out. Otherwise the dimensions and ergonomics are great and I like the split spacebar.

Amongst my friends and colleagues, my interest in keyboards has always been seen as 'unique' bordering on obsessive. Around here, I'm a lightweight. That's a pretty cool thought.

I don't know why I've waited this long to join. I've been linked to this forum so many times over the years while researching new boards that I thought I'd finally create an account. I'm stoked! This isn't just another forum to me. I'm all the way down for the cause.

So, this is me saying, "hey" to all you deck dogs.

[spuriousgeorge]

Hey, Tim! I'm new here myself. What do you like about Dell rubber domes? I'm actually looking to move on from mine to a real-live mechanical keyboard. I don't dislike my Dell, exactly, but it's old and it sticks quite a bit and it registers a lot of false key presses.



 

Spurious George

[dram]

Hey spuriousgeorge!

I guess I liked how you can just beat on old cheap boards and not care about whether they break. The domes on the Dell's worked well enough and I never had to be delicate when I went to smack a function key or Esc. The IBM KB-8923 is pretty solid in this respect. It was my go-to board for a number of years...

I never had registration problems, that's gotta be irritating.

Which mechanical boards are you looking at? Have any particular switch in mind? I hear Cherry-Red/Black switches are nice for gaming.

I just got through watching this guy:

and he has updated slides here:
http://www.slideshare.net/obrajesse/building-a-keyboard-from-scratch#

I think I'm about to head down that route.

Cheers

[spuriousgeorge]

Thanks for writing back, Tim!

I hear what you're saying about rubber domes, for sure. It's nice to know that if something goes wrong, you're only out like ten bucks, not a hundred-plus. God knows how awful it must feel to break a Realforce.

I've been considering MX blues, buckling springs, and topres, as those seem to be the switches preferred by most typists. (To answer your question, I used to game once upon a time, but now I mostly just do word processing stuff.) If Unicomp made a tenkeyless keyboard and didn't make keyboards with such weird bottom rows (the left Alt key is next to the spacebar, but the right Alt key is between the Windows and Menu keys, which would definitely throw me off), I would be all over it. But they don't. So I'm torn between getting a 104-key Unicomp (which has buckling springs, probably the switch I'm biggest on, but which also has the issues just mentioned) and getting a tenkeyless with MX blues or topres.

In your original post, you mentioned a fondness for the FC200R, which is one of the keyboards I've had my eye on. I like that it's well priced and tenkeyless and pretty well regarded. My only hesitations are 1) I've heard that it's hard to find replacement keys for Leopolds and 2) I've heard that Cherry stabilizers aren't nearly as nice as Costars.

Thoughts?




-SG

[dram]

I just went to check out  Unicomp's boards as I haven't taken a recent look. Definitely still solid and retro. I agree with you about the funky alt-key placement - it reminds me of how I far prefer Dell's laptop keyboard layout vs the ThinkPad's (Fn key where Ctrl should be on the Thinkpad) - some typing habits are not only too ingrained to make the transition comfortable, but honestly, at this point in my life, I don't want to learn yet another key layout. It's one of the things that really irks me about the keyboard I'm using presently.

You can find replacement caps for Cherry's all over - at least for Red, Black, and Blue switches. elitekeyboards.com has full replacement sets for $20. Pretty awesome price as far as I'm concerned.

I can't comment on Cherry v. Costar stabilizers as I haven't knowingly used Costar, but I can say I had zero issues with my FC200 - the keys all feel great to type on and the spacebar has a smooth action regardless of where I press it. I'm kinda over the ABS thing, though - the fairly quick buildup of shine bothers me...though it's more noticeable on a black board.

I have brown MX switches on my FC200 and MX blues on my das and I prefer the tactility of the blues. It being easier to find blue cap replacements is a point in favor IMO.

Also, I noticed you asked about the HHKB - I owned the Lite version (sold to a friend after about several years of use). I loved that little board. The Ctrl key placement was especially awesome because you don't have to tweak your wrist at all to hit it. The one thing I didn't care for was the lack of a dedicated function-key row. I write a lot of software and the tools I use make heavy use of the F-Row. Many shortcuts are Ctl-Shift(or Alt)-<Fkey> - with the HHKB, those two or three-key chords turned into three and four-key chords because you need to hit Fn to toggle the numrow to function keys. Kind of a pain. Otherwise, I loved it.

One thing is for sure - the switch to TKL boards greatly alleviated shoulder fatigue due to the mouse being closer. It made a big difference for me.

Here's are some pretty good material on switches:
http://www.overclock.net/t/491752/mechanical-keyboard-guide
http://wiki.geekhack.org/index.php?title=Cherry_MX

[spuriousgeorge]

Thanks for all the advice, Tim!

I especially appreciate your input on the stabilizers and on the replacement keys, since with the Leopold, those were the two things holding me back. I agree about ABS keycaps; if I do end up getting a Leopold, I'll switch out the ABS's for PBT's, probably blank ones.

The HHKB and other super small keyboards, like the Poker and Pure Pro, do sort of appeal to me. I'm just not totally sure I'd ever get used to the keys that were absent or repositioned.

Will try to post pics and a review whenever I decide what I'm going with.

Thanks again for being so kind and helpful!



-SG

[dram]

Sounds good. I'll keep an eye out for it.

[Novus]

Just popped in to say hi to my fellow bay area geekhacker.

[dram]

Howdy howdy