Keyboard Advice - Buy Another ABS?

[Viett]

Well I purchased an ABS from Newegg, and I'm sad to say it locked with more than two consecutive key presses (pressing "was" would output nothing). I concluded it was a defective unit, so I sent it back and received a full refund.

My question is, should I roll the dice and go for another ABS or buy another board? I did like the board a lot, especially for the price.

I want at least a 6 n-key rollover, which rules out many other mechanical keyboard alternatives in the same price range. I also don't want anything with ridiculous shipping or a difficult return policy -- and for good reason, I had trouble enough getting my money back for the ABS at Newegg.

I would say the upper limit as far as price would be the lower 100 range, but if I were to get a keyboard that expensive, there'd have to be a good reason.

Thanks,

Viett

[alpslover]

I would say the upper limit as far as price would be the lower 100 range, but if I were to get a keyboard that expensive, there'd have to be a good reason.

sounds like the das iii is the keyboard for you.  it costs just over $100, but the good reason is that it forces you to be a more accurate typist by requiring that you slow down your keypresses so as to not confuse the microcontroller.

your criteria of at least 6-key rollover, mechanical keyswitches, reasonable shipping, easy returns, and <$100 price tag pretty much eliminates every keyboard.  you'll need to relax one of them a bit.

actually i'd suggest trying the das iii, perhaps you won't run into the issues that some of us have.  there's a 30-day no-questions guarantee.

or the scorpius m10, if you sacrifice the rollover.

[itlnstln]

sounds like the das iii is the keyboard for you.

Hmm, I am not so sure.  I would get a Dell AT101w.  It has basically the same switches and pretty decent rollover from what I recall (it is a PS2 'board, so it doesn't suffer from some of the limitations of native USB 'boards).  It is easily found for about $10 (NIB), so if you don't like it, you are out about the same amount if you had to return something else for a refund, and you get to keep the keyboard.  It is not as fancy-looking as the ABS or the Das, but it will definitely get the job done.

[BigWopHH]

If you can deal with the fact that there's no left Windows key, and that it's somewhat more than $100,  the SteelSeries 7G may work well for you.

[itlnstln]

If you can deal with the fact that there's no left Windows key, and that it's somewhat more than $100,  the SteelSeries 7G may work well for you.

True, or maybe even a Deck 'board.

[Eclairz]

Alternatively go for Steel Series 6g, 7g or Raptor K1 or Gigabyte K8-8000 All keyboards feature 6 key rollover or more but all use black cherries which some regard here as undesirable due to linearity.

If you plan to swap out key stems don't get 6g and 7g as I believe they're embedded into the keyboard's pcb board. The Das Keyboard has already been mentioned of course which seems to be an excellent choice

[Viett]

I'm a bit concerned with the SteelSeries, because there have been a few people saying that it wears easily. Not normally an issue, but the thing is $132. The DAS III has the ghosting issue, so I'd rather stay away from it. The Deck is way out of my price range.

What kind of switches are in the Dell and the SteelSeries?

I've also been looking at Costar and Filco, but there doesn't seem to be a reasonable place to buy them from.

[namelessguy]

Both SteelSeries keyboards (6G and 7G) have black Cherry switches.

Personally I wouldn't mind wearing letters out, just a skin deep I'd say, but note that 6G is NOT n-key rollover.

[Viett]

I think I'll consider the SteelSeries. I still want to do some digging, though. It's hard to justify spending well over $100 for any keyboard.

The Gigabyte looks like a good option too, thanks for the recommendation. I couldn't find a seller for the Raptor, though.

Also, I'll definitely consider one of these Dells if they really are $10 NIB. I saw in some ebay threads that they were going used for about $9, though, with an additional $12 shipping.

[namelessguy]

Maybe I would seriously consider Logitech G11 on that budget, if you are not picky about the keyswitches.

[FKSSR]

I'm not interested in the 7g, but I would buy a 6g if I found one.

I've also been keeping my eye out for a cheap black AT101W that's in good shape.

The Raptor looks cool, but I'd rather have the 6g.

[ozar]

I've also been keeping my eye out for a cheap black AT101W that's in good shape.

Same here... a couple of days ago, a black AT101W (NIB) literally went up for sale at eBay while I was scanning the listings.  Being that it was only $20 and new, I immediately pressed "Buy it Now" but someone else beat me to it.

[itlnstln]

The Dell AT101W uses black, non-clicky, tactile (real) Alps.  If you have used the ABS, it fells very similar, but it doesn't quite have as much tactility as the ABS.  I just switched back to the Dell at work myself as I am going to that ABS due to the coating on the keys coming off.  As high a quality keyboard as it is, the coating coming off on the keys is inexcusable.  I hope the same thing doesn't happen to my ABS at home (probably not since I don't type much at home, anyway).

[Viett]

I just purchased a used Dell AT101W. It's in excellent condition. Its rollover is better than the ABS, it has a very similar feel, and it was half the price.

I'd say I'm pretty happy with it so far.

I might splurge and get a FILCO on the side, but I'm still undecided.

[ozar]

The advantage with the ABS is the smaller footprint.  The Dell looks huge when compared to the ABS.  Otherwise, I personally prefer the AT101W for typing.

[patrickgeekhack]

The Dell AT101W uses black, non-clicky, tactile (real) Alps.  If you have used the ABS, it fells very similar, but it doesn't quite have as much tactility as the ABS.  I just switched back to the Dell at work myself as I am going to that ABS due to the coating on the keys coming off.  As high a quality keyboard as it is, the coating coming off on the keys is inexcusable.  I hope the same thing doesn't happen to my ABS at home (probably not since I don't type much at home, anyway).

You've mentioned the ABS so many times, that I now want to try it, but I have other priorities to attend to before investing in yet another keyboard. I don't think my wife will appreciate that. I wish the Dell was a bit more tactile. I think this is why I prefer my Customizer to the Dell, not because the Dell is a bad keyboard per se, but because it's less tactile.

[itlnstln]

I flip-flopped again and started using the ABS at work.  I jsut really like the way the keys feel on the ABS.  They just give a lot more feed back.  I decided not to send the 'board back to Newegg.  It would just be too much trouble.