Difference between ALPS switches in AT101W and Apple Extended Keyboard II?

[bopdiddy]

I have a Dell AT101W (love it! tactile, click is quieter than my Model M so I can use it at the office) so I decided I would pick up a AEKII for home use on my Mac.

I'm quite disappointed in the AEKII, though.  Model # BCGM3501 with a serial number that ends in M0312.  I popped off a couple of the keys, definitely ALPS, but comparatively *mushy*, no real tactile feedback, and a lot more resistance (almost "grainy" resistance, for lack of a better word).  I find myself thinking I typed a letter when I actually didn't.

So my questions to you gurus, thanks in advance for any and all help:

• What's the difference between the Dell AT101W ALPS switches and the ones on the AEKII?  
• Is there a different model of the AEKII (or any other mac keyboard) I should be looking for to get as close to an AT101W experience as possible?
• Is there a way to replace the ALPS switches on the AEKII?  Where would I source the switches?

Thanks in advance for any and all help.  I'll probably go back to my Model M at home, although I was hoping to get a Mac layout with the command key in the classic position.  (On my Model M I just remap the caps lock to command.)

Cheers,

BD

[cmr]

i have both an AT101W and an AEK2. my impression is that the AT101 is even louder than my model M, and the AEK2 is extremely quiet, having less of a tactile bump than the dell (but not none at all). a coworker of mine has a matias tactile pro 2 (which has the swapped alt/logo layout like apple keyboards) and its sound is very similar to the dell from what i recall.

[sixty]

I have four AEK2 here.. three of them are entirely quiet, one is clicky (almost like cherry blue, but lower volume?!) I have always wondered what the deal is about that one. All the boards seem to use white alps. Looking at the wiki none of them should be clicky.

So what happend to this one board? Were the swithes modded to be clicky? Or do alps just wear out after ages and become naturally clicky?

[ch_123]

Not sure which wiki you are reading, but White Alps are meant to be clicky, and the black Alps non-clicky. And it seems from a few Dell ATs I've used that they seem to wear out over time.

[IBI]

Some of the M3501s have Mitsumi switches that are supposed to be disappointing but unfortunately I don't know if they're mitsumi alps copies or whether they look different.

What's the difference between the Dell AT101W ALPS switches and the ones on the AEKII?  

Assuming it's using Alps switches then it should have an unbraced tactile/click leaf instead of a braced one so it clicks as well as having rubber dampers on the slider. It may also have a different spring but I don't know if anyone has catalogued the Spring differences in Alps switches.

Oh, and the keycaps of course. I don't know if the AEKII uses the heavy ones of the SGI AT101 but they'll almost certainly be different to the ones that the Dell uses which will have an effect too.

Is there a different model of the AEKII (or any other mac keyboard) I should be looking for to get as close to an AT101W experience as possible?

As I mentioned above the AEKII comes with both Alps and Mitsumi keyboards and the AEKI also uses Alps. I believe the Macally MK-96 also uses alps.

Is there a way to replace the ALPS switches on the AEKII?  Where would I source the switches?

Plate mounted alps switches can be opened without removing them first and the guts of the various types of real alps are interchangable so if you're definitely got the genuine Alps switches (and maybe the Mitsumis as well if they're copies) then you can swap their guts for those of a Dell AT101. If you don't mind the appearance then swapping the keycaps is likely to help as well. Some types of simplified Alps will suffice as well (the Strong Man Type 1s definitely work). Leave the white bit alone, that doesn't come out.

There's a guide to opening alps here.

[bopdiddy]

Much thanks, everyone.  I'm going to give it a bit more time to see if I get used to it, otherwise I'll probably try and dig up an old AT101W and see if I can replace the switch itself.  If I do that, I will report back.

Thanks!