What are ALPS Whites like?

[bigDave]

I found a keyboard on ebay (Dell M/C AT101W) barely used, cheap and with Alps White.

I am used to typing on MX Blues and was wondering what this keyboard would be like to use.

Any information is use full.

Thanks

[Hak Foo]

The sound will be less plasticky, but also a touch less crisp.

It will be substantially heavier feel.

The tactile bump is very high up in the keystroke.

However, most AT101Ws have black Alps, which, while similar in feel, don't issue a click.

[jdcarpe]

White Alps are similar to MX Blues, but I would much rather use white Alps than MX Blues.

Most Dell AT101W have black Alps, but if that one has white, I'd say go for it. White Alps aren't the best Alps, but they are definitely usable.

[bigDave]

I've done some more research and they are probably blacks as it is s newer version of the board.   

What are black like?

White Alps are similar to MX Blues, but I would much rather use white Alps than MX Blues.

Most Dell AT101W have black Alps, but if that one has white, I'd say go for it. White Alps aren't the best Alps, but they are definitely usable.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

It will be salmon (AKA pink) or black Alps in an AT101-series Dell, never white, unless it's had a switch transplant. AT10xW will be black Alps. It's interesting that this is an AT101W in Britain, as it should be AT102W (the ISO version).

I got an unused (new in plastic bag!) AT102W and it was disappointing. It didn't feel tactile or linear, just a sort of strange in-between. It was almost spotlessly clean (just a spot of paint on it) and having found a graph by SPARC of black Alps, his graph closely resembled what I was feeling. There's a second bump after the first one, like you get with simplified Alps and Matias switches, but a lot worse.

It's a nice chassis, but you'd probably want to replace both the keycaps and the switches.

White Alps, I have no idea, as they vary so much between the keyboards I've got. They're far stiffer than MX blue, and they need a good strike to move, instead of the soft touch that Cherry MX accepts. You get a far better click out of them and a deeper sound out of all Alps switches.

[Defect]

There are a few variations in SKCM White ALPS.  New "pine" SKCM white ALPS feel great, and in general ALPS clicks are much much better than MX clicks.

However, some say ALPS do not age as well as MX, and low quality or improperly stored ALPS will not feel as good as ones in good condition.

[jacobolus]

I found a keyboard on ebay (Dell M/C AT101W) barely used, cheap and with Alps White.

Any AT101W is going to be a post-1995 batch of black Alps switches. Some people like these, some people don’t like them very much, and some people seem to despise them. There might be some variation from one batch of switches to another (I’m not sure, I’ve never actually tried an AT101W).