Greetings.

[keshley]

Hi all.

I work in IT security, and have been hacking away at keyboards since the early 90s.

I'm not new to mechanical keyboards, but I've come back to them after years of various different input devices...

My first mechanical, back in the 90s (don't remember model) used Alps white switches IIRC. Unfortunately, I broke the spacebar stabilizer (or maybe the space bar itself, can't remember) while cleaning it. So I replaced it with the latest hot keyboard at the time, the Microsoft Natural Keyboard. Thus began a number of years with a variety of different keyboards...

Fast forward to circa 2007, and I started looking for another mechanical. Didn't spend a whole lot of time researching, however, and bought a Happy Hacking Keyboard. I've gone back to this 'board a number of times (don't like the layout, as I bought one of the Japenese models) as I kept buying crappy keyboards off and on.

Today, I have a Razer Blackwidow Tournament (newer edition with the kailh green switches) on one machine, and a Ducky Zero 2108s black MX switches on another. I also have a Pok3r with MX brown on the way, as I've always preferred TKL designs for my home PCs, and wanted to try a 60% for a while now.

I use a G13 for gaming, and type often enough that I want to be able to use all input devices without moving stuff around. The 80% Razer is a tad bit wider than I like for this setup, so I'm hoping the 60% does the trick.

I'm hoping to do a G13 conversion at some point, as I didn't like the mechanical Orbweaver, and I much prefer the G13 over a standard keyboard for most games.

And that's about it!

[Goggles2114]

Well hey howdie guy. Pull up a chair and soak in the forum. Place seems friendly enough.

[trenzafeeds]

Heeeeelo! Ducky Zero respect!

[rowdy]

Welcome to Geekhack!

I guess you haven't still got the Alps keyboard - a shame, as someone here could probably tell you how to fix it, or even fix it for you.

Quite a range of switches you have - do you have a preference?

[keshley]

Welcome to Geekhack!

I guess you haven't still got the Alps keyboard - a shame, as someone here could probably tell you how to fix it, or even fix it for you.

Quite a range of switches you have - do you have a preference?

Thanks!

Yeah, the Alps is long gone. One of those hindsight things. It was a more modern design keyboard, very compact for being 101 keys. I miss it. Loud though!

tl;dr For extended typing sessions, the Kailh greens are my current go-to.

Preference is a funny thing. Whenever I use a tester, I find the MX Browns to my liking, followed by the MX Blacks, then the MX Blues. But when I actually sit down and type for a decent amount of time, I find I like my Kailh Greens more than the MX Blacks. Apparently I like a lighter switch when I'm typing 'furiously' as my girl likes to say. I haven't used MX Blues extensively, so I can't comment on how well the Kailh Greens emulate them.

The Kailh's are just a bit louder than I want, however, even with o-rings installed. I'm hoping MX Browns will bridge the gap. I just hopped on the Varmilo VA87MR Massdrop with the Gateron browns to compare those as well, although who knows when that'll show up. My Pok3r is supposed to arrive tomorrow, so I'll get some good seat time this weekend with the MX Browns.

For my G13 conversion (whenever I get around to it) I'm actually thinking of doing either MX Black or MX Clears. I tend to stab the hell out of the keys when I'm gaming, so the extra resistance would be welcome. We'll see how I like the Browns compared to the Blacks before I make that decision though.

Can't comment on the Topres in the HHKB as I'm pretty far removed from typing on it (few years at least). And obviously even more so on the Alps.

[rowdy]

Yeah, pressing one switch on a switch tester is a poor comparison to typing on a full board.  And using all fingers on MX blacks or greens can take a bit of effort.

I threw out an NEC clicky keyboard years ago, and regretted it for years afterwards, especially once I rediscovered mechanical keyboards.

Then I found an old one at work, and recently acquired a few switches to replace ones that had been kicked off the board (someone had been using it as a foot rest).

[keshley]

Google to the rescue! My old Alps appears to have been a Focus FK-2001. I remember that you could get it with the dust cover, although I had the small insert with... function key information? Or maybe key-combos?

[rowdy]

A lot of keyboards had inserts of some kind, usually with coloured labels which, when paired with coloured modifiers, gives us the RGB modifiers what we know today.