Proud new Filco owner

[Iceman]

I just received my new Filco Majestouch keyboard today (Model FKBN104MC/EB). The first thing that I noticed when I took it out of the box is that, for a keyboard, this thing is heavy! The next thing I noticed was that the keys seem kind of small but i think that may be because I'm still used to my old MS Comfort Curve 2000 keyboard. Some of they keys on that thing were oddly shaped being that it was slightly curved. Anyway, back to the Filco. With this thing being as heavy as it is, and in conjunction with the rubber pads on the bottom, once I set it on my keyboard tray this puppy doesn't go anywhere! As far as aesthetics go I love the matte finish. I know it'll wear off after a while but for now it looks amazing. I also like that the housing is only as big as it needs to be. That being the case I actually have enough room on my keyboard tray that I can use my entire mousepad now (instead of having my keyboard partially covering it).

 I do have to admit the MX Cherry "Blue" switches used in this model yield a lighter keypress and click than I was expecting. Not that I view that as a con mind you, I guess I just still had that old Model M experience in my head from when I was a kid lol, so I was expecting the typing characteristics to be similar to that. Even though that isn't the case, using this keyboard is keyboard is an absolute joy. Especially when you're used to cheap membrane/rubber dome keyboards. Worth the money in my opinion and I'm glad I made the "switch".

Here are a couple of pics:





Sorry about the blurry pics. All I have is my cell phone camera.

[hyperlinked]

Sorry about the blurry pics. All I have is my cell phone camera.

Life is better when you own a Filco. Nobody gives you any grief for being a ****ty cameraman.

Congrats on your purchase!

[Viett]

Worth the money in my opinion and I'm glad I made the "switch".

Congrats. On the keyboard and the pun.

[Iceman]

Life is better when you own a Filco. Nobody gives you any grief for being a ****ty cameraman.

Congrats on your purchase!

Congrats. On the keyboard and the pun.

Lol, thanks guys!

[timw4mail]

I'm waiting on my Filco to ship, but I should get it soon after the new year.

[Iceman]

I'm waiting on my Filco to ship, but I should get it soon after the new year.

Which model did you get?

[timw4mail]

FKBN91M/JB

It's a tenkeyless Japanese layout keyboard with n-key rollover, and Cherry brown switches.

[Iceman]

FKBN91M/JB

It's a tenkeyless Japanese layout keyboard with n-key rollover, and Cherry brown switches.

Ah cool. Just curious what are the brown switches like compared to blues in regards to resistance (when pressed)?

[ch_123]

Congratulations on your new purchase, and welcome.

The first thing that I noticed when I took it out of the box is that, for a keyboard, this thing is heavy!

This is something that struck me too, even as an IBM fanatic used to 2kg+ keyboards, the Filcos are quite heavy relative to their size. I got a less than pleasant reminder of this an hour ago when my cat knocked my Filco Tenkeyless, which was on a precarious edge, onto my bare foot...

I do have to admit the MX Cherry "Blue" switches used in this model yield a lighter keypress and click than I was expecting. Not that I view that as a con mind you, I guess I just still had that old Model M experience in my head from when I was a kid lol, so I was expecting the typing characteristics to be similar to that.

The worst bit is how stiff they make other keyboards seem when you get used to them...

[ocdonkb]

I got a less than pleasant reminder of this an hour ago when my cat knocked my Filco Tenkeyless, which was on a precarious edge, onto my bare foot...

man that sucks... you could have broken the Filco

[AndrewZorn]

should have fed your cat

[Iceman]

Thanks for the welcome guys and thank you ripster for the additional info as well.

[microsoft windows]

I don't have and blue Cherry keyboards but I'm hoping to snag one on ebay next time an old cheap one turns up since a lot of people here go crazy over the way those things feel. It looks like you sure like that there Filco you've got with a picture of one as an avatar.

[AndrewZorn]

I don't have and blue Cherry keyboards but I'm hoping to snag one on ebay next time an old cheap one turns up since a lot of people here go crazy over the way those things feel. It looks like you sure like that there Filco you've got with a picture of one as an avatar.

hey, maybe the members on this forum that you have 1200 posts on are onto something with this "awesome keyboards have a price" thing...

[rdjack21]

hey, maybe the members on this forum that i have 1200 posts on are onto something with this "awesome keyboards have a price" thing...

:rofl: Good one....

[rdjack21]

FKBN91M/JB

It's a tenkeyless Japanese layout keyboard with n-key rollover, and Cherry brown switches.

Cool I won't be the only one here on Japanese keyboards any more. Now that I've adjusted to the layout I'm really liking mine and now it is time to start experimenting with the extra keys. I'm really thinking about trying to put the Ctrl key on the Language shift keys because I think then I would not have to shift off the home position at all when hitting certain Ctrl combos.

[rdjack21]

Iceman - Congrats on the new Filco. The blues are nice switches and Filco makes a good board.


Note to the Cherry blue lovers: Yes I said that the blues are nice switches! Just because I don't like them doesn't mean that they are bad it just means I prefer other switches. Besides they are nice switches and I would still have mine if the darn click had a little lower pitch.

[Iceman]

Iceman - Congrats on the new Filco. The blues are nice switches and Filco makes a good board.


Note to the Cherry blue lovers: Yes I said that the blues are nice switches! Just because I don't like them doesn't mean that they are bad it just means I prefer other switches. Besides they are nice switches and I would still have mine if the darn click had a little lower pitch.

Thanks! To be honest when I first opened the box and depressed some of the keys I wasn't too sure that I would like the blue switches cause they felt kind of light. Now that I've had some more time with the keyboard and am starting to get accustomed to it I dig 'em.

[rdjack21]

Give it some time and don't force it and your fingers will just naturally adjust to the lighter force. Also don't worry about bottoming out the keys again with time and the confidence you gain over time that the key will register even though you did not bottom out the key will allow your fingers to adjust and as you adjust your typing speed may speed up as well. But what is really nice about a tactile switch is the more you use it your fingers will start to really feel the key and they will just know when the key registered. When you get to that point then you will really understand why we love our mechanical keyboards and the Topre boards.

[Iceman]

Give it some time and don't force it and your fingers will just naturally adjust to the lighter force. Also don't worry about bottoming out the keys again with time and the confidence you gain over time that the key will register even though you did not bottom out the key will allow your fingers to adjust and as you adjust your typing speed may speed up as well. But what is really nice about a tactile switch is the more you use it your fingers will start to really feel the key and they will just know when the key registered. When you get to that point then you will really understand why we love our mechanical keyboards and the Topre boards.

Funny you say that because even though I've only had the board for about 10hrs now I'm already getting used to not bottoming out the keys when I hit them. I've even noticed far fewer mistakes because I can tell when a key registers (I'm not a memory typist so I don't often look at the screen when typing) which means less stopping to look at the screen.

[ch_123]

should have fed your cat

She was fed fine, she just likes playing with computer parts.

hey, maybe the members on this forum that i have 1200 posts on are onto something with this "awesome keyboards have a price" thing...

Amen my brother!

It looks like you sure like that there Filco you've got with a picture of one as an avatar.

Profound is this statement.

[timw4mail]

Cool I won't be the only one here on Japanese keyboards any more. Now that I've adjusted to the layout I'm really liking mine and now it is time to start experimenting with the extra keys. I'm really thinking about trying to put the Ctrl key on the Language shift keys because I think then I would not have to shift off the home position at all when hitting certain Ctrl combos.

Well, I have one keyboard with n-key, and that's the NEC with some bad switches. I've got a rubber dome Japanese keyboard, but it doesn't feel too great. I don't have any tenkeyless keyboards, so I figured I'd try all three at the same time.

[Ulysses31]

I've not seen a Filco with green LEDs before.  I thought they only used blue or red.

[ch_123]

Brown/Fukka/XM -> Blue LED
Black - > Red LED
Blue - > Green LED
Pink keyboards -> White LED

[elbowglue]

Brown/Fukka/XM -> Blue LED
Black - > Red LED
Blue - > Green LED
Pink keyboards -> White LED

Nice.  Wonder why they do that.

[timw4mail]

Nice.  Wonder why they do that.

To help identify the keyboards more easily?

[Rajagra]

hey, maybe the members on this forum that you have 1200 posts on are onto something with this "awesome keyboards have a price" thing...

Wait. This is a forum? Not a typing practice website?
Now you tell me! Just as I thought my score was getting good.

[leos]

Wait. This is a forum? Not a typing practice website?
Now you tell me! Just as I thought my score was getting good.

i thougt this is a 5 fraction forum.

:flame::flame::flame::flame::flame::flame::flame:
:flame::flame::flame::flame::flame::flame::flame:
:flame::flame::flame::flame::flame::flame::flame:
"Bucklinge friends, Cherry ardent admirer , Rubber dome hater , Topre fan club and Alps enthusiast"
:flame::flame::flame::flame::flame::flame::flame:
:flame::flame::flame::flame::flame::flame::flame:
:flame::flame::flame::flame::flame::flame::flame:

[patrickgeekhack]

Ah cool. Just curious what are the brown switches like compared to blues in regards to resistance (when pressed)?

The brown are significantly lighter than the blue in my opinion. They feel very different too. It's not like the brown is the blue minus the click.

Anyway, enjoy your keyboard. I don't have a Filco with blue cherries. My blue cherries are my G80-3000. I can only imagine how much fun it is to type on a Filco with blue cherries.

[AndrewZorn]

i feel kind of jipped the other way around.  i have most of the popular switches now... but i was planning on getting a G80-3000 for blue cherries.  instead traded my brown filco for a blue filco, and have brown cherry on the cherry POS keyboard.  now i will never own a G80-3000.  i hope i never want to use browns again after typing on blues.

[itlnstln]

The G80-3000 is pretty much the same as your POS 'board other than the layout.  Feel-wise, you're not missing anything.

[Iceman]

Well It's been about 24hrs now and I'm still loving this keyboard! I'm getting faster with it the more I use it as I'm becoming more accustomed to the feel of the keys and how much pressure it takes to register a keypress.

[AndrewZorn]

The G80-3000 is pretty much the same as your POS 'board other than the layout.  Feel-wise, you're not missing anything.

ah good.  in fact the compactness of the SPOS might be nice.  so it really WAS a super deal at $10.

[ricercar]

i have most of the popular switches now... but i was planning on getting a ...

So many keyswitches, so few fingers.

[1839cc]

Looking good. Glad you like it and are adjusting quickly.

I need to get a Filco soon........

[cb951303]

I've just got my Filco Fukka (thanks elitekb) and I'm very happy. I was afraid of the "slow matrix scan" problem but even though I tried my best I couldn't reproduce the bad key register issue. My writing speed is something like 60wpm but I can write "notepad" continuously at a steady 90wpm. So far I only got 1 "ntoepad" among hundreds of tries and I'm pretty sure it was my sloppyness
I'm actually glad I don't write faster because I love white alps and tenkeyless keyboards.

[itlnstln]

I'm glad you like it.  I don't think you'll have any problems with the Zero.  People were using some special techniques to reproduce the effect.

[twokatmew]

My Filco with blue cherries just arrived today.  For the last few weeks, I've been typing on my Unicomp SpaceSaver, and before that, my Filco with brown cherries.  The blues feel so light!  I don't feel the 5g difference between the blue and brown cherries, but perhaps that's because I've been typing on buckling springs for a bit.  Will report back when I've had a chance to use the lighter switches for more than a few hours!  :bounce:

Last week I set up a router at a friend's house, and she had a cheapo Logitech keyboard.  My fingers just went down with a thud on every keystroke!  I couldn't wait to get back to my mechanical keyboards.  Even before I got my M1, I was using the KeyTronic LT Designer, which is not as bad as my friend's cheapo.

[bigpook]

Last week I set up a router at a friend's house, and she had a cheapo Logitech keyboard.  My fingers just went down with a thud on every keystroke!  I couldn't wait to get back to my mechanical keyboards.  Even before I got my M1, I was using the KeyTronic LT Designer, which is not as bad as my friend's cheapo.

I just spent the day loading software on 80 desktops. There was a collection of logitech, microsoft, gateway, etc rubber dome keyboards at these machines.
They were all truly horrid to type on. Not a one of them had any redeeming value at all.

and another thing, vista sucks. its slow and ugly. at least on the machines that I saw today.

[bigpook]

sorry man, but they were all truly ****ty keyboards. Trust me, there were NO keyboard enthusiasts at this particular location.

[leos]

I just spent the day loading software on 80 desktops. There was a collection of logitech, microsoft, gateway, etc rubber dome keyboards at these machines.
They were all truly horrid to type on. Not a one of them had any redeeming value at all.

and another thing, vista sucks. its slow and ugly. at least on the machines that I saw today.

those company must be realy poor if they dont have a central software distribution service system.

[twokatmew]

those company must be realy poor if they dont have a central software distribution service system.

They do.  It just runs on sneakernet.  :laugh:

I used to do a fair amount of this type of work on the side.  One reason I gave it up is that many clients expected me to work with stone chisels and tablets because they wouldn't spend $$ for decent hardware and software.  No amount of explaining that my time was far more expensive than the cost of better equipment would convince them to upgrade anything.  Just not worth the aggravation for me.  :ohwell:

[itlnstln]

I hate that. My dad does a lot of freelance work, and, occassionally, I help him out if he's going to be out of town. I HATE working on somebody's POS, 386 SX 25 Packard Bell and trying to get Office 2007 to work in Windows 95 (after telling them repeatedly telling them it won't work). I felt the same way when I worked part time in a computer shop out of college. People would spend more money fixing their POS than they would just buy a new, entry-level PC. It's a damn shame.
 
 
Fortunately, my company provides me with a laptop. Otherwise, I would be one of those a-holes.

[Buckling_Summer]

80 rubber dome keyboards in one day and not one with a redeeming value?  I'd call that...

Judgement Day!

Show Image

Amazing job ripster. Have an idea though. :gossip:

The dark side could be saying:

- I'm Rubber, You're Blue!  

or

- We're Rubber, You're Blue!                    

* talking clouds above them, maybe?    :first:

[itlnstln]

80 rubber dome keyboards in one day and not one with a redeeming value? I'd call that...
 
Judgement Day!

Show Image

What's Welly doing in that pic, ripster?

[bigpook]

those company must be realy poor if they dont have a central software distribution service system.

The site is quasi-federal ( I think, but they won't tell me for sure ) and uses a third party to manage their network. We did ask them if they could roll it out and have it install when the user logged in.
They weren't receptive, it seems they have alot of  stuff starting automatically when the user logins and there was some conflict. They didn't care to elaborate and weren't very helpful. So they pushed it back on us.

The only requirement I needed was that outlook could not be running when the software package was installed. I thought that would be fairly trivial to do, but I guess not. I am not a windows guy but I thought MS was able to roll out software packages network wide with some degree of ease.

I am a phone guy; for some reason there can be some friction between me and the data guys. I don't know why though, maybe they don't like the questions that I ask, or admin credentials on the server I need to work or whatever.

I was able to do all 80 desktops in one day though. The software package took minutes to install and config as it was an upgrade to a previously broken package. What slowed me down is that some users were not at their desk but had there screens locked. I was able to  login with my admin account but the package would fail if there was a copy of outlook running( which inevitably there was). I then I had to reboot the box.
To be fair, vista shuts down pretty quick, but takes a bit on boot up.

Sorry to be long-winded. This particular site has been problematic for me for the past 6 months and only now am I seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I really want this one to end.


I should add that the customers network is pretty sweet. They upgraded all of their layer 2 switches to accomodate the new VOIP infrastructure. I went into it pretty blind, in the future I would want to meet with the data vendor and talk about their network. Not everyone runs on 1 flat network, this site had 5 subnets plus the VPN and EVERYTHING is locked down. Was lots of fun getting VOIP traffic through the VPN from the remotes.

[leos]

I hate that. My dad does a lot of freelance work, and, occassionally, I help him out if he's going to be out of town. I HATE working on somebody's POS, 386 SX 25 Packard Bell and trying to get Office 2007 to work in Windows 95 (after telling them repeatedly telling them it won't work). I felt the same way when I worked part time in a computer shop out of college. People would spend more money fixing their POS than they would just buy a new, entry-level PC. It's a damn shame.
 
 
Fortunately, my company provides me with a laptop. Otherwise, I would be one of those a-holes.

thats is a realy hi end hardware. I see here a few 286 PC running in a big automobile service company

[leos]

The site is quasi-federal ( I think, but they won't tell me for sure ) and uses a third party to manage their network. We did ask them if they could roll it out and have it install when the user logged in.
They weren't receptive, it seems they have alot of  stuff starting automatically when the user logins and there was some conflict. They didn't care to elaborate and weren't very helpful. So they pushed it back on us.

The only requirement I needed was that outlook could not be running when the software package was installed. I thought that would be fairly trivial to do, but I guess not. I am not a windows guy but I thought MS was able to roll out software packages network wide with some degree of ease.

I am a phone guy; for some reason there can be some friction between me and the data guys. I don't know why though, maybe they don't like the questions that I ask, or admin credentials on the server I need to work or whatever.

I was able to do all 80 desktops in one day though. The software package took minutes to install and config as it was an upgrade to a previously broken package. What slowed me down is that some users were not at their desk but had there screens locked. I was able to  login with my admin account but the package would fail if there was a copy of outlook running( which inevitably there was). I then I had to reboot the box.
To be fair, vista shuts down pretty quick, but takes a bit on boot up.

Sorry to be long-winded. This particular site has been problematic for me for the past 6 months and only now am I seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I really want this one to end.


I should add that the customers network is pretty sweet. They upgraded all of their layer 2 switches to accomodate the new VOIP infrastructure. I went into it pretty blind, in the future I would want to meet with the data vendor and talk about their network. Not everyone runs on 1 flat network, this site had 5 subnets plus the VPN and EVERYTHING is locked down. Was lots of fun getting VOIP traffic through the VPN from the remotes.

i asume they need a T3 connection to run everything? and perhaps they must send the admins back to school.

[Rajagra]

Never complain when somebody else's inefficiency provides you with paid work.

[leos]

Never complain when somebody else's inefficiency provides you with paid work.

indeed...... the sum of your words says the truth