Author Topic: Terrible, terrible rubber dome by Alps Electric Co. - stay away at all cost  (Read 5975 times)

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Offline Philister

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Bought this thinking it would have some nice Alps mechanical switches. Boy, was I disappointed. It's one of the worst rubber domes I've ever set my fingers on! The keys are so irresponsive that about every 15th or so keystroke doesn't register even though the board has apparently seen very little use (I wonder why...).

Label says "Low Profile Keyboard", "WB series", apparently it's from 1999.

"WB" - wastebasket? worst board? welcome bankruptcy?

Be warned!

161779-0

161781-1

Offline chyros

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Yeah, I've had a really bad rubber dome board by Alps once too, although in all fairness it was very dirty. There's really only a few names I'd recommend when it regards rubber domes, tbh.
Check my keyboard video reviews:


Offline kekman

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more like avoid all rubber domes - apart from cup rubber

Offline davkol

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Cup rubber, literally rubber dome…

Offline Daniel Beardsmore

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Try putting your coffee in a dome and see how well that works.
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Offline ander

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Too bad. Can't blame you for seeing "Alps" and being mislead. Cherry makes boards with MY switches, too... The KB world can be a treacherous place. Caveat emptor.
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Offline Puddsy

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Offline losing_ctrl

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Yeah, I've had a really bad rubber dome board by Alps once too, although in all fairness it was very dirty. There's really only a few names I'd recommend when it regards rubber domes, tbh.

I'd be curious what brands of rubber dome that you would recommend to someone who is looking to buy one.

I've got a Lenovo 73p5220 that's pretty decent (that came with a workstation I bought last year), and I've had a Keytronic Lifetime Classic-P2 that had a great feel.

Offline justinmtype

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Keytronics are good.

Offline chyros

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Keytronics are good.
Personally I'd say there are so many rubber domes out there that are so much better than Key Tronics ;) .
Check my keyboard video reviews:


Offline losing_ctrl

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Keytronics are good.
Personally I'd say there are so many rubber domes out there that are so much better than Key Tronics ;) .

Well, the best non-Topre switch rubber dome keyboard I've ever used was my Keytronics Lifetime Classic-P2 that I gave away unfortunately when I moved.

So I'd still love to get some brand recommendations for quality rubber dome KBs, so I can keep my eye out for those companies and give them a try if I get the chance.

Offline Philister

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I can wholeheartedly recommend a BTC-5100c: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=84303.0

Offline losing_ctrl

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I can wholeheartedly recommend a BTC-5100c: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=84303.0

Looks very interesting, thanks.

Offline Daniel Beardsmore

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It would be interesting to try another Silitek-made Dell QuietKey (SK-1000REW) although owing to the rubber degradation, and the fact that mine died years ago (between 2005 and 2008), it would be hard to get another one in the same condition that mine was in. I really liked it. It was conductive dome, and the conductive coating must have worn out as the domes needed constant cleaning, and one day cleaning a contact pad killed a load of keys— I never had it apart, so I guess I tore part of the membrane.

At the time, I knew nothing about keyboards, although this was several years after I'd discovered the blue Alps keyboard that I later stashed away and largely forgot about.
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