Solidtek KB-6600 on clearance at J&R for $39.99

[ruumis]

best price I've seen on this board ...

[elbowglue]

If I am correct, this uses white Fukka's, clicky, board has a working controller that does not transpose... is this correct?

I wonder if you could take this controller board and put it into a filco zero with fukka switches.. hm.

[maxlugar]

If I am correct, this uses white Fukka's, clicky, board has a working controller that does not transpose... is this correct?

I wonder if you could take this controller board and put it into a filco zero with fukka switches.. hm.

I posted pics of the disassembled switches in this keyboard several months ago.

It uses genuine simplifed ALPS branded key switches which are virtually identical to the Fukkas.

It is a well made decent keyboard for the money.  I prefer the overall typing feel of the 6600 slightly over the Zero.  The main issue most US geekhackers will have with the 6600 is the layout of the keys  i.e. large inverted L enter key and small Backspace key.

[Hak Foo]

I posted pics of the disassembled switches in this keyboard several months ago.

It uses genuine simplifed ALPS branded key switches which are virtually identical to the Fukkas.

It is a well made decent keyboard for the money.  I prefer the overall typing feel of the 6600 slightly over the Zero.  The main issue most US geekhackers will have with the 6600 is the layout of the keys  i.e. large inverted L enter key and small Backspace key.

IMO, the feet are too short, and there's no shelf as on a M or G80-3000.

[wellington1869]

If I am correct, this uses white Fukka's, clicky, board has a working controller that does not transpose... is this correct?

i dont know if anyone has done specific xposition tests with this board.

I wonder if you could take this controller board and put it into a filco zero with fukka switches.. hm.

maybe debounce firmware will be less of an issue in this case since both use fukka switches.  
who has the equipment and knowhow to try this though? Assuming its controller board is better.

The main issue most US geekhackers will have with the 6600 is the layout of the keys  i.e. large inverted L enter key and small Backspace key.

yea small backspace kind of kills it for me but then i'm very picky about layout

[maxlugar]

IMO, the feet are too short, and there's no shelf as on a M or G80-3000.

Agree about the feet.  I haven't used it for months, but  pulled it out of the box a few minutes ago.  The first thing I noticed was the shallow angle.

The feet are about the same size as my Blue Cherry Filco, but for some reason, the typing position feels more natural on the Filco.

[wellington1869]

If I am correct, this uses white Fukka's, clicky, board has a working controller that does not transpose... is this correct?

I wonder if you could take this controller board and put it into a filco zero with fukka switches.. hm.

update: more 6600 info:

some discussion of rollover on this board (inconclusive) here

detailed pics of controller board, courtesy of maxlugar, here. (Includes some discussion of rollover status, and discussion of potential controller swap.)

more discussion of rollover and xposition on this board (appears to fail with usb but pass with ps2: see post 13).

[EverythingIBM]

well it's a better deal than the $200+ rubber domes I seen selling at electronic stores.

[ruumis]

price is back up to $60. did anyone bite while it was $40?

[NewbieOneKenobi]

$45 now if anybody interested. Would appreciate feedback on getting it for $45 +$50 shipment as opposed to getting a blue-Cherry Razer Black Widow for $126 +$16 shipment ($142 total)? Truth be told, I want to try the Alps people are talking about.

[Hak Foo]

$45 now if anybody interested. Would appreciate feedback on getting it for $45 +$50 shipment as opposed to getting a blue-Cherry Razer Black Widow for $126 +$16 shipment ($142 total)? Truth be told, I want to try the Alps people are talking about.

Not at $95.

It's an okay board; my dislikes are definite personal-taste dislikes (some people LIKE the F-style small backspace), but if you had to pay 50 usd to ship it, it's not worth it.

[keyb_gr]

That would be a good bit more expensive than a blue Cherry G80-3000 (LSCEU probably?). The boards with Alps switches (and Alps-alikes) I've had so far never failed to end up near the bottom end of my popularity scale, while my Model M and vintage G80-3000 with blues fought for first place for a long time.

[NewbieOneKenobi]

Thanks, guys. Well, actually, a blue Cherry would cost around the same or more and people say there tend to be problems with supply and orders cancelled due to shortages. I haven't finalised the purchase yet, though I've told the salesperon I would be getting one keyboard. Kinda before I read about its rollover and transposition problems with fast typing (I get up to 100 wpm but not 120 or anything that big, but this is still fast), which is something I want to avoid. I've having second thoughts. Another idea would be to get more than one piece in order to alleviate the shipment fee nastiness but then with just one keyboard shipping, there's more chance of the customs officers being merciful (there's not duty on computer parts AFAIK but there's VAT at 22%, including the shipment fee, which they can waive, however). I'm thinking about using boat shipment or whatever to reduce the cost.

[netwebber]

I don't know if I should create a new thread, but I want to say J&R is a great place to shop. That goes for keyboards too. They have a large number of keyboards, including mechanical ones, out on display to get a feel for. Here's a tip: some stores (like B&H Photo, another fun place, and Best Buy) put their keyboards out with their monitor displays. But J&R has a better selection of just about anything computer related, especially input devices.

[aegrotatio]

I'm pretty pleased with mine.  It's among the keyboards that let me type the very fastest and it's a lot less noisy than Blue Cherries (which I find unnecessarily obnoxious).