[vcf-midatlantic] OT: Modern keyboard question

[Thomas Fuchs]

I use an AEK II, too, one of the finest keyboards ever made.

Tip: If you’re patient you can get them on eBay, sometimes ones in good shape sell for for less than $50, which is half of what cheap new mechanical keyboards cost. Alps switches are susceptible to dirt, so never buy a AEK II that looks too used (if it’s yellowed, it was probably used a lot, if it’s still white someone stored it away.)

Best,
Thomas

> On Nov 26, 2018, at 6:05 AM, David Riley via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
> 
> I'm also more of an Alps fan; my daily driver, when I'm not on a laptop (my work-issued machine is one of the newer Macbooks, which has probably the worst keyboard I've ever used and that's not an exaggeration) is an Apple Extended Keyboard II through an iMate ADB->USB adaptor.  They have a nice amount of responsiveness without waking anyone up with key noise if I'm working at night.  I don't remember exactly which Alps switches they are, there were a few different AEK2 variants with different switches.  The problem I'm finding, too, is that the switches aren't made anymore, so replacement is challenging, and my left Ctrl key has started to get a little flaky.
> 
> I'd love to get an equivalent to that for my PC, something that's a bit on the heavier end and is at least a full 104-key board with a reasonable amount of rollover.  Most keyboards for the PC seem to come with Cherry switches instead, and I'm just not sure which ones I'd like best and don't have many stores near me where I can go to test them.  I get the impression I'd like the clear switches, but it'd be good to test with a full keyboard, not a sampler.
> 
> Still, Jason, if you're down to bring the brown and red ones, I'd love to check 'em out.
> 
> 
> - Dave
> 
> 
>> On Nov 25, 2018, at 9:07 PM, Jason Perkins via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
>> 
>> I have a MX brown, and MX red board I could bring along with me. Are there
>> microcenters in NJ? They have a nice selection of boards available.
>> 
>> I personally find Alps switches much more enjoyable to type on. If you
>> want, I could bring a blue, creme damped, and I think orange.
>> 
>> Or if you want a real keyboard, Alex can bring along the Model F I just
>> sold him :)
>