Wouldn't happen with an ASR33

[tggzzz]

My new (i.e. ~2yo) Cherry MX keyboard is irritating me.

On of the keys started rocking a bit, then more, then this.

IMG_8566.JPG

Now I realise I started thump-typing on an ASR33, but I graduated to touch-typing on decent IBM keyboards in the 80s.

Now, do I use methylene chloride, isocynate glue, epoxy glue, or a combination?

[Zenith]

I lament the day my HP keyboard finally died when I spilled a glass of red wine over it, and found it had caused all sorts of corrosion which couldn't be fixed.

I now find the £20 ones last for years if you paint the keys with clear nail varnish when they are new, so that the characters don't wear off in six months. Modern calculators are also crap like that. In days gone the characters on the keys would be a different coloured plastic fused into the key. These days they are printed on and soon wear off, particularly on = key.

I thought Cherry were quality items, but if that key has fallen apart, others can't be far behind.

I say, chuck it and get a £20 number and a bottle of clear nail varnish from the pound shop, and paint the keys with it before you use it.

[tggzzz]

I lament the day my HP keyboard finally died when I spilled a glass of red wine over it, and found it had caused all sorts of corrosion which couldn't be fixed.

Yeah

One unimportant keycap is missing on mine, and others fall off if I tip it upside down.You can (allegedly) still get keyboards with similar keys, but they ain't cheap. If I could be sure they were good, I'd pay for one.

I now find the £20 ones last for years if you paint the keys with clear nail varnish when they are new, so that the characters don't wear off in six months. Modern calculators are also crap like that. In days gone the characters on the keys would be a different coloured plastic fused into the key. These days they are printed on and soon wear off, particularly on = key.

These are better: there is a LED under each and that causes the character to glow. Well, the unshifted character, anyway.

I've tried two ways to preserve the characters on my HP keyboard; both failed.

{quote]
I thought Cherry were quality items, but if that key has fallen apart, others can't be far behind.
[/quote]

So did I. I'll assume this is an aberration until proven otherwise.

[mnementh]

The keycaps have nothing to do with the switches; they are invariably made by another party anymore.

You can buy full kits for as little as $10, right on up to over a hundred depending on features. Just search "Cherry Keycaps" on slAmazon... if you won't do business with Bezos' Online Crack Shop on ethical grounds, abuse them as a resource to find a maker and/or set you like, or do the same search on fleaBay.

Those look like cheap painted ABS ones; I'd recommend a decent set in doubleshot PBT. They are available in BOW, WOB, pretty much every color imaginable and even with high-quality dye-sub printed artwork.

Cheers!

mnem

[tggzzz]

I understand many keyboard manufacturers use Cherry keys, but this keyboard is branded Cherry.

If they are painted, it is very opaque paint; none of the light (currently) leaks through. There are 10 intensities; I normally have it on 3; 10 is sufficiently bright to cause glare.

[mnementh]

Yeah, glare like that is one of the obvious clues that a keycap isn't double-shot (an overmolding process, see below); keyboard weenies know that double-shot keys is how all the old favorites were made. It is the reason why the legend never wears out on a IBM/Lexmark Model M, etc. Since then, they're the standard for backlit keys because the process makes the backlighting crisp and clear without glare, even when maxed out.

The MX 1.0 is listed on the keyboard weenie sites as an "affordable Cherry Keyboard". Well, now you know where they cut corners to bring it in at the $70-80 price range full of genuine Cherry switches (if they indeed are; the switches may be made by a Chinese "subcontractor" or "licensee").

As long as you still like the feel of the keyboard, I still suggest you should buy a decent aftermarket set of keycaps; keywords to look for are double-shot "Cherry profile" and backlit with translucent PBT. They will for sure clear properly in your MX KB shell and backlight properly.

You can easily have a better keyboard than you bought for just a few shekels more.

Cheers!

mnem

[Specmaster]

I have one of those Chinese alternative make keyboards using Cherry type "red" switches. I have had it now approx 10 years, backlit cost only £20 and apart from some liquid damage eating away some of the PCB via's which I painstakingly patched, it has been a good keyboard, beats Microsoft, Logitech etc hands down. A while ago I managed to drop some molten solder on the "V" key top so looked on AliExpress for a replacement and spotted the same keyboard again for around £20 complete so I ordered it. Swapped the key top over, and now I have a spare keyboard if needed.

The keyboard is used extensively every day and the only problem I had was some liquid damage which had eaten away some via's. Patched those up and its as good as new again, switches are excellent, despite being Chinese, no problems at all.

The top of the keyboard is metal, so it has a reasonable weight to it as well.

keyboard.jpg

Cherry type double shot key caps.png

[tggzzz]

Yeah, glare like that is one of the obvious clues that a keycap isn't double-shot (an overmolding process, see below);

The glare is solely a function of the LED brightness (easy to solve) and my eyes/glasses (less easy) or for the camera the contrast (probably solvable if auto exposure wasn't used). With a normal brightness, there is no glare.

I don't think the glare indicates anything about the key construction.

keyboard weenies know that double-shot keys is how all the old favorites were made. It is the reason why the legend never wears out on a IBM/Lexmark Model M, etc. Since then, they're the standard for backlit keys because the process makes the backlighting crisp and clear without glare, even when maxed out.

No reason to doubt that.

The MX 1.0 is listed on the keyboard weenie sites as an "affordable Cherry Keyboard". Well, now you know where they cut corners to bring it in at the $70-80 price range full of genuine Cherry switches (if they indeed are; the switches may be made by a Chinese "subcontractor" or "licensee").

As long as you still like the feel of the keyboard, I still suggest you should buy a decent aftermarket set of keycaps; keywords to look for are double-shot "Cherry profile" and backlit with translucent PBT. They will for sure clear properly in your MX KB shell and backlight properly.

You can easily have a better keyboard than you bought for just a few shekels more.

That's is like saying someone saying I could have bought a more comfortable pair of shoes.

In reality it is impossible to know from a catalogue what is the best option. I could see the specs of the various MX keys, but it is impossible to know whether I wanted the actuation/bottom out force to be 60g/60g or 80g/90g or 55g/60g or 65g/90g or 80g/120g , and/or clicky. As with shoes, unless you have bought an identical type before, you have to try them on.

These keys are MX Brown. With the benefit of 20:20 hindsight, I'd prefer something with a more force and a greater separation between the tops of the keys.

[AVGresponding]

Fucking keyboard nerds...

Just get an Olivetti 82 and type all your shit on that!

[tggzzz]

Fucking keyboard nerds...

Just get an Olivetti 82 and type all your shit on that!

Back to thump-typing plus key jams? No thanks!

Even the ASR33 doesn't have key jams.

[MED6753]

Keyboard jam?

[Zenith]

I remember the keys cIogging up like that on old style typewriters. In my first year at university, 1972, the landlord had a sit up and beg Imperial typewriter with no key shift - separate sets of keys for lower and upper case. The professor's secretary had an IBM golfball typewriter which she let me type on and giggled at my thorough incompetence. Later on a FORTRAN course I had to create Hollerith cards on an impressively large ICL machine for the purpose.

Nostaligia isn't what if used to be, but I don't miss that aspect of those days one bit.

Harold Robbins described himself as he greatest two fingered typist of all time.

[mnementh]

Yeah, glare like that is one of the obvious clues that a keycap isn't double-shot (an overmolding process, see below);

The glare is solely a function of the LED brightness (easy to solve) and my eyes/glasses (less easy) or for the camera the contrast (probably solvable if auto exposure wasn't used). With a normal brightness, there is no glare.

I don't think the glare indicates anything about the key construction.

keyboard weenies know that double-shot keys is how all the old favorites were made. It is the reason why the legend never wears out on a IBM/Lexmark Model M, etc. Since then, they're the standard for backlit keys because the process makes the backlighting crisp and clear without glare, even when maxed out.

No reason to doubt that.

The MX 1.0 is listed on the keyboard weenie sites as an "affordable Cherry Keyboard". Well, now you know where they cut corners to bring it in at the $70-80 price range full of genuine Cherry switches (if they indeed are; the switches may be made by a Chinese "subcontractor" or "licensee").

As long as you still like the feel of the keyboard, I still suggest you should buy a decent aftermarket set of keycaps; keywords to look for are double-shot "Cherry profile" and backlit with translucent PBT. They will for sure clear properly in your MX KB shell and backlight properly.

You can easily have a better keyboard than you bought for just a few shekels more.

That's is like saying someone saying I could have bought a more comfortable pair of shoes.

In reality it is impossible to know from a catalogue what is the best option. I could see the specs of the various MX keys, but it is impossible to know whether I wanted the actuation/bottom out force to be 60g/60g or 80g/90g or 55g/60g or 65g/90g or 80g/120g , and/or clicky. As with shoes, unless you have bought an identical type before, you have to try them on.

These keys are MX Brown. With the benefit of 20:20 hindsight, I'd prefer something with a more force and a greater separation between the tops of the keys.

Huh? That is not what I meant at all... I was saying that if you still like the keyboard and the only thing really wrong with it to you is the broken keycap, just a few shekels spent on replacement caps could make it even nicer than it was new.

As for the glare... well, that's more of a "once you try a BL KB with better keycaps, you'll understand" kind of thing. The best way I can explain it is that doubleshot keys don't have that kind of light-bleed around the character, because there's a lot more plastic between you and the light source, and it sortof passes through a tunnel to get to your eyes. Point being... it's something that is instantly visible once you know what you're looking for.

Remember too that I'm at best a quick "hunt & peck"; I do still look at the keys when I'm typing. This is one of the reasons the quality of backlighting and the clarity of the characters is important to me, especially as fucked up as my eyes are.

mnem

[mnementh]

Fucking keyboard nerds...

Just get an Olivetti 82 and type all your shit on that!

Hey... I'd expect anyone who actually touch-types to be much more of a keyboard weenie than I am. I have a very heavy hand, so differences of 20-50 grams mean squat to me, probably.

mnem
*clicky-clicky-clicky-clickety-poink!* *groannn!* "fukkin' claws..."

[nixiefreqq]

Brazil?

[mnementh]

mnem

[bd139]

Not even surprised. The keyboards I kill least are the chiclet ones which are low travel. Both the Cherry SX and Apple Magic keyboards seem to last the longest (12-18 months each). I usually kill the switches not the keytops though.

[Specmaster]

Not even surprised. The keyboards I kill least are the chiclet ones which are low travel. Both the Cherry SX and Apple Magic keyboards seem to last the longest (12-18 months each). I usually kill the switches not the keytops though.

If they are cherry switches, then you can get replacement switches for them and fit them, far less than the cost of a new keyboard each time. I have a few spares for my cheap mechanical keyboard.

[bd139]

Not even surprised. The keyboards I kill least are the chiclet ones which are low travel. Both the Cherry SX and Apple Magic keyboards seem to last the longest (12-18 months each). I usually kill the switches not the keytops though.

If they are cherry switches, then you can get replacement switches for them and fit them, far less than the cost of a new keyboard each time. I have a few spares for my cheap mechanical keyboard.

They are SX which are low profile chiclet with a dome/membrane so the switches are not replaceable. The things are a lot nicer and more accurate over extended use, at least for me, than the cherry MX red keyboard I had before. Less hand pain etc.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09N9DDX5L/

Saying that I'm at 1 year and 5 months at this one nearly full time for work for the last year with no issues at all. I haven't killed it yet anyway

[Specmaster]

Not even surprised. The keyboards I kill least are the chiclet ones which are low travel. Both the Cherry SX and Apple Magic keyboards seem to last the longest (12-18 months each). I usually kill the switches not the keytops though.

If they are cherry switches, then you can get replacement switches for them and fit them, far less than the cost of a new keyboard each time. I have a few spares for my cheap mechanical keyboard.

They are SX which are low profile chiclet with a dome/membrane so the switches are not replaceable. The things are a lot nicer and more accurate over extended use, at least for me, than the cherry MX red keyboard I had before. Less hand pain etc.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09N9DDX5L/

Saying that I'm at 1 year and 5 months at this one nearly full time for work for the last year with no issues at all. I haven't killed it yet anyway

Oh, that is essentially the same as a normal laptop profile keyboard, short silent travel, Logitech used something very similar years ago, I have a couple here somewhere, seeing how valuable they have become, I think I may dig them out and replace the battery and list them on eBay, according to this video, 2 years they were changing hands for $700 2 years ago, maybe even more now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwI3Xhz_hkU