Quiet Linear Mechanical Keyboard Switch Designed by the Open Steno Project
1–10 of 27 posts
Re: Quiet Linear Mechanical Keyboard Switch Designed by the Open Steno Project
#2So it's an ALPS/Matias switch. Of which there already exist quiet versions.
Why do you want money again?
The claim that it's easier to get Custom Key Caps for these is an absolute joke. There is very little available in the market for Alps style keycaps vs Cherry MX which is ubiquitous. Injection molding shops would have to have tooling available to make these keycaps. Most of them don't. That's what makes getting custom keys easy or hard, not the mounting shape. I don't even think you can get them in PBT anymore unless you pop them off an SGI Granite keyboard or older Apple keyboards (or with a Japanese layout).
Cherry MX Reds are also not out of wide circulation at all. Reds and Browns are their most popular switch right now! These comparisons are totally disingenuous.
Not to mention Matias switches are super wobbly...Have fun doing those sticker mods.
Re: Quiet Linear Mechanical Keyboard Switch Designed by the Open Steno Project
#3For $50 you can get a bag of 150 keys. That comes out to $0.33 cents per switch which is really close to their estimated unit price without shipping of $0.30.
Re: Quiet Linear Mechanical Keyboard Switch Designed by the Open Steno Project
#4I've owned a Cherry MX Red keyboard for a few years, and while I like the keyboard itself, I wish I had browns. The tactile feedback of a keypress is really needed for error-resistant typing.
Re: Quiet Linear Mechanical Keyboard Switch Designed by the Open Steno Project
#5For $50 you can get a bag of 150 keys. That comes out to $0.33 cents per switch which is really close to their estimated unit price without shipping of $0.30.
Because of the low popularity of ALPS keycaps, the cost and MOQ of the caps themselves are significantly higher.
This is the more expensive way to go.
Re: Quiet Linear Mechanical Keyboard Switch Designed by the Open Steno Project
#6I just picked received the CODE Keyboard with the green switches yesterday and while I was swapping some caps I wondered why they didn't just make the housing clear for the backlighting. This looks cool!
Re: Quiet Linear Mechanical Keyboard Switch Designed by the Open Steno Project
#7I just picked received the CODE Keyboard with the green switches yesterday and while I was swapping some caps I wondered why they didn't just make the housing clear for the backlighting. This looks cool!
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Re: Quiet Linear Mechanical Keyboard Switch Designed by the Open Steno Project
#8Cherry does have clear housing.
http://www.cherry.de/cid/keymodules_CHERRY_MX1A-LxxA_B.htm
And the following claim seems a bit dubious to me.
> The other contact, pictured above, is gold-plated only on the small area that will actually physically touch the other contact. The reason for this is simply that the process of gold plating weakens the metal being plated, which would reduce the longevity of the key switch.
Re: Quiet Linear Mechanical Keyboard Switch Designed by the Open Steno Project
#9Cherry does have clear housing. http://www.cherry.de/cid/keymodules_CHERRY_MX1A-LxxA_B.htm And the following claim seems a bit dubious to me. > The other contact, pictured above, is gold-plated only on the small area that will actually physically touch the other contact. The reason for this is simply that the process of gold plating weakens the metal being plated, which would reduce the longevity of the key switch.
I'm almost certain they originally wanted Cherry Reds for this project but couldn't get their order qty filled by Cherry either due to lack of availability (they're very popular right now) or there being a high MOQ (Cherry's MOQs are super-duper high).
If they were really serious about ultra-low activation force, Topre has 30g switches available (not that they could have negotiated that contract), but that's unusably low, IMO.
The project may be "open" but they've gone with a key type that's only still supported by one manufacturer...
Re: Quiet Linear Mechanical Keyboard Switch Designed by the Open Steno Project
#10I've owned a Cherry MX Red keyboard for a few years, and while I like the keyboard itself, I wish I had browns. The tactile feedback of a keypress is really needed for error-resistant typing.
For me, the tactile feedback is what allows me to not bottom out when typing. I feel like a can allow myself to type more lightly on browns than reds.