Best keyboard company or brand 2014

[webwit]

Please suggest nominees for the Best keyboard company or brand in 2014. You have to give a short motivation for each suggestion. Can also be a shop selling keyboards, or a vintage brand which was hot in 2014. This is the commercial-only category. You cannot nominate your own company or brand.

By voting in the third round of this category, you can win Hyper prototypes from 7bit!

In this round you can earn multiple entries in the draws for voter prizes: if you are the first to suggest a particular nominee and the suggestion gets at least 5 votes in round 2, you get an extra entry in the draw for the prize by the sponsor of the related category. If your suggestion is voted as an official nominee and makes it to round 3, you get another extra entry.

The first round ends on Thursday 27 November, 00:00hrs UTC.

Current suggestions (this list is frequently updated):

• Unicomp
• IBM
• Cooler Master | CM Storm
• Vortex
• Electronics Plus
• Matias
• Signature Plastics
• Ducky
• Cherry
• FalbaTech
• Massdrop
• keyboard.io
• MSI
• Kul
• GONs KeyboardWorks

[scottc]

Unicomp, for their promise of a Unicomp-branded SSK!

[Muirium]

Deferred until they ship!

[scottc]

They don't need to ship for it to be a promising announcement!

[Muirium]

Seeing all the IBM action in the other threads, I'd say Big Blue (1980s version) counts as a vintage brand that's hot again; here at least.

CM has taken an appealing risk with the NovaTouch. (Does my being a tester for them on that project mean I shouldn't nominate?)

Matias is up to some interesting stuff at the moment, although I think 2015 is when we'll see what becomes of it.

Amusingly, my pick last year — Filco — sat on their laurels after a string of good moves in 2013. Come on! Bluetooth Majestouch!

[matt3o]

Unicomp did basically nothing this year.

I agree maybe the most active company this year was Cooler Master (Novatouch).

Also Vortex has been incredibly active this year, let's not forget double shot PBT and PBT+PC sets.

[Muirium]

Sure. But the award is for the "Best"…

[matt3o]

If GMK releases the uniqey quickly maybe it might deserve a nomination... but it's early to say I guess.

[Muirium]

Definitely. Real products please, not vapourware announcements! Next year can judge them better than now.

[webwit]

Sure. But the award is for the "Best"…

"Best" in these awards can be generally read as "Best or most hot or most interesting" etc.

[Findecanor]

I think that Electronics Plus could deserve a nomination for digging up treasures and making them available to the community, but I have never bought from them so I am not the person to nominate them.

[webwit]

Don't hold back, round 1 is pretty open. It's round 2 where the shift is made. Remember the Nobel Peace Prize, where each year someone nominates Poetin.

[pasph]

Matias: new designs. a complete set of Alps keycaps readly available and another switch

[Findecanor]

OK then. Consider my last post a nomination.

[webwit]

Seeing all the IBM action in the other threads, I'd say Big Blue (1980s version) counts as a vintage brand that's hot again; here at least.

CM has taken an appealing risk with the NovaTouch. (Does my being a tester for them on that project mean I shouldn't nominate?)

Matias is up to some interesting stuff at the moment, although I think 2015 is when we'll see what becomes of it.

Amusingly, my pick last year — Filco — sat on their laurels after a string of good moves in 2013. Come on! Bluetooth Majestouch!

Which ones of those did you nominate? Or are you just talking?

[IanM]

This is getting old?! Cooler Master / CM Storm again for Novatouch. They took the risk to make a premium gaming keyboard that isn't all flashing lights and dozens of macro buttons!

[matt3o]

Signature Plastics, for the PimpMyKeyboard service and for letting anybody organize a group buy. Probably this should also go under "software"

[Muirium]

Which ones of those did you nominate? Or are you just talking?

CM and Matias wound up getting nominated already, so make mine IBM. (I know we're not limited to one nomination each, though. Just a turn of phrase…)

[Cherry1990]

Ducky for thick PBT keycaps. Vortex for double-shots PBT!!!

IBM is a dead company. If we are speacking about year "2014" is not correct to speak about IBM. Otherwise, we can also speak about Olivetti...

And Cherry? If we have modern mechanical keyboards we must ONLY thank Cherry... Topre, numerically speaking, is nothing in the world.

[Muirium]

IIf we are speacking about year "2014"

We are not:

or a vintage brand which was hot in 2013.

I'm nominating IBM because this has been a huge year for Model Fs and Beamsprings. That's all thanks to Xwhatsit making them useable again, and Cindy (and Tinnie late last year) finding them for us. But ultimately IBM had to make them in the first place. We're finally getting the most out of these truly classic boards.

So much better than MX! Quite like Topre…

[Cherry1990]

I'm nominating IBM because this has been a huge year for Model Fs and Beamsprings. That's all thanks to Xwhatsit making them useable again, and Cindy (and Tinnie...

In this case, nominate Xwhatsit/Cindy/Tinnie and not IBM, the dead company.

2013 or 2014 is the same. IBM is dead. Is not a "2013 or 2014" company.

[matt3o]

IBM is dead

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooo...............!

[Muirium]

I'm nominating IBM because this has been a huge year for Model Fs and Beamsprings. That's all thanks to Xwhatsit making them useable again, and Cindy (and Tinnie...

In this case, nominate Xwhatsit/Cindy/Tinnie and not IBM, the dead company.

2013 or 2014 is the same. IBM is dead. Is not a "2013 or 2014" company.

2013 is just Webwit's typo. IBM is the exact definition of "a vintage brand which was hot" in 2014: right now. I know you're new here, but even in a few months you must have noticed the IBMs all over every corner of the forum? A lot of us are just as into classic keyboards as modern or home built ones (several of us are exclusively into them, but not me), so it's right one or two contenders in this prize are from that side.

Complain when IBM wins, not when it's nominated!

[davkol]

FalbaTech for making ErgoDox easily available in Europe.

Massdrop (sic!) for collaboration with prominent community members (especially Infinity).

keyboard.io for more hype around ergonomic keyboards.

[bazh]

MSI for bringing a real MX TKL keyboard onto a laptop

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I think that Electronics Plus could deserve a nomination for digging up treasures and making them available to the community, but I have never bought from them so I am not the person to nominate them.

If Cindy wins, maybe her prize should be a converted IBM keyboard so that she can finally get to enjoy for herself what she is selling to us. (I was wondering only the other day what keyboards she uses herself.)

[elecplus]

One of my employees gave me a Razor that I use at work. Very clicky, I love it!
This kbd at home is a crappy no-name Chinese keyboard, and all the keys seem to be in the wrong place.
My husband uses a 1391401, which he loves, but he rarely types any more!

I don't need/want a prize guys. You guys have been VERY supportive, taught me a ton I never knew about keyboards, and I really appreciate everything.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

This kbd at home is a crappy no-name Chinese keyboard, and all the keys seem to be in the wrong place.

Now that's just not on! :P

[elecplus]

Now I see what is meant by lasered on legends. On this crappy kbd, the Q is still bright and strong, but the A and E are almost worn off...

It's not like I don't have a warehouse full of keyboards to choose from. I really like the NEC blue ovals, more than the Cherry blacks. But members keep wanting the complete ones, and I don't type all that much here. If I ever go back to coding, it won't be on something like this ugly thing! Alps white and black, and the black clicky space invaders are also cool, and the white linear ones, but again, people keep wanting the complete ones. After I upgraded my home computer, I no longer have PS/2 ports on the back, just USB. Yes, I have tons of PS/2 to USB converters, and one day my pea brain will remember to bring home a decent keyboard

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Now I see what is meant by lasered on legends. On this crappy kbd, the Q is still bright and strong, but the A and E are almost worn off...

Could be either pad printed or lasered. See [wiki]Pad printing[/wiki] and [wiki]Keycap printing[/wiki]. Pad printing is typically the type where whole pieces of letters or entire letters disappear, but laser+infill can do the same if the spooge inserted into the laser-cut groove cracks up and falls out (though I've only heard of that happening with Das, not with Cherry, and laser+infill isn't common).