Another fun find :)

[Chyros]

FWIW, I'd take black Alps over yellow mini Mitsumis any day .

Curiosity, you might like the video I'm going to post this weekend :p . Couldn't be better timed, this!

I hope you don't type your fingers to the bone using those cheapo dells. Yuck

I agree, things are much better when they're expensive. Anyway, again, you might find the next video interesting.

[Curiosity]

eh, quality over quantity my friend. Dells always been known to be complete garbage for the masses.

[scottc]

hope you're having a good time here, Curiosity.

[Chyros]

eh, quality over quantity my friend. Dells always been known to be complete garbage for the masses.

Absolutely agreed, things are also much better if fewer people use them.

[keycap]

I recently purchased a very nice condition Dell AT101W for a fairly reasonable price on eBay. I might have overpaid a little bit, but I'm not too distraught over it. I've been needing some tactile leaves for a long time, and given that this AT101W costed me almost less than a bag of 100 Matias Quiet Tactile switches, I minus well just buy a full-blown keyboard instead. And so I did. I've been needing some more Alps boards, anyways.

I know that there's a lot of hate for Black Alps, but seriously... try some MX browns for a while and you'll be crawling back to Alps

[Chyros]

I recently purchased a very nice condition Dell AT101W for a fairly reasonable price on eBay. I might have overpaid a little bit, but I'm not too distraught over it. I've been needing some tactile leaves for a long time, and given that this AT101W costed me almost less than a bag of 100 Matias Quiet Tactile switches, I minus well just buy a full-blown keyboard instead. And so I did. I've been needing some more Alps boards, anyways.

I know that there's a lot of hate for Black Alps, but seriously... try some MX browns for a while and you'll be crawling back to Alps

Oh yeah, for sure. Sure, they may be the worst in the family, but they're still underrated IMO xD .

[need]

I really want to like my AT102W, but those blacks are so hard to press. It's not a "clean" press like my Outemu blues, just felt like something is preventing me from pressing in one clean downward motion. It almost felt like some really thick grease got into the switches. (It's still quite smooth , and it doesn't sound like noises caused by friction)

Also, the tactility varies quite a bit between switches, again my Outemu blues (cherry clone) feels very consistent.

And those stock switches are free from dirt and dust, which is why it bugs me...

[keycap]

I really want to like my AT102W, but those blacks are so hard to press. It's not a "clean" press like my Outemu blues, just felt like something is preventing me from pressing in one clean downward motion. It almost felt like some really thick grease got into the switches. (It's still quite smooth , and it doesn't sound like noises caused by friction)

Also, the tactility varies quite a bit between switches, again my Outemu blues (cherry clone) feels very consistent.

And those stock switches are free from dirt and dust, which is why it bugs me...

That unclean keyfeel is likely from both the actuation and tactile leafs. Older Alps switches used lube, while the newer ones didn't IIRC. And you could imagine that metal on plastic isn't too smooth.

[Chyros]

The "uncleanliness" of the keyfeel is definitely due to the tactile leaf. It got redesigned at least once with time. with the linear mod, you're left with a great, smooth switch .

[fohat]

with the linear mod, you're left with a great, smooth switch

I plan to go the other way with my next Alps project, and click mod and lube orange or dampened cream in hope of getting something as good or better than blue. My ideal is a light but distinct click with good tactility, and a high and light activation point. And the less noise, the better. (says a long-term Model F user who always does the floss mod)

[seebart]

I plan to go the other way with my next Alps project, and click mod and lube orange or dampened cream in hope of getting something as good or better than blue. My ideal is a light but distinct click with good tactility, and a high and light activation point.

Sounds very interesting, keep us updated!

[Chyros]

with the linear mod, you're left with a great, smooth switch

I plan to go the other way with my next Alps project, and click mod and lube orange or dampened cream in hope of getting something as good or better than blue. My ideal is a light but distinct click with good tactility, and a high and light activation point. And the less noise, the better. (says a long-term Model F user who always does the floss mod)

Yeah, I'm getting a fair amount of requests for a click mod video as well, which I'll probably do on black Alps too. Somewhere in the far future xD . Orange Alps have been mentioned several times to be pretty great when click-modded - I wonder how clicky blacks will stand up .

[fohat]

I wonder how clicky blacks will stand up.

It would be awesome if they turned out to be awesome. (because I have at least a couple of hundred in a jar somewhere)

My understanding is that * orange --> salmon --> black * was a downwards arc along the same track.

The redeeming virtue of the dampened creams was really the upstroke - if that can be incorporated into a nice clicky tactile switch it would be - wait for it - awesome.

[jacobolus]

If you don’t like the upstroke sound, it’s not hard to take a cream slider, cut off the bottom side of the rubber bumper, and put it in e.g. a white Alps switch.

[keycap]

eh, quality over quantity my friend. Dells always been known to be complete garbage for the masses.

You must be highly unfamiliar with Dell computers from the mid-to-late '90s. My old Dell OptiPlex from '98 (when the so-called "garbage" AT101W was in production, mind you) is as solid as a brick. The damn thing weighs over 45 lbs/20 kg and its construction uses very thick plastic with steel on the inside. And it still works like new after all these years.

I don't know what you consider quality, but I take it that your current computer is much heavier and more rugged than some old "garbage" Dell OptiPlex circa 1998, correct?

[Ray]

How could I miss this? Perfect opportunity to eat some popcorn wasted.

Curiosity is right about this. Personally I haven't tried black alps myself, but the fact they are black cannot be undone! Everyone knows black switches require too much force to push. And alps added a tactile bump to that? Rediculous!!

[keycap]

Personally I haven't tried black alps myself

Then why do you dislike them? You cannot like or dislike something that you've never tried.

[Ray]

Unless you add more obvious sarcasm or fuel, I don't see this go anywhere, sorry.

[keycap]

Unless you add more obvious sarcasm or fuel, I don't see this go anywhere, sorry.

This isn't going anywhere because your statement has absolutely no logic to it

[Blaise170]

Dell makes good equipment, as long as you don't buy their bottom tier stuff. I've had numerous Dell servers, workstations, and laptops and they are all really well built. My Dell ultrabook has fallen numerous times and is still going strong.

I like black Alps too, btw. I have a brand new NeXT board with them and they have a nice feel.

[jacobolus]

keycap: Ray’s original post was a joke. Don’t worry about it.

[Redmaus]

Even alps simplified are really nice. I prefer them to Cherry mx switches any day. As long as they are clean they really are awesome there are just other switches that are better in the alps series.

[keycap]

So I got my Dell AT101W in the mail! Not sure why people hate Black Alps. These feel awesome, no jokes or anything. Absolutely amazing compared to any other switch that I've tried. I just can't wait to try the supposedly "better" Orange or Salmon Alps if these are bad..

Time to clean it up and post pictures.

[keycap]

I think that another reason why I really enjoy these is because of the condition of the board. It has a few scuffs and scratches and there's some dust in there, and I can tell that some switches definitely need cleaning/reassembling, but other than that, damn. I didn't know what to expect. You always see people shunning Black Alps and then nobody bats an eye at the countless MX Brown owners. Makes absolutely no sense as to how Cherry is still in the game anymore.

[Chyros]

I think that another reason why I really enjoy these is because of the condition of the board. It has a few scuffs and scratches and there's some dust in there, and I can tell that some switches definitely need cleaning/reassembling, but other than that, damn. I didn't know what to expect. You always see people shunning Black Alps and then nobody bats an eye at the countless MX Brown owners. Makes absolutely no sense as to how Cherry is still in the game anymore.

Exactly, this is exactly my opinion on this too xD . Honestly other Alps switches are noticeably better, but blacks still wipe the floor with some popular switches like MX brown xD .

[Blaise170]

Cherry is still around because Alps stopped manufacturing keyboards on a large scale. Whoever made the decision to drop the process is probably kicking themselves now that it has gone mainstream.

[fohat]

Whoever made the decision to drop the process is probably kicking themselves now that it has gone mainstream.

Dozens or hundreds of nerds on a small handful of enthusiast forums is "mainstream"?

[Redmaus]

Gotta go with Fohat here, I am pretty sure the "mainstream" boards are rubber domes.

[keycap]

Gotta go with Fohat here, I am pretty sure the "mainstream" boards are rubber domes.

I doubt that mechanical keyboards are ever going to be as big as they used to be. Back then, keyboards were only mechanical because that was the standard and most people were comfortable with their steep price and loud noise. Now that we have completely moved to rubber domes, there is absolutely no demand from the average user to get a pricey keyboard if their current keyboard works perfectly fine for them. So, aside from us mechanical keyboard enthusiasts and the "gamer craze", there really is no demand for mechanical keyboards. Hey, at least some people sell old mechanical keyboards for a good price, usually due to the fact that they're "old, obsolete junk". Then you have the maniacs on eBay who inflate the hell out of prices for really mediocre keyboards that most of the time aren't even mechanical. But that's just eBay.

[Chyros]

Gotta go with Fohat here, I am pretty sure the "mainstream" boards are rubber domes.

I doubt that mechanical keyboards are ever going to be as big as they used to be. Back then, keyboards were only mechanical because that was the standard and most people were comfortable with their steep price and loud noise. Now that we have completely moved to rubber domes, there is absolutely no demand from the average user to get a pricey keyboard if their current keyboard works perfectly fine for them. So, aside from us mechanical keyboard enthusiasts and the "gamer craze", there really is no demand for mechanical keyboards. Hey, at least some people sell old mechanical keyboards for a good price, usually due to the fact that they're "old, obsolete junk". Then you have the maniacs on eBay who inflate the hell out of prices for really mediocre keyboards that most of the time aren't even mechanical. But that's just eBay.

Mechanicals have never been big - they've only ever been the only thing around, or not as big as rubber domes - unfortunately xD .