Diatec announces Filco Majestouch 2 Tenkeyless 88 Series

webwit · 23 Feb 2011, 01:32

http://www.diatec.co.jp/en/FKBN88MUKB/

Also..

http://www.diatec.co.jp/en/FKBN87MPWC/

Minskleip · 23 Feb 2011, 01:37

PCB mounted? Nice solder! Number 2 is the winner!

sixty · 23 Feb 2011, 01:37

Finally they realize that a thicker two sided PCB can make quite a difference in feel. OTD has only been doing that since 2007!

Kinda want to try one of these though to see how different it is.

webwit · 23 Feb 2011, 01:43

What does the Leopold use?

microsoft windows · 23 Feb 2011, 01:50

webwit wrote:http://www.diatec.co.jp/en/FKBN88MUKB/

http://www.diatec.co.jp/en/FKBN87MPWC/

This reminds me a bit of the pink Filcos they sold a year or two ago. Are these new pink ones limited edition keyboards?

jbl · 23 Feb 2011, 02:12

Looks great! I wonder what they have in store for North American distribution.

Julle · 23 Feb 2011, 16:50

I wonder what model my 88-key Filco really is. It doesn't mention number 2 either on the product label or the box. I received it a week ago, and so far I haven't had time even to pull a single keycap off. I guess I'll open the whole board up this weekend.

I'm pretty sure it has plate-mounted switches, though.

laden3 · 23 Feb 2011, 21:30

sixty wrote:two sided PCB

What is this exactly? I always thought that these are PCB with circuit at both sides...so... the PCB of the normal BlackWidow is also two sided, right? People told me otherwise...

nanu · 23 Feb 2011, 21:51

FILCO somehow always bothers me by progressing so slowly to meet obscure consumers' strange desired features. At least they're making progress!

@laden3: one-sided PCBs are typically resin brown on the unetched side. I can't remember what type older Filcos use.

ripster · 23 Feb 2011, 22:36

Filcos (at least minis, not the tan full sized like Rosewill) have Standard green PCBs with double side etching.

I'm not seeing the big deal about PCBs. I know the Keyboard industry moves slow but multilayered PCBs? Fiberglass is always nice though.

webwit · 24 Feb 2011, 01:05

Julle wrote:I wonder what model my 88-key Filco really is. It doesn't mention number 2 either on the product label or the box. I received it a week ago, and so far I haven't had time even to pull a single keycap off. I guess I'll open the whole board up this weekend.

I'm pretty sure it has plate-mounted switches, though.

Does the model number on the label on the back end with a 2?

ripster · 24 Feb 2011, 07:57

I think the Koreans would prefer the blue PCBs, the Japanese the green (Libyans USED to like green) and the Chinese the red PCBs.

I just like it when they don't have cold solder joints. My electrons aren't as picky as the Asians.

I suggest investing in a good micrometer and scale.

Who wants to talk about SMT diodes and whether the dampened inertial effects of glass diodes outweigh the slim profile of the SMT ones?

keyboardlover · 24 Feb 2011, 13:54

You need to do a diode wiki one of these days...

Julle · 25 Feb 2011, 17:22

webwit wrote:Does the model number on the label on the back end with a 2?

Indeed it does, I only had the chance to check now. Here's a pathetic attempt at photography with a mobile phone camera. The keycaps are still crap. The switches are plate-mounted as I suspected.

Edit: I don't know if Filco changed dimmer LEDs for the revision. They don't seem very bright to me, but then again I haven't owned a Filco with browns before.

: Plate-mounted switches; filco1.jpg (171.72 KiB) Viewed 13377 times

: Finnish/Swedish layout; filco3.jpg (187.63 KiB) Viewed 13377 times

: Blurry shot of the label; filco9.jpg (97.84 KiB) Viewed 13377 times

: Family shot with Noppoo Choc Mini; filco8.jpg (192.87 KiB) Viewed 13377 times

sixty · 25 Feb 2011, 20:50

No FCC IDs on the European case. Evil!

ripster · 25 Feb 2011, 22:26

Hmmm...

Poo keys, or Noppoo Keys: that IS the question.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous Filco,
Or to take arms against a shiny spacebar,
And by sandblasting end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end this post.

carrion crow · 04 Mar 2011, 14:12

I think it will be mine soon

Ekaros · 04 Mar 2011, 14:36

Now this board with reds or clears... Why there are so few decent ISO-options...

rouston · 04 Mar 2011, 15:24

Filco Tenkeyless is the same size than Noppoo choch mini ?

ironman31 · 04 Mar 2011, 16:30

rouston wrote:Filco Tenkeyless is the same size than Noppoo choch mini ?

It looks a tad smaller to me, I'll have to look when I get home.

zakazak · 04 Mar 2011, 16:44

too bad they dont make the blank-key edition anymore

JinDesu · 04 Mar 2011, 17:00

I want that Pink and White one so bad.

zet13 · 04 Mar 2011, 17:24

Really nice keyboard, would be perfect for my gf. ^^

rouston · 04 Mar 2011, 22:09

ironman31 wrote:
rouston wrote:Filco Tenkeyless is the same size than Noppoo choch mini ?
It looks a tad smaller to me, I'll have to look when I get home.

Noppoo more compact and larger with less keys ?
So keys of the Noppoo would be larger or more spaced ?

Julle · 04 Mar 2011, 22:35

I just measured the keyboard dimensions (presented in centimetres):

Noppoo Choc Mini: 31,5 x 13 X 2
Filco Majestouch 2 tenkeyless: 35,5 X 13,5 X 2

Noppoo is just about as compact as a tenkeyless keyboard can get (mini keyboards are a whole different category in my opinion).

celery · 04 Mar 2011, 23:28

rouston wrote:Noppoo more compact and larger with less keys ?
So keys of the Noppoo would be larger or more spaced ?

Removing the arrow keys but adding another column of keys on the right only saves a bit more than two key widths. The key spacing is still the same.

espritsc · 06 Mar 2011, 09:09

What's the difference between Filco 1s and Filco 2s? And what is PCB-mounted? Sorry I'm new and I have no clue.

Also, that white/pink keyboard looks pretty sweet!

Julle · 06 Mar 2011, 15:32

PCB = Printed Circuit Board.

The main difference between 1 and 2 is the circuit board design. I don't know about the controller, neither do I care.
Both Majestouch 1 and 2 have plate mounted switches.

PCB mounting means that the switches are soldered to the circuit board and have no additional support. Plate mounting means that there is a plate (usually metal) that has a hole punched for each switch. The plate is installed between the switches and the PCB before soldering, and its main function is to provide more stability and rigidity to the switches and the board. Here's an illustration (stolen from Cherry Corp site):

: mx_mntop[1].gif (6.73 KiB) Viewed 13124 times

Some people say that PCB and plate mounted switches feel slightly different. I cannot attest to that, since I have experience mostly with plate mounted switches.

Julle · 08 Mar 2011, 22:33

New boards, same old problems. I just found out mine has a sticky switch, which is also mounted (deliberately?) to the opposite direction compared to the others. It is on the 88th key. Oh the irony.

sixty · 08 Mar 2011, 22:35

Julle wrote:New boards, same old problems. I just found out mine has a sticky switch, which is also mounted (deliberately?) to the opposite direction compared to the others. It is on the 88th key. Oh the irony.

A guy on geekhack had previously reported the very same issue. We assumed it was nothing special and not related to the upside-down mounting. But now it gets scary.