Viglen (Acer) 6312-TW

dede4metal · 26 Mar 2017, 18:40

Dear all,
This is an x-post I made on reddit.
I have collected some photos of this horrible keyboard http://imgur.com/a/hCHvm
And I have made a video of the sound of the switches https://youtu.be/PyjT6mZUEkM
Enjoy

Daniel Beardsmore · 26 Mar 2017, 18:57

Interesting, a photo with a switch pulled to show the membranes. I never thought to do that with mine. Would make a good wiki photo if the keyboard were cleaned up. Well, if it wasn't now in the bin, anyway.

Are those mixed black and white switches as it came from the factory? That's never been seen before that I know of.

dede4metal · 26 Mar 2017, 19:01

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: Interesting, a photo with a switch pulled to show the membranes. I never thought to do that with mine. Would make a good wiki photo if the keyboard were cleaned up. Well, if it wasn't now in the bin, anyway.

I still have it, describe what type of picture you would like so that it can go in the twiki.

Are those mixed black and white switches as it came from the factory? That's never been seen before that I know of.

Yes that is how it came from the factory, they are both equally terrible. I can't say they feel the same because they all feel a bit different even among the same color. Avoid.

Daniel Beardsmore · 26 Mar 2017, 22:37

It's that one photo with a switch pulled to show the square hole with the membranes below it. Technically I should shoot it, because I prefer to keep all photos from the same keyboard for consistency (otherwise you'll be mixing up characteristics from different keyboards), and I still have both my 6312 keyboards. Whether I'll ever remember is another matter.

White and black are indeed the same — I haven't a clue why they pigmented some of the sliders black. Or why any part of any switch is ever pigmented black.

Oddly there are people who like those keyboards. I find them to sound nice but to be far, far too heavy.

dede4metal · 27 Mar 2017, 00:28

Maybe I should not have trashed them

Daniel Beardsmore · 27 Mar 2017, 01:51

Well, the keycaps are nice — good typography and high contrast. The keyboard — someone might want it.

Chyros · 27 Mar 2017, 02:46

I never saw the hatred people have for these switches. I like them, definitely not top tier, but a lot better than anything MX-like IMO. Also the most serviceable switch design I've ever seen, by a mile.

Daniel Beardsmore · 27 Mar 2017, 09:27

Chyros wrote: I never saw the hatred people have for these switches. I like them, definitely not top tier, but a lot better than anything MX-like IMO.

Now that depends on whether you have jackhammers for fingers. Basically they're like rubberdomes with old, stiffened rubber — the keys have to be hit really hard to get them to register. At least, that's what I found with mine.

I don't object to the technology, but rather the bizarre tendency for some of the cheaper products to be far too heavy. Alps clones also tend to be too heavy and I have no idea why. It's likely not picked up as I figure the people testing them hunt and peck and see no issue with the weight.

In Acer's case, it's conceivable that it's something to do with getting enough force to operate the membranes, like with Model M. The opposite end of that spectrum is Oriental Tech OK-100M which is more like Cherry MX Red weighting. You don't need a lot of force for membranes (something like 16 grams) but getting that force from the mechanism seems to be a different matter.

Findecanor · 27 Mar 2017, 09:38

Do bad about the broken Enter key stem. It also looks like the stabilisers are not compatible with regular Alps or Costar stabilisers.
Otherwise the keycaps could have been reused on a Alps board.

dede4metal · 27 Mar 2017, 14:44

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: Basically they're like rubberdomes with old, stiffened rubber — the keys have to be hit really hard to get them to register.

Chyros wrote: I never saw the hatred people have for these switches [...] a lot better than anything MX-like IMO.

I did not like them at all exactly for the reson that Daniel is using, and it is funny because I like my bucliking spring very much. It could have been that these were particularly bad keyboards because every switch felt different from the other, they were entremely inconsistend. Also, I know Chryros that you do not like Cheery but personally I would like to argue that Cherry MX red are not that bad at all.

Findecanor wrote: It also looks like the stabilisers are not compatible with regular Alps or Costar stabilisers.
Otherwise the keycaps could have been reused on a Alps board.

I think they are compatible indeed and I kept all of them.