[HELP] Switch tester

Claraval23 · 17 Dec 2017, 11:19

Hello all!

I am new in this world of the mechanical KB and looking for some help. Sorry to the mods if this post should not be here, but I couldn't figure out where to do it.

I am looking, and I don't know if it exist, for a switch tester where I can try the most representative switches, leaving BS and ALPS aside (unless you can recomend modern good clones). Would be something like the clicky, tactile and linear of each major or interesting brand. I have tried cherry mx and well...they feel like full of dust inside and really plasticky.

So, could I find something with gaterons, kaihl, aristotles, zealios, etc etc? And could you give me a recommendation of which ones to try? Oh, I am located in Spain.

Thanks!

Markmak · 17 Dec 2017, 16:54

Hello amigo,
Take a look in ebay.co.uk, search for "Switch Tester".
http://amzn.eu/77VasDE

codemonkeymike · 17 Dec 2017, 17:01

If shipping from the US of A doesn't kill you, then go for the novelkeys set. It has most of the switches you are talking about except for maybe aristotles. https://www.novelkeys.xyz/product/25-sl ... ch-tester/

Claraval23 · 17 Dec 2017, 19:14

Markmak wrote: ↑Hello amigo,
Take a look in ebay.co.uk, search for "Switch Tester".
http://amzn.eu/77VasDE

Thanks! But all I can find are cherry mx (which feel like crap to my novice touch)

codemonkeymike wrote: ↑If shipping from the US of A doesn't kill you, then go for the novelkeys set. It has most of the switches you are talking about except for maybe aristotles. https://www.novelkeys.xyz/product/25-sl ... ch-tester/

You are my saviour, Sir! This is exactly what I was looking for! Any suggestions on what to get? (I know this is a little bit of a stretch

) Maybe there is a post somewhere called "Must known switches for enthusiasts".

TuxKey · 17 Dec 2017, 21:27

here are two more options

well known store in the community from china.
https://tinyurl.com/yascl4vt

And they also have a front store on aliexpress.
and sell lot's of stuff there with free shipping on aliexpress.
if you have a soldering iron i would go with this one. The thing i like about it is that you can go for kit2 that even has
a pcb that would give the the feel of a real keyboard..

https://tinyurl.com/y7t56vvq

Darkshado · 18 Dec 2017, 07:46

Unicomp still makes Model M keyboards, Chyros looked into how they compare next to vintage IBM Model Ms a while ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A-vRZth7SI

Granted, getting an Unicomp keycap, barrel, flipper and spring in a tester is going to take some work.

Did not get to try them yet, Matias makes an Alps "successor" which seems alright judging by what I've read so far.

Claraval23 · 18 Dec 2017, 10:05

Nice! Thank you all guys.

andrewjoy · 18 Dec 2017, 12:56

matias are clones of the later ( simple ) alps.

They are well made and at leas the reds are lubed and super smooth.

It is a shame however that they did not clone the older alps. The " slits" in older alps reduce wobble quite a bit ,and wobble is the one weakness of matias.

Scarpia · 18 Dec 2017, 21:33

codemonkeymike wrote: ↑If shipping from the US of A doesn't kill you, then go for the novelkeys set. It has most of the switches you are talking about except for maybe aristotles. https://www.novelkeys.xyz/product/25-sl ... ch-tester/

Thanks for that link codemonkeymike! I actually found 25 switches I don't already have in their selection, and at least half of them were ones I actually wanted for my collection! I had to buy buy buy!

Claraval23 · 19 Dec 2017, 09:47

andrewjoy wrote: ↑matias are clones of the later ( simple ) alps.

They are well made and at leas the reds are lubed and super smooth.

It is a shame however that they did not clone the older alps. The " slits" in older alps reduce wobble quite a bit ,and wobble is the one weakness of matias.

Alright! I will check those, thanks!

Daniel Beardsmore · 19 Dec 2017, 09:57

andrewjoy wrote: ↑The " slits" in older alps reduce wobble quite a bit ,and wobble is the one weakness of matias.

How does that work?

The only suggestion I'm aware of for the purpose of the slits seems to be to cushion the upstroke very slightly, by allowing the shell to flex and absorb the impact.

Claraval23 · 19 Dec 2017, 14:32

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: ↑
andrewjoy wrote: ↑The " slits" in older alps reduce wobble quite a bit ,and wobble is the one weakness of matias.
How does that work?

The only suggestion I'm aware of for the purpose of the slits seems to be to cushion the upstroke very slightly, by allowing the shell to flex and absorb the impact.

I thought that the wobble would be a matter of the stem moving loosly inside of its contaiment (casing of the switch) and the length of the stem itself as it would create a longer lever...

Jipsu · 21 Dec 2017, 10:34

Since you live in EU it might be wiser to order from Asia as postage from US is usually prohibitively high and gets multiplied by VAT and possibly customs. I'm currently expecting a tester package from KPrepublic (four singles of each interesting switch to get closer to a typing feel).

There are some local options too. https://opticboards.com/ sells Gaterons, some new Kailh and Aristotles if you want to make clicky Gatistotles. https://www.mechbox.co.uk/ has a wide variety of switches including Zealio. https://www.candykeys.com/ has Cherry Speed, Gateron and Kailh. http://www.keyboardco.com/ sells singles of Matias Alps-like switches.

Oh yes, and do check out https://input.club/the-comparative-guid ... -switches/ for some standardised test results, comparing the force curves gives a decent overview of your options.

Edit: HaaTa has some graphs that aren't on the input club here https://plot.ly/~haata. Since you mentioned Zealios there's separate graphs for different weights (67g and 78g were very different from 62g and 65g but since R8 should have a sharper bump, according to Zeal).

Claraval23 · 21 Dec 2017, 17:10

Jipsu wrote: ↑Since you live in EU it might be wiser to order from Asia as postage from US is usually prohibitively high and gets multiplied by VAT and possibly customs. I'm currently expecting a tester package from KPrepublic (four singles of each interesting switch to get closer to a typing feel).

There are some local options too. https://opticboards.com/ sells Gaterons, some new Kailh and Aristotles if you want to make clicky Gatistotles. https://www.mechbox.co.uk/ has a wide variety of switches including Zealio. https://www.candykeys.com/ has Cherry Speed, Gateron and Kailh. http://www.keyboardco.com/ sells singles of Matias Alps-like switches.

Oh yes, and do check out https://input.club/the-comparative-guid ... -switches/ for some standardised test results, comparing the force curves gives a decent overview of your options.

Thank you. You are da real MVP.

I couldn't find any of those places... and the mechbox one seems really interesting. And the test result page is awesome! I think I got everything I need to make a choice now. Thanks!