Ortek MCK-142Pro review (Alps SKCM White)

[Chyros]

Today we finally review the Ortek battlecruiser! Hope you enjoy the video .

[just_add_coffee]

As always, great review!

I wonder if there is an alternative controller that would make programming it easier and also allow it to work properly with Mac. Xwhatsit has a 128-key max. Anyone know of something larger and just as easy to use?

[Chyros]

As always, great review!

I wonder if there is an alternative controller that would make programming it easier and also allow it to work properly with Mac. Xwhatsit has a 128-key max. Anyone know of something larger and just as easy to use?

I really have NO idea what's causing the Mac problem. It's super weird! To be honest, if you know how to actually program it, it's fine, but the fact that the output just messes up on Mac OS is a bit harder to get around.

[Sangdrax]

I really like these workhorse board reviews. So many boards after 1985 are kind of a beige haze to me and you really highlight the more interesting beasts that still popped up in that time.

[haanuman]

+1 Enjoyed the video!

[Elrick]

Thanks for another inspiring review featuring this "BIG-ASS Mother F#cker" keyboard.

Nice to see you finally speaking my language at last, keep it up brotha .

[zslane]

I don't normally like the sound of switches bottoming out, which is why I use Topre-based boards almost exclusively. However, the sound of those linearized Alps switches is actually kind of nice! It is what I always wanted from MX reds but never got from any of the contemporary boards I bought. I realize that a lot of that is due to the board construction and not the switch per se, but the end result is the same: high-pitched bottom out noise that I don't care for.

If only modern keyboards were built like the battleships of old!

[Muirium]

Ever tried MX silent switches, Zslane? I’m not as bothered by linear MX sounds as you, but I am investigating a super quiet board that can actually take my MX caps. Something as quiet as my HHKB Type-S and Bluetooth too. Even if I have to build it myself, which apparently I now can. Maybe. It depends on those switches in reality.

[zslane]

I have tried the MX silent reds in a number of boards, and while they were indeed much quieter in terms of bottom out and upstroke noise, the slider friction instead became much more apparent, and that made the keyboard sound bad in a different way. It also had the psychological effect of making it seem like I could feel the slider movement more (because I could hear it, I guess), which made them seem scratchier even if they really weren't any scratchier than a regular MX red.

I've heard that Gateron switches have smoother sliders than Cherry switches, but I've yet to encounter a keyboard with Gateron silent reds as a purchase option.

[Muirium]

Well, silent Gateron blacks and reds are also an option…

https://kbd.fans/products/fully-assembl ... 9286132794

[zslane]

That might be worth a try next time I'm in need of a 60%er.

[Elrick]

Well, silent Gateron blacks and reds are also an option…

https://kbd.fans/products/fully-assembl ... 9286132794

Will this PCB with switches fit inside any normal Poker style case?

[Muirium]

Sure looks like it does to me. Follow the cases link on that page and you’ll see a whole bunch of them. Poker compatibility as a basic standard is one of the nice things about Sixties in general. Even my blue Alps 64 lives in a (fancy aluminium) Poker case.

By the way, seeing that question of yours in the forum spy, underneath this thread’s title gave me a real chuckle! I believe that may be a slightly different answer.

[Elrick]

Sure looks like it does to me.

By the way, seeing that question of yours in the forum spy, underneath this thread’s title gave me a real chuckle!

Hey, I'm only asking on behalf of my second oldest who happens to have a decent Aluminium Case for Poker keyboards but no decent PCB with switches he'll like.

For myself, I would rather drown in sewage than personally own and type with any 60% keyboard. It's the idiot youngster's who seem addicted to this nasty remote sized keyboard .