Man, this turned out to be WAY more work than I thought it would be xD .
Today we look at one of Tai-Hao's new Alps-mount keycap sets! Choices for Alps keycaps are quite limited, so these new (and expanded) sets are a very interesting new arrival! Hope you enjoy the video!
New Tai-Hao Cubic Alps-mount keycaps review
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SK-8K
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: Dell QuietKey SK-8000 with Zorro Blue
- Main mouse: Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500
- Favorite switch: Everything except MX Brown
You can use a Matias stab kit to get the 6.25u spacebars working by using the Costar wire and filing down the inserts so they don't bottom out on the plate. The Alps clips hold onto the wire a bit tight but you can heat up the wire with a soldering iron briefly to reform them to the right size.
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Elrick
- Location: Swan View, AUSTRALIA
- Main keyboard: Alps - As much as Possible.
- Main mouse: MX518
- Favorite switch: Navy Switch, ALPs, Model-M
- DT Pro Member: -
Can't believe that ALPs is still around during 2022.
It's something that never dies here on this Forum. Good to see a Chinese firm is supplying ever more key-caps because you can never have too many key-caps, under your roof.
Far cheaper than having actual Keyboards these days, just wish they would supply an all Dolch coloured set, that alone would have me reach for my Visa instantly, without fail.
Nice review and high-light for Tai-Hao.
It's something that never dies here on this Forum. Good to see a Chinese firm is supplying ever more key-caps because you can never have too many key-caps, under your roof.
Far cheaper than having actual Keyboards these days, just wish they would supply an all Dolch coloured set, that alone would have me reach for my Visa instantly, without fail.
Nice review and high-light for Tai-Hao.
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hellothere
- Location: Mesa, AZ USA
- Main keyboard: Lots
- Main mouse: CST2545W-RC
- Favorite switch: TopreAlpsHallEffectTopreAlpsHallEffectTopreAlps
I've bought a couple of the differently-colored sets, like the Miami and the Tomcat. I think they look as good in person as they do on the website. Tai-Hao is also awesome to buy from because they've always included a little extra stuff in each of my orders.
Good review. I'd like to know a bit about how they feel, in comparison to their older sets. I've recently tried SA and XDA. Really like the former. Don't really like the latter.
Tai-Hao also sells multi-color blank 1.25U key caps ($6 for 2), black L-shaped BAE key caps ($3.16), and black stepped Caps Lock ($3.16) keys separately. I also think they're still doing their 10% off sale.
Good review. I'd like to know a bit about how they feel, in comparison to their older sets. I've recently tried SA and XDA. Really like the former. Don't really like the latter.
Tai-Hao also sells multi-color blank 1.25U key caps ($6 for 2), black L-shaped BAE key caps ($3.16), and black stepped Caps Lock ($3.16) keys separately. I also think they're still doing their 10% off sale.
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SK-8K
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: Dell QuietKey SK-8000 with Zorro Blue
- Main mouse: Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500
- Favorite switch: Everything except MX Brown
Alternatively I found this:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3922644
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3922644
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Hak Foo
- Location: US
- Main keyboard: Omnikey 102 Blackheart
- Main mouse: Kensington Expert Mouse
- Favorite switch: White Alps
- DT Pro Member: 0174
I just got a set in.
My four cents (due to inflation):
I like the diversity of stuff in the box. It feels like I'd have to go out of my way to come up with something it doesn't support in a US layout, even though it's not quite as vast as, say, the Akko 170+ key sets. There's not much for internationalization, but they covered all the important modifier options, including the rare-for-ALPS-but-crucial-for-me straight-ANSI enter and backslash and stepped caps lock.
The value for money is reasonable. There are some slightly better values in the MX ecosystem-- some of the offbrand "not quite SA" profiles off of eBay or AliExpress deliver a similar or larger amount of keycap coverage for $10 less or so, but I suspect the economies of scale for an ALPS product are far, far lower. The shipping price feels a bit high, coming from spoiled-American "everything-over-a-token-amount-ships-free" perspectives, but they got them in my hands within like four days of ordering, which even domestic vendors can barely manage half the time (ask me how many times my backordered 39SF010 flash-ROM chips have been delayed
)
The texture is nice. It's a much finer grain than many vintage caps, so there's still some grip to the keys, but it doesn't *look* bumpy like some caps to. It will be interesting to see how it wears. At first touch, it feels more "dry" and PBT-like than some ABS caps I've used.
The sharper profile evokes a feeling of streamlining while still feeling somewhat vintage-- like what someone would draw in 1985 if asked to sketch out what they thought the "IBM AT/486 in 1993" will look like. I have a photo to show the colour and profile difference.
The vintage colours look *appropriate, but this tends to be subjective. I've had, for example, a variety of different Focus boards over the years. Their beige tends to err more on the "reddish" side and these are a bit more "bluish", but I suspect once you subtract 20 years of sun-bleaching and yellowing, they may be a lot closer. It's a definite improvement over the Olivetti colour wave they sold a while back, which always had this weird "bloom" that made the caps look almost dyesub.
(The top row is the rare "Row 0" function keys from a Focus FK-9000, and the bottom are the new Tai-Haos)
I wish the contrast were a bit better, but I think I'm in a very dim room too.
The thing I'm most annoyed about is the typography. By most standards, Tai-Hao does clean, legible, and technically excellent typography. You can see how close the lettering is on the old Focus caps and the new Cubics. It doesn't look like they chose a font based on "it's easy to make double-shot moulds for it" like some vendors clearly did. This is probably what makes the fact the "Win" and "Menu" keys look so out of place-- they used a font a couple points bigger, and it's immediately noticeable. I liked the icons on the classic-profile sets better.
Part of me wishes there were more options in the ALPS space-- I'd be quite happy to throw on some sphericals-- but on the other hand, if this is what's available, it's still a sane and reliable choice, and avoids too much of a money-burning rabbit hole.
I hope to be finished with my 130% ALPS build in a week or so-- new top plate is on the way from the laser cutter, so paint and final fitment of it is all that's needed. I'm thinking I might go for a beige colour to go with the caps.
My four cents (due to inflation):
I like the diversity of stuff in the box. It feels like I'd have to go out of my way to come up with something it doesn't support in a US layout, even though it's not quite as vast as, say, the Akko 170+ key sets. There's not much for internationalization, but they covered all the important modifier options, including the rare-for-ALPS-but-crucial-for-me straight-ANSI enter and backslash and stepped caps lock.
The value for money is reasonable. There are some slightly better values in the MX ecosystem-- some of the offbrand "not quite SA" profiles off of eBay or AliExpress deliver a similar or larger amount of keycap coverage for $10 less or so, but I suspect the economies of scale for an ALPS product are far, far lower. The shipping price feels a bit high, coming from spoiled-American "everything-over-a-token-amount-ships-free" perspectives, but they got them in my hands within like four days of ordering, which even domestic vendors can barely manage half the time (ask me how many times my backordered 39SF010 flash-ROM chips have been delayed
)The texture is nice. It's a much finer grain than many vintage caps, so there's still some grip to the keys, but it doesn't *look* bumpy like some caps to. It will be interesting to see how it wears. At first touch, it feels more "dry" and PBT-like than some ABS caps I've used.
The sharper profile evokes a feeling of streamlining while still feeling somewhat vintage-- like what someone would draw in 1985 if asked to sketch out what they thought the "IBM AT/486 in 1993" will look like. I have a photo to show the colour and profile difference.
The vintage colours look *appropriate, but this tends to be subjective. I've had, for example, a variety of different Focus boards over the years. Their beige tends to err more on the "reddish" side and these are a bit more "bluish", but I suspect once you subtract 20 years of sun-bleaching and yellowing, they may be a lot closer. It's a definite improvement over the Olivetti colour wave they sold a while back, which always had this weird "bloom" that made the caps look almost dyesub.
- IMG_20221026_215639.jpg (542.34 KiB) Viewed 7496 times
I wish the contrast were a bit better, but I think I'm in a very dim room too.
The thing I'm most annoyed about is the typography. By most standards, Tai-Hao does clean, legible, and technically excellent typography. You can see how close the lettering is on the old Focus caps and the new Cubics. It doesn't look like they chose a font based on "it's easy to make double-shot moulds for it" like some vendors clearly did. This is probably what makes the fact the "Win" and "Menu" keys look so out of place-- they used a font a couple points bigger, and it's immediately noticeable. I liked the icons on the classic-profile sets better.
Part of me wishes there were more options in the ALPS space-- I'd be quite happy to throw on some sphericals-- but on the other hand, if this is what's available, it's still a sane and reliable choice, and avoids too much of a money-burning rabbit hole.
I hope to be finished with my 130% ALPS build in a week or so-- new top plate is on the way from the laser cutter, so paint and final fitment of it is all that's needed. I'm thinking I might go for a beige colour to go with the caps.