deskthority

I'll tear these down and chat about them a bit once they roll in. All of the images are from eBay listings. Better quality photos will be posted later.

Texas Instruments 2229155-0001, Green Alps

The DSI and SIIG rolled in today.

DSI DCK-101B, MX Blue The DSI DCK-101B is a solid board. It isn't interesting enough to merit more than a top down view, though. Both backplates are metal, which surprised me. Even the blank keys have switches underneath them. It's very easy to swap the boards' locations in the case, as a typist/gamer will need the 75% ish layout on the bottom. The pad printed caps aren't nearly as chintzy as similar models.

I recommend buying one on fleabay if you haven't tried MX Blues.

SIIG KB1937, Blue SMK/Monterey Alps The lasering on the caps is nicer than expected, and the font is good. The case is creaky and weak like one would expect from a Monterey Blue board, but the Windows keys are a nice touch. It solidified my opinion about two of the favored switches online: Blue Alps > SMK Alps. The board was very clean, but the switches still feel balky compared to the real thing.

Hmmm, another winkey board with SMKs in it. I thought the 5981 was the only one. Then again, it looks so much like a 5981 that it might as well be one xD .

Agreed. It should probably go on the wiki... And I should remove the "possibly the only winkeyed SMK Alps keyboard" statement from the 5981 page.