Oh dear, I'm very far down this particular rabbit hole.

Currently I'm typing on a Focus SK-5001, with white Alps SKCM switches. It's big (battlecruiser-ish layout with extra F-keys on the left, 8 arrow keys and a fully functional calculator built into the num pad, although for me it only works when the PC is turned off... It was NOS and I'm happy to report I've at last found an Alps-based board that I actually like to use.

It also has LEDs in the lock switches, which I really, really like:

I have SGI Granite, Dell Bigfoot and Apple Extended Keyboard II and a NOS OEM version of the Focus FK-2001, but all have bad key binding problems (lots of friction when typing, only feeling decent when pressed perfectly centrally). The used ones probably have dirty switches, a common and very fiddly to fix Alps problem, but the FK-2001 was a disappointment. I was happy to type on a NOS Matias Tactile Pro 3 with Matias Alps-derived switches, which typed gloriously but due to the hollow polycarbonate housing was the single loudest keyboard I have ever used. I like clicks, but this was deafening and unusable for work, even work from home due to it drowning out everything else 😜

Then there's IBM. I learnt to type on a Model M Enhanced Keyboard on my parents' PS/2 in the late 1980s. Still have a gen 2 Model M, also some gen 3 and at work I have the silent touch version, which is a (surprisingly good) rubber dome board inside a Model M housing. I also have the F 122 'battleship', which I consider the finest engineered keyboard I own. I also have a modern 88-key TKL board with F switches/keycaps. It's good, but not as great as the old one and I miss my numpad. Finally I have an M2 which of course has dead caps. I want to fix it because despite it being considered cheaper and worse than regular M, I like the feel of the keys.

Inevitably I have a pile of Cherry-based boards, some pretty generic blue and brown based ones, then a huge Deko Fast Action board with Cherry Blacks and a nice little display. This is my main board at work, if mainly for show, as I prefer tactile to linear switches. For all that extra stuff it needed a separate power supply, which I hacked off USB:

I also have some more modern ones; for years a Leopold with Cherry Browns was my daily driver until the (ABS) keycaps literally started eroding. I have some really cheap AliExpress boards, some of which are actually quite decent (particularly after fitting custom switches - another rabbit hole 😉 ); my sons mainly use those. I have a Ducky Shine kit very similar to that Filco board of yours I intend to complete with Outemu Forest Silent switches one day when I have time.

Aside from the big three, I have various oddities, like a Fujitsu board with its M-like but utterly awful switches, some BTC foam & foil monstrosities, the keyboard from an Osborn One that I wrote my own (not particularly good) controller for as an exercise in Arduino programming. Oh, and a Creative keyboard with a tiny (and crap) musical keyboard attached.

Rabbit hole indeed 😉

Nice recommendation. I'm always interested in hearing about modern mechanical keyboards with PS/2 compatibility - I'm in a similar boat in that I wanted to have one for my retro rigs. I now have three (see picture below) :

• Leopold FC990r (Cherry MX Speed silvers)
• Leopold FC750 (Cherry MX silent reds)
• Cherry G80-3000 (Cherry MX Blues)

I got the FC750r first, before I started building retro PCs. In retrospect the silent reds aren't to my taste -I prefer the heavier black switches, which I have on another keyboard.

I got the Fc900r a while ago for my retro rigs as I knew it was high quality based on the FC750r, and of course it has the right aesthetic. The speed silvers are... different... but actually better than I expected. You just have to be careful when your let your fingers hover over the keys. Main reason for getting those switches was supply was low and it was cheaper returned stock.

I highly recommend these Leopold models (though not looking forward to the key caps disintegrating!) I really like their construction and feel, they just have a great look to them. Unfortunately it looks like Leopold have moved away from making PS/2 compatible keyboards and towards USB and Bluetooth ones.

I got the G80 because like you I wanted an all black keyboard, but I also wanted an obnoxious clicky keyboard. It literally came in the mail today, so I'm yet to fully put it through its paces. As someone who prefers linear switches I'm surprised at how much I like the blue switches. The rest of the family don't though...

On top of those I have a bluetooth keychron (not for retro PCs) and a USB-only Unicomp Mini-M which I also love (I too learned to type on a Model M connected to a PS/2!). On the wish list is a Dell AT101 as I really want to try ALPS switches, but they seem to go for ridiculous money and the shipping is always an extra burden where I live. One day I'll treat myself.

Looking forward to noting down some other keyboards to hunt down.

dionb wrote on 2024-05-07, 09:11:

Oh dear, I'm very far down this particular rabbit hole.

And what a story!

I think I never saw a keyboard with Alps switches, I understand they are in high regard!
The LED on the CAPS lock reminds me of my Amiga... it's actually here by my side as I write this. Those were cost-effective keyboards that still work ($40 in a new membrane and you get many more years out of them working just fine)

dionb wrote on 2024-05-07, 09:11:

I like clicks, but this was deafening and unusable for work, even work from home due to it drowning out everything else 😜

I cannot even use blue cherry switches, it's too much for me. Brown switches for the win!
That Deko looks amazing(ly big)! 😁

dionb wrote on 2024-05-07, 09:11:

Rabbit hole indeed 😉

And I thought I had way too many keyboards...

Martli wrote on 2024-05-07, 09:45:

I now have three (see picture below) : […]
Show full quote

I now have three (see picture below) :

• Leopold FC990r (Cherry MX Speed silvers)
• Leopold FC750 (Cherry MX silent reds)
• Cherry G80-3000 (Cherry MX Blues)

Are those still being made? Or do we need to find them on eBay and places like that?

Martli wrote on 2024-05-07, 09:45:

I highly recommend these Leopold models (though not looking forward to the key caps disintegrating!)

Interesting, is it a common problem these days? I do not recall having any keycap disintegrating issues with any of my keyboards, and I had a few!
I guess that's why Filco advertise their keycaps as double-shot: "Double shot keycaps are made in two shots of plastic. Thanks to these double molded structure, legends would never wear out."

Martli wrote on 2024-05-07, 09:45:

As someone who prefers linear switches I'm surprised at how much I like the blue switches. The rest of the family don't though...

Sounds familiar, pun intended. Boo to the linear switches though 😜

Martli wrote on 2024-05-07, 09:45:

...the shipping is always an extra burden where I live. One day I'll treat myself.

I know the feeling, sometimes the shipping cost is the same or even more than the item I'm buying, it hurts...

kahuna wrote on 2024-05-08, 05:18:

[...]
Interesting, is it a common problem these days? I do not recall having any keycap disintegrating issues with any of my keyboards, and I had a few!
I guess that's why Filco advertise their keycaps as double-shot: "Double shot keycaps are made in two shots of plastic. Thanks to these double molded structure, legends would never wear out."

The problem wasn't legends wearing out, it was the whole top of the keycaps eroding to a smooth, slippery shine.

It's a matter of materials vs moist and slightly acidic finger sweat. This Leopold keyboard (FC500R) came with ABS caps. They are slightly cheaper to make and can be made thicker or longer without deforming, but are less durable than the main alternative, PBT. After a decade or more of constant use, ABS keycaps will tend to get shiny and slippery. Another difference between ABS and PBT is vulnerability to yellowing. ABS yellows a lot more and a lot faster than PBT. You can see this in a striking way on keyboards where most caps are PBT but (due to size and complexity of moulding) the space bar is ABS. Generally the PBT caps will be nearly the same colour as when new, but the space bar can be bright yellow. You can see that on the Deko Fast Action I posted above - most keys pearly white but space bar a beige yellow.

[...]

I know the feeling, sometimes the shipping cost is the same or even more than the item I'm buying, it hurts...

Keyboards are the one thing I rarely buy online and if I do it's generally locally. Somehow people seem to keep keyboards much longer than the computers they were used with and they end up in thrift shops all over the place. Sometimes they never even use them. This FK-5001 I'm typing on was originally bought at a shop 500m from where I lived a little over 30 years ago and apparently kept in a cupboard in an office for almost all that time. The box was battered to the point of disintegration but everything inside was as new. Online prices can be very inflated and you're just buying something someone else dragged out of a dumpster or thrift shop too. I like cutting out the middle man 😉

dionb wrote on 2024-05-08, 09:06:

The problem wasn't legends wearing out, it was the whole top of the keycaps eroding to a smooth, slippery shine. [...]

Interesting, thanks for the lesson!
Perhaps I never had those keyboards long enough to notice, or I didn't care, or a combination of both 😁

dionb wrote on 2024-05-08, 09:06:

[...] Online prices can be very inflated and you're just buying something someone else dragged out of a dumpster or thrift shop too. I like cutting out the middle man 😉

Yeah, I wish! I have tried thrift shops several times. I have been lucky some times, there are good finds for sure. However, on the peripheral side of things everything I saw was filthy and even in bad shape... 🙁

kahuna wrote on 2024-05-08, 19:39:

[...]

Yeah, I wish! I have tried thrift shops several times. I have been lucky some times, there are good finds for sure. However, on the peripheral side of things everything I saw was filthy and even in bad shape... 🙁

Filthy is pretty easy to fix - you'll want to clean pretty much anything you get that isn't NOS anyway. Basically pop off all the keycaps (*after* taking a photograph if the layout is in any way unusual) and bundle into a pillow case. Tie a firm knot and chuck it in the washing machine. Then disassemble the keyboard. Rub down the upper plastic bits to get the worst gunk off, then put it in the dishwasher. You can do it with the bottom bit too, but that risks any stickers that may be on there. Generally that's not so dirty either, so instead you can just rub it with meths to clean & disinfect. The insides need dust removing, either by blowing or sucking. What works best and how careful you need to be depends on the switches. Buckling springs tend to jump all over the place, whereas Cherry MX switches are sealed and self contained, and rubber domes tend to just be a rubber mat over a conductive membrane (except where keyboards have separate rubber bits for every key - whoever thought of that should be sentenced to cleaning a few). When the dishwasher and laundry has dried out, re-assemble the board and put the keycaps back on. If all is well you will have a nice clean board. If not, you're ready for whatever repair is called for.

My favourite keyboard for about 15 years was a Sun Microsystems Type-6 USB. I loved it - long travel membrane keys.

I have been through a few cheap membrane keyboards since it died and none of them last.

I recently moved to a cherry g80-3000 3/4 size mechanical keyboard with quiet red switches.

I have never been a mechanical keyboard diehard, I used IBM mechanical keyboards on ps/2 machines at college and they never really gelled with me, but I quite like this little keyboard, and the keys are relatively low resistance.

dionb wrote on 2024-05-08, 21:41:

Filthy is pretty easy to fix - you'll want to clean pretty much anything you get that isn't NOS anyway [...]

Precisely, that's why I want NOS, I'm lazy 😁
I only take the time if it's something that cannot be so easily replaced, i.e., Amiga keyboards. See below 😎

megatron-uk wrote on 2024-05-08, 22:20:

[...] I have never been a mechanical keyboard diehard, I used IBM mechanical keyboards on ps/2 machines at college and they never really gelled with me, but I quite like this little keyboard, and the keys are relatively low resistance.

If you like linear switches, probably the sound and feeling of a mechanical is definitely not of your liking.

Interesting, I didn't see that Cherry G80 on Amazon, and it was probably there the whole time! Anyway it isn't cheap either!

I have three mechanical keybards, two with brown switches (my preferred ones by far); another small one for the MiSTer with blue switches (Black Friday sale...); my wife always makes funny of me for using any of them because she says it seems I'm using a typewriter or something, nonsense! 😜

Keyboard wise, I just picked whatever I could find (that meant crappy rubber dome 'boards that varied in mushyness), until I lucked out on a BNIB Dell AT102W.. One of those "Alps Bigfoot" keyboards with those SKCM Black switches (which honestly aren't too bad, I like the "detent" that they have when you're nearly bottoming the keys out)

So far, nothing too unusual, the only issue though is that I wanted to try something else for a change..

On paper, this sounds easy, only there's one major problem: I am absolutely hardwired (lol) for AZERTY keyboards. Otherwise I just keep bungling up keys (I had a Panasonic ToughBook with a QWERTY keyboard... That was... painful to use).

Anyways, couple of nice options in this thread... I took a look at the Filco boards, nope, none has an AZERTY option, yet they have some UK ISO ones, maybe with some stickers (on a Filco Ninja board?)? That solution doesn't sit well with me but bleh.

Other contender that I saw was the Cherry G80-3000... I'd love one with the black case and blue switches.. But alas... Cherry apparently only makes AZERTY G80-3ks in beige (I can live with this)... with linear MX switches...

I'm still looking at other options, sometimes I question why my country of all places decided to go with a different keyboard layout.. But it is what it is.

I thought of initially getting a black case ISO layout G80-3k (I've seen a couple of QWERTZ ones on fleabay) and having custom AZERTY keycaps made, looks like it's another rabbit hole waiting for someone to fall down.