Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA blast from the past; and worth every penny.
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2018
Before I start, I want to say that I prefer not to have any curvature to the keys when I'm typing. This has it.
Also, like modern amenities such as volume controls and internal lighting for keyboards --which this keyboard doesn't have.
I really thought about going for a more modern keyboard for those reasons.
After doing a great deal of research and after talking with people who've had Cherry green keys (the kind I was thinking about getting), I quickly found that the lifespan of the keyboard for someone who types as much as I do on a daily basis would be far insufficient for the cost.
I was recommended to try this model of keyboard by someone who'd had it for years and had had no issues with it in that time frame.
(He's a programmer and abuses it daily --which says a great deal about the quality.)
I was told that it was just like the keyboards I used to use 20+ years ago that worked so well.
This has proved to be the case --and I couldn't be more elated about it.
After giving myself a week of typing on this keyboard to get used to it, I know that I've made the correct choice. The keys snap back immediately and require enough pressure to actuate that it is actually improving my typing. I don't find myself accidentally triggering inputs that I didn't intend to cause.
There was actually a time when I was really accurate in my typing and during which I rarely used the backspace; I had chalked it up to the development of carpel tunnel. In hindsight, it was just that the cheap keyboards that I've been using for the last decade have had noticeably detrimental effects on my typing.
I have to say that despite the curvature and lack of modern shortcut buttons, it has been worth those hurdles and more.
As an aside, a return to a long-proven design has other benefits that seem to be ignored in most of the modern and cheap keyboards.
For example, most of the keyboards I've owned recently have had all of the F-Keys grouped together which causes a great deal of inaccuracy when trying to press the correct one with muscle memory.
One that I owned recently replaced scroll lock with "win lock" which disables the start menu button. (This meant that I essentially lost a perfectly good key --one that I'd often set for muting myself or for push-to-talk on various programs such as Skype and Discord.)
Also, before I forget to mention it, this keyboard is very heavy. This is a plus, because it doesn't get pushed around my desk as I type as some of the cheaper keyboards have done. This is just another thing that helps me type more consistently.
There are two other things that I'd like to mention.
Firstly, the customer service for this company is admirable. They were sending me messages from the minute this keyboard shipped and ready to answer any questions and help in any way they could from the get go. I actually received an email from them asking if I had received the package slightly before it arrived at my house asking if it was in working order.
I was a bit panicked and flustered, at first, when I saw that some of the keys were lose/detached. This is apparently normal as stated in the instructions that come with it. They can be affixed "insanely" easy. If you've ever had to take keys out of a keyboard and put them back in for cleaning, you'll know what a hassle that usually is. The key caps on this can be removed with little to no effort; and, somehow, they don't feel loose when typing. It's the perfect balance.
Finally, I will say that one actual minor problem that I've experienced is that I have a few key caps whose surfaces are slightly uneven (warped).
The only key that this is really detrimental on is the right shift key. I'm corresponding with someone slowly (my fault for my lack of time recently) to get a new shift key cap sent my way, perhaps. It's not horribly impairing the function of the keyboard though; this has been my primary keyboard since I received it.
tl;dr:
A couple of slightly warped key caps; No modern perks; but great response; great lifespan (from testimonials of people I know who referred me to this); grouped f-keys; good weight; no thoughtlessly repurposed keys. 5/5 would (and probably will) buy again.
PS: If there's ever a model of this keyboard that is flat, has volume controls, and has internal lighting, send me an email and I'll be the first to buy it --maybe two of them.