Monday 30 December 2013

Revisiting the Leopold FC660M


So I got bored and decided to play with my other keyboards which I have been neglecting. One of them is the Leopold FC660M. Those who followed my blog will know that I am not exactly too enamoured by the Cherry MX Clears on the Leopold FC660M. I love their tactility but not their stiffness. As I also have a Cherry MX Blues Armageddon Stealth Raptor, I decided to play with the keycaps by swapping them around. Based on my experience with swapping keycaps on my Topre keyboards, I know that the keycaps plays a part in the feel of the keyboard. I figured I have nothing to lose. I was bored after all hehe.

The result is what you see above. Not perfect and not all the keycaps are an exact match. What I did not expect however, was an improvement made on BOTH keyboards after I had finished switching the keycaps. If you remember, one of my complaint of the Leopold is that the keys are hard to see with the gold-lettering on the white background. They are also stiff on entry and very stiff when bottoming out. The ABS keycaps of the Armageddon are not exactly that much better legibility-wise but it is an improvement. The biggest improvement however, is in its feel. I was caught by surprise how great these feels on the Leopold. The Armageddon keycaps are lighter (more flimsy actually) and also a bit taller than the original keycaps. In one stroke, it solves the problem of the stiffness and fatigue on your fingers. I mean the stroke is still stiff but not as stiff as before. It actually changes the character of the keystroke quite a bit. These are lighter on entry and because it is taller, the stiffness on bottoming out is also much lessened. Is it perfect? No but I sure as hell can live with it. Now even typing is a pleasure. Also because it is taller, the tactility is even more pronounced which is a real delight. I think ABS keys have been given an undeserved reputation. Maybe the lettering quality may not be as good but in terms of feel it is not necessarily worse than a PBT.

I really enjoy typing on the Leopold FC660M now. Initially I was thinking of using soft landing pads or o-rings to solve the stiffness problem. I was also thinking of lubing the stem to further smoothen the entry when typing. I may still do them but as it is now, these are really great to type on. At times I even enjoy typing on them more than the Topre. Never thought I'd say that.

P.S. I forgot to say something about the swapped keycaps on the Armageddon. The Leopold keycaps actually improved the feel of the Armageddon. Where previously the typing experience can be a bit wobbly, the new keycaps tighten up the experience. If anything, the keys are even more clicky than before making it quite enjoyable to type on. I still prefer the Cherry MX Clears though.


Thursday 26 December 2013

The Holy Grail (or is it?)


Yep. It finally arrived.


Initial impressions. Very light keyboard. Key feel is typical Topre. Better than the Realforce 86U. It's definitely more "thocky". Is it more "thocky" than the Leopold FC660C? I'm not too sure about that. It's a different kind of "thock". I still prefer the "thock" of the Leopold. It's more crisp and the "thock" is deeper. The HHKB Pro 2 keycaps are also slightly lighter than the Leopold which offers a bit more resistance which I like. When typing fast, the "thock" on the HHKB Pro 2 is very pleasurable and I can see why people get addicted to it. Still preliminary impressions though.


I've configured the DELETE key to be BACKSPACE by flipping on the SW3 DIP switch and changed some keycaps to highlight the location of the cursor keys. The current keyboard arrangement is throwing me off a lot and I think it will take some time before I get used to it.

Did it meet my expectations? Not really. I mean, it did not disappoint me but it does not feel like what I thought it would feel like either. I guess I just have to give it more time.

More impressions later.

UPDATE 1 : I'm slowly but surely adapting to the keyboard. My typing speed has increased by at least 10 wpm and I'm slowly familiarising myself with the new layout. I've actually taken out the orange keycaps to wean myself off them. What I'm struggling with though, is the effort that I have to exert to hold the FN key to trigger my often used keys like the cursor keys, the PGUP / PGDN keys and the HOME / END keys. It's taking its toll on my fingers. In short, finding them is fine but to trigger them is becoming a problem.

I'm slowly getting a hang of the keyboard and I now find the typing experience to be at least equal to the Leopold FC660C. The HHKB might even be a bit superior. Overall I find the experience to be quite different. The HHKB has a very nice "thock" and less of the "thunk" that the Leopold has. The keycap quality is also excellent with big letterings on a beige background. All the keys are fine except maybe for the DELETE key which I've made into my BACKSPACE. That one has a bit of a "ping" on the upstroke which I'm not particularly thrilled with.

My biggest bugbear is still the layout and although it is a lot better now, I keep getting tripped by the location of the BACKSPACE key which is a row lower than what I'm used to and the CTRL key which is now 2 rows above where it used to be. I'm ok with the location of the cursor keys even though it was my biggest worry initially. I also keep forgetting to press the FN key in order to trigger the DEL key.

I hope I can adapt.

In short, the keyboard feels fine (if not fantastic) but the layout is driving me nuts. I can't help but wish the keyboard was a TenKeyLess. It would have been perfect.

UPDATE 2 : Is there a break-in period for keyboards? I don't know but the "thock" on the HHKB is becoming more and more prominent the more I type on it. Maybe it's all psychological but that "thock thock thock" is damn addictive. I just want to keep on typing. At times I feel it to be superior than the Leopold. I still type faster on the Leopold but I attribute that to my familiarity with its layout. The HHKB still trips me up at times.

Both the Leopold and HHKB are a pleasure to type on and you can't go wrong with either. Depending on my mood, my preference will swing from one to the other. Overall I still have to give the edge to the Leopold due to its more conventional layout.

One thing I noticed, the more I type on the HHKB, the worst I become when I go back to my other keyboards. My fingers seem to remember the position of the BACKSPACE and other keys on the HHKB. Takes me awhile to get myself acclimatised back to the other keyboards.


Thursday 19 December 2013

Realforce 86U Keyboard Modification

I've been trying to put a few of my keyboards up for sale. I've not been successful. Nope. None at all. Only got 1 query and after that nothing. Nada. Zilch. This is quite depressing. I know where I'm from, not many people are into keyboards. But what I'm experiencing is pretty bad. I do stuff like these all the time. I would buy and sell stuff to try them out. Usually I will be out of a little bit of money. I take that loss as some sort of rental for me to try out the product. This is expected. On very rare occasions, I can even make a little bit of profit. On the whole though, I have no problems selling. Unfortunately I can't do that with keyboards. This is turning out to be a really expensive hobby (if I can't get rid of them). Looks like that HHKB keyboard I recently ordered will be the last one for awhile.

One of the keyboards I've been trying to sell is the Realforce 86U. If I can't sell this, I'm very tempted to modify it into the silent version. Although with modification, I know its resale value will plummet even further. It may not even turn out as I expected. But you'll never know if you never try.

I intend to get some soft landing pads to modify the keycaps on the upstroke. The modification does not look to be very difficult and there is no soldering involved which is great because I sucked at it. Actually I've never done any soldering in my life! Lol. The modification will just be a bit tedious as it involves removing the bottom plate and the individual keys to insert the pad. We'll see how it goes.

Wish me luck!


Monday 16 December 2013

Dilemma

I've been playing with all my keyboards these past few days, putting them through their paces. I really really like the Leopold FC660C. It is a very nice compromise between a tenkeyless and the small form factor. I've gotten used to the size and it no longer feels cramped. The keyboard is more or less perfect except for 2 things. The redundant INSERT key and the poor gold laser-etched lettering of the keycaps. I don't think they can do anything for the INSERT key and to be honest, I can't think of anything to replace it with. They can of course do something about the keycaps. Something like the Topre produced dye-sublimated PBT keycaps. However I do worry that it will change the character and feel of the key. The current original keycaps are perfect except for that ugly laser-etched gold letterings. I did not realise how much keycaps play a part in changing the feel of the keyboard. I get to experience these first hand when swapping keycaps among the various compatible keyboards. I guess there is something to be said about manufacturers fine-tuning the keycaps to the keyboards.

Now to the dilemma.

I don't know if I should get the Happy Hacking Keyboard Pro 2 (or HHKB for short) as I am more than happy with the Leopold. I'm very tempted to get another one in either the same colour (I like black!) or one in another colour. Not that I'm afraid that the HHKB would be a disappointment but the character and key feel will be different from the Leopold and I'm afraid that it will not see much use. My plan is to settle down with 1 or 2 keyboards and sell the rest. Either get 2 Leopolds or 2 Leopolds and 1 Cherry MX for gaming.

But the HHKB Pro 2 is the "supposed" holy grail of keyboards and if I don't get it, I will always be left wondering. And being the OCD person that I am, it will tear me to pieces. It's very likely that I will get it anyway just to satisfy my curiosity. That is why I bought the Leopold FC660M with Cherry MX Clears on impulse. Just to satisfy my curiosity. Some people will say just get the HHKB and if you don't like it, it is easy to sell away. I don't know where they come from but where I'm from there isn't a big pool of people who are into keyboards. So chances are I will be stucked with them. That's not a good thing. Currently I'm trying to sell off 4 of them but have not gotten a single bite.

Oh what the hell, I'll just get it. I've been into worse and more expensive hobbies before. Keyboards in comparison seem to be very tame.

UPDATE 1 : The will is still strong. Manage to resist the urge to buy immediately. The absence of dedicated cursor keys in the usual inverted "T" layout is a real turn off. I realise I use them constantly. I tried to simulate the HHKB FN cursor keys combo with my current keyboard but it feels really awkward because I will automatically try to use my 3 middle fingers to press the cursor keys. It's just not possible.

We'll see how much longer I can hold out. Wish me luck!

UPDATE 2 : I've utterly failed. :(


Sunday 15 December 2013

Lego Colours

So the extra keycaps I ordered for the Leopold FC660M with the Cherry MX Clears have arrived. PBTs with laser-etched letterings. They looked quite nice. Not as nice as the PBTs with dye-sublimated letterings though. I've put them on as you can see in the pictures below. A friend commented it looks like Lego.


Possible keycaps.


What I eventually went with.

So what do you think? Too much? Or should I go for any other colour combination?


Saturday 14 December 2013

Topre Type Heaven 104


So I bought this today. The Topre Type Heaven 104. I'm typing this post with it now. Reason why I bought this? Well, those who followed my blog will remember that I bought some orange key caps which I've used in the Leopold FC660C. However I discovered that I much prefer the original keycaps of the Leopold. It has a more "thunkier" and softer feel which I'm simply in love with. As far as I'm concerned it has the nicest feeling Topre switch of them all. I can't help but type on them even when I have no reason to lol.

So now I'm left with a complete set of unused PBT dye sublimated orange keycaps. This is where the Topre Type Heaven comes into the picture. When I was using the orange keycaps on the Leopold, I fell in love with the orange keycaps on black chassis colour combination. I thought I would buy a cheaper Topre keyboard with a black chassis to use them on. Initially I thought of the black Realforce 87U but they are much too expensive. Although I prefer a Tenkeyless keyboard like the Realforce 87U, I thought it doesn't hurt to try out the less expensive Topre Type Heaven. I also get the chance to use all the orange keycaps since it comes in a full set.

Out of the box, I didn't really expect much from the Type Heaven, what with it coming with ABS keycaps and all the videos on YouTube showing it to be a lot more clackier and noisy than those which comes with PBTs like the Realforce, HHKB and Leopold. I guess I shouldn't be so biased. The Type Heaven really surprised me. The keys are noisier and clackier no doubt, but it is actually really really nice to type on. I think if this was my first Topre keyboard, I think I would have stopped there. It has that Topre feel, in fact it feels "Topre-ier" than the Realforce 86U. Maybe its because of the uniform 45g keys weighting? I don't know. All I know I love typing on them. I put this second to the Leopold typing experience.

This brings me to a dilemma. Should I change them to the PBTs? After much thought, I said, "The hell with it." I did buy it to use with the orange PBTs. And if I don't like it, I could always change back to the original keycaps.


So do you like it?

As for the feel, it is less clackier and noisy than the original keycaps. I never thought I'm going to say this but I actually prefer the clackier and noisier original keycaps. But these are not too bad themselves. Reminds me of the feel I got when I was using them on the Leopold. The original Leopold keycaps still feel the best. These comes a very close third. I put this just, oh so so slightly less than the original Type Heaven keycaps. I guess you can't really trust those YouTube videos. They cannot convey the feel when you are typing. Just the amount and type of noise that they make. Even then, they are not accurate. Some feel louder and some feel softer even when they are exactly the same keycaps and keyboard. All I can say is that the original keycaps are really not that loud. I would have no qualms using them in the office. Now that I've put the orange PBTs on them, they are even quieter (well maybe not as silent as those S-types) but seriously, you will have no problem with them in the office.

I'm going to make this my primary keyboard. They are really very nice to type on. I'm a happy camper.

Next stop. The Holy Grail of keyboards. You guys know which one I'm talking about hehe.

UPDATE 1 : I've changed back the keys to the original ABS keycaps. I don't know what they did but I can pretty much confirm I prefer the feel of the original keycaps. They are a bit more clackier but not by much. The clack also does not have a sort of "ping" that the orange keycaps can have when typing fast. The feel is also slightly heavier than the orange keycaps which can be a bit too light at times. It is also a bit more "thunkier" but not at the level of the Leopold which has an excellent level of "thunkiness" which I just adore.

UPDATE 2 : You know what? After typing with the default keycaps for awhile, the keys are actually not as clacky as I thought. In fact I now feel that it is actually less clacky than the orange keycaps although the orange keycaps sounds deeper yet do not feel as thunky as the originals. I don't know if that makes sense.


Thursday 12 December 2013

Something old becomes something new again

Those who have been following my blog knows that I have a notebook, a ThinkPad T530 which I have not used ever since I got the HP Chromebook 14. It happens today that I decided to boot it up and lo and behold, I was greeted by that famous ThinkPad keyboard quality. I have forgotten how good that keyboard was and how pathetic the HP keyboard is by comparison.

I am typing this post with it and I can tell you that it has been a great pleasure. I'm typing up to speed in no time. Wide spacing between keys. Big keycaps (for a notebook) and with backlight to boot! This is how a notebook keyboard should be. I dare say it can be at times even better than some of the external keyboards I've purchased recently. This easily beats the cheap rubber dome Microsoft keyboard that I was using previously before I got crazy with mechanical keyboards. And that Microsoft keyboard was a full-size keyboard to boot.


Further Impressions on the HP Chromebook 14

Time to give further impressions on the HP Chromebook 14, now that I have lived with it for a while.

I still hate the keyboard with a passion. I don't know why in other reviews they say the keyboard is good to quite passable. I find them very hard to type on with its shallow keys and non-tactility. I guess I've been spoiled by my Topre keyboards.

Display-wise I'm just OK with it. It's something that I can live with for the price.

Sound is also passable. It's relatively loud enough for me that I can do away with external speakers.

The touchpad is also tolerable. There are no multi-touch gestures but it is on the whole responsive and do not get in the way while I'm doing stuff.

Performance-wise I am more than happy with the HP. It does not slow me down at all with any tasks that I put it through, whether playing FHD videos on YouTube or editing documents or general web browsing.

Currently I have my Leopold FC660C keyboard attached to it to compensate for its poor keyboard. I have also attached a mouse to do the navigation onscreen. I still prefer the mouse over any touchpad. I do not miss the use of multi-touch gestures. I still find the mouse faster.

So that's it. I'll add on if I find anything new. Ask me any questions you may have and I'll try my best to answer them.

UPDATE 1 : Want to hear something funny? Now that I'm using the HP with an external keyboard and mouse, I'm actually wishing that the HP is a tablet instead of a notebook. I wish it had the retractable stand of the Microsoft Surface or Surface Pro so that I can prop it up while using the keyboard and mouse. I also find myself wanting a touchscreen on the display.

So why not just use an Android tablet? I do after all have a Nexus 10 with QuickOffice already installed and that is a lot more capable than what is provided by Google Drive. The thing is, I've tried attaching the Nexus 10 to a mouse and keyboard. But when you actually use it, you find that a lot of things that you are used to on the Chromebook are missing. The way you navigate the Nexus 10 is also very different and it straight away reminds you that it is really geared towards touch and gesture-based input. Chrome OS on the other hand basically invites you to use the keyboard and mouse. I can't put my finger on why that is. It just is. You are a lot more productive in Chrome OS.

The other issue is that Chrome OS comes with a fully functioning Chrome browser. Or rather IT IS the Chrome browser. Chrome on Android, on the other hand, is a lot more limited and you are restricted in many ways, on what you can actually do. Most websites also do not scale very well. It is fine for consumption but the minute you try to be productive, a lot of things fall apart. I guess this is the same problem that the iPad faces.


Thursday 5 December 2013

Leopold FC660M Cherry MX Clear


Just received this today from Qtan keyboards. I'm typing this post on it. Shipping only took 4 days which is very fast. Usually items shipped from China will generally take 2 weeks to more than a month when the shipping is free or cheap. The shipping for this is quite reasonable.

This was an impulse purchase. Before I got into Topre switches, I actually wanted to try the Cherry MX Clears after buying the Armageddon Cherry MX Blues. I almost bought the Browns instead of the Blues when buying the Armageddon. I liked the Browns a lot but felt that they were kinda shallow. More research points to the Clears being a deeper version of the Browns but with more tactility and equally as quiet.

I did not expect the Clears to be so stiff especially when bottoming out. Other Cherry MX switches gets quite hard when bottoming out but the Clears due to their stiffness towards the bottom makes it less likely for you to bottom out hard.

Initial impressions of the keyboard itself.

It has the exact same layout as the Leopold FC660C. Not as well built but generally still very very good. Somewhat lighter and it also comes with gold letterings but this time on white keycaps. I got this in white because the Leopold FC660C in black was hard to see with its gold lettering on black keycaps. I thought this would be easier to see but I find this even harder to see with the gold lettering on white keycaps. Damn.


A visual comparison of the Leopold FC660M and its cousin, Leopold FC660C.

Typing on individual keys gets an average feel and feedback. But once you start typing proper it's actually not too bad. I like the tactility and I prefer it over the Armageddon's Cherry MX Blues. I still have to get use to the stiffness. The Buckling Springs are not as stiff on entry as these are. My fingers are also more fatigued on these. Due to the stiffness I am having problems pressing the left shift key which I use my left pinky to trigger but due to the stiffness, I'm not pressing it hard enough which results in more mistakes being made.

I'm still quite conflicted on the Cherry MX Clears. I like the way it types but I'm making way too many mistakes primarily due to the hard to see keys and tripping on the left shift key. Its stiffness are also killing my fingers. I hope I get use to this fast.

Sigh.

I think I am meant more for Topre.

UPDATE 1 : I'm still adjusting to the keyboard. Typing is not too bad now. The stiffness is still there but I'm slowly but surely adjusting to it. Typing speed is much improved. The tactility is very very good. I just wish it is not so stiff on entry and on bottoming out. I think my fingers will be fingers of steel at the rate I'm going.

UPDATE 2 : I have found a way to type comfortably on this keyboard. The key thing is to type softly without bottoming out. Due to the stiffness towards the end, this is easily achieved. This will definitely take some getting use to. I'm so used to bottoming out especially when typing fast that I don't know whether I will be able to adjust. We'll see how it goes. One thing is for sure. This definitely makes for a very different typing experience. Very unlike the other Cherry MX keys that I've tried.


Friday 29 November 2013

More Bling! Bling!

Since I still had some additional orange keycaps, I decided to spice up the Realforce 86U. See which one you prefer. 

Also bought an extra red ESC key from some forumer in VR-Zone. Wanted to use it on the Leopold but didn't find it as nice. Decided to use it on the Realforce instead and it looks great.


My first attempt. This is as minimum as I wanted it to be.


My second attempt. Added to both the PAGEUP/PAGEDOWN keys. Nice.


My third attempt. This makes it too busy. Looks nice in the picture but in real life, not so great.


My fourth attempt. Still find something amiss. Can't put my fingers on it. It somehow feels unbalanced.

Finally decided to keep my second attempt. It looks great. A friend commented as much. And it has a nice balance to the colours without making it too busy.

So what do you think? Which one do you like best? Any other keys you would like me to change to the orange keycaps?


Tuesday 26 November 2013

Bling! Bling!


So I decided to have some fun with the Leopold FC660C keyboard. Bought these keycaps second hand. It is really meant for the Topre Realforce keyboards and as you can see I did not replace all the keys. Primarily for aesthetic reasons and second, because not all the keys are an exact match.

It cost me a bomb but I really did not want to wait for shipping for a new one and it would have been slightly more expensive anyway. In any case these has never been used before and are practically brand new. So why orange? Because it's the only colour available. After putting them in, I actually liked the orange keycaps on the black chassis. My first preference was blue on black or white keycaps on black but those were not available.

Primary purpose is to replace the original black keycaps which was very hard for me to see with the black on black. Yes, yes. You are supposed to be touch typing and whether you see the keys are irrelevant but I wanted to spice things up a bit.

Now it's simply bright and colourful.

Not good for someone my age but then again who cares. I like it.

It also changes the feel while typing. I prefer the feel of the original keys. This one makes it feel more like the Topre Realforce. Actually it feels somewhere in between the original Leopold keycaps and the Topre Realforce. Still very good to type on though so it's not a deal breaker.

So there you have it.

UPDATE 1 : I think I'm slowly falling in love with this keyboard. The looks. The feel. Yes. Even the feel I'm slowly taken by. Somehow I type faster on these than on the original keys. Maybe because I can see the keys better with the orange keycaps lol. I'm starting to feel that this feels more like the original keycaps instead and not like the Realforce.

The Leopold has always been my favourite. This modification makes it even better.


Friday 22 November 2013

Another Day Another Keyboard


Bought myself a second hand Realforce 86U Topre Based Keyboard today. I am typing this post with it. As per usual with some second hand items, this one seem to have a slight defect. Maybe not so slight. The spacebar unlike the rest of the keys is very clicky on the right hand side. Very loud. Louder than my Cherry MX Blues. Damn irritating. Anybody know how to rectify this?

First impressions are that this feels like a Topre keyboard (well...duh!) but I find myself liking the feel of the Leopold FC660C keys more. Maybe I have to give myself some more time with it.

Some of you may be asking why get this when I already have the Leopold FC660C. Well, first this has the usual standard layout that I am familiar with so my typing speed is faster. I don't miss the numpad. Also it is of a good size and don't feel as cramped as the Leopold. The keys on this are quite alright except for that damn spacebar.

Will give you more impressions later after I've spent more time with it.

P.S. That spacebar is damn irritating...

UPDATE 1 : This keyboard is about a year old. As a result the keys are not as stiff as the newly bought Leopold. In a way it's nicer to type on but the bottoming out is softer on the Leopold whereas here it is a little bit harder. So softer on the entry but harder on the landing.

UPDATE 2 : I was initially worried about the variable weighted keys but so far this has not been a deal breaker.

UPDATE 3 : Looking through the forums and googling for more information on "rattling spacebar" I find that this is a common problem on Topre keyboards. Other keyboards also have this problem but you don't seem to notice them as much because of their clicky nature. Mine seems to be more obvious because the "rattling" is not uniform throughout the length of the spacebar and seems to only occur on the right hand side. The middle and left hand side seems to be quite ok. I guess I just have to live with it. Funny thing is that the Leopold does not seem to have this problem. Its spacebar is consistent and does not stand out over the other keys.


Wednesday 20 November 2013

Leopold FC660C Topre Keyboard



The Leopold FC660C Topre Keyboard is here. I'm typing this post with it.

First impressions are that the keys have a very nice feeling to them. Very unlike the Unicomp Classic 104 Buckling Springs or the Cherry MX keys. These are a lot quieter. I was very much afraid that these would feel like a rubber dome (a very expensive one at that) but I can say for sure that it is definitely not. It has a very soft feel when bottoming out. So unlike the Cherry MX keys which can get quite hard.

It's too early to say if these are better than the Buckling Springs. All I can say right now is that they are different. Delightfully so. And the sound when I'm typing and the feel on the fingers are very very nice. Its like your fingers are being massaged. I don't know how else to put it. One of the nicest keyboards to type on. I think I can get addicted to this just like I am with the Buckling Springs but I think I'm still more addicted to the Buckling Springs due to that clickety clack. This one is more understated. More finesse.

There are 2 things which I immediately notice when typing. First, the lettering on the keys are quite hard to see due to the gold(?) lettering on the black chassis. Second, this is a very small keyboard. I am surprised by how small it is although this has normal sized keys. Some of the common keys I'm used to like HOME/END are missing. They can be triggered with some combination of the FN key. This will definitely take some getting use to.

Wish me luck!

P.S. I was really afraid that this would be a waste of money especially after how smitten I was by the Unicomp Buckling Springs. Fortunately these are equally as nice.

Recommended! (but not for the price)

UPDATE 1 : I still type faster on the Buckling Springs. I guess this is partly due to my unfamiliarity with the keyboard arrangement here. It also feels more cramped due to its small size even though this has normal sized keys. Psychological maybe? This is compounded by that gold lettering on the keys which are quite light and which makes them even harder to see.

UPDATE 2 : I just realised something. I know why I type faster on the Buckling Springs (other than my familiarity with its standard layout). Due to the higher actuation required to type, I don't really bottom out because the high tactile point makes me release the keys earlier which makes for a much faster typing speed.

UPDATE 3 : I'm slowly adjusting to the Leopold FC660C. I'm still adjusting to the arrangement of the keys but I'm slowly getting use to it. I'm not making as many mistakes now. Actually I type slower than both the Unicomp Buckling Springs and the Armageddon Cherry MX Blues but not that much slower. I find it a lot more pleasurable to type on the Leopold.

UPDATE 4 : Am I allowed to change my mind? I'm beginning to prefer the Topre based Leopold now over the Unicomp Buckling Springs. Looks like the Unicomp will have to find itself a new home. I'm keeping the Armageddon because those have backlit keys which I need when gaming in the dark although typing-wise I prefer the Unicomp over it.

Actually I find all 3 keyboards a pleasure to use. All have their own unique take on the typing experience and I can't say that one is more worse off than the other, They are just different and I can live with any of them to be honest. Of course I still have my preference and right now it is firmly with the Leopold. Although I type fastest and most accurately on the Unicomp, the slower Leopold still suits me fine because I'm not a fast typist anyway.


Saturday 16 November 2013

Unicomp Classic 104 Buckling Spring



My current keyboard is a Cherry MX Blue keyboard from a local company called Armageddon. It has been serving me well and I love its clickiness. However I was told that nothing beats the original IBM Model M keyboard when it comes to tactile and clicky keyboards. These keyboards last very long and are rated to last way longer than the average PC.

So thus began my hunt for one. However they are very hard to find as they are no longer manufactured. Those that do sell are asking for high prices that I'm just not willing to pay. I find out that the original design was bought by a group of ex-IBM engineers who set up a company called Unicomp. They currently manufacture the design as the Unicomp Classic 104 Buckling Spring. I've managed to grab one such keyboard from a forumer in VR-Zone. Instead of the traditional beige, this comes in a black chassis with grey keys. The grey keys makes it harder to see but boy do I love the colour scheme. I think it looks fantastic. Better than the beige or the white keys on black chassis that I saw on the Unicomp website.

I thought these would be harder to type on as I heard that they go deeper and has a higher actuation. I guess I'm just a heavy typist because this suits me perfectly. I'm actually typing this post with it. Great tactile feedback. Initial impressions seems to be that I type on this better than on the Cherry MX Blues. Never thought that would be possible as I'm so used to the Blues. Like a duck takes to water. Strangely I thought this would be louder than the Cherry MX Blues but because the tone is deeper I find the Blues to be louder as they have a higher pitch.

So the hype over these keyboards is justified as far as I'm concerned. One of my better purchases.

UPDATE 1 : Hmm...maybe I spoke too soon. This do sound louder when typed hard and fast.

UPDATE 2 : I wish this keyboard is backlit like the Armageddon. I like typing and playing games in the dark. But then again the original IBM Model M never had a backlit option (I think) and I don't think this ever will too. Looks like the Armageddon Stealth Raptor is here to stay.


Friday 15 November 2013

Day 2 on the Chromebook

I like the convenience of just grabbing hold of the HP and start doing work almost immediately. It starts up within literally seconds. Love that.

Almost as immediately I begin to miss the back lighting on my other keyboards. Really wish this HP had one. I also miss terribly the dedicated HOME/END/DELETE/PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN keys. I never realise that I depend on them so much that I miss them on the HP. At the rate I'm going I suspect I might be Chromiuing (is that a word?) away on my other notebook with its more conventional keyboard arrangement. Am I too old to adapt?

Never thought I'd say this. But I usually have a strong threshold for cheap devices with their cheap ass screen and poor keyboards. What I couldn't tolerate is their poor performance and usually that is related to their poor storage speeds. Usually I would just put in an SSD in them and watch them fly.

I'm very comfortable around the Chrome browser so my problems seems to be mostly hardware-related. I'm beginning to see the rationale for better hardware for Chromebooks. You can only build something so cheap. The Chromebook Pixel would too be expensive. Maybe something more in the middle? I've yet to see one. Right now it seems to be 2 extremes. One is too expensive and the other is too hardware crippled (I'm not talking of performance here which is fine). But I guess it would be a harder sell since cheap always wins and the middle of the line would be more for those who are already familiar with Chromebooks and can live with them but just want something better hardware-wise.

But are there many of us? I guess when the cheap Chromebooks start flooding the low-end and people begin to get comfortable with them, there will be some (like me) who will start clamoring for better hardware. I wonder if we have reached that mass yet. Hopefully there will be 1 or 2 manufacturers who will build such a device to test the viability of that market.

Is it there yet?


It's here! It's here! The HP Chromebook 14 in Snow White is here!




The HP Chromebook 14 is finally here! I'm typing this post with it right now.

Shipping from BHPhotoVideo in the US to Singapore took less than 4 days! I'm impressed. I can really recommend them although shipping is incredibly expensive and I got hit by VAT which makes it a double whammy!

Out of the box the down cursor key came loose and I'm trying very hard to get it back into place. Not very successful though. Still trying.

First impressions are the build quality is ok. Feels plasticky on the inside but I've no complaints about the outside. The feel of the top lid is silky and smooth. I like it.

The screen quality not so much but I guess for the price it's forgivable. It's actually kinda blurry but I guess I've been spoiled by the sharp FULL HD screen on my Thinkpad T530 even though that is also not an IPS panel. The HP is also not very bright.

The keyboard also hardly impress. Once again I think I've been spoiled by the excellent Thinkpad T530 keyboard. The screen I can live with but the keyboard is really a......meh

I immediately got confused by the keys arrangement. While typing this post I immediately miss the HOME and END keys and especially the DELETE key. I never thought I'm going to miss them this much. Still early times though and I hope I can adjust.

Did I mention that the keys sucks? Still can't get over that. Currently that has been the biggest disappointment so far.

Performance-wise it is plenty fast enough. Not as fast as my Desktop with its Core i7-3770 or the Thinkpad T530 but for what I will use it for I have no complaints. The sound volume is also plenty loud enough unlike my Thinkpad T530 which has pathetic tiny sound. The sound quality is not fantastic but for the price I'm not complaining.

Geez....I can't get over this damn keyboard.

MUST....REALLY...GET...USE...TO...IT....I....JUST....MUST.....

Still working on that down cursor key.

I will post more impressions once I get to play with it some more. It is really too early to form any lasting impressions (except that damn keyboard).

UPDATE 1 : Finally managed to get the down cursor key fixed. What a major pain in the arse. Here's the funny thing. Although I hated the keyboard, I could still type relatively well with it. I did after all typed this post on the keyboard. Take that as you will.

UPDATE 2 : The screen is beginning to grate on me. There is this milky haze all over it especially at lower brightness. It's contributing to that blurriness that I mentioned before. Another pet peeve is that I would always put it to full brightness but every time I rebooted it will go back down 2-3 notches. Why can't it remember where I left it before the reboot? But to be perfectly honest its a relatively small issue.

UPDATE 3 : I forgot to say anything about the track pad. It's not terrible but it's not exactly fantastic either. It's tolerable. Usable at least and the relatively big surface area helps quite a bit.

UPDATE 4 : The battery life has been decent so far but not anywhere near the advertised 9.5 hours so in a way I'm kind of disappointed. I expected better. A lot better. I don't think this will last all day. Maybe half or two-thirds of the way if you are lucky. I guess this is due to me putting this to maximum brightness all the time. Anything lower and my eyes suffer. I heard that it has a maximum brightness of only 200 nits or so. That might explain it. Maybe the battery needs to condition some more before I can make a final judgement. I'll update if there are any improvements.

UPDATE 5 : I tested the 4G Mobile on the Chromebook with a 1GB 3G data plan that I got free with my home fibre broadband. It works straight out the box!


Thursday 14 November 2013

LG VU 2 Initial Impressions!




So my second hand LG VU 2 F200 arrived today. This is the Korean version which comes with the TV antenna. 2GB RAM with Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 Dual-core 1.5 Ghz Krait CPU. Guess that 2GB RAM really does make a difference cause this thing flies even though it is using a much older processor. It is just a bit slower than my current Nexus 4 with Jelly Bean 4.3.

Out of the box (well actually no box since it only came with the phone and nothing else. No charger. Nothing. Nada. Zilch) it comes with ICS 4.04. Updated it to LG's latest Jelly Bean 4.1.2. Funnily enough I find it smoother when it was on ICS 4.04.

At any one time it seems to really use up RAM and constantly hitting 1GB and beyond but due to the 2GB headroom, it never seems to slow down. I'm very very impressed. Thank God I never got the Singapore version (P895) which comes with Tegra 3 and 1GB RAM.

I know its form factor gets a lot of grief from the West but there is a reason why I got this. Hear me out.

Like most people I have always been wanting to get that 1 device that will do away with 2 or more other devices. A smartphone plus tablet all rolled into one. A phablet? But current phablets like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or even the Nokia 1520 with its 6 inch screen are too big to fit in pockets. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is able to fit into normal pants or jeans but it gets really uncomfortable when you start to move your legs or worse still sitting down. When I think about it, the issue is really not about the width but really about the height of the device. The LG VU series solves this problem by being the height of a normal smartphone and yet has the width of a device like the aforementioned Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Nokia 1520. It makes a whole world of difference. For browsing the web and reading your email, the width is more important than the height.

I think the Koreans are onto something here and that they are way ahead the rest of us. The LG VU series is very popular in their home country and is already into its 3rd iteration with the LG VU 3.

The real problem with the LG VU series is that it's UGLY. But looking at the newest LG VU 3, the lines are now a lot smoother and it looks quite a bit better. Really looking forward to it.

UPDATE 1 : The looks are growing on me. I mean I don't love it but I don't hate it as much as I thought I would. Did not elicit any comments (well maybe 1) when I brought it to office. The one who commented says he loves the wide screen and the form factor makes sense to him. Quite taken aback that it was a positive response. I would have thought that people would ridicule me due to the short and chubby form factor. That was a pleasant surprise. So I guess all is not lost for this form factor. On an another note, I heard rumours that LG will not be bringing in the LG VU 3 to Singapore (maybe due to the unpopularity of the other 2 previous models). That is a bummer cause I really liked this previous model. Maybe have to look at those exotic handphone importers like SGKEITAI.com for the LG VU 3.

UPDATE 2 : The battery does not seem to hold a charge very well. It drains pretty fast especially when browsing. It's idle time is also quite bad. I easily lose 10% percent when it's left overnight. However on a positive note, it recharges quite fast. Maybe it's time to get a new set of battery.

UPDATE 3 : Two more colleagues have handled this and they seem to like it. It makes sense to them too. Or maybe they are just being polite. Or maybe it's just a West thing. Either that or people just parrot what they read and are judging a book by its cover.


Wednesday 13 November 2013

Mechanical Keyboards

Looks like I'm on a spending spree. Bought my most expensive keyboard ever. And it's not even a full keyboard!

Leopold FC660C. A Topre based keyboard.

Watched way too many YouTube videos on mechanical keyboards and this is what it got me. This is more like a hybrid between a mechanical and a rubber dome.

Hope it will not take too long to reach me...


HP Chromebook 14 Snow White

So I ordered a HP Chromebook 14 Show White with 4G today. I have always lived in the Cloud via the Chrome Browser but today I cut the OS cord loose.

We'll see how I like it when it gets here.


Tuesday 26 February 2013

What is this blog all about?

It will be mostly random thoughts and tracking my initial journey into the cloud.


Thus......Cloud Life!