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.

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. :(

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?