…It was about ten minutes after I saw that my “ridiculous low-ball” Ebay bid for a branded battlecruiser had won. That said, it is way snappier (and louder) than any rubber dome I’ve ever used. It’s not a bad board at all, really, though the terminal scan code set it was flashed with means the converter is more or less mandatory, despite the board having a PS/2 connector.

    • wjrii@lemmy.worldOP
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      3 days ago

      It’s electrically identical to a regular Model M, so almost certainly not. In looking into it, they changed three things:

      • dense little rubber domes in each key’s barrel instead of the buckling-spring assemblies
      • keycaps with stems that are mostly solid to actuate the domes. I put in a spare buckling spring keycap to see if it worked, and while nowhere near well enough to rely on, it snapped right in, and if you push hard enough it’ll actuate.
      • removed a thin sheet of rubber that cushioned the membrane from the plastic flippers attached the buckling springs.

      That’s it. Same controllers, same membranes, even the same cases.

      • blindbunny@lemmy.ml
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        3 days ago

        I always wanted a mech version but after I released it has no rollover I lost interest. Thanks for sharing though. You’re right I didn’t even know these were real.

        • wjrii@lemmy.worldOP
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          3 days ago

          If you want it badly enough, there’s the pricy “New Model F” capacitive buckling spring boards, and they have all three Model M layouts.

          • blindbunny@lemmy.ml
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            2 days ago

            Ugh why did you tell me about this? You’re working for them aren’t you, you esoteric keyboard shill 😜

            • wjrii@lemmy.worldOP
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              2 days ago

              lol, I have a lot of keyboards, many homemade, but I don’t think I’ve spent over a hundred bucks or so on any single one of them, and most are closer to half that. No Model F of any kind here, much less a new one.