When playing frogger this would be good because it used only keys on that side of the board meaning you had to have both hands on that side hitting enter and /
Man what a gem of a keyboard. Pure gold in every way. So cool, I hope they start making keyboards that look like this again, that are as good as these. Great piece of computer history, thanks for the review!
You mentioned being locked into the profile of the mainboard, but they had little metal brackets that allowed you to extend additional modules to the right or the left so you could have the track pad module. I can take a picture of what they look like. I acquired a SwitchBoard with all the modules
It's amazing to see how much innovation there was back in the days! This would be probably a great feature for gaming keyboards nowadays (I am thinking about gaming keyboards because it seems that it's where easy money is). It would even be much cheaper to do, as controllers have become a lot cheaper, so each module could be an individual usb keyboard, attached to an usb hub to the base. Or they may even not require the base, and connect on the sides with magnets and pogo pins, with the advantage to be much easier to change layout on the fly depending on what you are doing!
Got the fixed model of this board, the Mac 101e, really enjoy the board. Thanks for bringing these boards to my attention, I was contemplating getting another ALPS board for awhile
2:30 The thing is that those "left-handed keyboards" are actually more like right-handed keyboards, and have been since at least the mid-'90s. Back in 1985 the Model M was still a right-handed keyboard. When the keyboard is the only input device on most IBM PC users' desks, why not have the nav cluster and numpad in reach of most people's strong hand rather than their weak one? But nowadays, when the mouse is fighting the numpad and nav cluster for the prime space just next to the alphanumeric cluster on the strong-hand side, it's pretty clear that the mouse should not be coming dead last. One obvious likely exception is if you're using a touchpad in front of the spacebar as your main pointer-input method. Still, the fact that the "right-handed" AT layout is still ubiquitous is basically pure cargo-cultism: it's not even like QWERTY vs. Dvorak, Colemak or whatever, where the switching costs are steep and the benefits are debatable. 3:38 In a new keyboard with a similar num-pad arrangement it might be worthwhile to bigassify the Enter key a bit, adding maybe a half-unit of width to make it a bit easier to hit with the left-hand thumb. Are there any boards which stack, say, a nav cluster, function cluster and numpad vertically above the alphanumeric cluster? That's another configuration which the Switchboard's baseboard design excludes 4:04 . I see there's at least one eight-row ortholinear monster out there geekhack.org/index.php?topic=75111.msg1864680#msg1864680 and any number of eight-row ortholinear POS boards, but ten rows would be more like it ... I suppose one could put a five-row all-1U ortholinear keyboard behind a normal 60% keyboard (stagger and all).
I wonder why there is no more keyboards with that layout, that is better in gaming. With that mouse aspect in video, you can also turn numpad to macro keyboard, or use it directly instead of WASD-keys. But it is better if you use lot of Excel or similar. In normal layout you have to take your hand off from mouse if you want to use numpad, this of course slows down your working. If numpad is left, you can use mouse and numpad. Of course you have to learn new coordination, but that only makes good for your brains :)
The reason why we do things is always because "that's just the way we do it". QWERTY isn't even necessary, it was used to prevent type writers from jamming, and yet here we are, still using it.
@@julian23561 Low key I'm thankful it was Bloody's line that did it, because those LK Libra switches are extremely smooth and reliable! Reasonably priced too (unlike a certain gaming company)!
If you do a *lot* of work in Excel your best bet is to learn all the key shortcuts and hardly ever touch the mouse. Or you can cheat by going back in time and learning all the "/" commands on Lotus 1-2-3 in the first place which still work in Excel and gets you 99%+ of what you need on a regular basis.
@@WeltschmerzificationQWERTY still here because the replacement is better but not good enough to warrant the complexity of changing. This is also happened with maglev train for example, conventional high-speed rail wins out in the end. New technology needs to be more than better so that its benefits get over the required sacrifice of adopting it. That said, most alternative layouts are optimized for English language only. So, it doesn't always have any benefits for non-English language.
i recently converted to a left handed mouse; i prefer the 5 button so I have bought a few razer left handed jobbies. I've never seen mentioned, except here, the un-ergonomic amount of right hand travel from what is basically the middle of the keyboard where correct typing needs your hand to be way up to the right where the the mouse lives; it's about a 60 degree swing of the forearm at the right elbow. I've found that using the left hand for the mouse means centering your keyboard/monitor/chair around the F and J keys.
Can you do a video on alternative layouts like Dvorak? Maybe try to use one for a couple weeks like you do with keyboards and share your thoughts? Love your videos, man.
I'm not sure 2 weeks is enough to get used to layouts like Dvorak and Colemak, I'm a Dvorak convert myself and it took me over a month to be really comfortable with it, and even now my typing speed isn't exactly as fast as it was when I was still using Qwerty, I still have to think about my finger movements when typing from time to time.
Numpad on the left with its enter key still on the right of the pad makes little sense. A numpad on the left ought to have its internal layout redesigned for that specific use case, imho
Nice idea, but it doesn't really help, since you are forced to use the 'base' which is whatever size it is, and doesn't change. A stand alone numpad is still best, if you need one. I don't need one at home, so most of my boards that aren't vintage, are TKL or smaller.
I must say having the nav group on the left and the numpad on the right sounds like the most optimal layout for myself, as while I use the nav group, having the numpad on the right is much more important to me.
I'm right handed and prefer to use the numpad with my left, so this board is intriguing. And it's a really nice-looking keyboard! Thank you for the review!
reminds me a bit of the old sidewinder x6. there the num pad could snap on to either side using strong magnets. i still use mine often when working with CAD.
Have seen this keyboard for a while and thought no one knows it. Now you have a review of it in a NOS condition! Thanks! :D Hope these vintage won't always get slaughtered for their switches.
I never knew this existed. I always wanted a left hand sided numeric key pad. I think the fact that the F keys are then not aligned with the normal QWERTY layout would be an issue for me though. Interesting all the same.
the sidewinder x6 had a magnetic numpad that let you put it on the left. it was awesome, too bad it had terrible rollover so you couldn't crouch+move diagonal+reload
excuse me do you mind reviewing the Asus Rog Claymore 1 or 2 keyboard? I would like to see a teardown on how they clasped the num pad to the main keyboard😍
I had one back in 1990. Built like a tank. Don't remember what configuration I ended up using, but whatever it was, I set it and stuck with it, so in the end the switchability was a bit of a waste. Great keyboard, though.
Hi, could you do me the favor of tracing the pins from the apparently proprietary (argh) 8-pin mini-DIN connector to the XT cable? I don't know where mine is - I might have tossed it thinking "when would I ever need an XT cable?" but now that I want to hook it up to a USB port, XT->PS/2->USB seems like an cheaper/easier route than ADB->USB, assuming I can find/jerry-rig the XT cable.
My preferred layout is having the numpad on the right side of the mouse. Macropad - Keyboard - Mouse - Numpad. Or the 1800 layout. However, I really don't get the tkl thing. A numpad is way more useful than the nav cluster, and can be used both ways. Like the Vortex Vibe, Cooler Master M and whatever. That's kind of what's keeping me from buying the Leopold fc980m. The fact that they have Ins, Del, PgUp and PgDown on the numpad but still have their own dedicated buttons on the top right. Those would have been better off being PrtScr and some others. Maybe programmable even. I really wish there were more modular keyboards, with different modules aimed at different uses. Numpad on the left makes no sense for me. There's so much muscle memory involved, plus in games... you want to use WASD with your left hand and your right hand on the numpad controlling your helicopter or whatever.
Mmmmm an ALPS board that actually uses a standard ANSI layout, that means you'd actually be able to fully utilize something like the sets that Tai-Hao makes; unlike the totally non-standard 75% layout board I have.
@@Chyrosran22 Kinda sad. but it makes sense as well as I don't think the ANSI standard was even set while these boards were being manufactured. I wish more keycap producers would make ALPS mount caps, even Tai Hao only makes a handful or colourways.
@@rajvinder89 The Tai-Hao sets are pretty nice, but sporadically available. It would also HUGELY help if they included 1.5 u Ctrl and Alt keys, a bigass and ISO enter, a stepped Capslock, and a 1 u backspace. That's 8 keys in total, and that would suddenly make the set compatible with a MUCH greater amount of Alps boards.
CAD and excel users can benefit from left numpad as well. no leaving the mouse to enter numbers might be very, very handy. *lefties in CAD may benefit from a regular keyboard....*
Does a wireless version of this exit? It seems to me that a more advanced version of this that could be used attached or unattached would be a compelling product, IMHO. The F-keys could be modular as well. They would be configurable to be used vertically or horizontally. Or they could be replaced by different modules that could incorporate finger dials, levers, displays, trackpads, sliders, speakers, microphones, and of course keys. These boards would be compatible with any commercially available switch with a unique, reconfigurable socket design. They could be bought piece by piece or come in kits. You could have one component with varied switch types and brands. The possibilities would be endless! If such a keyboard system exists at a price I wouldn’t have to sell my car for, I’d buy it, provided its execution was well implemented.
I found this deal near my area of NEC Oval keyboard i dunno what model but he is selling is for 10 bucks im wondering if its a good deal or not. Everything is working except 4-5 keycaps are missing.
How would you compare other BS boards such as the at&t kb305 to a model m? I have one and it seems to be just as heavy as pretty old model m's, and the key feel is pretty damn close in my opinion. I'm just curious on other peoples' opinions, as I personally might even prefer the at&t
@@Im_dat_person There are subtle differences, which is why I'm on the fence. The case above all is very different from what IBM made. But still, if it's not OEM'd by them it's at least a blatant ripoff xD .
I've got a AT102 I've got to clean and restore (it's full of rat piss right now, so I have to desolder everything) This just makes me wanna do 3 loose modules like this keyboards, but with indipendent USBs and Salmon switches...
Having more space for a mouse is good but it's not the main reason to get a TKL. The main reason is that the hands are closer together and in a more comfortable position than with a full-size keyboard. Can't fly a plane in GTA5 tho lel
I wonder why they didn't make the modules wireless? They had the technology, we could have rebuilt him. (But then they might have called it the six million dollar keyboard). Which is slightly out of my price range.
My mouth is watering...an ALPs board and configurable! Shut up and take my money!
In all in seriousness, great review as always!
I'd put the numpad on the right and the nav keys on the left.
Desmaad numpad of the left arrows on the left EZ
When playing frogger this would be good because it used only keys on that side of the board meaning you had to have both hands on that side hitting enter and /
Man what a gem of a keyboard. Pure gold in every way. So cool, I hope they start making keyboards that look like this again, that are as good as these. Great piece of computer history, thanks for the review!
You mentioned being locked into the profile of the mainboard, but they had little metal brackets that allowed you to extend additional modules to the right or the left so you could have the track pad module. I can take a picture of what they look like. I acquired a SwitchBoard with all the modules
It's amazing to see how much innovation there was back in the days! This would be probably a great feature for gaming keyboards nowadays (I am thinking about gaming keyboards because it seems that it's where easy money is). It would even be much cheaper to do, as controllers have become a lot cheaper, so each module could be an individual usb keyboard, attached to an usb hub to the base. Or they may even not require the base, and connect on the sides with magnets and pogo pins, with the advantage to be much easier to change layout on the fly depending on what you are doing!
Excellent review and a very cool keeb :] The Oxford dictionary should define ASMR as "Tom talking and typing on Alps".
@ 6:24 "Systems of measurement invented after the bronze age..." HAHAHA! :D
I could instantly tell it was from the 90s by the cover design of the manual.
Got the fixed model of this board, the Mac 101e, really enjoy the board. Thanks for bringing these boards to my attention, I was contemplating getting another ALPS board for awhile
2:30 The thing is that those "left-handed keyboards" are actually more like right-handed keyboards, and have been since at least the mid-'90s. Back in 1985 the Model M was still a right-handed keyboard. When the keyboard is the only input device on most IBM PC users' desks, why not have the nav cluster and numpad in reach of most people's strong hand rather than their weak one? But nowadays, when the mouse is fighting the numpad and nav cluster for the prime space just next to the alphanumeric cluster on the strong-hand side, it's pretty clear that the mouse should not be coming dead last. One obvious likely exception is if you're using a touchpad in front of the spacebar as your main pointer-input method. Still, the fact that the "right-handed" AT layout is still ubiquitous is basically pure cargo-cultism: it's not even like QWERTY vs. Dvorak, Colemak or whatever, where the switching costs are steep and the benefits are debatable.
3:38 In a new keyboard with a similar num-pad arrangement it might be worthwhile to bigassify the Enter key a bit, adding maybe a half-unit of width to make it a bit easier to hit with the left-hand thumb.
Are there any boards which stack, say, a nav cluster, function cluster and numpad vertically above the alphanumeric cluster? That's another configuration which the Switchboard's baseboard design excludes 4:04 . I see there's at least one eight-row ortholinear monster out there geekhack.org/index.php?topic=75111.msg1864680#msg1864680 and any number of eight-row ortholinear POS boards, but ten rows would be more like it ... I suppose one could put a five-row all-1U ortholinear keyboard behind a normal 60% keyboard (stagger and all).
I wonder why there is no more keyboards with that layout, that is better in gaming. With that mouse aspect in video, you can also turn numpad to macro keyboard, or use it directly instead of WASD-keys.
But it is better if you use lot of Excel or similar. In normal layout you have to take your hand off from mouse if you want to use numpad, this of course slows down your working. If numpad is left, you can use mouse and numpad. Of course you have to learn new coordination, but that only makes good for your brains :)
The reason why we do things is always because "that's just the way we do it". QWERTY isn't even necessary, it was used to prevent type writers from jamming, and yet here we are, still using it.
A4Tech's Bloody line of LikghtStrike keyboards introduced something similar, though no one else seems to have followed suit.
@@julian23561 Low key I'm thankful it was Bloody's line that did it, because those LK Libra switches are extremely smooth and reliable! Reasonably priced too (unlike a certain gaming company)!
If you do a *lot* of work in Excel your best bet is to learn all the key shortcuts and hardly ever touch the mouse. Or you can cheat by going back in time and learning all the "/" commands on Lotus 1-2-3 in the first place which still work in Excel and gets you 99%+ of what you need on a regular basis.
@@WeltschmerzificationQWERTY still here because the replacement is better but not good enough to warrant the complexity of changing. This is also happened with maglev train for example, conventional high-speed rail wins out in the end. New technology needs to be more than better so that its benefits get over the required sacrifice of adopting it. That said, most alternative layouts are optimized for English language only. So, it doesn't always have any benefits for non-English language.
i recently converted to a left handed mouse; i prefer the 5 button so I have bought a few razer left handed jobbies. I've never seen mentioned, except here, the un-ergonomic amount of right hand travel from what is basically the middle of the keyboard where correct typing needs your hand to be way up to the right where the the mouse lives; it's about a 60 degree swing of the forearm at the right elbow. I've found that using the left hand for the mouse means centering your keyboard/monitor/chair around the F and J keys.
Interesting, I wonder if there are any more keyboards that are similar?
Can you do a video on alternative layouts like Dvorak? Maybe try to use one for a couple weeks like you do with keyboards and share your thoughts? Love your videos, man.
I'm not sure 2 weeks is enough to get used to layouts like Dvorak and Colemak, I'm a Dvorak convert myself and it took me over a month to be really comfortable with it, and even now my typing speed isn't exactly as fast as it was when I was still using Qwerty, I still have to think about my finger movements when typing from time to time.
Numpad on the left with its enter key still on the right of the pad makes little sense. A numpad on the left ought to have its internal layout redesigned for that specific use case, imho
Nice idea, but it doesn't really help, since you are forced to use the 'base' which is whatever size it is, and doesn't change.
A stand alone numpad is still best, if you need one. I don't need one at home, so most of my boards that aren't vintage, are TKL or smaller.
Yeah, the use of a base board is easily the keyboard's biggest weakness. It's a promising, though primitive, first step.
I must say having the nav group on the left and the numpad on the right sounds like the most optimal layout for myself, as while I use the nav group, having the numpad on the right is much more important to me.
I'm right handed and prefer to use the numpad with my left, so this board is intriguing. And it's a really nice-looking keyboard! Thank you for the review!
oh lordy your voice is amazing
He must be an airline pilot or something 😂
His voice combined with the keyboard sound is the best ASMR I heard in my life.
reminds me a bit of the old sidewinder x6. there the num pad could snap on to either side using strong magnets. i still use mine often when working with CAD.
I had the Turbo 101 for years on my Mac SE. It was great, but boy did I want the Switchboard bad.
Man I fucking LOVE Alps whites. Have them in a 3rd party Macintosh keyboard. It's such a joy to type on.
Have seen this keyboard for a while and thought no one knows it.
Now you have a review of it in a NOS condition!
Thanks! :D
Hope these vintage won't always get slaughtered for their switches.
I never knew this existed. I always wanted a left hand sided numeric key pad. I think the fact that the F keys are then not aligned with the normal QWERTY layout would be an issue for me though. Interesting all the same.
the sidewinder x6 had a magnetic numpad that let you put it on the left. it was awesome, too bad it had terrible rollover so you couldn't crouch+move diagonal+reload
9:01 did my man really just use the Rshift while typing
It's definitely the only one I use.
I thought I was the only one who cared about using the numpad Enter with the mouse-hand thumb.
excuse me do you mind reviewing the Asus Rog Claymore 1 or 2 keyboard? I would like to see a teardown on how they clasped the num pad to the main keyboard😍
5:02 - It would be fun if that dip on top was a z80 cpu
I need this guy to read me bedtime stories
I had one back in 1990. Built like a tank. Don't remember what configuration I ended up using, but whatever it was, I set it and stuck with it, so in the end the switchability was a bit of a waste. Great keyboard, though.
Very nice.
The 3270 module would be for IBM 3270 terminal emulation software.
Yeah, but what would it do? xD
1:37
So the M in Model M stands for Membrane...
Hi, could you do me the favor of tracing the pins from the apparently proprietary (argh) 8-pin mini-DIN connector to the XT cable? I don't know where mine is - I might have tossed it thinking "when would I ever need an XT cable?" but now that I want to hook it up to a USB port, XT->PS/2->USB seems like an cheaper/easier route than ADB->USB, assuming I can find/jerry-rig the XT cable.
Have you tested it in a "nav"-"alfa"-"numpad" layout?
So what's the lone key on top right for?
My preferred layout is having the numpad on the right side of the mouse. Macropad - Keyboard - Mouse - Numpad. Or the 1800 layout.
However, I really don't get the tkl thing. A numpad is way more useful than the nav cluster, and can be used both ways. Like the Vortex Vibe, Cooler Master M and whatever.
That's kind of what's keeping me from buying the Leopold fc980m. The fact that they have Ins, Del, PgUp and PgDown on the numpad but still have their own dedicated buttons on the top right. Those would have been better off being PrtScr and some others. Maybe programmable even.
I really wish there were more modular keyboards, with different modules aimed at different uses.
Numpad on the left makes no sense for me. There's so much muscle memory involved, plus in games... you want to use WASD with your left hand and your right hand on the numpad controlling your helicopter or whatever.
Does anyone know if its possible to find the schematics this keyboard?
sounds beautiful
03:10 "I'm a big fan of Num...
Okayyy This is instant sub here good sir
Mmmmm an ALPS board that actually uses a standard ANSI layout, that means you'd actually be able to fully utilize something like the sets that Tai-Hao makes; unlike the totally non-standard 75% layout board I have.
The bottom row is nonstandard so some keys would still not fit. I don't think I've found a single board on which a Tai-Hao set fits COMPLETELY xD .
@@Chyrosran22 KBP V80 is the only one I've got. Can't think of any vintage one though.
@@lucidnonsense942 That's a TKL though, right?
@@Chyrosran22 Kinda sad. but it makes sense as well as I don't think the ANSI standard was even set while these boards were being manufactured. I wish more keycap producers would make ALPS mount caps, even Tai Hao only makes a handful or colourways.
@@rajvinder89 The Tai-Hao sets are pretty nice, but sporadically available. It would also HUGELY help if they included 1.5 u Ctrl and Alt keys, a bigass and ISO enter, a stepped Capslock, and a 1 u backspace. That's 8 keys in total, and that would suddenly make the set compatible with a MUCH greater amount of Alps boards.
CAD and excel users can benefit from left numpad as well. no leaving the mouse to enter numbers might be very, very handy. *lefties in CAD may benefit from a regular keyboard....*
Does a wireless version of this exit? It seems to me that a more advanced version of this that could be used attached or unattached would be a compelling product, IMHO. The F-keys could be modular as well. They would be configurable to be used vertically or horizontally. Or they could be replaced by different modules that could incorporate finger dials, levers, displays, trackpads, sliders, speakers, microphones, and of course keys. These boards would be compatible with any commercially available switch with a unique, reconfigurable socket design. They could be bought piece by piece or come in kits. You could have one component with varied switch types and brands.
The possibilities would be endless! If such a keyboard system exists at a price I wouldn’t have to sell my car for, I’d buy it, provided its execution was well implemented.
There's one on eBay, but it's 500 dollars, ouch. What kind of price would people recommend for it?
that thumbnail really got me asking "what the fuck", not gonna lie
Problem with your chosen layout is that the escape key is soooooo far from everything. As someone who uses esc all the time that would drive me nuts.
Yeah, the fixed top row kinda sucks xD .
Love your videos
Can you just whisper into my ear from now on
But if you use the number row then you don’t have to look down at the keyboard.
I found this deal near my area of NEC Oval keyboard i dunno what model but he is selling is for 10 bucks im wondering if its a good deal or not. Everything is working except 4-5 keycaps are missing.
How would you compare other BS boards such as the at&t kb305 to a model m? I have one and it seems to be just as heavy as pretty old model m's, and the key feel is pretty damn close in my opinion. I'm just curious on other peoples' opinions, as I personally might even prefer the at&t
I actually have an AT&T BS board, and I'm still not completely sure on whether IBM OEM'd it or not, it's that close xD .
@@Chyrosran22 haha yeah i love it. they mustve- i mean the keycaps are identical i believe, and the internals are so damn similar...
@@Im_dat_person There are subtle differences, which is why I'm on the fence. The case above all is very different from what IBM made. But still, if it's not OEM'd by them it's at least a blatant ripoff xD .
Need 2019 version of this!
I've got a AT102 I've got to clean and restore (it's full of rat piss right now, so I have to desolder everything)
This just makes me wanna do 3 loose modules like this keyboards, but with indipendent USBs and Salmon switches...
those are some nice legends
they need to make one of these except super clean looking, rgb, and each part can be used individually.
Hey that's pretty nifty!
Having more space for a mouse is good but it's not the main reason to get a TKL. The main reason is that the hands are closer together and in a more comfortable position than with a full-size keyboard.
Can't fly a plane in GTA5 tho lel
It sounds well too, but I still prefer the Alps Creme...
This is endgame material.
jesus your voice is so handsome
also branded as a DSI Modular Pro (Deskthority wiki) if anyone is looking for one.
I NEED IT
The most "keyboard" sounding keyboard in existence.
The Comfort Systems Ergonomic Keyboard is this on STEROIDS
Sounds like my Leading Edge Model D keeb ...
Yea this is nice because games like just cause 2 requires the numpad
I wonder why they didn't make the modules wireless? They had the technology, we could have rebuilt him. (But then they might have called it the six million dollar keyboard). Which is slightly out of my price range.
I'm sure that the keyboard would've been priced out of this world had they gone for wireless xD .
I see one on eBay for $500 at the moment. Woof.
ESC key...
lol apple being apple costing alot lol i cant use my enter with my mouse thumb its at the top of the Numpad and ita a battleship keyboard so yeah
Yes clamps would have been better
That sound is keyboard porn.
Thicc
mmm ASMR
I'm a lefty and I don't think I can use a lefty keyboard lol.
Meh... you Europeans and your newfangled measuring systems!! Great review tho ugh.
first