Magnavox Videowriter keyboard review (Alps SKCM Brown)
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- Опубликовано: 29 июн 2018
- Skip to 10:38 for a typing demonstration.
FINALLY, we take a look at brown Alps switches! I present you the Magnavox Videowriter, and one in mint condition to boot!
My keyboard reviews: bit.ly/1TbOtft
My switch teardowns: bit.ly/2C1QGHz
My TOP X videos: bit.ly/2FmpZfd
I'm Thomas and I do videos and reviews on mechanical keyboards ranging from the most sickening modern RGB gaming keyboards to vintage hardware relics, or sometimes keycaps or keyswitches ranging from Cherry MX to Alps SKCM to IBM buckling springs and anything in between.
Follow me on Twitter for updates on my keyboard videos! / chyrosran22
The practice sentence was: "Hello my name is Thomas I'm typing on a Magnavox Videowriter right now. Finally we look at a brown Alps keyboard! I really hope you enjoyed watching it, this is a great keyboard!" 
Наука
That’s my keyboard build at 3:44! I am honoured!
:D
Did you cut the pcb down or did you buy a new pcb?
notabagel New PCB
Medium ass enter, an average ass backspace. Lol
Actually it was Commodore who destroyed the TI-99/4A, not IBM. Under Jack Tramiel, Commodore slashed the prices of their VIC-20 and C64 computers so much that in order to compete, Texas Instruments ended up selling the 99/4A for less than what it cost to make them, driving them out of the home computer business.
VWestlife yes, technically they weren't even in the same business xD .
I didn't say IBM killed off the Ti-99 though, I just meant that because IBM were dominating the PC market so much, other companies vied for the cheaper markets.
Noyce! The special DO/HELP/UNDO keys are interesting. They seem to be the common order of steps taken by people who do not RTFM.
That's a satisfyingly classic click from those Alps brown. Louder than I expected.
Basically, everything Alps is loud xD . Except those dampened switches, which are very quiet.
3:20 This keyboard will make typing great again!
lmao
Wonderful analysis. We had an IBM PC Convertible when I was younger, and I always thought its keyboard was remarkably good. I've never seen the same type of switches used on any other keyboards since then. Nice to see it getting some recognition.
"Some of the most inferior pieces of infernal poopshit I've ever come across."
I died. Yep, I'm gonna go ahead and use that one in our next quarterly performance review.
xD
man why do these things always sound so NOIIICE
The eBay example looks like it was owned by someone who chain smoked
Or left it out in the sun for years
Giorgio Rafaelle If that one had the life my late aunt's Smith Corona PWP 350 had sitting on a home office desk for years near a window that got a lot of sun then your right. I had to do some serious retrobrite to the keys on that poor board before putting the machine up for sale on eBay last year.
This popped up in the YT algorithm. I do watch your videos and they always make me reminiscent of all my old keyboards from childhood. I really wish I could afford to go out and buy and restore something like this for my own computer now. This keyboard would be wonderful!
Those are really nice stepped keys. The steps are not so wide as to create canyons between the keys, yet wide enough to give the keyboard a little bit of distinctiveness.
The caps are excellent, but I must admit I had difficulty getting used to the shift keys. It's noticeably harder to hit them with those steps in them.
Great video! Brown alps are the best tactile switches out there in my opinion. I hope one day someone finds a good solution to converting these because it is really a shame that people tear these apart for the switches.
I see you've already found the video xD . Completely agree though, this is a nice board, why destroy it?!
I'm looking forward to the day that someone picks up the proverbial torch and starts reproducing old ALPS designs. I mean, you've got Matias out there making bastardized versions, but I'm talking legit reproductions of SKCM-series switches, sort of like what Ellipse is doing with the buckling springs in the Model F reproductions.
That'd be great. The whole world should be able to try out Alps :) .
I found one of these today, that has been faithfully maintained and used up until this year. I got it thinking it was an interesting piece of history, but I have been typing on the thing all day! I LOVE the Brown ALPS!
I feel like a unicorn because I have two Filco Zeros. One with blue alps and one with brown. I want two more, one with a linear alps switch and another with neon green ones. Perhaps one day
First thing I noticed during the typing demonstration is the sound the spacebar makes. Damn that was a good sound! Sounded way better than the rest of the board!
nice video Chyrosran :P
what a good voice
Although they are tactile, something in the way they sound as they get pressed during the typing demonstration made me think of purely linear switches.
Trust me, they're REALLY not xD . But I can guess why, it's probably the roundedness of the feel.
Hm, I think I understand what you are saying, after all I 've only been exposed to the Cherries and lately to Matias quiets, so when I saw the brown color I instictively connected it to the Cherry MX shit which of course has a somewhat audible actuation point+tactile bump transition sound.
These are about ten billion times more tactile than MX Shit :p .
Hot damn, nice video dude. I have one loose Brown Alps switch and everyday I covet having a board with them. Thanks for the video. :)
Finally get to hear your thoughts on SKCM browns! SKCM browns are the king of tactile ALPS IME! I got the pleasure of doing a build for a friend that used SKCM browns recently & was shocked at much better they feel than say SKCM orange or salmon. TBH neon greens are the only tactile ones I'd put above browns, but the feel is so different between them & any other SKCM tactile switches I kinda feel they are their own type of switch. Which are excellent switches IMO as well. Of course as you said they are very rare & expensive so I hold out hope that I will one day have a KB with SKCM browns, but still put that more into my pipe dream category LOL!
Review the butterfly keyboard from Apple
Lol
Why not a sheet of glass? it feel the same.
to the top my friend
Heh, I'm sure at some point someone will send me one for review xD .
Apple scissor switch keyboard? i remember Tom reviewed it
No, that's a different one. That one was clearly nowhere near crap enough for Apple - recently event hey themselves admitted their Butterfly switches were poopshit xD .
I just got a Magnavox Videowriter myself & it is pretty much the same as yours. Not NOS, but damn close. Very very clean, especially the switches & it was made in 1986 also. If I had to guess it was never used or only used very few times by the original owner, then was very lightly used by any enthusiast owners it's had since then. The switches feel the same as the few NOS loose SKCM browns I have, even though the seller rated them 8 out of 10. Overall I have to agree with you, it is one great feeling board with a very usable layout.
With this board too I'm coming around more to your point of view on collecting vintage boards. I had originally planned to harvest the browns for a custom ALPS 60% build, but after getting the board in my hands & giving it try I decided it's too nice & rare of a keyboard for harvesting. I plan on converting mine to USB, making a custom keymap for it, & using it as is. I know there is a few people who have successfully converted these to USB by removing the stock cable, installing a Teensy or Pro Micro, & running a USB cable out from that. Although I would really like to find a way to keep the original cord & use some type of plug in converter like a Soarer's converter if possible.
Anyways great review as always & PM me on here or GH if you still haven't converted yours. I'd be more than happy to pass on anything I learn about the process as I research it & tinker with mine. These boards are too nice to sit in a collection in an unusable state IMHO! 😉
love your videos i never new about vintage keyboards b4 i watched your videos the ibm m122 is going to be my first board :) thank you
leah Knight Model Ms are damn nice keyboards, both my vintage boards are Model Ms (but regular European layout PC ones), one's my daily driver and the other one has (according to the eBay seller anyway) only been out of its box and tested once when it was new and sits in its box as a spare. Would love to own an F122 one day though.
very hard to get hold of i was going for a f 122 but had to go for M 122 since f is way too expencive
leah Knight That is the problem with the F122, you don't see them often and when they do show up on eBay they're damn pricey.
well for them who dont know you could alway claim your M is and F
typed loads on the video writer at school for prep. was an excellent machine with a great keyboard.
Ì absolutely adore the sound of the Green switches in the Zenith.
It's a great keyboard if you like linears :D .
I had one of these as a kid (somewhere around 2005), but it was Panasonic branded. Most of them have gone by the wayside in the dumpster when people harvest the CRT out of those for HP-80 series computers that need that wide tube. oh god. I can recall doing so many school assignments on it, saved to a 720K disk, printed out the top, and it was a loud experience at that. Eventually used up the ink ribbon and neither of my parents wished upon me to use that infernal thing any further and forced me to be rid of it. I miss it, and its amazing keyboard, dearly.
why did you let your parents get rid of it?
You got a hold of some browns, eh?
Still one that eludes me... and I would really like to try them.
Ever considered reviewing any of the Thinkpad desktop USB keyboards? Would be interested to see your opinions regarding it
Dang that nav at the top, holy crap someone please bring that back!
Reminds me of the Playstation d pad a little though diagonals are probably going to be a pain (thus is why I still prefer controllers for fighting games like street fighter with a analog thumb stuck)
That arrow keys are *BIGLY*
Goddamn, this keyboard sounds good. Ever since I first tried a loose Brown switch, I've wanted a keyboard with Browns. Based on my single loose switch, they feel the most like what I think a tactile switch should feel like. I've been trying to fill the gap with Zealios for years now but, while great, they're just not the same.
i grew up with a Videowriter! It was my first "Computer"...as it was computer-esque but strictly a word processor. My parents still have it...I should grab it!
Amazingness.
YES, FINALLY!
can you review the keyboard of the Commodore 64?
can you make a review about the ikbc cd108, thanks
i can't find reviews about them
Indeed a nice board, and I'm thinking it would make a decent layout for a Chrome OS based system. I hope you can get your hands on a few different Chrome specific keyboards at some point, even if they are not mechanical just to comment out their layout.
Did you change your Top 5 Tactile Switches Ranking after using brown Alps?
He pretty much did, Alps SKCM “Lime” being the closest successor to Brown.
HESS DONE IT
wanna hear a joke?
Razer's new Opto mechanical switches
The Future Is Optic #TEDx
Even better joke -
Razor Glass Keyboard (in future)
Razer Opto? More like Bloody LK Libra copy.
They make it sound like they made it first lol
The optical aspect of the switches don't even give any actual advantage like something like the Bloody LK or especially the Wooting - it's legit just a contact switch but the contacts are replaced with a laser, no matter what it's still binary.
How about philips ones? Those can have browns to?
I think I'd actually enjoy watching you attack the razer huntsman just as a contrast to everyone else...
I know classic keyboards are your thing, but I'd love to see what you thing of the new razer huntsman keyboard. All the reviews I've seen seem pretty ill-informed, by people who've pretty much only had exoerience with mx switches, and only in the context of playing games.
Getting an opinion from someone who knows what the hell they're talking about would be nice.
Yep, those purple switches, apart from the laser sensing thing, look fairly interesting in terms of their wacky design and how they managed a clicky feel (because I can’t spot where or what the clicker is from the other videos)
I'd loive to review one, but they are very expensive. I might need to have them send over a sample for review.
I'm going to stand on a corner and sell my browns in little baggies now...
You're not the first one; people have been doing that for years :p . Cruelty to classic keyboards!
my browns are cut with plumber's grease. really mellow. it's like everything's in slow-mo. i know this guy in notting hill. he can get you some.
Can you review Hertog Jan? Bedankt :)
It's the best lager.
SKCM Browns are the og zealios V2
Old keyboard + Japan = *vaporwave*
Alps SKCM brown price has sky-rocketed recently. I think one of the main reason is you and your video ;P
ALREADY?! :p
Any alps related inflation is caused by you! XD. Please praise the Cherries!
I got mine for $350 before it. Your telling me the prices went further
Damm, I want an Alps board.
Hey I used to have a word processor in the early 90s. I think it maybe was a Brother.
Yes, Brother mad similar machines back in the day. They had several interesting switches of their own.
@@Chyrosran22 are you gonna review them?
@@yanguYT I did a Teardown video on one of them a long time ago. The other one is more difficult to get hold of.
may i ask where cani buy keyboards like this?
U could even look in a thrift store u might get lucky
Did you ever do a tipro ? Do a tipro !
I've owned multiple for several years now xD . But I keep having to delay them!
Better than orange alps?
I prefer the weighting of oranges.
Chyrosran can you do a review of lubed Cherry MC blues? I didn't like mine until I lubed them with Silicone WD-40. I'd like to know if doing this could make you like Cherry blues.
Maybe, but I don't have anything like that planned. Also, WD40 is a solvent, not a lubricant.
Thanks for the reply. Just to be clear: I used "WD40 Specialist High Performance Silicone Lubricant 400ml" .
are you planning to sell some of your keyboards to subscribers?
Atm, no.
what, typing space bar with your thumb this time
@4:46 HEUTE IST MEIN TAG HEUTE IST MEIN TAG HEUTE IST MEIN TAAAAAAAAAAAG
I am one jealous man
Too bad the videowriter cant be converted, imo sounds better than blue alps :p
i recommend a bluetooth +battery mod using adafruit ez-key. usb is only needed for charging.
4:47 Nein!
Fuck me blind with nettles!!! I don't believe this!
I had this!!! I had it almost 30 years ago!! My mother got one from her office to do some side work at home!!! I was just a kid not knowing a thing and when the writer broke down she threw it away!!! ToT
Fuck my damn bad luck!!!
Its not a keyboard. It's a pack of one of the best keyswitches out there in a case you dont care about. Kappa.
Gah, surely this keyboard deserves better than this cruel fate? :p
At least put white or black alps back in the thing when you're done so someone can use the board.
guys, who makes compact switches today? some people need a keyboard with reduced finger travel. compact switches would be great solution.
Mind you, "compact" and "low-profile" generally refer to different things in mechanical keyboard jargon.
oh, i have been looking for mechanical mini F-keys for years and this is the first i have ever seen.
thanks to this video i quickly located this page: deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKCL_Compact
i wanted to make keyboards for children/small hands/disabled and could see no good options. at least we know that this has been done (and can be redone).
dude the spacebar is quite horrible
If the world ends i'll track down that one guy who had neon green alps and tell him to figuratively empty those pockets!.
4:46 nice swastika bro
You want a real God-awful, abhorrent pile of Satan spunk? Get a Smith Corona daisywheel typewriter.