Fujitsu Peerless

[Daniel Beardsmore]

In case anyone was actually wondering what's inside a Peerless keyboard:

Peerless.jpg (238.59 KiB) Viewed 1851 times

(Except there's one more stabiliser insert.)

I'm not entirely sure how it works, but essentially you have a hollow Battleship peg that sits on top of the dome, with a spring inside. I can only guess that the "give" point of the dome fires a shockwave through the spring.

More pics when I get chance. Strangely, I didn't lose one single screw, white cylinder, or spring, but one of the lugs that holds the case closed, broke. Losers were too cheap to secure the case with screws!

[rzwv]

fujitsu_Peerless_FKB4725-501_28.gif (245.06 KiB) Viewed 1848 times

http://kbd.rzw.jp/fujitsu/peerless_fkb4725-501/

[REVENGE]

fujitsu_Peerless_FKB4725-501_28.gif

http://kbd.rzw.jp/fujitsu/peerless_fkb4725-501/

Dat spring+dome interaction!

[Daniel Beardsmore]

The diagram is pretty (though I'd use the actual colours), but it's even more misleading than Lethal Squirrel's MX blue animation. For some reason, people who make animated GIFs give the keycap linear motion, even though that's not what happens in real life (otherwise it wouldn't be a tactile switch!)

I've tried to press the switch down enough that it actuates and doesn't bottom out, and it's impossible. Actuation occurs very low down in the stroke, like Model M, and the slider immediately bottoms out at that point (while hardly moving at all). The coil spring brings the actuation point down so far that you get a stiff linear feel. It's like a quiet Model M, except even more linear.

I've taken some photos actually depicting how the switch components sit; I'll post them sometime this week.

FKB4700 is a fascinating keyboard. The sliders appear to support three different mounts, and the keyboard uses two. There are three dummy domes, and a dummy LED switch with no LED. The LEDs are integrated even though it's a membrane board. Like the Model M, the keycaps are a snap fit (and compatible one way around, but I forget which), and stabilisation is done with vertical shafts that in most cases are optional, snap-in pieces. The keyboard has a curved backplate, so the stabiliser shafts are angled to remain parallel.

Still no SMK, though. SMK still have my vote for best tactile feel.