Focus FK-555 keyboard review (Alps SKCM Blue, Omron B3G-S Cyan)

[@snppy6897]

i really like the passion into the researching and finding out the history of this board, can really tell you love it lol

[@lucidmoses]

Ok, A great example of why your keyboard reviews are the best I've seen.

[@colec0]

You do phenomenal background research for these videos - and it really shows! Great work!

[@bbuggediffy]

He is in fact, a researcher by profession.

[@raulsaavedra709]

Wonderful detective research and attention to detail! The keyboard does sound great

[@jtsiomb]

PS/2 might be that old, but color-coded purple/teal PS/2 connectors for keyboard/mice came much later I think, probably late 90s. So I'd bet this was a later modification, and the keyboard initially came with a regular AT connector. Edit: just checked, indeed the color-coding was introduced in the PC97 standard.

[@CommodoreFan64]

Yep, I have some older compaq keyboards I've salvaged from the dump made around the Win 3.11 and Win 95 era, and they all have gray PS/2 plugs.

[@troldrik]

Nearly certain that purple PS/2 plug was put on by a previous owner. The purple/green colour coding of PS/2 plugs comes from a PC-97 recommendation by MS & Intel published in 1997. A 1988 era plug would have been beige, or black.

[@Chyrosran22]

Most interesting! I didn't know that :) .

[@troldrik]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_System_Design_Guide#Color-coding_scheme_for_connectors_and_ports for those playing along at home.

[@CommodoreFan64]

Yep, I can confirm, I have some older Compaq keyboards I've salvaged from the dump made around the Win 3.11 and Win 95 era, and they all have gray PS/2 plugs.

[@Chyrosran22]

@@CommodoreFan64 and of course all Model Ms.

[@jikissgamer]

An Omnikey chassis with blue Alps and the focus layout? This keyboard was made for me ❤ I always thought there was a link between my Focus-2001 and the Omnikey but this clears everything up! Great review as always 👍

[@farstox4656]

You're absolutely insane about the detail you go into keyboard history. You could be one of those weird guys on TV.

[@Ferrichrome]

I feel like if he added some music to it and made it a bit more cinematic this would be like a weekly keyboard TV show lol.

[@blindassassin111]

The different designers of the Omnikey definitely explains why the cluster spacing changed between generations which gave me a hard time designing the replacement PCBs. Thank you for the detailed history, I know that took a while and it was really awesome to hear about it.

[@Chyrosran22]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :) .

[@PhilipAlexanderHassialis]

Blue Alps and Thomas's voice, best sounds to accompany the first sips of Saturday morning coffee! Excellent review as usual and for once it's really nice to hear you happy for a keyboard (with said specimen being really good, hence your justified enthusiasm - when are we going to get treated with a full ASMR typing on this beaut?)

[@Chyrosran22]

I'll add it to the list!

[@coffeepot3123]

Philip, "for once it's really nice to hear you happy for a keyboard". I dunno man, "my first keyboard" really made him happy. ;-)

[@PhilipAlexanderHassialis]

@@coffeepot3123 Tom has given several thumbs up for keyboards but the ones that make him really happy and this comes across in the video are very few and rare. So it's good to see a bit of the good place of keyboards, right? :)

[@coffeepot3123]

@@PhilipAlexanderHassialis MMm-Yes.

[@Willibef]

Proper build quality and nice typing sounds are 👌.

[@WilhelmDriscoll]

Really cool to see more of the relation between Focus and Northgate keyboards.

[@thomasripper8616]

So, Focus are the ancestors of what's widely considered the highest-quality Alps platform in existence, the Omnikey line, yet they built their own keyboards, well... questionably, to be kind. I wonder what's up with that.

[@mhammadalloush5104]

Totes not stolen comment (not that I'm mad)

[@AdrianLassie]

The Blue Red and Green CTRL ALT SHIFT are sweet . That Omni 102 gold badge + N logo is aesthetically god tier.

[@rakslice]

idk where green Alt came from (is it an IBM-ism?) but whenever I see a coloured modifier key, I think of ... 11:50 and there's one now. Of course, those have Red, Green, and Blue on Ctrl, Shift , and Alt, respectively. If you want to know what people were wearing out their F7 key on in 1987, there it is. :D

[@thumbwarriordx]

"Bees bolloknees" Wait.... Dogs bollocks, Bees knees, Bolognese. That's almost a triple pun. That's clever shit.

[@cedricm.4779]

This thing in german ISO would be one of my absolute dream boards. Well I guess it's nearly impossible to find so it will probably remain a dream. Nice Video as always

[@WrenFJ]

Good to see my board (Omron) is in good hands!

[@Chyrosran22]

:D

[@esra_erimez]

"good hands" I see what you did there

[@menuhin]

What a passionate review, I like it!

[@garoslaw]

Oh. I have a very similar looking keyboard, branded as a Podworld PDC-101. The internals differ a lot though... KPT-like switches with a pink slider and a Monterey layout for instance. Cool video nonetheless!

[@VEKTOR4477]

This comment was written on a german ISO-Layout Focus FK-555-A from 1987. Nice Video, very informative for me!

[@xMoac]

I love these videos. Make a video on modern cherry-type switches such as the Holy pandas (gsus, Halo clears) and Zealios v2. Those seem to be the best when it comes to Tactile feel with cherry design.

[@TuxmanXP]

"I'll Focus on this one" already made my day.

[@riflemanm16a2]

That obscure Salad Fingers reference....

[@Chyrosran22]

Haha I was wondering if someone would get it xD .

[@TWPXd]

@chyrosran22 does focus-555 have anti-ghosting and full n-k rollover?

[@SimGunther]

As close to a perfect keyboard as Thomas will allow himself to have without going crazy with a Holy Panda 1800 format programmable keyboard :)

[@gainsborough25]

1:09 Those are some good looking pics of the three gold labels =P

[@Chyrosran22]

Yeah, I wonder who made them ;p .

[@gainsborough25]

@@Chyrosran22 hehehe. Great video, man. I was waiting for this one!

[@caesare5193]

Hello, I found a 555 in an electronic scrap. The problem is that whenever I press a key briefly, it triggers 2-5 characters almost simultaneously. I've already checked the PCB, but couldn't find any cold solder joints or anything like that. What could that be? Thiis iis aan eexxxaammppllee :D

[@chengli1633]

Tulip Monterey K102-A I board, dated 1987/44 has same Focus layout, but with the aditional blank button next to left control switch. The Laser Monterey K102 PCB board dated 1988 was completey redesigned, and had 5 or 6 N-key rollover (the Tulip board had only 2)

[@Chyrosran22]

That's the Monterey layout, not quite the same as the Focus one (although Focus used both). That said, the FK-555's registration is older than 87/44.

[@JohnParkMakes]

I was very excited to pull one of these out of a dumpster last year! The cable was cut off, does anyone know what the wiring order is from the PCB's male header pin connector? I was thinking I could go from that header to a PS/2-to-USB adapter?

[@KingZero69]

love those blue alps...

[@JoeCaughel]

I just acquired a FK-555 and I was hoping there was a way to send you some pics and ask you some questions. Please let me know if this is something we can do. Thanks!!!!!

[@samborton6613]

Hey Thomas, I'm truthfully not sure if you've ever said anything about this, and I know you generally only focus on more vintage (or just really terrible new) keybaords, but i was wondering if you'd ever review a "new/modern" board with, for example, lubed zealios switched or the somewhat infamous holy pandas? Taeha types collab or something could be totally sick, to be honest :)

[@Chyrosran22]

I'd review a Holy Panda keyboard if one ever came my way, of course, but no way I'm going to spend money on a tactile MX keyboard :p .

[@claudiupoenaru5288]

Even if you start reviewing vacuum cleaners, i'll follow , you've got talent!

[@ARTofTY-TV]

It would be cool to see you create an illustrated history of computer keyboards book. Maybe throw it on kickstarter.

[@Chyrosran22]

Someone is already writing a book about keyboards, actually!

[@wkg19591]

@@Chyrosran22 If they decide to do an audio book version, we all know who the best choice for a narrator would be :-)

[@Chyrosran22]

@@wkg19591 :D

[@Techokami]

Going to swap the keycaps around on those two? Put the doubleshots from the Omron onto the Blue Alps one, instead of having it with fading pad printed caps?

[@Chyrosran22]

Nah, I'll keep it original for the while at least. If I ever retired and turned this into a daily driver or something, I might xD .

[@hyperspaced77]

Great sound. Waiting for the ASMR version.

[@Chyrosran22]

It's on the list!

[@matthewhall6288]

I have a Focus 2001 with 2nd generation white Alps and its F7 switch isn't working. Otherwise it's awesome.

[@Honeybearsphone]

Now that is some sexy typing sounds ASMR for me for sure, and I really love your ASMR videos

[@SockyNoob]

Sounds wonderful

[@dmitrynikolaev5743]

Clicky linear switches? I also have clicky linear keyboard in my collection. It comes from soviet computer 'ЕС7927' probably and has magnetic reed switches, which make audible click on upstroke.

[@Chyrosran22]

@@badjonatan That's not strictly speaking true. You just need a vector force of zero.

[@dmitrynikolaev5743]

@@Chyrosran22 @badjonatan is both right and wrong. Of course that switch is not absolutely linear, but it's linear enought to feel linear. At least as linear as MX Red or any other MX linear clone.

[@Chyrosran22]

@@dmitrynikolaev5743 No, it should theoretically definitely be possible to make a genuinely linear switch with a clicky sound.

[@dmitrynikolaev5743]

@@Chyrosran22 no 8-] You need to spend some energy on click sound. And even if you stored some energy in advance you need to launch or unlock the click mechanism.

[@Chyrosran22]

@@dmitrynikolaev5743 If you store energy through a vector that's orthogonal with the main pressure, this wouldn't impact travel. This is also why your magnetic reed switches "click".

[@randomviewer896]

What was that program that you showed at 6:42?

[@Chyrosran22]

Switch Hitter.

[@adriansrealm]

Num lock is the middle light? I can not accept this!

[@moto2185]

nice a focus with blue alps

[@MrMorganwatch]

gotta try ortho again.

[@1daracash]

What keyboard do you use as your daily driver?

[@Chyrosran22]

I have to rotate to test all these boards!

[@deldarel]

Is that a Gant Harrison?

[@Chyrosran22]

It's A Gant, yes. Not quite sure which model xD .

[@kajahtaa]

Anyone tried to hang out in Taiwan and meet up with old folks that worked at Focus?

[@TangerineTypes]

I'm doing a survey, what is the worst soda?

[@Chyrosran22]

Fanta.

[@NoEntertainment]

Fanta Grape soda for me specifically. (I don't know if you're doing a survey for all of the commenters or just Thomas but what the hell, here you go anyways :p)

[@wkg19591]

Ale-8 ....a soft drink beverage popular in Lexington Kentucky, home of Unicomp. The taste is hideous :-)

[@androidtechgeek]

RC Cola

[@IanDunbar1]

@@wkg19591 I really like Ale-8, but then maybe that's because I only drink it a couple of times a year (I don't live in KY myself, but I have family in Maysville). Kinda like a better ginger ale.

[@VladiDusil]

Took you over 6 minutes to drop an F bomb. I am disappoint.

[@axelbostrom3606]

Kinda sucks that all these boards predate the windows key, I use it so damn often I couldn't live without it :/ damn you retro keyboards with your amazing sounds

[@TiagoJoaoSilva]

Sucks even more not having any ISO versions, let alone fiinding keycaps for alternate languages that a) fit the posts and b) don't look like having been chosen by a blind man - I can't even buy a brand-new Matias because of the lack of keycaps.

[@raulsaavedra709]

Yes, Windows itself ought to have a key-mapping functionality to easily map any desired key to the Windows key, I would probably use one of the two Ctrl keys for that. By the way, an Alt Gr is another key that is missing on old keyboards, at least on my model M it is. Some times I wish I had that one as well. I would use the right Alt key for that one

[@Chyrosran22]

Personally, I prefer keyboards without the windows keys. I dislike their functionality, and it makes the Ctrl and Alt buttons both harder to find and harder to hit correctly.

[@raulsaavedra709]

@@Chyrosran22 It's not that I want the separate key physically, I'd just want a straightforward way to make any key I choose behave as the windows key. There are free tools for that, e.g. SharpKeys, which is just a user-friendly interface to write the appropriate mappings to the Windows registry. What I mean is that Windows should offer this functionality itself.

[@raulsaavedra709]

@@Chyrosran22On the other hand there are two Windows key combinations that I do like to use frequently: Win + L, which locks the desktop, and Win + E, which opens a File Explorer

[@takutik785]

I like your voice

[@bashisobsolete.pythonismyn6321]

Sounds like a telex

[@klae1441]

wehs meh rbg

[@typicalshao]

first!

[@ethanoux10]

My mom use to do this fun thing where she took us bowling and then get drunk an beat my dad who has Parkinson's.

[@busski]

nice

[@FindecanorNotGmail]

_Swap_ Caps Lock and Control? No way. I do away with Caps Lock entirely. There are _three_ Control keys on my board!

[@Chyrosran22]

You're a Control freak? :p