Overclock.net banner

Leopold fc660c Keyboard

1K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  Overclock Reviews 
#1 ·
Leopold fc660c Keyboard

Description:
This is a tenkeyless mini(or compact) keyboard made with Topre key switches from Leopold keyboards. It comes with a tenkeyless design and it goes further yet with a compact design of only having 66 keys on the keyboard. The dimensions are smaller than your typical tenkeyless mechanical keyboard which is usally about 14 to 15 inches in length. It's length is 12.9 Inches, its width is 4.37 inches, and it's height is depending on feet down or not, feet down the height is 1.57 inches and without feet the height is 0.98 of an inch tall. So you can understand why this is considered a compact tenkeyless keyboard. Now in the description the color of case and key caps is listed as black but this isn't entirely accurate, because the color is more of a charcoal grey for both case and caps. Now the key caps are pbt but with pad printing legends so eventually the lettering will rub off. The caps themselves feel great with the topre switches while typing, and this is truly a unique and enjoyable experience....and I can see why many mechanical keyboard owners crave and eventually save for these type of keyboards, now I didn't list it as a mechanical keyboard because there is some debate because it is a hybrid between a rubber dome and a mechanical switch. You have the plastic stem(which I believe is call plunger) directly underneath the key cap with a housing, then a steel black plate, and this next part is where there is debate because underneath the housing a plunger and then back plate is a rubber dome, which then there is a conical spring underneath that rubber dome giving some resistance to the key press, and then we have the circuit board. Sorry if that explanation was somewhat trivial but you can go to Elitekeyboards.com and check out this nice little diagram they have on the switch and what not. So for arguments sake I will refer to this switch as a mechanical one because of the stem and spring used for the initial key press. It is of high quality and is meant for comfort while long sessions of typing. Other keyboards in comparison to this one are the topre Realforce keyboard, the Happy Hacking Keyboard Pro 2(hhkb pro 2), and the Type Heaven topre switch keyboard(a bit on the cheaper side as far as topre keyboards go) I hope this description was an adequate one for those who have yet to read about and or use a topre switch keyboard.
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#2 ·
This is a great edition to the Topre keyboard collection a slightly more affordable price point then most that I have seen.

review by travellerr

Topre switch keyboards do not come cheap, and the difference in price between a topre keyboard and a cherry mechanical keyboard is typically what you would see going from a standard rubber dome keyboard to a cherry mx mechanical keyboard. Now there is the budget consumer options such as the Type Heaven topre board(which cuts down on some quality and switches to abs key caps from pbt key caps) saves you about a 100 usd. The other option comes at you in a tenkeyless compact keyboard(with pbt key caps) the Leopold fc660c is an excellent buy for those want the quality of a topre keyboard in a tenkeyless for factor it is a great middle man in the price between the lowest topre keyboard and the highest. It comes with a 66 key layout eliminating the page up and down, print screen, scrLK etc. and implements these keys through the function option with your letter keys. Now I currently own this keyboard and I will say imo it is a lovely keyboard both in feel and quality. and though I cannot compare this keyboard to some of the richy riches of keyboards such as the topre Realforce having never used one. I can say this keyboard is not lacking in terms of quality, comfort, and functionality. It does come with rubberized grips on the bottom to limit moving and sliding on one's desk, and it also includes to feet to the back underside of the keyboard to prop it up for a different typing height and angle(which also have rubber feet, which in my opinion is a nice touch). Now this keyboard will not be for everyone seeing as it is a tenkeyless design(no number pad, making it more ergonomic for some users) and it is compact which some people may or may not like. It does come with a mostly uniform 45g resistance through the keyboard barring the spacebar(which can be altered by removing the spring under the key cap) which is also different from the standard Realforce which is variable weighted resistance. And lastly the keycaps are a pbt plastic, but to make the keyboard more affordable for buyers they pad printed the legends instead of your more expensive dye-sublimated pbt caps on the Realforce and the HHBK Pro 2(another compact topre keyboard). Subtracting the quality of the legends the keys do have a great quality to them. All around I would recommend this keyboard though it is come to the average buyer for around 180usd where as the Realforce comes typically at 250usd and the HHKB Pro2 comes at 260, so if the higher quality print of the keycaps is not an issue then I would suggest this as a good buy for a topre keyboard. Now the one down side to having topre keyboard over a mechanical cherry mx board is the lack of keycap options and the price. Now the fact is from what I have been told through topre keyboard sellers is that they(Topre) have discontinued the producing of the custom key cap sets for topre keyboards. So, until they can find a fix or another possible producer of the key caps...what you out there online is what is there. I hope this helps those of you who did not know about the topre keyboards and especially the Leopold fc660c.

ProsCons
High qaulity build, pbt key caps, tenkeyless compact(preference), topre switches uniform 45g(preference)Pad printed key caps, compact(debatable), expensive(though more affordable then most topre keyboards

Ratings
Overall5
 
#3 ·
This is a great edition to the Topre keyboard collection a slightly more affordable price point then most that I have seen.

review by travellerr
I will have some newer pictures of this keyboard with how it looks modding it with Realforce dye-sublimation key caps. Only, because if you want to have the whole of the keyboard modded with the nicer and or colored key caps you have to kind of put a certain few keys differently on the bottom row. This is because most of the keys on this keyboard are standard size, except the right shift and the bottom row is off a bit because of the dedicated arrow keys. I modded my Leopold fc660c with a set of blank red key caps(barring the wasd which I got earlier on from Elitekeyboards.com, which happen to be red with legends on top and arrows on the front.) that I was able to find time to replace all the pad printed keys today. I think it definitely looks pretty good, and even looking down at it now I do not mind the bottom rows couple of slight spacing between a few of the keys.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top