deskthority

Got this keyboard a few weeks ago. I think this is one of the keyboards which was distributed by KNP Technologies here in Europe.

It has two USB-ports the side comparable to the Matias Keyboards.

The keycaps are translucent.

This keyboard produces normal keycodes (e.g. you don't have to press Fn+F1 to get the F1 keycode)

The black USB cable isn't original. The old one was translucent and yellow from nicotine The keyboard was very dirty when I got it: Keycaps:

Some internal pictures:

Now that I puked over pics 6 and 7 I somehow feel much better.

Once cleaned that's really a very nice base for a Matias mod! Nice keycaps for Alps, too!

Where do you find those things!? :[
Neat keyboard, definitely

Added wiki-page: http://deskthority.net/wiki/SMK-8112JU

@dondy: ebay...

must be me searching for the wrong stuff D:

FCC grantee code "KM9" is the defunct keyboard Taiwanese manufacturer Strong Man, and SMK in this context is Strong Man Keyboard. It's not the same as Showa Musen Kogyo, the Japanese SMK. If it's a Mac keyboard, chances are it's Strong Man: they made a lot of Macintosh keyboards with Alps switches, including the Tactile Pro 2 (which is why it was a disaster). I don't know that SMK ever badged a keyboard, but they were an OEM for Tulip and Sony.

Is the bottom of polyethylene or something?

BTW, you might want to mention that it's a plastic plate. Normally, it's steel ("iron" on Japanese websites) but in rare cases it's plastic or even aluminium. (I need to post a photo showing the plastic plate in my lightweight Nan Tan white Alps board.)

Typing on one right now. Cheapest mechanical keyboard available new in the US. Don't buy it on eBay, it's probably cheaper brand new. The board can theoretically be remapped in hardware by programming the small SPI EEPROM that connects to the controller.

Despite the plastic plate, it types very well. The USB port is supposedly 1.1 compatible, but does not want to work with any of my flash drives. I have some mods planned for this thing, as well as a tear down with pictures.

EDIT: Also, not sure why you say the power button isn't a "mechanical switch". It's a linear microswitch, just not a typical keyboard type switch.

You won't find this new, only new old stock. SMK have been out of business for years: they were Diatec's OEM for Filco keyboards, and after SMK closed down (or maybe this was one reason why they went bust — Diatec pulling their orders?), Diatec switched over to Costar and introduced the Majestouch line.

I have a plastic plate Nan Tan board (complicated white Alps) and I don't have any issue with the plastic plate, although it makes a huge difference to the weight of the board. Without all that sheet metal, it feels very cheap and light. I had a scissor board that weighed more (although that was a very solid, sturdy keyboard — too bad the switches sucked rocks — mushomatic, sadly).

Daniel Beardsmore wrote:You won't find this new, only new old stock.

Yes, new old stock, to be precise. They are in *brand new* condition.

Daniel Beardsmore wrote:FCC grantee code "KM9" is the defunct keyboard Taiwanese manufacturer Strong Man, and SMK in this context is Strong Man Keyboard. It's not the same as Showa Musen Kogyo, the Japanese SMK. If it's a Mac keyboard, chances are it's Strong Man: they made a lot of Macintosh keyboards with Alps switches, including the Tactile Pro 2 (which is why it was a disaster). I don't know that SMK ever badged a keyboard, but they were an OEM for Tulip and Sony.

Hey Daniel, thanks for correcting that here, as well as in the wiki!

The other way to look at it, is that it would be quite funny if SMK were making keyboards with someone else's switches ;-)

I've just dropped Datadesk a line to see if they can confirm the OEM for the standard SMK platform used by Datadesk, Sony and Tulip.

I have a lot of questions for Strong Man, but that would require corporate séance …