Commodore 64 keyboard review (Mitsumi Type KKR hybrid switch)
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- čas přidán 17. 01. 2019
- Skip to 9:48 for a typing demonstration.
One of the most well-known vintage computers is under the knife today! We get to look at linear Mitsumi hybrid switches, and a ton of classic computing history. Hope you enjoy the video! :)
My keyboard reviews: bit.ly/1TbOtft
My switch teardowns: bit.ly/2C1QGHz
My TOP X videos: bit.ly/2FmpZfd
My XL typing demos: bit.ly/2OoAW3w
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 and I'm typing on a Commodore 64 right now. I won't lie to you, this sucks arse. But then again, compared to some of its competitors, I'm sure it's not all that bad xD ." - Věda a technologie
The font's called ITC Avant Garde Gothic, and I just realized I also need a keyboard with that font…
7:56. As a huge Commodore fan alive in the 1980s, I can report that the model that you are reviewing was the Commodore 64C. It's got the same functionality as the original Commodore 64 model, but the case was updated to look like its big brother, the Commodore 128.
Sometimes the commodore keys press better when they are cleaned. When I got mine used, the first thing I did was take off every key and clean them individually. You would be surprised how much it can help!
That seems to be common on old keyboards.
Espically with ALPS SKCM switches and whatnot.
But I've used other old dusty and musty keyboards that worked just fine, so I suppose some switches are just more sensitive to dirt and dust than others.
Does lubing keys help any?
@@nathanlamaire if you're going to lube them. Then you should clean them too and see how that works out.
I love your profile art man
@@LaskyLabs I think switches like Cherry MX are pretty resilient against dust
Cool video.
You used one of the very latest C64 keyboards.
The earlier ones had the graphical symbols printed on the front of the key caps and the keycaps were double shot ABS.
Probably done to reduce the cost of production.
They also redesigned the (computer's) PCB to massively reduce the amount of chips used.
I'm pretty sure they reduced the cost of production far below the $135 in the late '80s, early '90s.
I think they sold it for $149 in the late '80s.
Btw... you can actually use the C64 keyboard on a PC. There is a board called "Keyrah" which interfaces it to USB
Watching this reminded me how YLE (finnish BBC equavalent) used to radio broadcast C64 programs over the airwaves and one could just record them on tape casette.
The first time my gramma accidentally tuned into those broacasts..well she thought that the devil had taken over her radio. The noise was actually pretty damn horrible.
I have also heard about that and some people said that it was a good idea but unfortunately the recorded tapes did not always work. The recording had to be perfect without anything causing problems with the radio signal. It would be interesting to see someone using one of the tapes that they recorded from the radio show and see how it works with C64.
No, that noise is beautiful!
@@Pehmokettu nice thought, but the longevity of the tapes are not very good. I'm remembering this from the US, not Finland, but generally direct recordings on home computer tape recorders wore out quickly and often didn't last ten years. These aren't digital signal with, they were analog. I'm sure 35 years would be hard on even unplayed tapes. Of course you're right about the variable quality of the broadcast. Some of this is obvious, but I'm not sure how old you are. I'm old enough to have lived through all of it and find it unlikely to work.
@@squirlmy I'm not sure why you had such bad experience with tapes "wearing out"; amongst my retrocomputing group we've bought literally _hundreds_ of games on tape dating from the early and mid 1980s and had very, very few problems with them.
While the signals are analogue, they're generally just square waves at around 2400 and 1200 cycles per second, with most systems reading that via a zero-crossing detector, so there's really not a whole lot to go wrong with them. So long as the playback speed is ok, they can suffer quite a bit of distortion or high frequency loss without an issue.
(The one exception for distortion is compression designed for music, such as MP3; that actually changes the signal in some pretty drastic ways that are fine for music, but in my experience are very likely to make computer data audio unreadable.)
*Are you keeping up with the Commodore*
*'cause the Commodore is keeping up with you*
Thanks a lot for reviewing this, Thomas.
I believe this is a actually a Commodore 64c that you're reviewing today, modelled on the Commodore 128, which is a cost reduced version that used top pad printed keycaps. The original breadbox Commodore 64 however used top double shot keycaps for the main characters, with the symbols ninja pad printed on the fronts. In later years, Commodore did have a tendency to grab whatever spare parts were at hand, irrespective of the version numbers of the parts, so long as they could be cobbled together. So some of the more recent breadboxes may also have had C64c all pad printed keycaps rather than the originals. Probably the same mediocre switches throughout though.
There is a model difference between the famous "breadbox" C64 and the one you looked at for this video: the model you have is a Commodore 64C, which was released in 1986 using a modified version of the Commodore 128's case meant to accommodate the C64 keyboard instead of the C128 keyboard, as Commodore's "budget" offering compared to their high-end Commodore 128.
Awesome video btw, I've been interested in the Commodore 64 for a while and was wondering what the typing experience was on the legendary computer.
I was going to say the same, before I saw your comment, and maybe it's just bad memory, but I think original bread bin models where a bit stiffer then later C64C models I had an original 83 bread bin model that got fried by the PSU, and so my uncle gave me a spare C64C he had along with 2 1571 disk drives after upgrading to the C128. in 88.
@@CommodoreFan64 The C64/64C and C128 were before my time (I was 1 year old when CBM went under and the C64 was discontinued) but they still fascinate me. Such an interesting piece of computing history, especially with how low Commodore was able to drive the price while still making a profit, and how an 8-bit computer was able to stand its ground against the rise of 16- and 32-bit computing. I'd love to get my hands on one of them some day.
uk@@SnowyNowak I was born in July 81, and 2 years old when my father bought my sister(5 years older than me) a VIC-20, and disk drive after my mother, and him got divorced about the same time, so I was in my teens by the time Commodore went under, and until the IBM clones made it affordable in the mid/late 90's to where even a kid with an after school job could build a computer for about $500 the C64, and later Amiga line(mostly UK/Europe as they refused to price cut here in the US on Amiga) where the best value on the market.
Also if you can get your hands on a 64C with a newer PSU they will last you a long time, as older models came with a PSU that can go bad overtime causing over voltage issues, and can fry the computer, but there are some modern solutions to fix it just search Commodore 64 PSU overvoltage fix, and there are some SD card to C64 adapters that mimic the 1541/1571 disk drive, as the original drives had their own sets of problems back in the day, I can't personally speak for the tape drives as I never owned one, always used floppy disk on my computers.
@@CommodoreFan64 Alright, I'll look at getting a 64C when I do eventually get a C64. Thanks c:
BTW. The vent grating on top of the case is the same not only on the C64C and C128 but also on the Amiga 500, 600 and 1200 - only with different spacing of the vertical ribs and slightly different hues sometimes.
The C64's price drops over time is also because the innards were revised several times, with new chips and reduced component count (and PCB size).
The most famous is that there are two versions of the sound chip (SID). The first one hadn't been made exactly to spec, which was "rectified" in the later one. Some games made for the first chip have music or effects that sound different on C64s with the second chip.
Loved the C64, still have an original COLOUR monitor, 5,25inch floppy disc drive, expert cartridge, final II and III cartridges, a ton of ZAPP magazines and a shit load of games. Man that little thing gave me a lot of fun growing up. At the time Microprose which did simulation games was a no brainer to buy, every single game of theirs was great.
To this day, every time I see a C64 it's catnip to me. Too bad you never had the C64 experience.
Tramiel's tremendous triumph
@6:15 Looking forward to Sinclair ZX Spectrum keyboard review. Even worse than that one should be the ZX81's keyboard, although I understand that one won some design award(s). I like the look of the ZX81 keyboard so much that I printed it enlarged and have had it as a poster on one of my kitchen cabinets for quite some time now :) The pdf of the ZX81's keyboard layout can be found online
I've struggled through writing a few BASIC programs on the ZX81. It's very painful due to the need to look at it the entire time you're typing, and the symbolic BASIC means you're constantly using alternate key functions which require reading glasses for me to read off the teeny keyboard.
Yeah, I was going to mention the ZX80/ZX81 keyboard. That's the reason that the Spectrum could get away with such a terrible keyboard: it was still a joy compared to the ZX81.
The cursor keys can be forgiven when you actually see the user interface and common usage for the C64. I treasured my C64 for many years and used it during almost every waking hour I wasn't at work (and sometimes when I was) and I can't honestly recall ever actually using the cursor keys. I'd forgotten it had them. Alphanumerics, punctuation, shift, enter, and backspace was about it. The rest was joystick input.
That's for playing games, but if you're programming in BASIC they cursor keys were typically quite heavily used. And you do get used to them eventually, but at least initially they are a nightmare.
Thank you for that concise summary of the wild 'n woolly history of the C64. I was a Commodore kid and to this day they're still my favorite computer company.
Found this channel watching reviews for keyboards to buy, well... now Im super interested in keyboards in general and am binge watching your vids. Thanks for the new hobby! Great content keep it up :)
Thanks, glad you're enjoying the videos! :)
This is exactly what I wanted. I often look up videos about these vintage computers partially because I am curious as to what type of switch the keyboards uses. I then find myself disappointed when they never mention how the keyboard works at all. Please do more of these old computers.
I have to say that I honestly really like all the information you include in your videos
For those who are interested in content related to old computers of the 70's and 80's, yall should really check out the 8-Bit Guy. I don't work for him, but I thought his content was similar in some ways to Chyrosran's.
Last year, I had the chance to go to a meetup held at a vintage computer "museum" (really, it was a meetup too), and there were quite a few very clean mitsumi hybrid boards there. I actually quite enjoy the feel of the almost dual rate springs, and they're not half bad feeling on a NIB board.
Look up "Keyrah" it's a board that converts many 8 bit era keyboards to be used over usb. The C64 is one of them,it's pretty well just plug and play.
wouldn't everyone want the reverse instead? The ZX Spectrum keys had the nickname "dead flesh keys". Not pleasant to use!
Glad I found this channel. this is amazing content.
You did it! I asked for something and someone listened! I used a TI99/4A. I used one since I was 12. I still program on it 34 year later. The ability to program in assembly language and it’s 16 bit architecture holds my attention. Your not wrong about the keyboard. The spacing and feel is awful.
The 2-key cursor layout is bizarre, but is no problem for those of us that grew up with it. It was the same on the Commodore PET, VIC-20, C64, and C128 so we had plenty of time. My channel's full of examples of me "cursoring around" as I demonstrate programming and more on real C64 and C128 computers.
Ahh, I had the original rounded C64, and also the wedge shaped one after that.
Actually had my 2nd C64 stored in a cupboard until a few years ago, and gave it to a retro computing collector friend of mine.
Also had the ZX Spectrum. Broke it the same day my dad got it for us (was arguing with sis who was going to play it and dropped it).
The symbols printed in front of the letters are part of the petscii character set and used to draw graphics when not in pixel graphics mode. Search CZcams for "nothing but petscii" for an example of how the demoscene treats character mode.
Is it a sign that I've watched too many of these late at night when I instinctively whistle along with the intro jingle?
Really been looking forward to this one.
No, just that you have good taste in jingles. :-)
Do do do do do ddooooit
Great video as always!
As a wee Polish lad, this was my first computer. I have some very fond memories.. .and also some not very good ones with this, like for example having to adjust the head on the cassette player with a mini screwdriver to get anything to load properly... yea, fun times.
The CRSR keys aren't _that_ bad. Rest three fingers on Shift and the two keys and you would press Down and Right the same as on an inverse-T arrow cluster.
Up and Right are with Shift. Once you have got used to them, they are second nature to you. Much better than keyboards with four keys in a row on top of the keyboard, or... with a pair of keys on either side.
Right I was completely fluent with them from spending all summer indoors fiddling with game listings. They exercised a sort of control dexterity which would be invaluable in later life as a helicopter pilot... I just narrowly missed that calling.
Despite all it's flaws, for what is was (affordable home machine + quite capable compared to competitors) the keyboard was pretty good imo. In fact I'd prefer the feel of the C64 over the generic rubber dome trash provided with modern machines unless you want to spend additional cash.
To be honest I put your videos on when I work - for me they are like weird asmr and somehow boosts my productivity
Back in the days i got used to this 2 button cursor navigation. As this was the only option you didn’t know any different method. So everyone developed a muscle memory for it.
Great video as always, and that's a later revision called the C64C which was a cost reduced version, when the factory retooled for the Commodore C128, and phased out the older molds. If you can ever get your hands on a OG bread bin model, and VIC-20 please do a side by side with a clean keyboard, because if memory serves me correctly the original bread bin models have a bit stiffer key switches, with thicker keycaps that are not pad printed.
what modern day mx switch is the most similar in feel and experience to this mitsumi kkr switch?
A Commodore 64 just went up for sale at an antique store near me for $100. I think it comes as a bundle with games and things (detached cable included). I saw it and said “that looks like something I’d see on Chyrosran22...”
i do love it when you compare it to a model f because i use a model f on my modern computer its my first mechanical keyboard
2 in the morning? Chyrosran vid? Who needs sleep :D
Man. thanks! That takes me back :-) Somewhere around 1981 the physics department at my university gave me a 300 dollar prize. A vic 20 cost 299.99 so off I went. My first keyboard :-)
Regarding the nav cluster, it was clunky at first only having two buttons but when you pressed shift it would toggle the other direction. You'd get used to it, it was still better than attempting to use the speccy at all
Great review. I wish my modern keyboard was so comfortable as the one of the c64 I have. I don't understand the critics people do to the c64 keyboard. It's very good and much better quality than many today.
The vertical arrow key going down, but going up when pressed with shift, is very similar to tabbing and shift-tabbing.
"It's like comparing a grape to a bottle of wine."
Yeah no give me the grapes.
I believe the KPQ-type switches were used, by Commodore, for the big-box Amiga keyboards, such as the one that came with Amiga 3000 (which, incidentally, I think has a pretty good keyboard - and still works 30 years after I bought the machine (seems like it was just yesterday).
6:15 Apparently, some ZX Spectrum computers(not the chiclet ones that are shown here), came with 1st gen Fujitsu Leaf Springs. Specifically the dK'tronics version.
I pity poor souls who did not experience it. Because it was easy and comfortable to use. Feel was wonderful, more ergonomic than most keyboards today.
That childhood experience does include (for some of us) programming plotters through mathematical functions. Learning assembly.
Coming with creative ways to deal with memory limitations and on the fly data loading from disk drive. (Which is btw stand-alone computer, too.) Creating 3d graphics games. Actually coding music, driven by mathematical principles, we miss so much. And more.
Secondly, those who understood what kind of HW C64c has, appreciate genius of some game makers. Worlds larger and richer, than games which today take gigabytes. Stories worth exploring. Back then, people understood what they were doing. Nowadays, they throw pasta at wall and look at print it leaves as it falls down. (That's what neural networks are, anyway. Gigabytes to terabytes of mostly randomly arranged code logic. Created without understanding of data.)
Ok i was waiting for this...finally
Yes, as far as 1980's 8-bit personal computer keyboards go, Commodore's were definitely above average. Weirdly, their use of pad printing for the key cap legends and PETSCII graphics symbols did not ever wear for me, at all. And I used the hell out of my C=64!
In the early 80's I somehow broke a key stem... I found a new replacement keyboard at my local Radio Shack for $4.99. It was just the keyboard and its wire bundle cable and internal connector, in a plastic bag with a cardboard tag stapled to it, hanging on a big wall display rack.
This is right up my alley..... I love these tye of keyboards. Not a switch, yet it has springs. To me the best keyboard of all times, are eighter a500 mitsumi or C64.
I have 2 ti99-4a systems and they both work perfectly to this day
I had played around with the 64 and Vic 20 when I was younger.
7:50 "two-way incompatible with cherry MX"
what does that mean?
Please do more review of these old computers with the keyboard built in. I want a ZX Spectrum keyboard review
Yeah, ミツミ mi-tsu-mi.
The computer you have is the C64c, the 90's cost reduced version
the original one with a tan/brown case and black keycaps is known as the the "Breadbin" or just C64.
could you do a review on the tcc brown switch from the roccat suora fx rgb?
Oh my god I want the Shift Lock switch in my caps lock now, I would fidget with that all day
Thanks for the history lecture
Grew up on a hand-me-down Commodore 64.... ah, DOS and floppy drives :) I wish I could remember the monitor we used for so many years to later plug our N64 and Saturn into before we finally got a 30" rear projector TV
7:57 I've actually got one of these; the keys are more of a dark brown, like chocolate or coffee beans. (Signature Plastics' SA Filco set comes pretty close to the colorway, as far as modern stuff goes.) Those brown caps are actually double-shot and quite well made. The deep, relatively small spherical indentations are retro-tastic, but I find them complete shit for typing... and the switches in my example don't help. Squeaky, creaky, heavy, and a bit gritty. Not the worst thing ever for hunting-and-pecking... but trying to touch-type on it is misery. Still - it's one of my favorite pieces because, well... just look at it!
There's an alternate universe where a Model F or Model M came with an 8 bit computer inside.
A classic.
I don't think I've ever seen one with the print worn off.
Thomas, you are awesome.
Cheers mate :D .
I've always wondered: how did you get the scar on your left middle finger?
I karate-chopped three glass stopcocks off a Schlenk line while trying to pull of a piece of rubber tubing xD .
Have you heard about the Kailh BOX Pinks? The medium-weighting / medium clickbar switches?
No! I'm going to look into it!
@@Chyrosran22 NovelKeys really hasn't been promoting them that much, the only reason I know about them is because I was just randomly browsing their switch catalogue
@@JackOfHarts96 Funny, I only heard of them today also. I just happened to be browsing novelkey's site because a friend of mine is getting into mechanical keyboards
There's only one cassette port. The port to the right is the User Port which is (or at least, was) most commonly used for hooking up to a modem.
Hi, could you ask to test the Nemeio. I'm really curious to know how it compares to the Optimus.
Wow, are these things getting popular then? xD
Could you please please please elaborate on incompatibility with Cherry MX?
I love those oldest type keycaps of VIC20....
The mount is different and the stems are too thick.
IS there a keyboard you would recommend for an arthritic person that must type a lot. I have difficulty controlling how hard I hit the keys. I have worn out two keyboards on my lap top. My hands begin to hurt after a couple hours of typing
I don't have any experience with arthritis. Does this mean you would want a keyboard with very light or very stiff switches?
@@Chyrosran22 Light would be preferable. The very shallow keys on lap top keyboard also appears to aggravate the problem
@@zeeppo_the_clown You'll want a keyboard with light, full-travel switches, then. Linear would probably give the least discomfort. Try something with MX Red or MX Silent Red and see if that feels nice to you.
@@Chyrosran22 thank you very much for the advice
@@Chyrosran22 Thank you for the advice.
Thank you for posting this video. A lot of incredible detail especially given that you never used a commodore 64. By the time I got my commodore 64 it came with a 1541 disk drive but the idea that radio stations used to broadcast software that could be recorded onto a cassette it’s kind of mind blowing to me. 7:28 Kind of like public Wi-Fi that is giving away free software in the early 1980s. What is this only done in the UK or the US as well or all over the globe?
If you ever do a ZX review let me know ... I have a bunch of 3rd party/clone keyboards for the computer, of which some are reasonably decent ... while others are deceptively worse (most famously the "Didaktik M" which is probably the king of keybinding). I wouldn't mind loaning them to you for a few weeks if you decide to do a video.
I also really appreciate your downright honest verdict for the commodore ... it's not a horrible keyboard when compared to other homecomputers at the time, but by no means a good one. It should also be noted that the keyboard for the VIC-20 went through various revisions with the earliest being reworked CBM keyboards (usually found on commodore's business line of computers) and the latest being the one shown. The earlier boards have nicer keycaps (even partially double shot I think) and are quite a bit noisier, but also feel a lot mushier and have some problems with binding.
Linear hybrid Mitsumi switches are my favorite! Best keyboards in the world. My Amiga 600 is the same.
Glorious zx spectrum 48k keyboard next?
You assume correctly about those nav keys. Playing Elite on it was interesting, to say the least.
XD
I liked using the C64 keyboards. But I really like (and use currently) and IBM Model M (made in 84).
To clarify something right, Apple II is not even a competitor of Commodore 64, but rather a competitor of Commodore PET and Tandy TRS-80. On that time we called all of those "A Big Three", since they are the biggest competitor of general purpose computers. Three of them, on that time, was very expensive and mostly intended to be use for business and educational. The real era of 'home computer' starts with Atari 400 series, Commodore VIC-20, TI-99/4A, Tandy CoCo, and ZX-80/81, the smallest competitor from UK. Commodore 64 is a successor of VIC-20, which improves almost every aspect in terms of features and media capabilities. Even that Commodore completely dominated home market with its C64 for many many years, but it also dramatically loses the market share for both business and educational market from Apple and IBM, and later died from the market.
8:27 For fellow C64/C64C users, three-button cursor operation is not that much of a big deal. Most computers on that era don't even have a standard of what look that keyboard should be, that means most of C64 users get used to the navigation method easily. Virtually, all games on C64/C64C use this type of navigation layout before WASD-style controlling layout would be designed, excluding some of action games that require joy-sticks to operate them since they knew that the navigation method gigantically sucks for the genre.
I would love to see a review of the Razer Huntsman. Seeing as how Razer keyboards are infamous for their poor build quality, I actually like the huntsman, since it isn’t a normal mechanical keyboard. But, I would still enjoy watching a review of this keyboard from you.
Mitsumi KKR keycaps may not work on cherry switches but they do in fact work on Alps SKCC switches
Now you need to do a 48k spectrum. Lol
You truly want him to experience hell.... then again the ZX80/81 keyboard would be WORSE. The Spectrum keyboard was an improvement on those!
@@truckerallikatuk almost said zx81 but decided that was in fact a picture of a keyboard as opposed to a keyboard. now i think of it i cant really remember whether my spectrum plus 3 keyboard was any good or not.
What about the ones after the rights were purchased by Amstrad, like the ZX+2 (I could be wrong, I'm an American)
@@pixelplays964 yes the plus 2 and plus 3 both had 'real' keyboards.
@@pixelplays964 There was the Spectrum+ with the QL keyboard, and then there were the Amstrad versions which were based on the CPC design.
I loved my TI99/4A. Actually, i loved all computers. Keyboard wise, these days i will only use a Leopold FC660C with silenced keys. In a word, solid. A sensible HHKB.
One way to improve these switches is to replace the springs with mitsumi buckling rubber sleeve.
C O Wait, - what? Has anyone done this mod?
XalphYT i did it on mine, works great - except you cannot do it for the spacebar(it uses a different spring for its deeper travel). A potential solution is to put some spacer to make the sleeves higher...i stopped there.
What do you think about the outemu sky switches?
I've got a few loose ones lying around, but not a whole board of them. But really, it's just a tactile MX-type switch, isn't it?
I'm a little too young to have owned one of those as a kid but it looks like the best "toy" ever for all the nerdy kids in the 80s. Besides, a lot of famous programmers had one of those when they were kids.
You're reviewing a commodore 64C which is a later model that was sold aside the commodore 128 that has the same case design, the original ones with the tan case and black caps are nicknamed "breadbin"
You should probably try to get a breadbin since those use thicker double shot caps and are just made better, you have to remember that by the time the 64c came out, it only costed $150 from the original breadbin's $600 price
I used the commodore128 at first, then later a c64 was bought to me around 1990 I think. I mostly used the joystick for it, and some minor use for coding small basic programs for doing glossary homework and the like, as well as loading and saving stuff from the either tape, but mostly floppy. You wrote LOAD"$",8 I think. To get a feel for what it was like there are emulators like frodo out there, but the experience with the unit, the keyboard and loadtimes will be different.
You are mistaken for thinking that the prints are not very durable on these machines. I collect C64s for some time now and I challege you to show me a single C64 keyboard that shows a worn off printing. Either brown/black or white. I have never seen one to this day. They even survive quite rude cleanings and retrobright sessions without a scrath, compared to the Atari XE or ST keyboard prints which may suffer severely in the process.
I wish the Commodore 64 would have had a layout like the Commodore 16. At least the C16 keyboard had an Escape key and separate cursor keys.
“Computers for the masses not the classes.” Jack Tramiel was literally sent into hell (Auschwitz concentration camp)when he was a teenager, however, against all odds, he survived it, and became a self-made business tycoon; he contributed so much to the computer industry. I hope there could be a biographical movie to tell his lifetime story.
In
czcams.com/video/yz-ptLXtNbc/video.html
his son Leonard tells a lot about him.
Oh, oh, oh, do a Commodore PET chiclet keyboard teardown, please.
No need to fear, Matthew is here.
should try and get it running. There are a fair share of great games on the 64 that are worth playing
Oh wow finally
please review the new Razer Huntsman Elite
The Mitsumi keyboard factory, in which this keyboard were made in, is actually located in my hometown of Batu Pahat
Here is the location of the factory:
maps.app.goo.gl/YEkzXTKMrdnM5X8m7
Sadly the factory no longer manufacture keyboards as they now focus on full scale semi-conductor manufacturing.
Mitsumi also used to own a smaller factory - called the Konwa Plaza in Segamat, Johor (the city where I live) but it was closed in 2011 following budget cuts done by Mitsumi Corp.
Source: my mother's friend was a former employee at the old Mitsumi factory.
Based on the keyfeel, I would rather call this an exponential switch than linear. It gets stiffer and stiffer untill it bottoms out.
I had typed on several types of Mitsumi hybrid switches and while, yes - some of them are light and smooth, they still feel like garbage to type on (while feeling perfectly fine if you just test them) due to that phenomenon you've mentioned. It has to be one of my least favourite switch types of all time.
And when it comes to that nav - I configured it that way on my Ergodox EZ and I really liked it for text formatting. It was useless while gaming though.
*It's like comparing a grape to a bottle of wine*
That had me.
You should talk to the 8 bit guy for information on the C64. He can answer all your questions. The unit you have is one of the later C64's.
the black / brown keycaps are doubleshot with printed legends on the front. here are some pictures imgur.com/a/TXctsEx
The C64 had one of the best keyboards of all the old 8bit machines. Pretty easy to clean and repair too.
This is also why C64 is the best selling home computer in the 80s
The C64s main 8-bit rival was the Sinclair ZX Spectrum 🤦🏻♂️
UK or US? I had a TI99/4A, although my friend had a Spectrum 48k... Those were the days 😂 ... actually, earlier, another friend had a ZX81 with a 16k memory expansion. These days, I play in the cloud with Kubernetes and data... I wouldn't change a thing.