I am trying to replace a Northgate keyboard. Does anybody who has purchased a Legend have and comparisons they can give between the two keyboards?

Hi Michael,

It seems that the company who has re-created the Northgate line under a different name only specifies that it contains "Mechanical click/tactile key switches" but nothing more specific. Deck Keyboards use Cherry MX style switches which are mechanical linear keyswitches. If your Northgate keyboard had tactile switches our boards will feel slightly different (as a side note we do not offer tactile switches as an option).

Hope this helps!

I appreciate the information. I was hoping since this is such a high-end keyboard, some of you customers would have replaced their Northgate with one of yours. Then I could get a direct comparison of how the keys "feel."

The deck keys take about double the pressure to activate a key compared to the northgate and do not click at the moment the keystroke is registered. Given these are linear keyswitches, they do not have feedback to indicate a keystroke. For this reason it is quieter than the northgate.

I think some people might like this; also linear keyswitches are generally insanely long lasting (even longer lasting than tactile keyswitches).

Personally I think the keys take too much pressure to activate. Using the Deck Legend I miss keys because I am not used to striking them that hard. I prefer as little pressure as possible (provided there is an adequate key travel).

I have since returned my Deck.

I am not trying to be negative. The keyboard was very well made and looked even nicer than on the website. Key feel is a matter of personal opinion.

Actually if you compare the specs to the newly recreated Northgate (now under the name Avant), the switches in a Deck keyboard take less force to operate:

Northgate = 70 grams +/- 25 grams
Deck = 60 grams +/- 20 grams (converted from ounces)


Not a problem, we appreciate the feedback. We also understand that key feel is a very personal issue which is why we have our 30 day money back guarantee - a feature that you definetly will not find with many (if any) other keyboards out there.

You may want to keep an eye on our site for 2008, we are considering a change from the linear switches to tactile. More info will be given if we do go ahead with the change.

Moved here:

http://www.deckkeyboards.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=426

Thanks for the feedback, we will keep that in mind. Your comments seem to be shared by many of our (potential) customers which is why we are considering the change. I have created a new topic/poll in the 'Suggestions' forum so we don't hijack this thread so to speak.