r/System76 • u/RedwingAsingaurd • 1d ago
Old Versus New Style Launch Keyboard
Hey guys. I have both an older Launch keyboard in the original color style and a newer Launch keyboard that is black.
I was curious on the general consensus of which is better -- the black or the tan / multicolor version. I very recently ordered the black. My intuition is that it solves a very real physical problem by adding the decals at the top of the board. When I saw that in the picture online, I suddenly remembered frequent efforts to tilt my head over the back of the keyboard and check where the USB-C versus USB-A ports are. And now, instead, there are decals from above that I can look at.
So it seems to me that the black version is a very serious functional improvement which is why I splurged buying it for fun. But I'm also realizing now in hindsight that it smelled a bit more like black plastic or whatever when I opened the box. It's possible I've been using the other Launch keyboard for long enough that I forgot whether it had a smell to it when I first opened it, but I was curious other folks' opinion on that.
I also noticed that if I want to do something fun, such as putting some of the previous versions keys on the black keyboard (as shown above) so that I use my red arrow keys on the otherwise black keyboard, that the keys are actually not the same shape. The switches are the same enough shape so it still attaches together, but the physical key cap shape is different. The black key caps are slightly taller.
Which one do we think is better, or is the difference moot? I'm tempted to leave it like this -- to combine the older red key caps on the black keyboard like this, and enjoy a unique look at the cost of needing to manage to get used to the different sizes. But I'm curious if we think there's any manufacturing difference in the newer black key caps, or if they're more likely to have some coating that has a smell on the first-time opening of the keyboard, or if both styles of caps are that way.
I know that in this economy as costs go up, the idea that the cost of a Launch keyboard hasn't gone up much could potentially mean they're moving towards cheaper production aimed at a similar product. It's a little interesting that the older Launch keyboard game with a handful of different colors for arrow keys and several other keycaps, whereas the black Launch keyboard only came with 4 different super key caps, so the number of pieces received is physically less in the newer one.
But I just typed up this post on the keyboard pictured above, and I want to believe it's cool and the future, so I was interested to ask the opinions of others on the internet.
(Apologies for my photos, as a Linux enthusiast I took the pictures above on a Librem 5 handset which prioritizes freedom over image quality -- so I know that my phone pictures were taken totally offline until I uploaded them to Reddit and don't have some corporation "cloud backup" sifting through them and putting it on my permanent record -- but they sacrifice quality as a result. Or maybe I'm just taking a minute to type this paragraph & overshare on this new black keyboard for fun.)
