Cherry Keyboards – General Information
Cherry doesn’t manufacture one type of keyboard and it’s certainly worth running through which keyboards are made from which technology. Each type has it’s own attributes and can be suited more to some applications than others.
The part numbers, although extremely long, can offer some clues as to which technology is used, as well as information about special features, connection types and colour. Although this isn’t a complete rule, for the most part, it can help with detection……
As an example, this is a typical Cherry part number: G83-6105LPQGB-0. This can be broken down into 4 main sections:
G83 – this is the technology used under the keycaps. In this instance, it’s membrane technology – a rubber web directly under the keycaps, squeezes together a 4 layer thin membrane sheet, which is over-printed with a circuit. This is the simplest way of making a keyboard and used in most keyboards from other manufacturers. It’s also the most cost effective.
6105 – in this instance, this has two pieces of information. Firstly, the 6 at the beginning shows that the keyboard has a 6000 series housing (this can be located in the Cherry keyboard catalogue or on the website). This housing is relatively small in footprint, but still ‘full size’ with a numeric pad on the right hand side. The 105 denotes the number of keys -105 means it’s a standard, European layout of some form. If this was 104, it would show that it was some form of US layout.
LPQGB – all of these letters have a meaning:
L = Laser printed keycaps – keycaps are literally burnt with a laser machine to print he legend on the top. This means legends cannot simply wear off.
P = PS/2 – the 6 pin mini-DIN connector found on most PC’s. This can also be a U for USB
Q = This is an internal reference, denoting versions. However, there is a further meaning for the customer. Any letters from M to Z mean that the keyboard has the 3 additional Windows keys, whereas if it was from A to L, it would be the older type without the Windows keys.
GB = the country layout – in this instance, UK English
-0 = the final part, denotes colour. -0 is white, -2 is black.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Keyboards - General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
What about the g86?
Hi,
In response to the question, the G86’s don’t follow the same rules unfortunately, which is why it’s a little difficult to explain. However, I’ll try!
G86 is basically the same as the G83 in it’s construction – a 4 layer membrane sheet wth rubber, domed ‘web’ on the top which the keycaps depress and compress the membrane to make the contact.
22000 – there is only one housing style – this version has 9 additional multimedia keys.
GB – the language layout
ADAB – Black housing, USB/PS2 combi
AEAB – White housing, USB/PS2 combi
Unfortunately, in recent years, the rule book has gone out of the window somewhat, but it can still apply in some cases:
G85-23000GB-2 – G85’s are what we term as ‘Scissor Action’ keys, as they have this mechanism built under the caps to keep the profile and travel low. The travel on this keyboard is only 2.5mm. 23000 is the ‘Stream’ housing style – full size, with numeric pad. GB is the country layout and the -2 is the colour (Black – but also available as a -0, white version)
M82-24700GB – in this instance, the M stands for it beiing a set – keyboard and mouse – but if you look at the underside of the keyboard, it’s actually a G82-24700. G82 is yet another membrane/rubber sheet type, 24700 is the code for an all-black product (the Sirius), GB again is the country layout. No colour code is positioned at the end, as the middle number gives away the colour to us here at Cherry.
M85-25800GB – this follows the same rule as above, but in this instance the keyboard is of a similar type to the Stream as detailed previously.
G81-8000LPBGB-2 – this is more unusual and there are many variations on this theme. G81 is our FTSC (Full Travel, Sealed Contact) mechanism, which is part membrane, part mechanical switch product. The 8000 shows that this is a keyboard from our advanced performance range, so will have additional functionality of some form (in this case a magnetic card reader). The L still stands for laser printed keycaps and the P still stands for PS2. However, the B in the middle denotes the number of magnetic card tracks the keyboard will read (2 for this model). GB is still country layout and -2 is black once again.
Hope this helps a bit!
Robin.
hi,
I Love Keyboards There Great I Think That It’s A Good Way To Have Fun So I Think That Everyone Should Have A Shot Of Keyboards I Hope That This Can Help Think If You Guys Want One!
Emily.