Keyboard Fun

[Naaman]

As an aside, they also carry the relatively new Razer Black Widow keyboard. This uses the same keyswitches as the Cherry G80 - probably bought directly from Cherry - and while costing more than the G80, does have a few extra macro keys and the ability to disable the Windows key.

I'm a gamer keyboard snob and managed to get my hands on a Black Widow (the non-backlit version), the keys are pretty light to the touch (25g) so you don't get that really solid *click* like you do with the M series, if you touch type though they're perfect. My main gripe with it is that it takes time to re-orient yourself to the left hand side, I keep stabbing the m5 key instead of CTRL (there's a vertical row of macro keys on the left hand side). The font - you kinda get used to that and (for me) it's kinda good to have the 'odd' european characters with just two key presses.

I used to use a Logitech Wave which I liked, it's not quite a natural keyboard but is really comfy for extended periods of time, that also has the option to turn off or remap the windows\Caps Lock keys reliably (I use a Microsoft keyboard at work and the software spazzes every now and then, it manages to turn the Caps Lock back on intermittently - their s\w sucks, hardware's fine)

[Chromatix]

Cherry do make several different types of PC keyboards, at dfferent price points and quality levels. Some of them are standard membrane keyboards, relatively well made by membrane standards, but with the same problems as every membrane keyboard ever has.

The G80 series - not to be confused with the G81, G83, G84 or G86 series - is the one to ask for, but bizarrely it is also the one that's hardest to find. But they really do last for decades. It really doesn't help that, at least on Amazon, the descriptions are incomplete and inconsistent - what I need to know is what series it is from, what connector it has for the computer, and what layout it uses (US, UK, EU, DE, FI...). I eventually had to resort to deciphering the model numbers.

I already use a Model M at work and I have a second one, with a bad cable and one missing keycap (an unimportant one), at home. Sometime I will probably get around to making the USB controller boards for them, which will make them considerably easier to use. I was lucky though - I found them at a computer fair for £1 each, while I was scavenging to build an ultra-cheap internet computer for someone. Silly me bought two just in case I needed to make one good one out of parts of each. Given some of the other hardware I had to work with - including a hard disk which had one bad head, and thus only 45MB instead of the specified 60MB - I was probably justified at the time.

My keyboards are already ordered and on their way, so I don't actually need help in getting them. I just wanted to rant about how little attention people pay to one of the most important parts of their computers.

Oh, and I am aware that good-quality laptop keyboards exist - the problem is that so many laptops come with extremely bad ones, and it's not something you can just replace as with a desktop computer. On the plus side, reviewers also usually point out the really bad ones.

[csrindy]

Toshiba Laptop FTW! I find it really hard to use regular desktop keyboards after getting used to my laptop

[protege]

Reading this thread...I noticed that I'm using a Model M at work. I've had it at *least* 12 years (since I started )...and it's held up well. Slightly grubby, but it works like it's supposed to. I can't make that claim with the expensive wireless keyboards attached to the other computers in the office. Those things are shit!

[Shalom]

Reading this thread...I noticed that I'm using a Model M at work. I've had it at *least* 12 years (since I started )...and it's held up well. Slightly grubby, but it works like it's supposed to. I can't make that claim with the expensive wireless keyboards attached to the other computers in the office. Those things are shit!

Model M's are all dated on the bottom. Turn yours over and check the date; you may be surprised.

My home keyboard is a Northgate OmniPlus 1. My father got it at a show somewhere, but it wouldn't work with his PC/AT (which tells you how old the damn thing is) so I wound up with it and haven't let go. It's outlasted four motherboards thus far. It's even bigger than the standard Omnikey Ultra: it's got (counts...) 119 keys. No shit.

I know it says "Omnikey Ultra" on the top, but this is the Plus version, with the weird cursor key layout. (Seems this version was intended for use with Amigas... ) Note that key marked "OMNI" in the middle of the arrow key layout. Supposedly that one's programmable, if you have both the software, and a 5¼" floppy drive to read it on; I have neither at the moment, so it basically acts as a second ↓ key. Note also that the Ctrl key is where God intended it to be, to the left of the A key, and the caps lock key is down at the bottom where it doesn't get in your way. Note that lovely oversized Enter key. Fn keys down the side, Shift/Fn keys across the top (can be changed to Alt/Fn if you want). Programmable key-repeat rate. Nice loud clackety noise. I love it.

(Of course it needs a 5-pin DIN socket. Fortunately I got an adapter for that while they were still available.)