This totally su_ks! I see_ to burn out keyboards far qui_ker than anyone else I know. I know folks with keyboards that last for 5 or 6 years and I ha_e yet to _ake 12 _onse_uti_e _onths with the sa_e one.
Within the past two days I’_e lost half the pun_tuation _arks and the nor_al enter key (although the one by the nu_ber pad still works!) and whole bun_hes of letters.
I used to s_rape the ink off the keys with _y nails… rendering it useless to all the non-tou_h typists in the fa_ily within a few weeks; getting a spill-proof gel keyboard fi_ed that but sadly it’s dying on _e too. I really liked this bendy one.
I’ve had this keyboard for two years. My parents seem to have strange luck with keyboards. They have one that I swear is older than I am that still works fine, but others have not fared neally so well. Another one from the beginning gave you two e’s per key stroke. At least for me and my brother. My father said that we just didn’t know how to type :rolleyes: , more like we type at two to three times the speed that he does … but I digress.
Around my house, usually whenever we get a new computer.
First computer–Commodore 64. Came with it’s own keyboard.
First proper computer–bought a keyboard for that.
The next two were laptops, and thus came with their own. (At this point we have three machines, the 64 being long gone)
This summer, we replaced the desktop–it wasn’t planned, and was actually a system that was meant for someone else, so it already had it’s own monitor, keyboard and mouse to go with it (although, the old desktop being 7 years old and nothing having been replaced since we bought it, it could have used new ones anyways)
Later this summer, one laptop got replaced with the other (I think, I haven’t talked to Dad aobut it since school started, I need to ask him how he’s doing with that–it certainly needed some looking at) and I got a new desktop, so of course I needed a new keyboard since I was giving my old one (the laptop one) away.
I’ve never had any problems with any of my keyboards, so I’ve never replaced one for any other reason. I was kinda hoping for one of those gel ones myself (I know Dad has one just lying around not being used) but this computer was a pre-built system and came with it’s own. Though it’s a nice one, and still felt very natural even after 4 years of using laptops almost exclusively.
but for some damn reason my enter key and the shift key under it has developed a different pressure the then rest of the keys. They work, but it’s incredibly annoying.
I’m going to make logitech replace the damn kb for me.
My last keyboard, also a logitech, lasted me 5 years. But I broke it twice and fixed it by literally stripping the entire keyboard down to the electronics, washing it and rebuilding it.
How often? About as often as my cats decide to knock Coke all over them sigh
Other than that i don’t believe i have ever replaced a keyboard. My oldest one is currently counts seven years old and still fine. My mouse is the same age and ok too (despite the salesguy trying to sell me a warranty cos “oh a mouse will break within a year”).
Two or three times a year, at least. I have kids, so there’s a lot of spillage around here. (Ok, one of those spills was mine.) The computer is right in the middle of the daily mayhem, so juice/Coke/spit-up is a constant risk. We keep a spare keyboard in the closet, now.
I rarely replace them. The KBs for my main 2 computers both have the old AT style DIN connectors with adaptors to fit the PS2 DIN ports. And they were old when the adaptors were needed.
I still have and occasionally use the original keyboard that came with my first XT-clone. (I was smart and got an “AT” style 101-key one. Never had to use the original “XT” style.)
Just keep them away from Bad Things and once in a while take apart for a good dust out.
We usually get a new keyboard when we get a new computer, since we like to keep the old one around as an internet-and-word-processor machine until it bites the dust for good and we can’t really do that if it doesn’t have a keyboard.
We’ve also never lived in one place long enough to go through more than two computers.
Maybe when this computer dies we’ll keep the keyboard. It’s a good deal more robust than the no-name ones we’ve had before. Then again, maybe not. It will be pretty old by then.
I usually get about eight months out of a keyboard, and my preferred brand/model has been the MS Natural for a few years now. They key action and semi-split design are both good for me, I haven’t ever found a flat/straight keyboard I was comfortable using. They aren’t sold real often anymore, but I just scored two more whitebox for $20 each, I have to keep an eye out for them these days. MS has a new “Natural” keyboard out but I’d rather not pay primary-retail prices for it. My current supply should carry me until they are whiteboxing the new design.
…I’d like to try one of the Kinesys $220 keyboards eventually.
~
I’ve never replaced a keyboard without replacing the entire computer (he said crossing his fingers and wondering just where the cats were). 4 years on the current keyboard, and it’s still as springy as the day I got it. Of course, I clean it regularly.
I go through them once every couple of years, usually due to spills. I eat at my computer all the time.
Incidentally, I was down at the courthouse the other day and noticed they’re still using the old, clacky IBM keyboards that came with their 15- or 20-year-old terminals. What happens when they go? Do they still make keyboards for those things?
Ok, you are all going to think I am crazy, but I swear - put your keyboard in the dishwasher!
Yeah, when I first heard of it, I thought it was some stupid Urban Legend - but if you have an old keyboard, what have you got to lose? Worse case scenario, you go out and buy a new one like you were planning to anyway.
you can Google hundreds of sites telling you how to do it - there are a few things to take into consideration - but it works. Here is one site that gives some useful information on what kind of keyboard will be suitable for the dishwasher method.
What DMark said. Put it in the diskwasher, low heat, no drying cycle, NO SOAP. When it gets out, let it dry a couple days before trying to plug it in again.
This works especially well for the coke-in-keyboard sorts of spills. I’ve done it three times, it’s worked twice. The third time worked, too, but some keys were intermittent for several weeks, which is probably too long to be without a keyboard.
If the alternative is throwing it away, what have you got to lose? (Answer: the computer. Make sure the plug is dry before you plug it in, in order to limit any shorting to the keyboard itself!)
Keyboard-in-dishwasher…heh. Slight hijack, but that reminds me of the way I fixed my UPS. After about the fifth time the remainder of a can of Mountain Dew was surreptitiously dumped into its innards (I’ve sinced switched to bottles), it finally decided to bite the big one. I kept it sitting around upstairs in all its sticky glory, plugged the computer into a regular powerstrip, and promised myself I’d get a new UPS one day.
Cut to a month later. I eye the old UPS, get a crazy idea, and decide, “what the hell”. Fill the bathtub with warm-to-hot water. In goes the UPS. Flip it in every direction, shake it underwater, swirl it around, hold it upside down and allow it to drain, repeat. Remove; empty as best you can. Allow to dry for one (1) week. Place UPS on rubber car floormat, hide behind bed in case it explodes…plug it in. It doesn’t explode. Leave it plugged in (still on car floormat) for 24 hours. Plug old standby “outlet-tester lamp” into it. It works! Kill power to outlet to test battery backup. It works! Plug computer and various components back into UPS. Thus far, it’s worked!
If that can be a viable method of electronics repair, keyboard-in-the-dishwasher should work just fine.
The keyboard I’m typing on is on its third computer. I got it with my Pentium II 350MHz in 1998. So, coming up on 8 years now. It’s dirty, has probably 4 oz of cat hair stuck under the keys, but it types the same as always, and just feels good. I may replace it with the one I bought for work eventually, but it feels like an old friend now. (I build my computers, which is why I haven’t had new keyboards with the new machines).
First one I had about 3 years I think – it got dropped, and that was that. The second one I still have … and this third one I got this year mainly 'cause it looks cool.
Might not last long, though. T’is a bit on the cheap side.
I replace keyboards when I replace my computer - which usually is when the power supply or the motherboard dies (ie, once in the last five years). The current keyboard has had pepsi and tea spilt on it. There’s food crumbs and cat hair, and it’s mucky on top. But it still works fine, and I like it. It’s not going to be replaced until it dies, or until I get a new PC.
