What I’m after is something with the touch of the Model M or Apple’s “Nimitz” keyboards but without the noise. My neighbors would scream bloody murder if I stanrted pinging and clacking away on good keyboard.
AFAIK, the Nimitz is called that because it’s as big as an aircraft carrier.
eMachines Mini-e ER1402?
Heck with that, I would love to live in my original family’s victorian mansion and own this =)
I could see doing a steampunk fitup of the formal library in the house =)
The steampunk look isn’t my thing but that is incredible work!
It truly is gorgeous. I love steampunk, if they sold that stuff I’d buy it in a minute.
$130 isn’t that expensive for a good mechanical keyboard. Sure Unicomp’s old-fashioned buckling spring boards are slightly over half that, but if you need to have those shipped outside the US they’re probably more expensive in total.
Other boards based on the same Cherry MX technology that the DAS uses go for between 80 ~ 180 euros for non-fancy stuff around here.
Topre boards (that I think are generally much prettier than the DAS) are more expensive that that: Realforce boards start at ~ $230. The Happy Hacking pro boards are around $300.
And that’s before you get into specialized “ergonomic” boards.
ETA: It’s not a “silly waste of money” at all if you type a lot. Those things by all accounts work very well and should last decades. Hell, my buckling spring board is 18 years old in a month.
IN looking around apparently an entire board existsfor the purpose of modding and hacking keyboards and mice.
Well until they make a keyboard that is both Water Resistant, Wireless and Bio/Chemo Luminescent, so I can see it in the dark, I might pay $150 for it…
But, until then I’ll stick with the cheepy Logitec. 
I have a Das Keyboard (not sure which model it is). I love it so much that when I moved, I took it with me, even though it took up a certain amount of my limited luggage space.
The weighting of the keys is perfect, and even though I could touch type before I got this keyboard, my speed has improved as the keys are so responsive.
Additional benefits: no-one casually “borrows” your keyboard, and the rat-a-tat-tat of the keys when you’re on a typing jag really gets you in the zone. (If you work in a very quiet office, there might be complaints about the noise - it can get pretty loud). It’s also a lot of fun seeing the expression people make when they realize that the keyboard is totally blank.
I’ve had mine for around 5 years now, and it’s good as new. Got it as a replacement for some Microsoft ergonomic keyboard which died after about 18 months. I do a fair amount of typing, and this is the best keyboard I’ve ever used.
Wouldn’t hesitate to buy another.