Recommend a (PC) keyboard

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m anal about adjusting to new input devices. I spliced and respliced and did all sorts of fancy hot fixes to keep my old keyboard alive far longer than it needed to be, just cause I hate adjusting.

Anyway, I grabbed a $10 keyboard from walmart just to use until I had time to find one I really liked. Within 3 days, 3 keys were broken - good stuff.

Anyway, the closest decent electronics store is way across town, and probably has heavily marked up keyboards anyway, so I was going to order a new one from newegg or amazon. But first I figured I’d post here and see if anyone was in love with their keyboard that met my requirements.

My requirements are pretty simple. First, standard key layout. I’ve grudgingly come to accept that I have no real option in accepting these useless, annoying windows keys, and I’m only 5 or 6 years late. I can adapt to stuff like \ being above or below enter, but the trend now of laying out the ins/home/pgup keys in a 3x2 grid instead of a 2x3 grid would drive me slowly insane until I was covering my apartment in cheese to mask my scent from the evil red squad.

I can accept multimedia keys, as long as they’re elegantly integrated, don’t take up half the keyboard, and don’t change the layout/function of any of the rest of the keys.

I want something solidly built, but not too big. I keep my keyboard on my lap, and I suspect a gigantic one would be awkward. I don’t want something cheaply constructed.

Apparently there’s a “soft touch” membrane thing going around now, and I’m not entirely sure how it works. It sounds like it might require equal pressure all the way through the keypress, with no threshold of pressure to generate a click/sudden movement. I’m not sure if that’d be a good thing… silent is fine, but no tacticle/click response sounds bad.

It has to be able to handle 3 non-modifier key inputs at once. I found a keyboard I liked, but the reviews say it only detects 2 keys, making it limited for gaming. This one is hard - the companies don’t seem to list stats on this number, and the only way I can know is hoping there are reviewers who include this information.

Not a strong preference or wired or wireless, I could go for either.

2

My current keyboard is just like this one, except without the Windows keys. I also lament that even old-school manufacturers have acquiesced and included such abominations on their keyboards, but such are the sacrifices they must make to stay competitive. Clicking the link to purchase will let you choose among other keyboard layouts, some of which retain the simplicity of the original Model M. You won’t find a more solid model than those based on the IBM Model M design, but they might be too awkward for extended typing sessions on your lap.

3

I would buy a keyboard precisely identical to the one you just wore out and obviously loved. It’s what I did (or, rather, I bought about 4 of them): my keyboard of choice is a classic ADB Extended Keyboard, nicknamed “Saratoga”. They don’t make them any more, but they can still be had via eBay. I suspect the same is true of the model that you liked.

4

I have a Das Keyboard which I adore.

I was hesitant to spend what seemed to me like a huge amount of money on a keyboard. I’m extremely glad I did.

I believe it would meet your requirements, although I’m not sure about it being able to handle

It feels solid, and has amazingly positive key action. It’s made a lot of difference to my life, not only in terms of improved typing speed, but also improved motivation to come to work :slight_smile:

All of that said, you may not want/ need the blank keys, which I suspect is part of the reason for the high price.

5

Not sure about the gaming aspect, but my current keyboard is this one.
I found it at CompUSA a few months back for 89.95 after rebate.

I like it because it is very attractive, feels good, and I can use the keyboard without the keypad, which I have no need for.

6

One of the Happy Hacking models might fit the bill. No Windows keys!

I’ve used the Lite 2 model, and I’ll probably pick one up once my black IBM club finally dies. Which may be never.

7

I looked on ebay, nothing like my old one. Not a big deal - I wasn’t too fond of it, just really used to it and hesistant to switch. I type at a ridiculous rate, so I tend to notice subtle differences in keyboards and it can be tricky to change.

I don’t need IBM m model clones necesarily. I’ve adapted enough to using modern-designed keyboards.

8

I have the logitech MX 700 mouse and keyboard set. this is the newer model of the same. I can say I’m very happy with it. Actually I’ve been very happy with anything I’ve bought from Logitech.

9

The IBM Keyboard Was always my favorite and very highly rated and very reliable. Mine is in the closet right now because I’ve gone cordless (type in my lap) with this Logitech keyboard. Cordless because I have fewer reptitive stress and carpal tunnel problems.

Bob

10

I use a Key Tronic keyboard. This [one](javascript: newWindow = openWin( ‘…/products/specs/kt800ps2us-c.htm’, ‘Product_Spec’, ‘width=640,height=400,menuBar=1,scrollBars=1,resizable=1’ ); newWindow.focus()) to be exact, but they’ve all kinds of styles. I don’t know how long keyboards should last, but mine’s 7 years old and has yet to have any problems that aren’t solved by cleaning it.