|
What's next?
Only get CP points if someone clicks on the link? Right?
64-bit clicks, get 'yer 64-bit clicks here.
|
|
|
|
|
I can't make any particular recommendation on what keyboard to buy (only you can decide what you like, and it's all very subjective), but the one recommendation I will make is this:
Once you find one you like, get some spares. Make sure they all work, but put the spares back in the box and leave them there until the one you use daily dies.
I'm very peculiar about my mice and keyboards - too many variations, too easy to find something you dislike. I went for a good decade or two primarily using the same type of mouse (the original white and gray MS IntelliMouse) and was lamenting the fact that they're impossible to find when mine finally became unusable...and then ~2 years ago they came out with a model that was, for all intents and purposes, identical to the original except for its color (which is entirely irrelevant to me). I got one, tried it out, decided it felt very close to the original, and bought 5 spares - hopefully enough to last me a lifetime. If someone wants to borrow a mouse from me, they're not there for that purpose. That's my private stash, and I'll get very defensive about it.
I also have a spare keyboard. I like the one I'm currently using enough to have gotten a spare, but it's still not quite "perfect" to me...otherwise I would have gotten a few more and been done with it.
There's nothing worse than having tools you don't like. Getting some extras is absolutely worth the expense, IMO.
|
|
|
|
|
And that is why I had 3 of these at one time, then 2 + spare parts, and now I am down to 1
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
|
|
|
|
|
My favorite is the IBM KB-8923, got a couple here. Luckily still prevalent on E-Bay.
I'm here for whatever you need me to do from the computer.
|
|
|
|
|
Same problem with good athletic shoes! Buy some backups if you find a pair you like.
|
|
|
|
|
I wouldn't necessarily go crazy and buy a bunch of extras when it comes to clothes and the like...my waist size isn't exactly a constant, and I have the pants in my closet to prove it. How some of them ever fit me, I'll never know...
|
|
|
|
|
Unicomp builds great classic keyboards for programmers:
Category[^]
|
|
|
|
|
Why are all these keyboards wired?
I got rid of the cable mess about 25 years ago, and never looked back. Both keyboard and rodents - especially the latter. The first versions actually didn't remove the total cable mess: The mouse had a charging station that also contained the wireless transmitter; this thing had both an USB cable to the PC and a power cable. But that is long ago: Nowadays, there is a tiny USB dongle, and when the mouse asks for some nutrition, it will manage until my next break, when I feed it by USB. (It can still be used, but then it is like a wired mouse again.)
I have for many years used Logitech stuff, not the cheapest ones, for one essential reason: I can't tell how many times I have dropped the mouse from desk level onto the stone floor (at least once a day on the average), yet it works perfecly when I pick it up. I never saw other mice that could take maybe 2000 90-cm falls (for the one I have been using for years now) onto stone and still work fine.
For the keyboard: There will be dirt between/under the keys, and finger fat deposits on the keys themselves. So every now and then I flip all the keys off and put them into a string "sock bag" for a ride in my dishwashing machine, while I brush out the keyboard tray. I have done this several dozen times. After every cleaning, the keys slide smoothly as on a new keyboard, and there is no noticeable mechanical wear. With other keyboards (mostly at work), I have experienced that the fastening mechanism that holds the keys in place are getting worn if you flip the keys off too many time.
Yet I must admit that I find all keyboards of today too flat, even the Logitech ones. And I hate those with perfectly flat keys and almost zero vertical movement - almost as much as I hate touch keyboards with no moving parts!
|
|
|
|
|
I have done the same maintenance to my keyboards and trackball; perhaps that is why my hardware is 25 years old.
And there is nothing wrong with wired or wireless... And not that it matters to me but there is latency in wireless devices. Enough so that an interupt based device (XT, AT, PS2) can make 2 laps around the internet and still get to the CPU before a wireless signal gets there
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
|
|
|
|
|
I never noticed any delay at all!
Note that the Logitech keyboards are not using WiFi wireless technology. The equipment I've got is so old that it is using Logitech's proprietary 2.4 GHz protocol, tailored for this kind of equipment. I believe they now have Bluetooth variants as well.
With BT the equipment must wait for its time slot - but the master and slave may negotiate very short intervals between the time slots. (The basic time slot comes at intervals of 625 microsecs.) You will find a lot about very high latency with USB audio devices, but that is caused by the application layer protocol, the time to perform the compression, buffering for retransmission etc. The new Bluetooth LE Audio protocol reduces the latency from 200+ ms to about 20 ms (of which a significant part is collecting an audio block for compression, and performing the compression). Transmitting keypresses require nothing of that sort.
I don't know if keyboard/mouse is defined as a standard Bluetooth profile, and can't tell the details of the protocol operation, but BT certainly has the potential to provide single-digit ms latency.
You have latency even in cabled USB - in classical USB around 1 ms (each way, if the protocol requires a confirmation message). I know that some gamers thing that is totally uacceptable for high-resolution mice - but those guys are sort of extreme. For ordinary people, reporting mouse movements a thousand times per second is good enough...
|
|
|
|
|
I am 63 and have been coding since 1984.
I loved the Lenovo Thinkpad keyboard so much so that I bought a corded 1 for my desktop PC. But the keys were a bit close together even though I could type much faster than a standard keyboard.
For 5 years, I used the Logitech K350 Wave(actually 6 of them): the keys are angled slightly which lessened my having to push my wrists together but the keys were too widely spaced and the membrane keys had a slight stickiness after a few months of use.
So I bought a couple mechanical tenkeyless boards with Cherry Brown keys, a nice compromise.
My most recent keyboard, the Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Rapidfire with Cherry Red low-travel keys, combines the short-travel of the Lenovo with non-sticky mechanical(very quiet) keys. I also like the lit keys for low light conditions. I love this keyboard !
Something else you might like is the Jelly Comb wireless vertical mouse(more like a 60 degree slant than vertical). It really helps with the wrist strain. I wouldn't go back to a standard mouse.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Or what about a Teletype Model 33[^]? I learned my very first Basic programming through one of this kind. Removable data/program storage, with density 10 CPI (paper tape). Read/write speed: 10 bytes/sec. (The interface was 110 bps, but each byte also had start and stop bits.)
|
|
|
|
|
Take a look at the Kinesis Freestyle 2. It's a split keyboard with an infinitely adjustable angle or the two halves can be separated. It has three potential angles between the two halves. It also has hand rests which really help. My RSI in my wrists has gone from annoying to almost zero with these. My favorite feature! - a Delete key on the left side to be used with your little finger in addition to the standard Delete key on the right at the top.
[^]Kinesis Freestyle2 Ergonomic Split Keyboard | Kinesis Keyboards[^]
Also available on eBay.
|
|
|
|
|
best keyboard I've ever owned started on a dell laptop with the scissor support. Logitech has one called the y-uy95 illuminated keyboard. Large, lit keys, tactile feedback (not the chiclit crap) with a good wrist support system.
But you seem fussy 
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
|
|
|
|
|
Actually this is on the shortlist for me to try out
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
|
|
|
|
|
I have a Microsoft Internet Keyboard if you still want one. Basically brand new, just a bit dusty. PM me if interested.
|
|
|
|
|
Standard or Pro (USB and built-in hub)
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
|
|
|
|
|
Standard I guess? It's PS/2. I still have the box, lol.
|
|
|
|
|
Well, you can still buy type M keyboards. They are manufactured using the original tooling and sold by Unicomp. Reviewers do say that an original model in good condition is better than the Unicomp though - since over the years the tooling has worn a little.
Personally, I've tried a lot of keyboards over the past few years. I'm currently using a Razer Chroma - which If you run Linux (or choose not to installed the spyware Razer keyboard drivers) has the best feel I've come across. It uses their green switches, which some people say are like Cherry Blue. I find Cherry Blues more resistant - and less easy to type with.
My second preference is the Logitech G810 Orion with Romer-G, these are very tactile, much much lighter. The keys press with barely a breath on them. Quite a different feel.
|
|
|
|
|
I was able to locate another of the MS keyboards so the immediate crisis is over. I did stop at my local best buy (sic) and the 20 something wanted to sell me a chicklet-keyed wanna be laptop keyboard, as obviously I wasn't a gamer.
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
|
|
|
|
|
Do I have any weight loss mantras? Fat chants!
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
|
|
|
|
|
Oil help you lessen your load. Perhaps if your food had namaste taste it wouldn't be so lard eat less? Anyway, if you pound away at it and diet for a monk or two, you'll succeed
| Ravings en masse^ |
|---|
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
Mine: ooorrrrrrreeeeeoooooo ohhhh oh
I'm not sure how many cookies it makes to be happy, but so far it's not 27.
JaxCoder.com
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
