RE: Your Preferred Keyboard & Switches. 07-12-2017, 04:24 AM
#2
Preferred keyboard... well I guess there's four options for me as I use these equally throughout my day.
Any of the Topre Realfoce lineup: Alright, so these are the newest addition to they keyboards I love out of this list being that I first used the Topre switch with a Happy Hacking Keyboard 2 a few years back and then got a Realforce RGB for my gaming/editing rig last years, but I love them the same as the other options on here. Topre has been making these things for years, and they're definitely a premium product with a price of around $200+ per keyboard. The Realforce RGB is nice as it has a few neat features like the adjustable actuation points on keys while sacrificing a bit of the "Thock" noise that the switch usually uses - it's a beautiful keyboard, but expensive.
Topre Realforce RGB
The Apple II/II+/Europlus/Bell & Howell II+ Keyboard: Yeah, that old thing from the late '70s. This keyboard while missing a good few keys by modern standards is still one of my favorites as it uses the Datanetics DC-50 series keys which have an interesting sealed mylar-metal sandwich contact combined with hysteresis. It's an interesting key design, but they're comfortable alongside just being iconic - I have one in my Apple II+, two NOS replacement keyboards from Apple in case one dies, and a fourth in a custom enclosure adapted to USB for use on my Raspberry Pi systems.
Apple II Keyboard
IBM 3101-series keyboards: The second oldie, this is a keyboard that uses beamsprings designed for the IBM 3101-series terminals - Beamsprings are a complicated mess that I first found with my IBM 5100, but are a ton of fun to type on. The keyboard is pretty much as heavy as an old typewriter, and has one really fun feature that annoys everyone else, the click solenoids. Click solenoids are fun as they make your keyboard which sounds as loud as a Model M end up sounding like a typewriter - it seems like a novelty, but I find it useful for when I'm operating with things like loud music in the background as I can hear my keyboard over it. The issue with these is that they're not USB, PS/2, or a 5-pin AT connector - they have their own thing, so you need a USB decoder card. It's my main keyboard at work which replaced the stupid Razer Naga or whatever which was a pain in the ass more than anything, and it's a fun one.
IBM 3101 Keyboard (Italian Layout)
The good 'ol IBM Model F: It's a classic, what can I say? I'm a sucker for the beamspring keyboards as I love the feel and response of them - they're a bit heavy but crisp, and produce a really nice click alongside noticeable tactile feedback. They're heavy and noisy, but have been popular since their introduction alongside the Model M lineup - you can still find the 122-key terminal layout which is the one I use on all my old IBM systems made by Unicomp, and I think I remember seeing a thread somewhere on here about someone else making them.
Unicomp PC-122 Model F
Any of the Topre Realfoce lineup: Alright, so these are the newest addition to they keyboards I love out of this list being that I first used the Topre switch with a Happy Hacking Keyboard 2 a few years back and then got a Realforce RGB for my gaming/editing rig last years, but I love them the same as the other options on here. Topre has been making these things for years, and they're definitely a premium product with a price of around $200+ per keyboard. The Realforce RGB is nice as it has a few neat features like the adjustable actuation points on keys while sacrificing a bit of the "Thock" noise that the switch usually uses - it's a beautiful keyboard, but expensive.
Topre Realforce RGB
The Apple II/II+/Europlus/Bell & Howell II+ Keyboard: Yeah, that old thing from the late '70s. This keyboard while missing a good few keys by modern standards is still one of my favorites as it uses the Datanetics DC-50 series keys which have an interesting sealed mylar-metal sandwich contact combined with hysteresis. It's an interesting key design, but they're comfortable alongside just being iconic - I have one in my Apple II+, two NOS replacement keyboards from Apple in case one dies, and a fourth in a custom enclosure adapted to USB for use on my Raspberry Pi systems.
Apple II Keyboard
IBM 3101-series keyboards: The second oldie, this is a keyboard that uses beamsprings designed for the IBM 3101-series terminals - Beamsprings are a complicated mess that I first found with my IBM 5100, but are a ton of fun to type on. The keyboard is pretty much as heavy as an old typewriter, and has one really fun feature that annoys everyone else, the click solenoids. Click solenoids are fun as they make your keyboard which sounds as loud as a Model M end up sounding like a typewriter - it seems like a novelty, but I find it useful for when I'm operating with things like loud music in the background as I can hear my keyboard over it. The issue with these is that they're not USB, PS/2, or a 5-pin AT connector - they have their own thing, so you need a USB decoder card. It's my main keyboard at work which replaced the stupid Razer Naga or whatever which was a pain in the ass more than anything, and it's a fun one.
IBM 3101 Keyboard (Italian Layout)
The good 'ol IBM Model F: It's a classic, what can I say? I'm a sucker for the beamspring keyboards as I love the feel and response of them - they're a bit heavy but crisp, and produce a really nice click alongside noticeable tactile feedback. They're heavy and noisy, but have been popular since their introduction alongside the Model M lineup - you can still find the 122-key terminal layout which is the one I use on all my old IBM systems made by Unicomp, and I think I remember seeing a thread somewhere on here about someone else making them.
Unicomp PC-122 Model F
(This post was last modified: 07-12-2017, 04:25 AM by BurritoBeans.
Edit Reason: tucking fypos
)
airgames, on 08 Dec 2014 - 5:24 PM, said:
close this discussion of dick !!
I broke !!
thanks
'backin89', on 22 Dec 2010 - 6:40 PM, said:
Igot your fucking crackpipe bitch. i dont even smoke cigarrettes. i hope you all sleep in the fucking cold
close this discussion of dick !!
I broke !!
thanks
'backin89', on 22 Dec 2010 - 6:40 PM, said:
Igot your fucking crackpipe bitch. i dont even smoke cigarrettes. i hope you all sleep in the fucking cold




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