We all love mechanical keyboards, but are there any normal keyboards that hold a special place in your heart?
I for one love the keyboard on the old IBM thinkpads.
I also have a special place in my heart for the old Dell membrain keyboards that used to be in every school library in the 90’s
I really liked my Microsoft Natural Keyboard in the late ’90s.
It was so huge, I ended up learning to mouse with my left hand, so I wouldn’t have to reach so far.
My boss still uses these to this day. A while ago he found a deal and bought like 10, new in box. He has one everywhere and backups to spare.
I’ve been using a split keyboard ever since this exact model was brought home. I finally gave up on the Sculpt and got a Keychron in Alice layout (K15). Not the same but the closest I’ve found in mechanical
How do you like it?
I have a Q6 that I’m very happy with except it being non-ergo.
Absolutely love it.
I greatly miss the arc from the Scultp and I use a microfiber cloth to induce an angle between the keyboard and a bad aftermarket wrist pad.
The QMK firmware is a major bonus. I built a custom mouse jiggles into my keyboard
Yup, best keyboard I’ve ever used. They made slightly different versions over the years that fit my hands as well, but none that lasted the way those do; mine is still fully functional.
I had one of these about 7 years ago. didn’t realize their history went so far back
You can see the PS/2 connector in the pic.
I was also thinking old Thinkpad keyboards, and Dell membraine keyboards. Those were both widespread enough that nearly everyone back then had used them, and some of us still remember them lol
I bet someone has taken the original thinkpad keyboards and put it in a housing to use like an external keyboard, just haven’t looked into it. I have the shinobi which is a mechanical interpretation of the thinkpad keyboard. It’s OK but I prefer the original.
Someone certainly has… IBM and Lenovo themselves! Both have sold external ThinkPad keyboards over the years that are (in some cases) literally laptop keyboards, with a TrackPoint, in housing.
I hadn’t heard of the shinobi, I might have to check that out! Cheers.
Not any specific model, but I kinda like low-profile keyboards using scissor switches often found in laptops. Not as great as a mechanical, but I like how they bring over some of the aspects of clicky/tactile switches while also being low profile.
I probably type fastest on a keyboard like that, but I still don’t like how the actuation is all the way at the bottom. That makes it a bit annoying for gaming in my opinion, where you need to hold pressure to hold a key down
I feel the same way! They’re pretty neat.
Apple’s Bluetooth keyboards have been pleasant to type on, albeit a bit pricy.
My main gripe with them is that they do not offer to pair multiple devices and quickly switch between them. They do however feel great and I’ve found nothing that comes close in terms of reliability and typing experience. I settled for a Logitech keyboard for now and it’s just fine but I wish there were more premium options available.
The Logitech MX Keys keyboards are the answer.
Not really. Had one of those. Quality is meh and typing doesn’t feel nearly as good
Fair enough
I know its technically still a ‘mechanical’ keyboard but its not an MX style switch: IMB Model M. I still daily drive one for work even though I can’t use some shortcuts (no win/super key) and I have a handful of modern mechanical keyboards at home.
If not that, then probably the one I had for work a few years back, similar era but membrane, unknown brand. It had a little bit of an old smell to it and found it in an abandoned warehouse at work. Left it for my replacement when I left that job.
I made a “Soarers” converter for my two. One was a terminal board, so it has about a dozen remaps and is semi-permanently wired in, but the other is a little black box that will take any PS/2 keyboard and make it a USB keyboard that changes the right Control key into a Win key.
ZX Spectrum. That is all.
I will always have a soft spot for the Unicomp line for carrying forward the old Model M legacy. For odd ducks in the truly commercial space, the layout of the TypeMatrix can’t be beat!
This thing is actually what got me into Mechanical Keyboards a a year and a half ago or so. Doesn’t seem to be available anymore.
I spent way too much money building mechanical keyboards, and I could never get to like the feel. So now I am using non-technicals. Guess I am just weird.
It’s almost like how I spent so many years configuring Arch and tweaking it and now I just use debian.
I have a Logitech G100 combo of a mouse and keyboard. Rubber domes, came with a grub cover. It’s been over a decade and it’s my go-to “need to work on a computer” set.
Actually, the mouse out of that one is still in active use right now.
I’m a fan of my MX keys, though Logitech does make a mechanical version.
My first nearly proper computer was an Atari XE Game System. The keyboard is well known to be fairly crap, but it didn’t feel that way at the time.
