Favorite rubber dome keyboard?

[davkol]

derp

[Daniel Beardsmore]

The Dell Latitude D series had two generations of keyboards:

1. very soft, barely tactile one on Dx00 and some Dx10 laptops, and
2. newer, thinkpad-like keyboard on the D410 and Dx20 or newer laptops.

All the ones I've tried (D600, D530, D830, and I think the D430 as well) have had mushy, gritty keyboards that are pretty dreadful. I thought that it was the E generation that introduced the smooth, precise tactile keyboard; I've never used a D generation with a good keyboard in the UK. The E4310 keyboard was far better than other E generation machines I've used, but then, that was a very expensive computer.

[bhtooefr]

The D620/D630 boards are better than the D600/D610 boards, but that's not to say they're good.

E-series are decent, although I don't care for the cap design before the xx20 machines, I find that I slip off of it too much.

Best laptops I've ever typed on that I can remember... ThinkPad X60/X61, a ThinkPad Twist (I think - surprising that a consumer chiclet machine was that good), and the surprising one, a Latitude CPi A (Pentium II 366, so ancient). I haven't typed on a buckling rubber sleeve ThinkPad in a very long time, though.

[ne0phyte]

I feel bad for saying this but I used to love the Cherry Infinity keyboard because it is really thin and it has a standard keyboard layout. Many thin keyboards come with compact (read crippled; not in a good way) layouts.

[Biernot]

I have a IBM 75H9520 (KB6326), built in 1998 and really heavy (for a rubberdome). I really like it, it's the best rubberdome I came across so far.

[gh_pp]

A lot of rubber dome are great to type on when brand new but deteriorate fast when used.

Favorites:

Keytronic
The IBM someone posted earlier http://deskthority.net/resources/image/6227
Dell quiet key
Dell SK-8135

As for laptop keyboards

Obviously there's the ThinkPad
MacBook pro's are not bad either (mba's has less travel)

And one of the very best I’ve tried is on the Sony vaio (forgot the model)
It was the first 1600x1200 resolution Sony vaio has on a laptop many years ago. (Purple vaio)

It was huge, very crispy response and great tactile feedback.

I tried to google all the old vaio models on goggle but Wikipedia only keep a page of the current gen vaio

[Julle]

I'm going to revive this zombie of a thread with quite a surprising contender. HP has a keyboard under the spare part code 724720-101 which is a pure rubber dome but it feels exquisite to type. It's a relatively new keyboard since it has the new Windows logo. It's almost a Topre feeling but it's a slimmer keyboard, therefore the key travel is shorter. That results in a surprisingly snappy feeling. I came across this keyboard at work as the IT department was replacing old workstations.

It also features an Fn key with a versatile offering. It's too bad the Fn keys are not extremely well accessible with one hand.

[Muirium]

This?



Not easy finding images of these online.

[scottc]

That has the older style of Windows logo, and no fn button that I can see.

[Muirium]

Have a go at searching. It's like HP has invested money in an anti-marketing push to make these things hard to see.

[andrewjoy]

the Compaq KB-9963 is not bad, also wise terminal boards with domes are usualy decent

the best was my acorn

http://www.classicacorn.freeuk.com/32bi ... base3.html

[Daniel Beardsmore]

That's not your website, is it?

Pity, you might know who made that keyboard. It's rather SMK-like.

[ollir]

Must be Olivetti ANK 27-102N

[andrewjoy]

That's not your website, is it?

Pity, you might know who made that keyboard. It's rather SMK-like.

not mine no

EDIT

I do plan to get an acorn again so if and when i do i will have a look and see if i can find out who made it

[ShawnMeg]

I use a couple of old Apple Pro Keyboards, the ones with the clear case that shows all sorts of s hit that gets in the crevices. Despite the trashing of this keyboard on Geekhacks.org, I like it. I use one on my Windows Vista machine. The volume up/down/mute are functional. Instead of the Windows Key, the Apple/pretzel key brings up the start menu and works like a Windows Key.

There are a couple of USB 1.1 ports that work OK for a bluetooth transmitter and an infrared receiver for my remote (Windows media player).

[Hypersphere]

I had an AST rubber dome keyboard with sculpted homing keys that I liked.

[Muirium]

Shawn, you have got to be trolling! That keyboard is the worst piece of shit I've ever owned. I didn't realise at the time that Apple makes notably awful keyboards compared to the rest of their stuff. It was my first real disappointment with them after switching in 2003. Fortunately, it remains my worst.

Also:

What we do?
Create script that will run your business..

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Definitely not a good keyboard, but a nice cosy place for a spider to take a nap:

Spider nap time.jpg (119.89 KiB) Viewed 6246 times

[Muirium]

I made the mistake of buying one, sight unseen. They were not cheap (yet). And my first impressions were: whoah, look at that thing, it's so white and clear and shiny! And heavy! But once I had it out the box, it turned into the biggest dirt magnet imaginable. I've seen cream topped trifles with better staying power after a few days.

But the real problem was using it. The case was okay, as there's quite a lot of plastic there (albeit quite the worst choice for transparency), but the feel was dead trout on slimy newspaper. I wanted to like it, but soon enough I hated it so much that I have it to thank for waking me up to keyboards in the first place. I never realised they were important before I got sore hands from one, and a sick stomach whenevr I saw it in daylight.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

It's possible that there were multiple OEMs. Dell don't bother unifying their OEM-made keyboards and simply use the OEM model number as-is¹, but Apple always used the same model number regardless of the OEM. From what little use mine got, dirt was never an issue, but the key spacing was dumb, and I don't recall it feeling good at all, just sort of limp and squishy I guess.

¹ (though with the latest OptiPlex keyboards they seem to use their own model number, as well as the OEM's, plus their regular part code)

[ShawnMeg]

Shawn, you have got to be trolling! That keyboard is the worst piece of shit I've ever owned. I didn't realise at the time that Apple makes notably awful keyboards compared to the rest of their stuff. It was my first real disappointment with them after switching in 2003. Fortunately, it remains my worst.

Also:

What we do?
Create script that will run your business..

Yes, maybe there's something wrong with my taste. For whatever reason, it types OK to me. I do hate the stupid clear case because all sorts of shit show through. I disassembled it, cleaned out all the shit and it looks alright. I salvaged it from work.

On the positive side, my favorite keyboard is my recently acquired IBM Model F XT. I also have Model M.

[002]

Must be Olivetti ANK 27-102N

Amen, brother. I am back on to my ANK 25-101 at home and it's one of my favourite keyboards. I assume that the 27 series is made the same way...It's a shame they are so rare, which means not many people can try them. For a dome board, they are heavy as hell too so shipping is also a prohibitive factor in getting one.

[Julle]

This?

Not easy finding images of these online.

Nope, that's not it. I might have to take a picture of the board myself once I get to work.

[Muirium]

On the positive side, my favorite keyboard is my recently acquired IBM Model F XT. I also have Model M.

That's more like it! The XT is superb. I can't think of a keyboard more different from the spider trap than that! Hook it up with Soarer's converter and you've got an amazing board with a layout you can redefine as you like.

[7bit]

Do you guys have a favorite rubber dome keyboard?

Topre.

+1

[sth]

i like my hhkb lite, the olden one with the nifty PFU logo and the hhk layout. basically the same thing as the original, pre-topre version i think.

speaking of which... if anybody has one of those... i want it

[Julle]

Not easy finding images of these online.

I took some quick shitty shots of the board in question, turns out it's manufactured by Chicony.

[Muirium]

Chicony's still around, huh? Easy to forget some of these guys still make keyboards.

[davkol]

derp

[Muirium]

I shit you not: the computer stores over here have almost stopped bothering with computers entirely. I was in PC World some months ago, and they have more TVs than desktops by a very long way. And their sad little keyboard corner was the sole property of Logitech. I half expected to see washing machines and cookers. Wouldn't surprise me when they do. As the chain includes such general purpose "Currys" stores already.

Apple Stores are beginning to look retro. Where are the vacuum cleaners and toasters!