I have a problem with the total inability to find anything with US layout and clicky switches at a decent price in Europe. And the shipping + VAT and customs from US doubles the price.
Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard
31–40 of 104 posts
Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard
#32Model M's are horrid. They are like playing a broken piano.
I use one of these keyboards on my desktop: http://www.thinkpads.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/lenovo_t...
It's the same as my laptop.
Big thanks to Lenovo for making this piece of awesomeness.
Edit: to the downvoters. I was a model M fan for years until it nearly fucked my hands up. CTS surgery was required. Now I prefer lighter touch positive action keyboards like Lenovo / Sun ones.
Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard
#33I've recently had to readjust the way type to be more wrist-friendly since I've been seeing the beginning (intermediate? God I hope not...) stages of repetitive stress injury. And that's on my relatively ergonomic macbook air, which from what I've read is designed from the start to prevent that sort of thing. I cringe to think of the kind of damage I'd do to my wrists from developing on one of these things for any pe…
That actually happened to me. It took me a few months (once I started getting fairly bad RSI symptoms) to unlearn the pounding that my model M had led me to start doing.
Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard
#34I have Das Keyboard mechanical keyboards on all of my home systems. I have spinal nerve damage that reduces sensation in some of my fingers. The positive tactile feel of the switches and the clicky sounds are very helpful in compensating for the reduced feeling in my fingers.
Das Keyboard is indeed great. I have the quiet version one, which is not really quiet, but makes far less noise than their main model.
Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard
#35tried Das Keyboard cherry mx blue switch, wayyy tooo loud to use in work place. Switched to kinesis freestyle2. The experience is amazing.... I didn't know non-mechanical keyboard would be such a pleasure to type on.
Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard
#36When I was just young lad I worked part-time at one of those mom and pop computer fixit shops. Every once in a while the owner would buy a palette of Model M keyboards. I'd get stuck with the job of refurbishing them for sale or inclusion with new systems. I'd spend a couple weeks taking off all the keys, scrubbing the keyboards down with a dishwashing tools and soap and then toss 6 or 7 into the kitchen dishwasher for a cycle. After a week of drying they were good to go for $10-15.
We never had a keyboard that didn't work after this "refurbishment". Absolutely built like tanks.
So it's weird to see keyboards like the Model M going for $100+. And I agree that they're nice typers. But then again I'm using the same $10 Logitech I bought at Ross (of all places) when I realized I needed a USB keyboard for something 10 years ago. I toss it in the dish washer a couple times a year to clean the cruft out, but other then some faded keys it works "fine".
The only expensive keyboard I've bought was one of those Bluetooth Mac chiclet keyboards and only because I was using my rMBP as a second monitor and needed something a bit closer to type on. It's okay, but I wish sometimes I had bought the $15 bluetooth keyboards I see at Ross every so often.
Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard
#37If has a wrong shape, proper keyboard should be choped in the middle :-). I used to have wrist pains, 4000 solved it. I bought six of those just in case.
Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard
#38Caution -- I used one of these and I think it led to bad habits which eventually caused a bit of RSI. Before the model M I typed very lightly on the keyboard, but once I started using the M I began to press a bit harder in response to the positive clicking sound. Neither my speed or accuracy changed as a result of using the M. Next thing I knew, I'd pound the keys on any keyboard, regardless of whether it had positiv…
Twenty-years of typing on model Ms here - no RSI. Then again, I've been playing the piano for 35 years, so maybe a well-ingrained slightly-rounded wrist position and controlled striking of the keys has benefited me with both the piano and typing. :)
But I agree - one doesn't actually need to type any harder on a model M, in fact - like the piano - speed and stamina increases if you use less force.
Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard
#39Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless with brown switches for me. It's reasonably priced, looks lovely, and is brilliant to type on. That the keys come off for washing and brushing out the keyboard base is also a nice bonus. http://www.amazon.com/Filco-Majestouch-2-Tenkeyless-FKBN87M-...
This is my favourite keyboard, particularly in the poorly-named 'ninja' version where the keys are printed on the front instead of the top which avoids the print rubbing off.
http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard/uk-filco-ninja-majestouch...
Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard
#40I'm sorry to say that, and I didn't even visited the link, but I actually laughed when reading the title of this link. After the thread about what 4chan thinks of HN, this is like HN trying to parody itself :-D.