Which 'forever' keyboard?

[R D S]

I've chucked a good number of keyboards over the years. I've 3 sets of Logitech wireless KB/mouse 2 of which are great but one not so much so i'm going to replace it with wired.

So if i'm buying another I want (if it's even possible these days) a decent one.

We have a keyboard in the workshop, an old beige lump, it's followed me through my adult life and just refuses to give up.*

I'm sure I spent 30 quid on a Microsoft one for the missus the other year, it's not currently in use so plainly wasn't worth the money.

Is there a modern day equivalent of the beige lumps of old, the sort of thing you could beat someone to death with?

*Although son 2 nearly retired it, "this keyboard isn't working, have we another one?" he said, applied his usual 'keep jabbing monkey boy' technique until I tipped it over and shook about 3lb of detritus out of it.

[Theo]

Keyboards are a personal taste. Do you want squishy, firm, clicky-clacky? Long key travel, short key travel?

There's a whole sub genre of 'mechanical keyboards' with aficionados favouring this or that. Search on that and enter the rabbit hole.

The IBM Model M is a popular old-school bulletproof clicky-clacky keyboard that people are fond of, but it's not to everyone's taste.

Theo

[Johann Klammer]

google 'Buckling Spring Keyboard'

[nothanks]

... snipped A while ago I bought a "UB434HA, Original IBM Style Keyboard, Black, USB" keyboard from The Keyboard Company - it's orders of magnitude better than the cheapo keyboards so commonly used these days

[Owain Lastname]

The Keyboard Company keyboardco.com has a wide selection at reasonably sensible prices including new Unicomp "model M" keyboard at around £125-150.

Then there are the build-to-order with different colour switches, glow-in-the-dark personalised keycaps and braided cables brigade.

Owain

[Martin Brown]

I'm not sure it is worth treating them as anything other than consumables today. Logitech cordless ones are not bad and the battery life is pretty good to. I wouldn't go back to corded myself.

K120 is their cheapest wired one.

Why not pinch that one then?

I still have some corded keyboards in a cupboard but then I still have the odd bit of hardware that needs one (pre USB).

[The Natural Philosopher]

I just paid £60 for a not quite new cherry G80 keyboard with a USB plug and mechanical switches, so far I can still read the keys.

[Dave Plowman (News]

This one is a 90s clackety clack 'IBM' style - corded, obviously. Has outlasted all the various cordless ones I've had.

[R D S]

Oh my good lord ! :) Well, the missus was asking what I wanted for Xmas, and I couldn't at the time think of anything....

[Bob Eager]

Unicomp. They are the previous IBM production line.

I have an IBM Model M that I've been using - daily, a lot - since 1989. I am using it right now.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Cherry is the normal answer to this question. I have to say though that the e normal failure mode of wired ones is the lead where it comes out of the case. I have a dell which is perfect except the cable is intermittent somewhere in the strain relief, a misnomer, as it obviously was not good at relieving strain! Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Yes I've just changed the batter after a year, and I never turn it off either, so its obviously got intelligent power saving. Brian

[Pamela]

It's a great keyboard but definitely big!

[Andy Burns]

But what colour cherry switches? They have about a dozen types from clicky, to tactile to spongy ...

[R D S]

I wonder if you can have a home trial, like a mattress.

[Owain Lastname]

Trial kits are available

Not quite like a mattress, more like a paint sample pot.

Owain

[Andrew]

I have a Digital LK450 which has nice keys, but it has extra keys for VAX layered products like DecForms and a slightly different layout to the standard IBM layout.

[DJC]

In UK from #

[Dave Plowman (News]

Other thing is the old IBM comes apart for cleaning etc easily. The keyboard on my not that old HP laptop failed, and had to be replaced. And I'm sure it gets nothing like the same amount of use as some.

Oh - the lettering on my IBM is still like new. On most others, it soon wears off on the most used keys.

[Bob Eager]

Yup, every couple of years or so I do all of ours.

You need a long socket to get the case screws out, and then it's simple. The keycaps pull off the keys, and you can (carefully) remove the keys. Special treatment for big keys and space bar.