Is there any reason to buy a USB keyboard?

[xbassman]

Last week I spilled coffee in my 2 year old Dell keyboard. :shocked:
So I guess it's probably time for a new one. (2 years isn't bad for a $5 keyboard!)

I have my eyes on this one -> Aopen KB-966B
I really like the feel of a Keytronic keyboard, but have gotten used to having a few shortcut keys. I think the AOpen keyboard is probably made by Keytronic, from looking and the description......

Anyway...while looking I noticed quite a few USB models out now.
Better than PS-2?

 

[globalcitizen]

For an average user you will not notice any difference.

 

[Mermaidman]

IMO, the only reason for USB kb is that you will eventually run into a situation where a computer has no PS/2 port.

It happened to me--my newest laptop does not have a PS/2 port. (Try looking for a PS/2 to USB converter!)

 

[Peter]

Yes there are. PS/2 keyboard/mouse ports are the next thing to disappear from PC mainboards.

Besides, many monitors now have USB hubs that let you plug the keyboard and mouse in there, rather than running the cables down the back of the table to the computer.

Finally, the USB keyboards I recently bought have 4-port USB hubs above the numeric keys. This is very handy for memory sticks, cameras and all kinds of stuff you temporarily plug to the system.

 

[Peter]

Mermaidman, I've seen PS2->USB converters. These connect one PS2 keyboard and one PS2 mouse into a single USB port, with the controlling logic in a tiny little box on the cable.

 

[xbassman]

Originally posted by: Peter
Mermaidman, I've seen PS2->USB converters. These connect one PS2 keyboard and one PS2 mouse into a single USB port, with the controlling logic in a tiny little box on the cable.

Wow...those things are like $50!

At that price it would be more worth it to buy a new keyboard and mice.
Might be different if you couldn't pick up a killer keyboard for $10 and mouse for $30.

I am going to go ahead and order the AOpen keyboard since, after looking, all the current boards support PS-2 and I will have another board worn out before I need to buy a USB one.

Thanks for your responses guys!

 

[Comp625]

No, it's more like $20 from Staples.

Staples

 

[VirtualLarry]

Or $6 from MicroCenter .

Yes, they have them at Wal-Mart too, for probably $15-20. They look visually identical, but I don't know if there is any difference in the embedded firmware. The one that I'm using right now (the QVS one), does seem to have some minor issues with repeating keys and missing key-up events, although that could well be my funky KT400/8235 chipset support for USB as well. I much still prefer hard-wired PS/2 keyboard/mouse interfaces myself though. They just seem to work better than USB overall.

 

[Peter]

Originally posted by: xbassman

Originally posted by: Peter
Mermaidman, I've seen PS2->USB converters. These connect one PS2 keyboard and one PS2 mouse into a single USB port, with the controlling logic in a tiny little box on the cable.

Wow...those things are like $50!

At that price it would be more worth it to buy a new keyboard and mice.
Might be different if you couldn't pick up a killer keyboard for $10 and mouse for $30.

You don't get a killer keyboard for $10. Wrist killers maybe. If your keyboard is more serious gear from the $100 bracket, you'll happily fork out these $10 for an adapter.

 

[Maximus96]

i have a usb keyboard, a logitech elite. but i use the supplied converter to plug into the ps/2 port. same with the mx510 mouse. i need no need to waste a usb port as ps/2 works just fine.

 

[Peter]

That's different - that's the USB device still being able to do PS/2. The adapter for this contains no logic.

It's not like you're losing USB ports if you're making good use of USB for your keyboard and mouse - as I said, get a keyboard that has a hub inside. That's a very common feature, and you'll actually end up with more USB ports than you started with. Besides, USB is the much faster connection as far as packet handling, bus bandwidth and interrupt latency are concerned. This should be noticeable with a quality mouse.