USB vs Normal keyboard... Which is better?

[StrongBad]

I have a USB keyboard at home, is there any performance implications or benefits to using a USB keyboard vs a normal keyboard?

One thing I have noticed is that sometimes the keyboard may not be recognized in the bios or other crap like that.

 

[madthumbs]

Keep your keyboard on the ps2 bus if you can. Will only slow the usb bus down if anything, and as you already noted, you'll run into problems using usb.

 

[everman]

By using a normal ps2 keyboard you'll not only save a usb port, you will also most likely not run into any problems with not being able to use the keyboard in the system bios or linux for example.

 

[DngrMouse]

The only advantage to having a USB keyboard is the addition of extra buttons.

I, for example, have fallen in love with volume control! Luckily, my keyboard works fine in BIOS.

 

[Mem]

Keep your keyboard on the ps2 bus if you can. Will only slow the usb bus down if anything, and as you already noted, you'll run into problems using usb.

I`ll have to disagree with madthumbs on this,USB keyboards don`t use a lot of bandwidth ,nowaday it`s not noticable also most modern boards have legacy support for USB,I`ve been using two USB keyboards on two different PCs both for gaming and BIOS flashing etc and have yet to have a problem,the fact is PS2 will be phased out before USB does, so get use to it now.
Side note,quite a few modern USB keyboards have extra built-in USB ports that can be used for USB mice etc(low powered stuff). By default USB is a lot faster then PS2 as well since it`s running at 125hz.

 

[StrongBad]

My usb keyboard has a 2 port hub in it... and it is SOOO awesome to plug my mouse right into my keyboard... I love it!

(Although it does feel slighly Mac-ish... which makes me feel dirty.)

 

[Need4Deal]

On a side note what are advantages/disadvantages of a USB mouse over a PS/2 mouse?

TIA

 

[stevewm]

Originally posted by: Need4Deal
On a side note what are advantages/disadvantages of a USB mouse over a PS/2 mouse?

TIA

Not a whole lot really. All USB input devices run in Isosyncronous Transfer mode. In IsoSync mode devices are polled by the USB Host 125 times per second or 125hz. The PS/2 mouse controller can have its sampling rate set up to 200 times per second. (With PS/2 mice the controller is polled, not the mouse. The mouse updates the controller as fast as it can, your computer then samples the data collected by the controller so many times per second.)

If anything PS/2 will give you better compatibility. All PC OSes that use a mouse support PS/2.

It will be quite awhile before PS/2 ports are phased out. Abit tried it with the first version of the MAX legacy free board. They ended up putting the PS/2 ports BACK when they released the MAX 2 due to popular demand.

Personally I always use the PS/2 ports. I don't seen any point in wasting a USB port on a KB/Mouse when you have 2 free ports that are specifically designed for just those devices...

 

[bmacd]

Originally posted by: DngrMouse
The only advantage to having a USB keyboard is the addition of extra buttons.

I, for example, have fallen in love with volume control! Luckily, my keyboard works fine in BIOS.

my wireless Logitech keyboard has volume control and is PS2. I *LOVE* it. MS better give away bj's if they want me to switch away from Logitech.

-=bmacd=-

 

[Kingofcomputer]

volume control is by software/driver, not the interface of the connection.
old AT keyboard also can do volume control, cd-rom drive eject, etc.