What is wrong with keyboard manufacturers

[Anubis]

why in the hell are all keyboards either the cheapest things ever made or they cost $100+ and have a million useless media/macro buttons that no one wants.

Its fing impossible to find a standard keyboard with a minimal amount of function keys (volume and play/stop/adv/back as they are the only important ones) that does not either have useless F keys or is a stupid ergonomic shape

the last time i had to buy a new keyboard i actually found one, and now its no longer made and not available.


gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[Nohr]

My wife, a couple friends and myself have been happy with this Lite-on. Nice standard keyboard. Price doesn't hurt either. You get a better deal on shipping if you buy more than one.

 

[Anubis]

no function keys

 

[Red Squirrel]

Actually what I hate is how most keyboards don't use a L shapped enter, instead they make the backspace huge, or I've even seen some make the \ key huge instead of the enter. WTF is up with that? I actually don't mind ergo keyboards now that I have one but it took me a good month or two to get used to but it is better in the end. This is the one I use:

One thing I found hard though is the F keys are all stuck together. Really sucks for game macros, as I used to use the "slot" to know what key I'm pressing without looking. I ended up putting a dab of hot glue as a guide lol.

 

[gsaldivar]

winnar:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?LH_BIN=..._sc=1&_sop=15&_sticky=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m301

I love my Dell multimedia keyboard... yes, it has 8 unwanted function buttons above the F-Key row, but they are miniature buttons instead of full-sized keys and therefore easily ignored. The volume & music keys are large and easily accessed, and the keyboard itself is rock-solid.

Good luck!

 

[Anubis]

oh that actually looks promising, can you get it from dell or do you have to use ebay?

edit: dell only seems to have the spanish one, http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=310-9676

 

[gsaldivar]

Oh wow... it looks like Dell has a new version of it:

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/prod...1&sku=330-2486

The keys look shorter, like they are trying to make it a slimline/low-profile style... I don't think I'd like it.

I don't see the old one available directly from Dell anymore, sorry!

Here are all the "new" older model ones on Ebay:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=de...&_odkw=dell+usb+multimedia+keyboard&_osacat=0

Here is a US one, brand new, from a seller with good feedback - $19 with free shipping!

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Dell-USB-Mu...mQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item58845ff233

Good luck!

 

[Anubis]

yea i saw that and its got laptop style keys and yea DO NOT WANT

is there any reason the Spanish localized one would not work?

 

[gsaldivar]

Honestly I've never tried using a foreign keyboard on a system. If I had to bet on it, I'd say the only difference would be the silkscreened printing on the keys and maybe the USB identifier so the system knows that a Spanish keyboard is plugged into the machine.

 

[gsaldivar]

Hmm.. here is a sample Spanish layout. There are two N keys!!! hahahahahaha

 

[Anubis]

Actually what I hate is how most keyboards don't use a L shapped enter, instead they make the backspace huge, or I've even seen some make the \ key huge instead of the enter. WTF is up with that? I actually don't mind ergo keyboards now that I have one but it took me a good month or two to get used to but it is better in the end. This is the one I use:

One thing I found hard though is the F keys are all stuck together. Really sucks for game macros, as I used to use the "slot" to know what key I'm pressing without looking. I ended up putting a dab of hot glue as a guide lol.

the prob with that thing is the giant wrist pad you cant remove without a chain saw

 

[Absolution75]

winnar:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?LH_BIN=..._sc=1&_sop=15&_sticky=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m301

I love my Dell multimedia keyboard... yes, it has 8 unwanted function buttons above the F-Key row, but they are miniature buttons instead of full-sized keys and therefore easily ignored. The volume & music keys are large and easily accessed, and the keyboard itself is rock-solid.

Good luck!

I'm using the same keyboard and I generally like it - except that you can't push more than 2 arrow keys + 2 more keys at the same time (pushing 3 arrow keys at the same time will result in only 2 being sent to the pc) which kinda sucks for fps games. I use arrow keys for movement =p.

 

[nerp]

Unicomp.

 

[Anubis]

if i wanted a model M id just get one

 

[nerp]

You should want one. The Ms are nice but I prefer the Unicomps. The SpaceSaver is a bit smaller. You might not be a buckling spring guy, but there are always Blue Cherry boards. You can but really high quality boards with mechanical switches. Sadly, all the boards recommended here are still rubber dome boards that will get shiny keys and break down rapidly.

 

[Anubis]

i prob should have stated that i cant stand full keypress keyboards, I have a really old model M actually, found it in a box yesterday and yea i could never type on that.

My current KB which is on its way out is 1/2 way between full keypress and the slim laptop style and its honestly the best thing i have ever used

 

[ChuaChua]

Meh. Another thing to whine about.

As a left-handed person, all these right handed mice piss me off too...

 

[davidrees]

why in the hell are all keyboards either the cheapest things ever made or they cost $100+ and have a million useless media/macro buttons that no one wants.

Its fing impossible to find a standard keyboard with a minimal amount of function keys (volume and play/stop/adv/back as they are the only important ones) that does not either have useless F keys or is a stupid ergonomic shape

the last time i had to buy a new keyboard i actually found one, and now its no longer made and not available.


gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

i prob should have stated that i cant stand full keypress keyboards, I have a really old model M actually, found it in a box yesterday and yea i could never type on that.

My current KB which is on its way out is 1/2 way between full keypress and the slim laptop style and its honestly the best thing i have ever used

I see a lot of threads on various forums from people decrying the state of the keyboard market. Most of the threads start out with a generic complaint and then later, more specific preferences are stated.

There are about a bajillion different kinds of keyboards out there and 90% of people do not care much beyond maybe a basic preference for or against laptop style keys or something else really easy to find.

Then you have the other people that need a specific level of travel, resistance, tactile response, layout, color, features, etc.

There are models out there to cater to every taste, but they are not mainstream and they can get expensive. I have seen forums that do nothing but discuss keyboards (I can't remember where).

I am almost this picky about desks so I appreciate your frustration, but if you really want to make yourself happy, you have to dig deep and do your research.

 

[Alienwho]

I have the perfect keyboard you are looking for. It's the logitech ultra X. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823126022

I got this keyboard a few months ago off newegg for 17 bucks. It's a slim profile keyboard that is similar to a laptop. It has 6 low profile small function keys that I use for basic stuff (mute, volume, play/pause).

 

[nerp]

geekhack.org

 

[nycxandy]

geekhack.org

The truth. If you want discussion on REAL keyboards, this is the place to go.

 

[0roo0roo]

Actually what I hate is how most keyboards don't use a L shapped enter, instead they make the backspace huge, or I've even seen some make the \ key huge instead of the enter. WTF is up with that? I actually don't mind ergo keyboards now that I have one but it took me a good month or two to get used to but it is better in the end. This is the one I use:

One thing I found hard though is the F keys are all stuck together. Really sucks for game macros, as I used to use the "slot" to know what key I'm pressing without looking. I ended up putting a dab of hot glue as a guide lol.

i ordered that
i use an older ms ergo splitty kb. it works great.

die hard old school people pay through the nose for a real clicky bucky spring kb
http://www.dansdata.com/clickykeyboards.htm

 

[Special K]

The truth. If you want discussion on REAL keyboards, this is the place to go.

Seconded. After trying out all of the major mechanical switches, I've settled on a blue cherry Filco and haven't looked back. It's the best keyboard I've ever used.

 

[0roo0roo]

Actually what I hate is how most keyboards don't use a L shapped enter, instead they make the backspace huge, or I've even seen some make the \ key huge instead of the enter. WTF is up with that? I actually don't mind ergo keyboards now that I have one but it took me a good month or two to get used to but it is better in the end. This is the one I use:

One thing I found hard though is the F keys are all stuck together. Really sucks for game macros, as I used to use the "slot" to know what key I'm pressing without looking. I ended up putting a dab of hot glue as a guide lol.

i got one thanks to dell black friday. is the space bar ridiculously stiff? iit has a feel that is totally different from the other keys, many spots on the space bar button are just not usable. it wasn't a problem with my previous ms kb which was a multimedia natural pro ms kb. any spot on that kb's space would have the button depress as smoothly as any other while this one seems to have some serious design issues. esp the front edge and near the sides it just jams.

 

[gsaldivar]

i got one thanks to dell black friday. is the space bar ridiculously stiff? iit has a feel that is totally different from the other keys, many spots on the space bar button are just not usable. it wasn't a problem with my previous ms kb which was a multimedia natural pro ms kb. any spot on that kb's space would have the button depress as smoothly as any other while this one seems to have some serious design issues. esp the front edge and near the sides it just jams.

Sounds like you might have gotten a damaged keyboard?