IBM Keyboards

[ND4SPDR]

How many of you remember keyboards that made lots of noise when you typed on them? Like there was a little spring under the keys that clacked every time you hit a key? Well, I was reading Dan's Data the other day and came across a page where he was talking about how much he loved those old, clanky IBM keyboards. After reading him talk about how much he loved them and how he had just spent a fairly good deal of money on a few, I went digging through the garage for the old computer crap that's lying on the ground I found an ancient IBM keyboard and started typing on it. Holy crap! It feels so good! You can tell when a key has been fully depressed through both touch and the audible click, not to mention the fact that the keys themselves are larger and easier to hit. My only real problem with it is that it has a miniscule backspace key, so every time I make a mistake I hit the key next to backspace about ten times Ah well. I might just program out the slash key that's next to it (more proof of the superiority of Linux), but I dunno, I might need it.

I'll takke a picture in a few...this thing is so old school.

[isez2001]

I don't think it's anything like the keyboard you have, but I absolutely love the keyboard on my trusty old IBM Thinkpad 380XD.

It lacks a number pad (most laptops do), but the overall feel is infinitely better than on my desktop's keyboard.

[TheJANG]

Yep back when I did medical-legal transcription for my mom and was doing 70wpm constant and bursting to 100, the "clicky" keyboards were the trick setup. Around 1995 they became extremely hard to find, and the final death blow was when Keytronic, the lightest & most modern semi-clicky 'board brand at the time, switched to the modern el-cheapo 3-layered design and picked up a blunt feel at the bottom of the keys' travel.

[mikeyp]

i love typing on my kb100 for my pda, it feels just like a laptop keybaord

[HardcoreDragonX]

My dad still uses those old keyboards, but I avoid using his keyboards as much as possible. A few of the keys are worn out, and they stick when you press them, making it incredibly difficult to actually type any faster. They also have a different arrangement of some of the function keys, which is another reason my dad doesnt use anything else. I dont think I've ever typed on one of those that didn't stick on some of the keys, or have stiff keys. They're quite hard to find, and I think they run close to $100 over ebay.