[Recommend On] Keyboard

Uselesswarrior

Can anyone recommend me a good gaming keyboard, or link me to a good comparison article?

Visti

I'm really liking my girlfriend's Logitech Wave. It's not specifically a gaming keyboard, but it's fairly ergonomic, pretty and of high quality.

Zell

SteelSeries 7G is a very nice simplistic keyboard. Also very expensive. You really need to specify what you want in a keyboard for us to be able to give you any good suggestions though.

Uselesswarrior

Well I do general typey things, play games, and occasionally code.

I am pretty good touch typist. I was looking at some of the stuff from this article.

Honestly I was considering the Das Keyboard, I just don't know if I can justify that price for a keyboard.

OremLK

Even expensive modern keyboards have a tendency to get fucked up over a fairly short period of time. My next keyboard will be an old IBM Model M or one of the clones from that company who licensed the buckling spring technology. I've heard they're supposed to be incredibly reliable.

Zell

I meant what sort of features you need, media keys, macro keys, LCD displays, ergonomics, usb ports, ability to use multiple keys at the same time... Stuff like that.

Honestly I was considering the Das Keyboard, I just don't know if I can justify that price for a keyboard.

A keyboard is one of the most important parts of your computer, imo as long as it doesn't break within months almost any cost is justifiable.

Edit: Also I would choose the SteelSeries 7G over the Das Keyboard. They're pretty similar, but the SteelSeries 7G has media keys and the left windows button removed. It lacks USB 2.0 ports (has 1.1 ports though) but I only use the USB ports in my monitor anyway.

Uselesswarrior

OremLK wrote: »

Even expensive modern keyboards have a tendency to get fucked up over a fairly short period of time. My next keyboard will be an old IBM Model M or one of the clones from that company who licensed the buckling spring technology. I've heard they're supposed to be incredibly reliable.

I was just looking at their site http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/keyboards.html.

I either had an IBM M as my first keyboard, or something that looked exactly like it.

I use a Microsoft egonomic at work and like it.

I am kinda up in the air about what features I need. I am more concerned with it being a nice keyboard over any bells and whistles, though bells and whistles are nice. Anti-ghosting would be nice, you know, for gaming.

Zell

I'll still recommend the SteelSeries 7G

You can supposedly hit every key at the same time. Which isn't actually all that useful, but whatever.

Mr_Rose

I use an Apple aluminium keyboard at work and I refuse to go back. I know it looks like it really shouldn't be any good, but it's actually quite awesome.

zanetheinsane

Although sort of expensive, you can actually buy authentic Model M keyboards from http://www.clickykeyboards.com/ . It's pretty easy to check out old surplus stores or auction lots and find people that are selling these things for like a buck, too, if you have the patience or time.

Uselesswarrior

The apple keyboard is good, I have it on my macbook and enjoy it. But its not a good keyboard for any other operating system due to funky keys.

Model M keyboards are PS/2 only and lack windows keys, which I use alot for shortcuts.

TK-42-1

ive really enjoyed my g15. the backlit keys are the dogs bollocks. because of my keyboard tray on my desk i dont really use the LCD very much, but its handy to have a system moniter if i lean back a bit.

Zell

If PS/2 is a problem for you, then the SteelSeries 7G's anti-ghosting features won't be that good as they rely on PS/2, they should be still decent with USB, but I haven't tried.

Uselesswarrior

Zell wrote: »

If PS/2 is a problem for you, then the SteelSeries 7G's anti-ghosting features won't be that good as they rely on PS/2, they should be still decent with USB, but I haven't tried.

Ah, does usb not have ghosting or what? I just find that more and more devices support usb and while most computer still have PS/2 I have to wonder when that will go the way of the dodo.

ArcSyn

Most have PS/2? I haven't seen a PS/2 port on any of our work machines in 3 years.. Most motherboards on consumer line PCs don't have it either that I have seen anyway.

shadydentist

My saitek eclipse (original) has held up extremely well to repeated abuse for 3 years. Its heavy, and feels practically indestructible. The only problem I've had is the text rubbing off on W, A, S, and D.

Barrakketh

Uselesswarrior wrote: »

Model M keyboards are PS/2 only and lack windows keys, which I use alot for shortcuts.

The company that make the Customizer keyboards (Unicomp) bought the rights to the Model M design. You can buy them with USB and Windows keys, but their model for that doesn't come in beige (104/105 key configuration).



They still use the buckling spring switches, and they still feel durable enough that I'm confident that I could bludgeon someone to death with one and it'll still work after cleaning the thing.

Uselesswarrior

Barrakketh wrote: »

Uselesswarrior wrote: »

Model M keyboards are PS/2 only and lack windows keys, which I use alot for shortcuts.

The company that make the Customizer keyboards (Unicomp) bought the rights to the Model M design. You can buy them with USB and Windows keys, but their model for that doesn't come in beige (104/105 key configuration).



They still use the buckling spring switches, and they still feel durable enough that I'm confident that I could bludgeon someone to death with one and it'll still work after cleaning the thing.

Yeah I am seriously considering that keyboard or the "space saver" variant. First, how loud are the keys, because I spent alot of money keep my computer quiet so it might be silly to get a keyboard that is going to drown out audio. Second, does it have a built in usb hub?

Barrakketh

Uselesswarrior wrote: »

Barrakketh wrote: »

Uselesswarrior wrote: »

Model M keyboards are PS/2 only and lack windows keys, which I use alot for shortcuts.

The company that make the Customizer keyboards (Unicomp) bought the rights to the Model M design. You can buy them with USB and Windows keys, but their model for that doesn't come in beige (104/105 key configuration).



They still use the buckling spring switches, and they still feel durable enough that I'm confident that I could bludgeon someone to death with one and it'll still work after cleaning the thing.

Yeah I am seriously considering that keyboard or the "space saver" variant. First, how loud are the keys, because I spent alot of money keep my computer quiet so it might be silly to get a keyboard that is going to drown out audio. Second, does it have a built in usb hub?

As loud as a Model M. You really have to hear it in person, but [vidurl=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxjTgfGTLDo]here[/vidurl] is someone doing a typing test on a Space Saver. If you want quiet, stay far away.

And there's no USB hub. That isn't a problem for me as I rarely need more than the ones on the front of my PC case (excluding stuff that's always connected in the back), but my monitor has a four-port hub if I needed to connect extra devices.

OremLK

Any buckling spring keyboard is going to be pretty loud to type on. It's part of the point, really--they're typists' keyboards. So definitely keep that in mind before you spend money on it.

Fizban140

This is a very good keyboard. It has 104 keys. It has an incredible black finish and an overall feel to the keys that not many other keyboards have. Oh and it costs $7 and doesn't have any gay shit like lights or an LCD screen, its a circuit board with keys.

Zell

ArcSyn wrote: »

Most have PS/2? I haven't seen a PS/2 port on any of our work machines in 3 years.. Most motherboards on consumer line PCs don't have it either that I have seen anyway.

Most consumer line motherboards have keyboard PS/2 inputs, mouse PS/2 inputs are disappearing though. PS/2 inputs are entirely gone from laptops. If you've seen a lot of PCs without a PS/2 input I think you've just forgotten what one looks like.

Ah, does usb not have ghosting or what?

It does have anti ghosting, just not sure if it's better or worse than that of the Das Keyboard without PS/2.

Fizban140 wrote: »

This is a very good keyboard. It has 104 keys. It has an incredible black finish and an overall feel to the keys that not many other keyboards have. Oh and it costs $7 and doesn't have any gay shit like lights or an LCD screen, its a circuit board with keys.

Personally I recommend against basic keyboards like that, buy a gaming keyboard of some kind, you'll want at least some basic anti-ghosting capability.

OremLK

Fizban140 wrote: »

This is a very good keyboard. It has 104 keys. It has an incredible black finish and an overall feel to the keys that not many other keyboards have. Oh and it costs $7 and doesn't have any gay shit like lights or an LCD screen, its a circuit board with keys.

I could see myself buying like ten of those and then replacing them every six months or so when they start to break.

Uselesswarrior

OremLK wrote: »

Fizban140 wrote: »

This is a very good keyboard. It has 104 keys. It has an incredible black finish and an overall feel to the keys that not many other keyboards have. Oh and it costs $7 and doesn't have any gay shit like lights or an LCD screen, its a circuit board with keys.

I could see myself buying like ten of those and then replacing them every six months or so when they start to break.

I actually already have that keyboard. I bought it for my linux PS3 install. Its not a bad keyboard for $7.

Uselesswarrior

I was all set to order the Unicomp keyboard when I read this, "The Endurapro has no n-key rollover and is 1 key at a time."

Barrakketh can you confirm/deny this? Sounds like this would suck for gaming.

Barrakketh

Uselesswarrior wrote: »

I was all set to order the Unicomp keyboard when I read this, "The Endurapro has no n-key rollover and is 1 key at a time."

Barrakketh can you confirm/deny this? Sounds like this would suck for gaming.

I don't own an Endurapro and have stopped gaming on the PC. The Customizer is definitely not "1 key at a time" because using Emacs (in a fit of insanity) or most of my commonly-used shortcuts in Eclipse would be fucking impossible (most of them use three keys).

OremLK

Which three keys are we talking about? Because Control, Shift, and Alt are usually designed to be exempt from such issues.

Fizban140

I have had that cheap logitech keyboard for over five years and I have never had a problem with it. Even with gaming it has been fine.

OremLK

I wish I could press the keys lightly on my keyboard when playing games. WASD always get super fucked up. You know, like they sort of squeak and have trouble going all the way down or something. It has happened to about five keyboards over the past couple years.

Barrakketh

OremLK wrote: »

Which three keys are we talking about? Because Control, Shift, and Alt are usually designed to be exempt from such issues.

Those three are the common keys in Eclipse. When I was playing WoW there was s with either a or d plus ability keys (s was forward, w was mapped to other things), excluding modifiers. It's probably at least a 3-key rollover since it not supporting that would probably fuck you over when touch-typing, though reading about the subject for the Customizer it seems the keyboard can sometimes do more depending on the keys in question.

An NPR interview I discovered in the process mentions that the company is looking into doing custom and gaming keyboards, largely in part due to the effects of the economy killing sales from their business customers. They had to file for chapter 11

Uselesswarrior

Barrakketh wrote: »

OremLK wrote: »

Which three keys are we talking about? Because Control, Shift, and Alt are usually designed to be exempt from such issues.

Those three are the common keys in Eclipse. When I was playing WoW there was s with either a or d plus ability keys (s was forward, w was mapped to other things), excluding modifiers. It's probably at least a 3-key rollover since it not supporting that would probably fuck you over when touch-typing, though reading about the subject for the Customizer it seems the keyboard can sometimes do more depending on the keys in question.

An NPR interview I discovered in the process mentions that the company is looking into doing custom and gaming keyboards, largely in part due to the effects of the economy killing sales from their business customers. They had to file for chapter 11

So basically if I like their keyboards I should order a few more, just in case.

Should I get the space saver model or the regular one... hmm.

EDIT: Ended up getting the space saver one.

Serious_Scrub

I'm a bit confused on the terminology here
What does ghosting mean in terms of keyboards?
And does rollover mean the number of simultaneous keypresses?

I've been using a logitech ultra-x ps/2 for a few years. I find that the laptop-style keys has a good balance between tactile response and noise. It has served me well, but one of the pins on the ps/2 connector is bending. I'm afraid that if I unplug the keyboard again, I'm never going to get it back in.

I'm pretty sure they make a USB version these days, so it might be worth a look

Luq

Since we already have a thread, can anyone recommend a wireless keyboard/mouse for pc gaming in the living room? I sit about 10ft away from the HDTV. I currently have a Logitech Wave (got it for free at a conference) but I have reception problems. I can only get about 4-5 ft from the receiver before it stops working. This makes the whole thing pointless because I can't sit on my couch and game.

L*2*G*X

using this trust keyboard atm.
It has a built in trackball and L and R buttons, and also works with Media Center, if you're into that.
Am very happy with it although I had to use a usb extension cable to run the usb receiver to the front of the pc. Then again that pc is shoved into the back of a marble fireplace.
Also my SO tried to smash it and managed to crack the back, but it still functions.
So thumbs up, for once, to Trust.

Dissociater

I went and bought this keyboard: Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard 4000.

It took a while to get used to but it's very comfortable to use, has lots of extra buttons, has a good feel, is comfortable for your palms, etc. Probably the best keyboard I've ever owned. My only complaint would be for things like gaming where I have my right hand on my mouse and my left hand on the WSAD part of the keyboard. It's normally not ever a problem, but if there's ever a game where I need to use anything on the right half of the butterfly of the keyboard it can be hard to reach. Usually this isn't a problem and I can get around it with remapping of keys, or just getting used to where I can reach the left handed buttons with my right hand.

Not bad for about $60.

Luq

I have a few things to try before replacing the keyboard, figured I would post it to see if it would help anyone else. If you have problems with wireless reception it could be due to:

Logitech wrote:

• Using cordless devices on metal surfaces that may cause radio interference.
• Using cordless devices within range of more powerful wireless systems such as cell phones, garage door openers, etc.
• Using cordless devices and/or the receiver too close to high power emitters such as wireless speakers, computer power supplies, monitors, microwave ovens, etc., which may cause radio interference.

TK-42-1

cordless is foolish if a corded one will do

Luq

TK-42-1 wrote: »

cordless is foolish if a corded one will do

I'm not running a 10ft cable from behind my hdtv, across the living room and coffee table, all the way to the couch.

OremLK

I think that would qualify as a case where corded would not do.

TK-42-1

OremLK wrote: »

I think that would qualify as a case where corded would not do.

*taps nose*

Uselesswarrior

IR wireless keyboards are pretty easy to spy on also.

Bluetooth is a much securer protocol, it might solve your reception problems as well. However, you pay a premium for BT.