New Computer Goodies

[Cheerful Charlie]

After many years of use, my trusty Dell keyboard is getting old and very dirty. It has been a good keyboard but it is time to retire this one. So I just ordered a new, shiny keyboard. A Tecware Phantom with mechanical switches and back lit so I can type in the dark.

Wheeeee!

Also 32 Gb of memory so I can use virtual machines with my system. Did I mention my keyboard lights up in the dark? I got a model with no number pad which I rarely use and which just eats up desktop space. And it has LEDS that light up in the dark! Since I spend a large part of my life on a damned keyboard, I am very excited to have a shiny new clicky key, back lit toy keyboard like all the cool gamer kids.

This is almost like Christmas.
[h=1][/h]

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Keyboard heaven is an updated version of the Northgate Omnikey/Ultra. AFIAK none exist.

 

[Gun Nut]

After many years of use, my trusty Dell keyboard is getting old and very dirty. It has been a good keyboard but it is time to retire this one. So I just ordered a new, shiny keyboard. A Tecware Phantom with mechanical switches and back lit so I can type in the dark.

Wheeeee!

Also 32 Gb of memory so I can use virtual machines with my system. Did I mention my keyboard lights up in the dark? I got a model with no number pad which I rarely use and which just eats up desktop space. And it has LEDS that light up in the dark! Since I spend a large part of my life on a damned keyboard, I am very excited to have a shiny new clicky key, back lit toy keyboard like all the cool gamer kids.

This is almost like Christmas.
[h=1][/h]

My lit keyboard died a year or so ago. I am so handicapped in low light now... never realized how much I rely on quick glances at the keyboard until recently.

I had an old Gateway 2000 system in the 90's. The keyboard it came with was called "the Anykey". This was before "press any key to continue" was even a popular thing. It literally had an "Any Key" on it. Like, you could actually press the "any key". The keyboard was programmable and I remember using the heck out of the built-in macro capability for entering Doom cheat codes. "No Clipping!"

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

After many years of use, my trusty Dell keyboard is getting old and very dirty. It has been a good keyboard but it is time to retire this one. So I just ordered a new, shiny keyboard. A Tecware Phantom with mechanical switches and back lit so I can type in the dark.

Wheeeee!

Also 32 Gb of memory so I can use virtual machines with my system. Did I mention my keyboard lights up in the dark? I got a model with no number pad which I rarely use and which just eats up desktop space. And it has LEDS that light up in the dark! Since I spend a large part of my life on a damned keyboard, I am very excited to have a shiny new clicky key, back lit toy keyboard like all the cool gamer kids.

This is almost like Christmas.

My lit keyboard died a year or so ago. I am so handicapped in low light now... never realized how much I rely on quick glances at the keyboard until recently.

I had an old Gateway 2000 system in the 90's. The keyboard it came with was called "the Anykey". This was before "press any key to continue" was even a popular thing. It literally had an "Any Key" on it. Like, you could actually press the "any key". The keyboard was programmable and I remember using the heck out of the built-in macro capability for entering Doom cheat codes. "No Clipping!"

IDISIPIP?

*goes online*

Crap! idspispopd

Get off my case, I haven't played it in like decades.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

After many years of use, my trusty Dell keyboard is getting old and very dirty. It has been a good keyboard but it is time to retire this one. So I just ordered a new, shiny keyboard. A Tecware Phantom with mechanical switches and back lit so I can type in the dark.

Wheeeee!

Also 32 Gb of memory so I can use virtual machines with my system. Did I mention my keyboard lights up in the dark? I got a model with no number pad which I rarely use and which just eats up desktop space. And it has LEDS that light up in the dark! Since I spend a large part of my life on a damned keyboard, I am very excited to have a shiny new clicky key, back lit toy keyboard like all the cool gamer kids.

This is almost like Christmas.

Oh goodness.. a keyboard without a keypad to me is a airplane with no wing(s). My new (-ish now) laptop has a backlit keyboard. I had never had one before. It is nice in low light conditions. I'm usually pretty good, but it helps. I don't like that it is green... green?! I guess that means it is a gaming thing.

 

[fromderinside]

Keyboard didn't work on big machine. Traded out with KB on old big machine and both KBs worked. Probably a problem with one USB port on Big machine.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Got my new shiny keyboard. It is very "clicky". Noisy even, but it types very well. I like the colorful light up in the dark LEDs. No number pad means I have more room on the desk. The only bad part is that it has extra software drivers that are Windows only. No love for Linux here! What a nice toy!

 

[LShoeOnRFoot]

Keyboard heaven is an updated version of the Northgate Omnikey/Ultra. AFIAK none exist.

Are you familiar with Venn diagrams? Can you imagine one with the Northgate keyboard as well as the IBM model m along with the most produced other models? What makes the Northgate so special you'd buy an updated version? And what would you qualify as an update? I am curious about this kind of thing. I know they make new models of keyboards with tactile switches I think they are called but I am curious to hear your preferences.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Keyboard heaven is an updated version of the Northgate Omnikey/Ultra. AFIAK none exist.

Are you familiar with Venn diagrams? Can you imagine one with the Northgate keyboard as well as the IBM model m along with the most produced other models? What makes the Northgate so special you'd buy an updated version? And what would you qualify as an update? I am curious about this kind of thing. I know they make new models of keyboards with tactile switches I think they are called but I am curious to hear your preferences.

Northgate keyboards are basically bulletproof. You can swap the left ctrl/alt/caps lock keys--I have ctrl above shift, alt below and capslock down by the space bar since I almost never use it anyway.

I have a full set of function keys on the left--I can touch-type function keys on the left, I can't reliably touch type function keys on the top. I have a number pad and a pad of arrow keys.

My understanding is the Das Keyboard lacks the function keys on the left and the keycaps to swap those keys (I believe they can be reprogrammed to act that way, it's just you don't have spares to change the labels.)

I do not know about how the Das Keyboard keys are built--the Northgate ones do not print the labels, they're made with separate pieces of plastic so the writing goes all the way through--it will never wear off.

I finally had to quit using the Northgate I had been using for more than 20 years because of double-typing--I'm going to send it in for refurbishment. (There's a guy who fixes them.)

I am simply a more accurate typist on a Northgate. The CVTs provide the same benefit but haven't proven as reliable in my experience.

 

[Treedbear]

I just ordered a Logitech K830 Illuminated Living-Room Keyboard with Built-in Touchpad for my new Lenovo ThinkCentre M720q 10T7 Tiny Desktop Computer - 1 x Core i5 8400T / 1.7 GHz - RAM 8 GB - SSD 256 GB. Up until 2001 I was in charge of buying, installing, and maintaining about 30 pc's in my department most of which required specialized video and analog input boards used in a production testing environment for manufacturing of precision optical components. I left just as USB was being introduced and interfaces were seat of the pants. Things have certainly changed for the better. I've connected my two old VGA monitors via Display Port adapter cables plus my 50" TV via HDMI. The new keyboard will connect via either Bluetooth or perhaps the included "Unifying receiver" that plugs into a USB port. I'll also keep the included standard USB keyboard connected. It has a really nice feel to it and is very quiet. I hope to be able to replace the USB mouse with my ancient Logitech trackball via a USB/PS2 adapter cable. My vintage HP1200 LaserJet printer is still supported by the included Windows 10 Pro(64-bit) OS. I found a couple youtube videos that showed me how to lubricate the laser motor which was squealing loudly, and then fixed a sticky solenoid that caused paper jams. Everything has worked plug and play perfect so far. And the pc is incredibly fast compared to what I've been using at work for the past 10 years. They're both "desktop" pc's but this new one is smaller than a cookie box. Just 7" x 7" x 1.5". No internal DVD. Just a wireless internet antenna sticking out the back, which turns out to be about 30% faster than the wired connection. And it responds incredibly fast with the SSD drive. I wanted the 2nd keyboard to use for watching TV while relaxing in my easy chair from across the room. All this has set me back about $1000, but it's something I had to do in order to "socially distance" while I "shelter in place". I hate that phrase since it came out of the mass shootings and can only inspire people to buy more guns. But I've always been somewhat socially distant and I'm quite comfortable having people wanting to keep 6 feet away from me. And I do need to keep in touch with the outside world and I'd certainly miss you folks. Just hope I still feel like going back to work when this is over.

 

[Angry Floof]

I just swiped my brother's. He got a laptop about a year ago and uses that keyboard. I think he forgot about the keyboard on the slide out shelf of his desk. He hasn't hollered yet.

 

[fromderinside]

My problem with KBs isn't operation. My sweat is so acidic I dissolve lettering within a couple months. I learned touch type in HS and I'm pretty good at it. Not fast but I generally know where particular letters be. However, in the dark, I need re-reference once or twice per sentence. Pains in the neck. I do have a tendency to either skip or not engage spaces so a lot of run on letters need be broken up into words. Put together with my atrocious spelling and letter swapping you'd think I would just talk to my computer. But that's really not possible in a one room computer and entertainment center.

 

[rousseau]

As long as the keyboard has properly positioned alternate keys I'm good. While programming I use the home, end, and shift-arrow, shift-ctrl-arrow combination a lot, among a few others. But my muscle memory for alternate keys is firmly entrenched on PC oriented keyboards.

Luckily when I'm at my laptop I'm usually just on social media. If I'm working from a laptop it slows me down a fair bit, especially coupled with the single screen.

 

[ZiprHead]

After many years of use, my trusty Dell keyboard is getting old and very dirty. It has been a good keyboard but it is time to retire this one. So I just ordered a new, shiny keyboard. A Tecware Phantom with mechanical switches and back lit so I can type in the dark.

Wheeeee!

Also 32 Gb of memory so I can use virtual machines with my system. Did I mention my keyboard lights up in the dark? I got a model with no number pad which I rarely use and which just eats up desktop space. And it has LEDS that light up in the dark! Since I spend a large part of my life on a damned keyboard, I am very excited to have a shiny new clicky key, back lit toy keyboard like all the cool gamer kids.

This is almost like Christmas.

Oh goodness.. a keyboard without a keypad to me is a airplane with no wing(s). My new (-ish now) laptop has a backlit keyboard. I had never had one before. It is nice in low light conditions. I'm usually pretty good, but it helps. I don't like that it is green... green?! I guess that means it is a gaming thing.

My wife is an accountant. A keyboard with a number pad is essential to her.