Re: quality keyboards
On Monday 31 August 2015 13:50:55 Petter Adsen wrote:
> On Mon, 31 Aug 2015 08:25:25 -0400
>
> Gene Heskett <gheskett@wdtv.com> wrote:
> > On Monday 31 August 2015 07:04:22 Joel Rees wrote:
> > > On Mon, Aug 31, 2015 at 4:09 PM, <rlharris@oplink.net> wrote:
> > > > On Sun, August 30, 2015 8:49 pm, Martin Read wrote:
> > > >> Cherry still *are* (or at some point resumed) making mechanical
> > > >> keyswitches with a rated life in the tens of millions, and the
> > > >> Internet is full of mail-order vendors selling keyboards (from
> > > >> several different manufacturers) built with those Cherry
> > > >> keyswitches.
> > > >
> > > > How much do those things cost? Now that a keyboard can be had for
> > > > $10 or $15, is it better to pay $150 or even $250 for a quality
> > > > keyboard, or replace a $15 keyboard every year or even every six
> > > > months?
> > > >
> > > > And in our present Window$-dominated, rodent-oriented, game-addicted
> > > > and generally-lliterate society, is there anyone who types more than
> > > > a few dozen keystrokes a day for the purpose of intelligent
> > > > conversation -- other than subscribers to a mail list such as this,
> > > > and the authors of pulp fiction? (And no, I do not consider
> > > > messages transmitted by "texting" or "twitter" to be intelligent
> > > > conversation.)
> > >
> > > Petter points out the comfort benefits. For some, however, it's not
> > > just comfort.
> >
> > Correct.
> >
> > There is another aspect of what I call a usable keyboard. My retirement
> > hobbies include cnc'ing the usual machine shop stuff, like mills and
> > lathes. Thats a "dirty" environment, where a cut chip of metal can fly
> > several feet, depending on method of keeping the cutting tools workspace
> > reasonably clear of these chips, which will adversely effect the smooth
> > surface of the cut if allowed to just lay there and be recut by the
> > passage of the tools next cutting edge. So keyboards need to be both
> > protected from this debris, but also built to ignore it as much as
> > possible. The net result is a tendency to, when keyboard shopping, to
> > stay well away from keyboards whose keycaps are molded with tapered
> > sides surrounded by a close fitting plastic molding. I have an ACER
> > keyboard with vertical sided keys and no surrounding mask, keycaps are
> > directly on the stem of the key that if buried in this "swarf" might not
> > go down and register a keypress because there is something under the
> > keycap. That would be the much preferable failure mode, whereas the
> > taper sided keycap, with the usual overlay mask, allows this materiel to
> > follow the key down, then wedge it down.
>
> Have you seen the Apple keyboards? They have keys that are barely
> raised from the keyboard itself, completely flat, and are AFAIK
> wireless. Sandstrøm, among others, makes clones of these that are dirt
> cheap. If I understand your problem correctly, they might work well for
> you.
>
> Just a thought, I have no idea how they are for actual work.
>
> You can also get keyboards with a plastic coating that are intended for
> industrial use, but I haven't seen any for some time.
http://hopeindustrial.co.uk/lp/industrial-keyboards.html?gclid=CMSPkfOv08cCFQeeGwodmeYG1A
also at (more appropriately for Gene)
http://www.hopeindustrial.com/configuration_and_pricing_keyboards.htm
http://www.ruggedtech.com/
etc.
Lisi
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