Re: what keyboard do you use?
On Mon, 2024-02-05 at 08:40 -0500, songbird wrote:
> hw wrote:
> > On Sun, 2024-02-04 at 09:43 -0500, songbird wrote:
> ...
> > > if they made them with a metal base mine would probably
> > > still be working, but the plastic base is too flexible for
> > > me. i have two dead ones. :( the pressure fitted ribbon
> > > cable connection is a really bad design and those plastic
> > > tabs break off.
> > >
> > > otherwise the feel is good. very loud when i'm writing...
> >
> > IIRC IBM omitted the metal plate long time ago. What are you doing
> > that it's too wobbly for you?
>
> it's not wobbly it is the entire keyboard flexes when you
> use it in a non-conventional manner. i do not use them on a
> flat desktop, i have them laying across my lap as a am laying
> here on my comfy perch
Hm, ok, I still find it amazing that it's so wobbly that the
wobblyness is causing issues since it's still relatively sturdy
compared to other keyboards. They're not inflexible, though, so using
like them like this, it's not inconvieable that they break.
That pretty much leaves you with having to put a metal plate (like a
piece of 3mm aluminum) under any keyboard, and that'll probably make
it feel cold in your lap.
> [...]
> i won't contact Unicomp again because despite their claims
> of having goals of great customer service i tried to resolve
> issues of a bad key and this repeated issue of malfunctioning
> connections and didn't get any satisfaction. the key problem
> was noted and should have been covered under the 1yr warranty,
> but when i brought it up i got static and resistance. three
> strikes and i'm done with them.
I'm sorry to hear that. It seems like they cut back on the models and
options a bit, so perhaps they also cut back on customer service. I
can't tell since I was so lucky as to get mine through German ebay,
and it cost less than what they cost new though it was practically
new. The shipping alone may cost more than the keyboard itself if I
were to order directly from them :(
> i did like the restored keyboard project[*] and read through
> their website and history to follow it for a few hours but
> the overall price is just too much ($300-500).
Oh! I didn't notice that they have come this far and now even offer
different models! I didn't like the layout of the Model F they
planned a few years ago, and I found the price too steep for a
keyboard the layout of which I don't want.
I'll have to check out their web site; if I could get a F104 Model M
in all metal for 300, it may be worth thinking about getting one ---
but the shipping will probably forbid it.
I do like full size keyboards like the Model M and even more so the
122 key version. It kinda sucks that every other keyboard is smaller,
especially since the keys are squeezed so tightly together that it can
be difficult to type on it. The Cherry G80, for example, has that
problem --- it's almost as if Casio designed it like their watches
since they're trying to sell those with bracelets sized for puppets
and small children, which are way too short for anyone with normal
size wrists.
> $80 for what i have now was acceptable.
Which one is that? It must be an unusually sturdy one. Or did you
put a metal plate under it?
> [*] https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/
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