Five Mechanical-Switch Keyboards: Only The Best For Your Hands

[Guest]

I still use an old IBM 101 Keyboard from 1984. Best keyboard ever made. No window keys to boot either.

 

[Guest]

This review is incomplete without at a filco or realforce. :S bummmerr

 

[phaedrus2129]

I still use an old IBM 101 Keyboard from 1984. Best keyboard ever made. No window keys to boot either.

1984 is the copyright date. There should be a manufacturing date on the label as well. The earliest models were from 1985 and were terminal keyboards only; earliest PS/2 ones were from 1986.

 

[cantrellb]

I second the vote on the IBM 101. I still have a couple. I also have the new incarnation from Unicomp, which I am currently using and heartily recommend.

 

[beebbeeb]

I used to use Cherry keyboard, in UK layout, in the 1990s.

Sadly, Cherry does not do ergonomics, and I have switched to various M$ "Natural" keyboards for the past ten years.

M$ hardwares - mice and keyboards - are quite awright.

 

[Maxor127]

My keyboard cost less than $10 and it's still serving me well after 7 years. I'd never spend more than $10 on a keyboard or more than $30 on a mouse.

 

[caparc]

Back in the day I had a Leading Edge clicker keyboard, better even than the IBM clickers. It was a sad day when that great keyboard finally died.

 

[caparc]

I forgot to add, this is the best article on Tomshardware since the one about how hard drives are made.

CPUs and graphic cards come and go. This keyboard info will be relevent for years to come.

 

[lethal squirrel]

Those are my animations

I actually don't know if I'm happy they used them, or pissed that they didn't give me credit.

 

[madmark2k]

Why was no Logitech keyboards included/reviewed? surely they are one of the biggest, most popular and most respected gaming device manufactures out there.

 

[madmark2k]

[citation][nom]sahil[/nom]my G15 keyboard works just fine, thank you[/citation]

As does my G13

 

[ripster]

Hey I was serious when I said this article is infringing copyrights!

The original animated GIFs are from geekhack here:

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?14802-Cherry-GIFs

 

[lethal squirrel]

Thanks ripster!

 

[GrizzledGeezer]

A virtually useless review.

I've been typing for almost 50 years. I learned on an Olympia in high school, and typed on a Smith-Corona cordless electric at home. Oddly, Consumer Reports' panelists preferred the "touch" of these machines.

Any man who actually types (as opposed to poking the keys) and has used the IBM PC keyboard /knows/ that this is the best keyboard. Period. You type faster, more confidently, and make fewer mistakes.

These keyboards are still available, both as NOS and newly manufactured, supposedly to IBM specs. Yet you haven't reviewed them. Why?

 

[fb39ca4]

I never knew there was so much to keyboards

 

[phaedrus2129]

Also note that almost all of their product images seem to have been taken from Google Images, mainly press release pictures. I wonder how many other copyrights they've violated...

 

[mcs_5]

I use a 102-key IBM Keyboard made in Scotland in '89. I have no upgrade plans...

 

[Guest]

My Das Keyboard has 10 key rollover, and is USB. I can smack any 10 keys on this board and they'll all function at the exact same time. It's not all about the switches sometimes.

 

[joeman42_43]

[citation][nom]cantrellb[/nom]I second the vote on the IBM 101. I still have a couple. I also have the new incarnation from Unicomp, which I am currently using and heartily recommend.[/citation]

Earliest PS/2 ones were '87. There were AT ones that first showed up in late '85.

 

[Guest]

Anyone here who says a rubber dome is better simply hasn't used a mechanical. And as far as I'm concerned? Good. More advantage for me. See you in game!

 

[michaelahess]

[citation][nom]Encapsulate[/nom]Anyone here who says a rubber dome is better simply hasn't used a mechanical. And as far as I'm concerned? Good. More advantage for me. See you in game![/citation]

I've used both extensively, it's still a very personal thing. Some folks just like the feel of rubber. Not saying one is better or worse than the other. Longevity is irrelevant, I've got 20 year old rubber dome's that still work. It's all about feel, and for gamers, the number of keys you can press at once.

 

[GrizzledGeezer]

The people who prefer "mechanical" keys are generally typists. The mechanical feedback is critical to accurate, rapid typing.

 

[Guest]

I don't understand why the write-up is saying that the Cherry MX Red keyboards have few buyers...everything that I have seen about them indicate that they are in high demand, just low supply. Also I haven't noticed anyone complaining about the high typographical errors. The reds seem to be good for daily typing and gaming, whereas the blacks are good for gaming but not so much for daily typing.

 

[therabiddeer]

[citation][nom]GrizzledGeezer[/nom]The people who prefer "mechanical" keys are generally typists. The mechanical feedback is critical to accurate, rapid typing.[/citation]
I dunno if thats really true... I said earlier I am using a 10+ year old rubber dome keyboard from an old sony vaio and I type 110-120wpm with pretty precise accuracy...

 

[steve11]

michaelahess am I correct to assume you said and meant rubber domes have more keys you can press at once and are designed for gamers? It's obviously not right when most of then are 2kro with wasd cluster key roll over; Compared to most mechanicals they are either the same (like blackwidow), or offer at least six keys to be pressed at once. A mechanical is definitely technically better than a G15 or the like.