Worst keyboard you ever used, ever?

[tristinDLC]

for me, that's "every ortholinear board ever"

I have a Planck built purely for aesthetic reasons as I keep it displayed on my desk on a stand (along with a Pok3r on a stand as well). I have tried to use it a handful of times and while it hasn't been the worst experience, it's definitely a different experience. I was easily about to transition from a normal keyboard down to a 60% almost immediately, then got used to a 40% moderately fast (still working on my perfect JD40 keymap though), but the learning curve from 40 to 30 along with ortho has been really challenging.

What makes me retarded is that even though they aren't my favorite board (IMO the BananaSplit will take the cake along with all my Apple/Alps boards), I am still going to build probably another 3 Planck projects  I just like weird builds and I have a couple in mind, so once I get around to it, I have some ideas for some new to market Planck builds.

Definitely lower on my build list, so hopefully I get around to them (though my wallet hopes not).

[xtrafrood]

Tossing in another vote for roll-up silicone squishy thing. Bad.

[OfTheWild]

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I have a friend who works for these guys (he hates the board as well) but was given it for free... I have it for novelty sake but have tried to type on it. Not only is it membrane, it's ortho-linear, and the buttons are huge... how they thought this was a great way to teach kids to learn computers blows my mind. It's absolutely terrible. But hey, it looks good with all the other weird keyboards I build and it was free, so whatever.

lol Plugable donated one to the Atlanta meetup and I traded the guy who won it for my door prize instead. I wanted it for my daughter, more to play with to keep her occupied while i was working. My wife wondered why i didnt give her one of my 40% boards to play with stating "Why would they make the caps so huge for people with tiny hands? That makes no sense. It should be smaller than normal."  Cant say shes wrong. I'm going to use it for her "Space Ship Control Center" activity wall.

[tristinDLC]

I'm going to use it for her "Space Ship Control Center" activity wall.

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That sounds like both an appropriate and cute idea. I have toyed around with ideas on how to modify it for fun, but I have so many that this is literally at the bottom of the list

[berkiyo]

There was one particular Logitech keyboard that came in a combo which often had keys like ctrl, shift and tab being hard to press when pushed towards the corners. It was the Logitech MK270 but I can confirm that they have moved on since that with their newer products. The MK345 for example isn't too bad and sounds like a Topre

It was probably the worst I've tried but other than that, I haven't tried many crap keyboards to begin with. Logitech MK270 isn't bad but it's not the best I've tried so far.

[berkiyo]

Dell KB216!

They provided those to us at the office along with DELL laptops and monitors, by far the worst keyboard I ever used!

Took me 3 days to order a 10keyless with MX Blue switches to replace it with!

I too have a Dell KB216 lying around and I've smashed high typing speeds but that said, it doesn't mean it is a joy to type on. For my taste, the flat key design isn't that great but the overall look of the board is nice. It was originally made to be used for server racks so that may explain why they haven't payed much attention to the typing experience.

For the $15 I spent on it, I'd be happy to use it again though it's not something to rave about. It's also really quiet which is welcoming to me I guess. In the end, it is all about using what works best for you! 

[TheFresko]

I bought a Razer Lycosa off of Woot! before I got into this hobby and knew better. It worked for about 2 days before it just stopped doing anything. Swapped it out with Razer, same thing happened. Swapped for another, same thing again. Come to find out the Lycosa had driver problems that Razer never fixed. My wife actually went through the same thing with the same keyboard before we met. If you google Lycosa problems, you'll see a TON of random problems people had with it. I guess different setups had the drivers screw up in different ways. Not sure how there was never a recall on it. They just kept allowing retailers to sell them and moved on.

[tristinDLC]

Here is another similar keyboard akin to the Plugable one aimed at children, but apparently this is aimed at people with dyslexia. Something about the horrid Comic Sans legends (which the dyslexic community has even more fonts created specifically for aide in their disability) and neon yellow are supposed to help in some way. I don't know the real science behind it, especially the color choice, but while the design world loathes Comic Sans, apparently it's lack of san serif accenting and obvious difference in character design help dyslexics type easier.

Still looks like a toddler's keyboard IMO, but I read some comments citing some evidence of actual functionality. Thank god I'm only stuck with my Plugable monstrosity for humous occasions. I've tried so many times to try and regularly use it and fail every time to get any key of typing speed of key feedback enjoyability. While I have no dyslexic tendencies, so maybe I just "don't get it" I can't understand the need for such a large child-like keyboard with poor plastic a dombed key construction, just because you have a mental disability that switches up your letters while typing and reading.

As a designer, it really grinds my gears on so many levels, so hopefully, there is some hard-back science behind this and not some "As Seen on TV" psuedo-science to take advantage of anyone.

At least the Plugable unit is color-coded to help kids learn which types of characters belong to the same subset of characters (letters, punctuation, modifier keys, etc. wheres the dyslexic on is just blinding and in a horrible font with terribly utilize dombed keys in a giant form-factor. Hopefully, it really works.

Dyslexia Board:



The Plugable kids board (that I and OfTheWild recently posted about:

[twin_rotor]

(KB101-A for scale)

For the NTSC guys, my personal Timex/Sinclair 1000. I saw the ZX81 already listed; the 1000 was no better!

The 3COM infrared keyboard, on the left, is one of the worst feeling AND sized keyboards I've ever experienced, that I used for longer than anyone should ever have to (including the system it came with). No love for late '90s dome small form factors! This one is really, really strange. I do not have the vocabulary to even begin to explain the key feel. Maybe I should send this one to chyros, along with the Audrey it came with.

I always HATED the C64 keyboard as well! I reminded myself how big of a pile of mush it was/is while pulling these examples out of my case. My TRS-80 is a close second in this respect. MUSH!

[chyros]

[rioc]

haha, yeah, was wondering when that'd find it's way into this thread.

really fun video 

[xtrafrood]

haha, yeah, was wondering when that'd find it's way into this thread.

really fun video 

Aye. Lots of surprises in that video

[sncbraxsc2]

The Dell L700?  Looks like this or like it.  Shipped with Dell Pentium computers in early 2000's.  Every key rattles, makes horrible noise, is wobbly, and mushy.

Nobody wanted to use a 60% keyboard at work, so I replaced the one I use with a Cherry MX 3.0, a vast improvement.

My 55y/o coworker dissed the cherry board I was letting her use, saying shes got one of those old dell keyboards at home she prefers that she'll bring in and she comes in with the board you pictured! UGH!

I think they had Dell Quietkeys at my school's computer lab, but the first computer my family bought was a Dell/Gateway back around 2000 and it had the below keyboard which I've found in thrift stores since and it is a really crummy rubberdome.

[Snowdog993]

My very first computer ever was an Atari 400 with the membrane keyboard.  No, I don't mean a rubber dome keyboard. . .  I mean the kind where you typed directly on the membrane.

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The very worst in my opinion. Yes the old Atari 400 Membrane.

[OfTheWild]

reminds me of this terrible keyboard from when i was a kid:

[Snowdog993]

A ZX81 its only a membrane, hard as wood…

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Envoyé de mon Nexus 5X en utilisant Tapatalk

..Compared to the Atari 400 keyboard, that is BLISS!

[Duckyreddy]

reminds me of this terrible keyboard from when i was a kid:

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lmao, say no to qwerty!

go abcdef!

[OfTheWild]

reminds me of this terrible keyboard from when i was a kid:

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lmao, say no to qwerty!

go abcdef!

its no wonder we had to do Mario Teaches Typing to figure out keyboards. lol
I should force my kit to use Colemak

[rich1051414]

Anyone have one of these as a kid?

[ander]

Anything with the dreaded

[audax989]

Once I found pretty nice looking cherry branded board. Was excited, until I learned about this switch called "Cherry MY". Oh it's the most horrible thing I've typed on. It's a super awkward mix of rubber dome and spring based switch. Rubber domes feel so damn tactile compared to that mushy mess. Ended up getting rid of that board.

Don't have pictures of the board itself, but a blurry picture of the label:
(Attachment Link)

This has to be the worst I have tried so far.

[Professor Fate]

It was a Mitsumi rubber-dome keyboard. We had some of them at high school and later at university. The keys were rather hard to type, so if somebody like me, who types very quickly, has the honor to use such a board, everybody (!) in the room will hear how he's trying to destroy that piece-of-scrap.
 
@Duckyreddy: You used a flexible rubber keyboard? Eeeeehhhh!!! I once sold them. For special applications (intensive care unit, cleanroom etc.) it may be even a viable option (its protection class is IP54), but typing long texts on such key-something is a nightmare.

[Duckyreddy]

It was a Mitsumi rubber-dome keyboard. We had some of them at high school and later at university. The keys were rather hard to type, so if somebody like me, who types very quickly, has the honor to use such a board, everybody (!) in the room will hear how he's trying to destroy that piece-of-scrap.
 
@Duckyreddy: You used a flexible rubber keyboard? Eeeeehhhh!!! I once sold them. For special applications (intensive care unit, cleanroom etc.) it may be even a viable option (its protection class is IP54), but typing long texts on such key-something is a nightmare.

I used it on someone's tablet for 2 minutes, absolutely hated the feel.....ew...
I would never use one let alone buy own one! 
I guess it isn't designed for home use so I guess there is a market for them in environments like the ICU, cleanroom as you have mentioned, which is pretty cool!
And it rolls up which is quite convenient actually... 

[microsoft windows]

I think those Apple keyboards with the white keys and clear plastic bezels were pretty bad.

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[DaBubbs]

The Dell L700?  Looks like this or like it.  Shipped with Dell Pentium computers in early 2000's.  Every key rattles, makes horrible noise, is wobbly, and mushy.

Nobody wanted to use a 60% keyboard at work, so I replaced the one I use with a Cherry MX 3.0, a vast improvement.

x2... I blocked out all of the horrible memories of using those keyboards and now they are coming rushing back. Thanks... 

[clicked121]

Xbox 360 attachable controller keyboard.

[rich1051414]

These are really bad too:



Like rubber domes, tablet keyboard cases are not made equal, but the iRulu one has to be the worst tablet case I ever attempted to type on. The whole thing flexes when you type on it, and you have to press hard to actuate keys, but if you type too hard, it triggers the keys near it. It might as well be a foil membrane keyboard.

[metalliqaz]

The waterproof keyboard on an old Toughbook.

https://www.bobjohnson.com/panasonic-toughbook-cf-27-cf-28-cf-29-backlit-rubber-keyboard/

pure rage-inducing

[mogo]

Xbox 360 attachable controller keyboard.

You say that, but I think it was pretty good for the purpose it served. It was nice to have a qwerty board for the thumbs with individually clicky little caps. Arranged in a grid, but it's not like you could get your full hands over it so you couldn't touch type anyways. I liked it.

[xtrafrood]

Xbox 360 attachable controller keyboard.

You say that, but I think it was pretty good for the purpose it served. It was nice to have a qwerty board for the thumbs with individually clicky little caps. Arranged in a grid, but it's not like you could get your full hands over it so you couldn't touch type anyways. I liked it.

I had a 360 keypad as well. At least the official 360 keypad keys registered when you pressed them, unlike certain squishy roll-up keyboards. I would seriously consider a 360 keypad/controller as a lounging keyboard/mouse.

[sandy1995]

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hmmmmm, no need to say more.

hahaha man! TRUE!!