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Author Topic: holy cr*p, ever seen this?  (Read 6408 times)

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Offline wellington1869

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« on: Sun, 22 February 2009, 22:59:37 »




Ever use one? Look how thin it is...
Supposedly its an 'external trackpoint' keyboard from ibm, according to a blog from 2006 (linked below), and supposedly comes in two versions, with numpad and without.


Also interesting, according to the same thread,
"I remember microsoft once released a version of the intellitype software which mimiced the sound of clicky keyboards on a software level but, try as I might, I just cannot find a copy anymore."
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Offline D-EJ915

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 22 February 2009, 23:12:43 »
those are thinkpad keyboards put into their own cases
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Offline wellington1869

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 22 February 2009, 23:24:47 »
Quote from: D-EJ915;22452
those are thinkpad keyboards put into their own cases


r they still available? I dont even know what they're called (The blog wasnt very helpful in that regard). Are these ultranavs?
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Offline bhtooefr

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #3 on: Sun, 22 February 2009, 23:33:50 »
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=38&Code=31P8950¤t-category-id=E9ADAEB6787146E29B78400A33E7FE8A

It's the Full-Size UltraNav USB Keyboard.

(As opposed to the Travel UltraNav USB Keyboard, which makes exactly ZERO sense, as it's identical to what's in a T4x or R5x (non-e model.)
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Offline skriefal

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #4 on: Sun, 22 February 2009, 23:34:42 »
Search for "Ultranav" on amazon.com.  They have both models available.
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Offline wellington1869

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #5 on: Sun, 22 February 2009, 23:56:55 »
does anyone know how these compare to the spacesaver II's? I know the SSII is older and probably snappier, but the ultranavs dont suck or anything, right?

(man, thats one pricey ultranav).
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Offline bhtooefr

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #6 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 00:00:22 »
I've not typed on one of these, but the keyboard module is gonna be the same as one of the ThinkPad T4x or R5x keyboards. So, basically, it'll type like a good scissor-switch laptop keyboard, because that's exactly what it is.
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Offline wellington1869

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #7 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 00:06:45 »
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Offline tad

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #8 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 02:06:42 »
Those are standard rubber dome boards, and came with newer IBM/Lenovo workstations. They offer a little bit less resistance than a standard Dell mushy-mush board, and generally feel higher quality.
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Offline wellington1869

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #9 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 02:27:19 »
hmmm, i cant decide between these and the ultranavs. These are half the price (and i cant get too worked up about a keyboard i'm going to be leaving at work...).
I think I may have used one of these once at a clients site. If I recall they were pretty mushy but high build quality, deeper throw than a laptop's scissor switches.
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Offline cchan

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #10 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 05:56:31 »
the tenkeyless ultranavs I've seen for about $40 on ebay, might be worth to look there. If the Preferred is anything like the only ibm dome board i own, it's pretty mushy.
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Offline D-EJ915

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #11 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 06:08:13 »
yeah the preferred keyboard is just a regular rubber keyboard, good to have one to mess around with other computers or lend to a friend but not really more than that
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Offline bhtooefr

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #12 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 09:54:23 »
Actually, I dislike the Preferred Pro.

There are two revisions of the basic Dell USB rubber dome keyboard - one is dark gray and has XP-spec Windows keys, the other is black and has Vista-spec Windows keys.

All of the Vista ones start out very mushy, and get worse within a year.

Some of the XP ones start out pretty crisp, and stay crisp for years. And, I think they're better than the Preferred Pro (well, at least the Lenovo-branded version of it.)
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Offline CX23882

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #13 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 10:42:09 »
I agree.  The "midnight grey" Dell USB keyboards aren't too bad.  I've found that the spacebars have a tendency to "squeek" rather than rattle like the black ones, but overall they're not too bad.  The black ones are bad and in spite of being just as heavy, they somehow "feel" cheaper overall.

I think the black ones have a model number SK-something whereas midnight grey ones are RT-something.  Most of the SK have Vista keys and the RT ones XP keys, but there are some SK variants with the XP-style keys, and they are rubbish too.
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Offline wellington1869

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #14 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 14:47:49 »
i guess the midnight gray dell will be my fallback. I'm leaning towards the spacesaver II again (I think it might have the same 'buckling rubber domes" that mightymouse has) but it'll be a challenge to get one for 50 or less.
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Offline wellington1869

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #15 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 15:06:29 »
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"Blah blah blah grade school blah blah blah IBM PS/2s blah blah blah I like Model Ms." -- Kishy

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Offline bhtooefr

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #16 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 15:21:59 »
I'm not sure how those type, the board I was referring to was the one where the spacebar protrudes.
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Offline CX23882

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #17 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 15:27:53 »
Like these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/DELL-GRAY-USB-KEYBOARD-US-SPACE-SAVER-J4624_W0QQitemZ360119024164QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs

But that one is not gray (SK-8115 is the bad black version).  The gray models have a matt finish whereas the black ones have a textured shiny finish.

This one might be midnight grey, but you really need to see the sticker on the back to know:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-0W7658-USB-Keyboard-New_W0QQitemZ230326710304QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item230326710304&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A2|294%3A50

Edit:
Hmm, these one look black, but they're RT7D50:
http://cgi.ebay.com/2-DELL-RT7D50-USB-KEYBOARDS-NEW_W0QQitemZ360134004859QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item360134004859&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A2|294%3A50
http://cgi.ebay.com/W7658-NEW-DELL-USB-STANDARD-KEYBOARD-DJ331-RT7D50_W0QQitemZ200311575200QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item200311575200&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A2|294%3A50

Maybe the texture is the giveaway.  The SK-8115 is very shiny whereas the RT7D50 looks less so - I think the texture finer/smaller on the RT.  But then again that can be hard to see in photos too...

It appears that others think the RT is better than the SK:
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000327.html

So...
RT7D50 - Good keyboard for what it is (rubber dome)
SK-8115 - Avoid
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Offline wellington1869

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #18 on: Mon, 23 February 2009, 15:54:55 »
thanks CX, I'll check them out. The dell will prolly be a fallback board for me. I'm tempted to take a chance on that space saver II first.
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Offline wellington1869

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #19 on: Tue, 24 February 2009, 02:09:52 »
hey cx, fyi I picked up one of those RT dells anyway, 15 bucks shipped. I do remember typing on one, come to think of it, and I remember being surprised that it was a dell standard board. It had pretty nice action for a membrane. So I'll take it to work and leave it there when it comes.

I might also pick up this neat-o travel board:
"Atek onboard travel keyboard". I dont know the key feel but the design really appeals to me. (14", full size keys, slips into a hard case, usb cable wraps around).
Here's a cnet video review (they didnt like it but i did :)
http://cnettv.cnet.com/2001-1_53-50004773.html
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Offline wellington1869

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #20 on: Tue, 24 February 2009, 13:53:14 »
another follow up -- at work we have both the SK and the RT models (and yup, the RT one is "midnight gray", not black). I tried them both out. While there is a difference, I have to say the difference seems pretty subtle to me (less than what I remember). Maybe the subtle difference adds up over time. But yes, the RT model is slightly crisper and smoother I think.

I might also just go down to J&R and try out some models (they have dozens of them on display, which is nice, and many of them are brands I've never heard of before). Maybe I'll find something there. Else it'll be either the ssii or maybe a DSI smk I guess.
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"Blah blah blah grade school blah blah blah IBM PS/2s blah blah blah I like Model Ms." -- Kishy

using: ms 7000/Das 3

Offline zwmalone

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #21 on: Tue, 24 February 2009, 18:41:18 »
Nevermind, I posted in the the wrong thread made by Welly... He has so many of them its hard to keep track :p
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Can't get enough of them ALPS

Offline wellington1869

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holy cr*p, ever seen this?
« Reply #22 on: Tue, 24 February 2009, 20:14:41 »
:D Just tryin' to keep up with you guys ;)
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"Blah blah blah grade school blah blah blah IBM PS/2s blah blah blah I like Model Ms." -- Kishy

using: ms 7000/Das 3
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