Back in the day Gamerz didn't get hysterical about hysteresis.
The dirty secret no-one much talks about: your choice of keyboard has very little impact your leet gaming skillz.
The dirty secret no-one much talks about: your choice of keyboard has very little impact your leet gaming skillz.
MEANWHILE AT ELITEKEYBOARDS....Show Image(http://elitekeyboards.com/images/cherrybluemx.png)
Since the Unicomp is only 2 or 3KRO, is there any benefit to going with a PS/2 version over a USB version?
Since the Unicomp is only 2 or 3KRO, is there any benefit to going with a PS/2 version over a USB version?
The dirty secret no-one much talks about: your choice of keyboard has very little impact your leet gaming skillz.Quote from: v193r;296738I disagree.
but does the interrupt based PS/2 really not have any advantages at all?
I was thinking about going USB for "futureproofing" should I ever want to use it on a wus mainboard with no PS/2 ( or a laptop ).You can get pretty decent USB converters for PS/2 devices (we even have a wiki on them), so that's not a big issue. Besides, most any new keyboard shipping with a PS/2 plug also "speaks" USB, so a mechanical adapter will do. The same applies to a lot of USB keyboards, at least most of those without an integrated hub.
I realize that polling for a keyboard is not really a factor, but does the interrupt based PS/2 really not have any advantages at all?It pretty much only does when you'd expect it, i.e. on a rather slow, heavily loaded PC that needs the internal buffer once in a while. My main 'board is always PS/2, as USB occasionally drops a few characters and I need reliable input. (And then there was this bug that kept the processor from going into a deeper sleep state when using a USB keyboard, thus increasing power consumption. I don't remember the specifics.)
as USB occasionally drops a few characters
That's funny. I assumed it was $10 WW.
When I found my model M in my basement over the Christmas holiday I wired it up at home for general use including some gaming.Have you tried the floss mod on the model M? I'm kinda playing around with that right now. I have my home row flossed and the rest left alone. There is a huge difference. The flossed key don't feel any different, but they sure are a lot queter. If flossing isn't enough you can also try the rubber o ring around the spring well too. That will help quiet the keys as the bottom out. I have heard that by using the o-ring that key feel is changed, so you might want to experiment. Ripster has guides in the Modification forums here on GH. If I have learned anything at all, it's that I trust Ripster's advice when it comes to modifying model M's and Unicomp keyboards.
In my particular situation, they were too loud. They could even be heard upstairs on the other side of the house in a "middle of the night" typing situation. When gaming, I found BS to not be what I was looking for. I found that I could accidentally apply just a little too much force and pop the key down. Instead of backing off a little you have to do a full release to get it back. I'm sure I could adjust, but I didn't consider it ideal.
I'm far from hardcore, and still do lots of typing etc... I'm planning to see how browns do in a mixed application.
Have you tried the floss mod on the model M? I'm kinda playing around with that right now. I have my home row flossed and the rest left alone. There is a huge difference. The flossed key don't feel any different, but they sure are a lot queter. If flossing isn't enough you can also try the rubber o ring around the spring well too. That will help quiet the keys as the bottom out. I have heard that by using the o-ring that key feel is changed, so you might want to experiment. Ripster has guides in the Modification forums here on GH. If I have learned anything at all, it's that I trust Ripster's advice when it comes to modifying model M's and Unicomp keyboards.
The twang almost always is the result of missing plastic rivets.
The most complete analysis of Unicomp versus Blue Label versus Black Label versus..... is here. (http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:6550)
Someday I'll summarize it all in the OP but essentially other than the first few Model Ms (thicker base plate) they are all functionally the same.
That link doesn't seem to bring up the whole article. It stops after "plastics". I find it interesting that the article I linked was one where the other guys twangy 1397599 was black label and mine is blue. Both 7599s and both twangy. Although mine is blue label, it is made in 1993 (not post 1993), appears to have drainage but doesn't say Lexmark anywhere - just IBM and "Made in USA". I thought all blue label 1391401s said "made by Lexmark for IBM" or at least had Lexmark on them somewhere. Who knows, there are so many variants.
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EDIT #2: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_Keyboard) says that 1397599 was made in 1993 by IBM, not Lexmark. Are they correct? That would make it an exception to the "blue labels are Lexmarks" rule... Maybe I need to see silkscreening on the controller board to tell for certain.
The most complete analysis of Unicomp versus Blue Label versus Black Label versus..... is here. (http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:6550)
Someday I'll summarize it all in the OP but essentially other than the first few Model Ms (thicker base plate) they are all functionally the same.
My son doesn't even care about such trivia and just games on a Unicomp Spacesaver fine.
Lexmark had an arrangement with IBM whereby Lexmark got to use IBM branding on stuff they made for some time. Any US-made Model M from March 1991 onwards was made by Lexmark, and the same is true of Mexican ones. IBM continued making keyboards in their Greenock plant in Scotland after Lexmark took over manufacture in the US, so there are indeed some blue label Model Ms made by IBM themselves. However, given that they have Lexmark parts inside them, it's more likely that IBM just bought the parts in from Lexmark and assembled them, with very little actual manufacture done in the UK plant.
I really should fix the Wikipedia article on Model Ms...
Buckling springs would be fine for gaming if you don't mind the activation force required. Although I've never tried a Buckling spring!