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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: syntaxide on Fri, 22 July 2011, 07:56:14

Title: Compaq 11800? Good second keyboard after model m?
Post by: syntaxide on Fri, 22 July 2011, 07:56:14

I'm looking at getting my second mechanical keyboard. I already own a Model M, which I love to type on. The only reason I'm considering getting the Compaq is that I'm going away to college next year, and I imagine the buckling springs might annoy my roommate. I've typed on keyboards with cherry blues and have found the experience enjoyable. My question is this: do browns feel as tactile as blues? Or close? I know they're supposed to take around the same amount of force as blues. I'd be buying the keyboard used: will the keys still feel tactile after heavy use(worst case scenario).

Title: Compaq 11800? Good second keyboard after model m?
Post by: Clickey on Fri, 22 July 2011, 08:59:42

I got my compaq 11800 today. For the money it is a decent board, but overall I feel like the cherry point of sale boards are much better quality and around the same price. The compaq are used as server kbs, so they seem to be much cleaner/less used than POS boards I have used so far. I have 2 and the trackball is non functional on both of them and have heard it is not any good anyway. The size of the keyboard is pretty good (much smaller than cherry POS boards).

The keys feel very soft, but I tend to bottom out a lot which makes a fair amount of noise. I used the brown springs to make ergo clears which, so far, I like the feel of best and are easier to not bottom out for me because they are much more tactile. If you are planning on gaming, the compaq is 2 key roll over (2KRO) which means you can only press 2 keys at a time and it still work (which is bad for gaming since depending on the game you will be pressing up to 5 keys at the exact same time), you want a 6kro or nkro board for gaming).

I have not tried mx blues yet but have heard they are pretty noisey. Cherry ML switches are the quietest I have tried because they actuate very quickly in the keypress and feel linear so you can type with as little noise as possible (but these switches have no tactile feel which I dont like). I am a pretty new geekhacker but I hope I helped. Welcome to GH.

Title: Compaq 11800? Good second keyboard after model m?
Post by: syntaxide on Fri, 22 July 2011, 09:35:49

Only 2kro? Hrm. Does that mean it can only read up to 2 keys total, or 2 keys if they're pressed simultaneously? My model m is supposedly 2kro, but certain chords like ctrl+shift+escape still work. I'll mostly be using this for programming anyway, so it should be fine. I found one on ebay for $20 so I jumped on it. I figure it'll be a nice way to demo cherry browns, and get a quite keyboard for late night coding.

Title: Compaq 11800? Good second keyboard after model m?
Post by: Clickey on Fri, 22 July 2011, 09:43:13

Yeah 2 simultaneous, qweasdzxc are on a seperate line and have 3kro, and shift alt space are also on a diff line so it can work out to like 6 keys at once depending on what you press, but the majority will be 2kro. Should be fine if you are having no problems with the model m.

Title: Compaq 11800? Good second keyboard after model m?
Post by: siouxscout on Fri, 22 July 2011, 10:34:29

I've never had issues gaming on mine after I got a good PS2 to USB adapter and I play all times of games, FPS, RTS, RPS, sim, etc.

Not that loud really, im sure the Model M is much louder even though I bottom out all the time.

Title: Compaq 11800? Good second keyboard after model m?
Post by: syntaxide on Fri, 22 July 2011, 11:01:41

I occasionally experience keys that "stick", at least as the computer sees it. While the physical key returns to the unpressed state, I occasionally experience keys that repeat even after being released. Would this be a problem with my adapter or with my keyboard?

My adapter is some generic 2 female ps/2 (mouse & keyboard) to male usb adapter.

Title: Compaq 11800? Good second keyboard after model m?
Post by: N8N on Fri, 22 July 2011, 19:10:07

I second the comment about the POS boards being better.  I don't like the non-standard layout of the 11800 and a G80-8200 is NKRO.

I actually have both for sale w/ browns if you are interested.  But personally my pick for a quiet but good feeling switch is clears.  Really if there's any way you could try both before you commit that would be best.

edit: oops, saw you already ordered one.  never mind.

Title: Compaq 11800? Good second keyboard after model m?
Post by: keyb_gr on Sat, 23 July 2011, 10:50:35

Quote from: syntaxide;385304

I occasionally experience keys that "stick", at least as the computer sees it. While the physical key returns to the unpressed state, I occasionally experience keys that repeat even after being released. Would this be a problem with my adapter or with my keyboard?

Adapter. Some are known to do this.

Title: Compaq 11800? Good second keyboard after model m?
Post by: Magna224 on Sat, 23 July 2011, 22:02:28

I don't think you would enjoy browns very much after coming from buckling springs. Unless you find out you like very light switches.

Title: Compaq 11800? Good second keyboard after model m?
Post by: Tony on Sun, 24 July 2011, 05:58:57

I have a Compaq 11800 as well as an IBM model M and I like both, although now I prefer brown and get a Filco brown full size to use at work.

Compared with the Filco brown, the Compaq 11800 is not noisy as much. I like the Filco, but the Compaq is the best keyboard for the money I spent on it.

Some pictures of the Compaq MX 11800

(http://www.upl.co/uploads/CompaqMX118002.jpg)

(http://666kb.com/i/bulwi7kf0bxeja25a.jpg)

(http://666kb.com/i/bulwaellvcpx0a3j2.jpg)

And here is the ps2 to usb adapter I use to connect the Compaq to my laptop
(http://666kb.com/i/bulwnep847m7rfvj2.jpg)