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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Kagusaki Wolf on Fri, 13 September 2013, 22:29:09

Title: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: Kagusaki Wolf on Fri, 13 September 2013, 22:29:09
Say that five times fast lol  I was looking at keyboards and was wondering why older keyboards had coiled cords while new ones aren't.  Any ideas why?  Also, do you prefer coiled, straight, or braided?  I prefer coiled cords the most.  They just look cooler and when you get bored, you can always twirl it around your fingers like a phone cord lol
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: rowdy on Fri, 13 September 2013, 22:41:46
No idea why, but yes, I've noticed that too.

Coiled cables look ugly when stretched though.
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: laffindude on Fri, 13 September 2013, 22:58:51
Curly cords are made of win.
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: dorkvader on Sat, 14 September 2013, 12:24:05
I much prefer the straight cable I have on my model M. curly cables look nice but are much less useful. They don't stretch as far, and even worse, when you do try to stretch them, the spring force cal cause disaster. Perhaps that is why they are a thing of the past.
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: Kagusaki Wolf on Sat, 14 September 2013, 13:01:08
The only thing about straight cords is that if you have a long cord, its going to look pretty messy (I suck at cable management) esp. with the awkward bends here and there. 

I also heard there were braided coiled cords but never tried them out.  Has anyone seen them before?
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: MKULTRA on Sat, 14 September 2013, 16:23:46
The only thing about straight cords is that if you have a long cord, its going to look pretty messy (I suck at cable management) esp. with the awkward bends here and there. 

I also heard there were braided coiled cords but never tried them out.  Has anyone seen them before?
I was talking to TFR about this (I think...) the other day and he said coiled cables don't work well with plastic type sleeving, and don't work much better with paracord.
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: fohat.digs on Sat, 14 September 2013, 21:40:40
They are a pita to clean.
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: Techno Trousers on Sat, 14 September 2013, 22:26:43
I love those long Model M SDL cables. The straight part of the cable is like 6', and then there's the coiled portion too, making close to 9 feet total . Because of the extra length of the straight portion, the coiled part is usually still in great shape and not stretched out after all these years.  Plus they are nice and thick too (that's what she said).
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: 0100010 on Sun, 15 September 2013, 00:27:02
I keep the coiled part of my Model M cable sleeved in it's original plastic, tie twisted on each end to prevent it from stretching or getting dirty; the straight part is long enough to reach to the KVM switch.
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: terran5992 on Sun, 15 September 2013, 03:30:18
Is there any coiled cable mods available for the realforce ?
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: rowdy on Sun, 15 September 2013, 03:44:17
I keep the coiled part of my Model M cable sleeved in it's original plastic, tie twisted on each end to prevent it from stretching or getting dirty; the straight part is long enough to reach to the KVM switch.

I used to do this.  Mainly to avoid the coiled part getting stretched and then becoming uneven.

The cable on my NEC APC-H4100E is loooooooooong, even with the coiled part still coiled.  I hate toi think how long it would be if the coiled part were completely uncoiled.
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: kaotikb on Sun, 15 September 2013, 06:39:32
If you have a keyboard with detachable cable, you can always pick up coiled cables on ebay. I have one for charging my phone in the car. 
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: mauri on Sun, 15 September 2013, 06:50:53
The only thing about straight cords is that if you have a long cord, its going to look pretty messy (I suck at cable management) esp. with the awkward bends here and there. 

I also heard there were braided coiled cords but never tried them out.  Has anyone seen them before?

Few vendors here do sell em
Title: Re: Curly Coiled Keyboard Cords
Post by: bahamot on Sun, 15 September 2013, 08:42:25
I was talking to TFR about this (I think...) the other day and he said coiled cables don't work well with plastic type sleeving, and don't work much better with paracord.
TFR is flying raccoon right? I bought coiled usb cable with paracord sleeving from him. Maybe now he got those work nicely together.