geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: subversive2 on Sat, 09 May 2009, 14:22:33
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Firstly its refreshing to find a bunch of folk who obsess like i do about keyboards!
My problem is this - for 12 years ive worked on a fujitsu siemens KBPC, which has just recently bitten the dust. I loved this keyboard, the solid nature of the shafts and the general response of the leys. I could type like the wind on it. Ive now been trying to replicate the feel of that keyboard for 3 months without success. Anything I get just feels horrible, wobbly shafts, squidgy tactility and poor travel.
I have bought a replacement fujitsu siemens, but the real problem is that I want to to wireless. I bought a logitech deluxe dx66o without testing it (i think i expected more from a brand like logitech) but the truth is that, with the excpeption of the multimedia keys it sucks. i typo like crazy on it and it just feels squidgy.
Ive looked into wireless fujitsu siemens but it seems theyve taken to reducing their standard key heights and implementing "soft touch" which im not sure off. My local stores dont stock these models for me to test and i cant keep Spending £50 / $90 to find out that a keyboard isnt cutting the mustard
I figure if anyone can help me - itll be someone at this forum! Thanks in advance for any help guys!
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Good wireless keyboards? That's tough, I'd say. I guess that's because they are a convenience product. Someone who needs a serious keyboard will usually have that in front of his monitor and not far away from the computer.
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Thanks for the response. I guess actually a lot of the folks here mightn't even class the Fujitsu Siemens KBPC as as good keyboard since its a rubber dome format and not a switch. But something about the bloody thing just improved my typing and productivity! I think it was the firmess of the key on the shaft and the amount of pressur required to register a keystroke.
Im a designer you see, and switch between a graphics tablet and keyboard frequently. because of the way my desk is, its nice to be able to fire the keyboard totally out of the way when using the tablet hence the need for wireless.
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I guess actually a lot of the folks here mightn't even class the Fujitsu Siemens KBPC as as good keyboard since its a rubber dome format and not a switch.
Welcome to the forums! :smile:
You are correct that rubber domes are not very popular here, but there are definitely some rubber dome boards that are better than others. The bad news is that the quality of rubber dome boards seems to be declining as time goes by. I have one rubber dome board from around 1998 that's much better than most of those made today. I'm not sure how many wireless boards you might find from a period when rubber dome boards were of higher quality since wireless boards were not as common then.
Some of the current Keytronic (http://www.keytronic.com/home/keyboards/keyboards/keyboards.html) rubber dome boards are better than others made today, but I'm not sure if you can find one of good quality that is also wireless.
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My problem is this - for 12 years ive worked on a fujitsu siemens KBPC, which has just recently bitten the dust. I loved this keyboard, the solid nature of the shafts and the general response of the leys.
Shafts? Do the keycaps attach to seperate shafts rather than having them built in and directly pressing onto the rubber dome then?
I think most of us would happily type on a good rubber dome keyboard, the digs are just about the quality of the average ones.
Cherry are also supposed to have a good rubber dome board in the Cymotion Expert, but again they don't do any wireless version.
Soft touch doesn't seem to mean anything specific, often it's just used as a synonym for rubber domes.
It might be worth checking the keyboard for an FCC ID and finding out who the manufacturer was, if they're still going then you could try one of their modern products: http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=FCC+ID+Manufacturer+Reference
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I think most of us would happily type on a good rubber dome keyboard, the digs are just about the quality of the average ones.
Hrmm....no. I really can't go back to rubber domes. I type on a billion different keyboards all the time (PC technician) and I've yet to find one I like.
But then again, there are some mechanical switches that are even worse than those domes.
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It might be worth checking the keyboard for an FCC ID and finding out who the manufacturer was, if they're still going then you could try one of their modern products: http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=FCC+ID+Manufacturer+Reference
These FSC keyboards are very much a Siemens affair I think, right back to the days of Siemens-Nixdorf when they didn't have any fancy "KBPC xy" names but rather just the usual cryptic part number. The current wired top model should be the KBPC PX. It doesn't look like they have a wireless version of any "real" Siemens board though (the distinctive key shape would give it away).