Dell Model SK-8125

[mp29k]

I just wanted to mention this board as a pretty good dome board.  It doesn't feel near as mushy as some of the others I have tried, has a nice standard layout, decent size, deep enough key travel (something that really bothers me in most of the ones I have tried that are new dome boards), and it is cheap.

My company recently replaced my laptop, and a new keyboard came with it that was a short travel, crappy feeling keyboard.  I kept this old one that has been going strong for years (still feels crisp after 3 years of daily use).


-K

[joneslee85]

Totally agree with you. It's probably the best rubber-dome out there. The casing is stylish and compact, the rubber bounce back faster giving more responses. I would love to mod this casing to have blue cherry switch or white apls. Not sure if anyone here has done it.

[microsoft windows]

These are okay keyboards. I remember using them at work. However, I still believe the old QuietKey's are better.

[GenEric35]

i like the standard layout, the keys feel ok when it's new, i used mine for almost 3 years at work, now it sits in a drawer and replaced by a abs m1(clickier would probably be too loud for neighboring offices)

[mp29k]

I think I am going to get the ABS M1 for my first Mechanical keyboard.  Eventually I want to get a Brown Tenkeyless Filco

[PRISONER 24601]

Yeah, I don't think dell rubber domes are terrible

That, and this one microsoft multimedia keyboard. one of the first ones with MM comtrols... Cant find any pictures of it, but it was one of my favorites, and it lasted a good 10 years

[PRISONER 24601]

I think I am going to get the ABS M1 for my first Mechanical keyboard.  Eventually I want to get a Brown Tenkeyless Filco

they're like, the same exact keyboard

might as well just skip the m1 and get the filco

[ch_123]

i like the standard layout,

That's a standard layout?

[GenEric35]

That's a standard layout?

I actually meant the SK-8115



thought we were talking about this one, 104 keys standard

[keyb_gr]

Show Image

That's a standard layout?

Boy, that thing is ugly.

[Hak Foo]

The 8125 looks to me like someone said "We must trim every millimetre of casing off to save 4 cents".

[ch_123]

I actually meant the SK-8115

Show Image

thought we were talking about this one, 104 keys standard

I think that keyboard inspired many a Geekhacker to get a mechanical board. Definitely not the best rubber dome keyboard out there.

They're on the machines in my college. They're acceptable. Feet break off very easily though, and the spacebar tends to wear out on them causing a horribly rattling feel when you use them. The design with all the keys sticking out along the bottom row is a bit silly, but it's not the most stupid thing I've seen done on an OEM board.

[mp29k]

I have the 8125, yes the ugly one, and I guess the layout is a little odd... for me though, as long as the backspace is wide, and the enter key is only on one row, it is pretty standard.  

I don't remember having good feelings about the 8115 one though... some peeps had that one at work and it felt like crap.

[microsoft windows]

I actually meant the SK-8115

Show Image

thought we were talking about this one, 104 keys standard

Those keyboards are UTTER CRAP. They're just crummy little pieces of plastic made in Chinese sweat shops that feel absolutely TERRIBLE. They are very cheaply built and I would rather use no keyboard than one of those.

[ch_123]

Believe me, there are much much worse keyboards out there. Those Dells land firmly well in the land of mediocre...

[MFGorilla]

Believe me, there are much much worse keyboards out there. Those Dells land firmly well in the land of mediocre...

Maybe on the low end of mediocre.  All of the workstations where I work have them and they stink for touch typing.  I do like the look of them, however.  The minimalist approach to the case is kind of nice.

[ch_123]

Leaving aside roll-up and laser keyboards (which are novelty toys as far as I am concerned) I think the DEC LK-201 is the worst keyboard I've ever used -



Mushy, linear switches with quite short travel. It's a keyboard where it is almost impossible to discern whether you have pressed the key or not without watching the screen too.

[microsoft windows]

Those Dells are pretty bad though. They're just insanely cheaply built. There are NO metal stablizers in them, making it so you need to press the keys in dead center or they will give you trouble.

[ch_123]

As I said, I have plenty of experience with them, and they don't bother me at all. And they definitely do have stabilizers. For some inexplicable reason, the spacebar had been removed from one on a computer I was using and I had to reinsert it.

[microsoft windows]

They use them at the place where I work. I'll get one someday and take it apart to show you guys how cheaply it was made. The keys feel terrible, and neither shift nor the Backspace, Enters, or  keys have any stablizers. The spacebar has a crummy piece of plastic which acts like a lousy stablizer. They're just simply junky keyboards.

[keyb_gr]

I am under the impression that possibly these "minimalist" Dells are made in varying qualities, so the ones that go with better systems are better built as well. They come with quite a few different model numbers.

[microsoft windows]

From taking apart those Dell's, I have noticed that they are virtually the same as this keyboard except for a slightly different case.

I must admit that brand new ones don't feel as bad, but once there's dust in them they clearly express their utter cheapness. They're just simply junky keyboards.

[ch_123]

Yeah, one of the big issues about those things are that the legs on them do not last. Other that I can get by by just mashing the keys and trying not thinking about them.