anyone ever revert back to a rubber dome?

[wellington1869]

I realize this is a little like asking if anyone has ever tried Satanism while sitting in a catholic church, but...

I cant help but wonder if anyone has ever reverted back to rubber domes after coming on this site and trying out mechanicals.

(i mean "regular" rubber domes that you can buy in best buy, not topres or etc).

After all as we ourselves often admit, some rubber domes arent horrible. And as cchan says, a good rubber dome is still better than a bad mechanical.

I'm just curious how much (or how little) of a phenomenon that is.

I know i'll always have my mechanicals around (and will use them often), but in the course of my part-time work (training and tech support, mostly) I dont always have the luxury of being in front of my own desk. So I'm fairly used to typing and doing work on a variety of rubber domes.  It doesnt kill me.  Sometimes at home I pull out the dell rubber dome I have and its really not that bad.

And then when i'm pressed for cash I look at my cache of mechanicals and say, wow, thats about $150 to $200 bucks right there.

Of course I'd never part with my M (and I only paid $20 for it anyway), but I can imagine scenarious where I might part with the rest and just use my Dell and my M and thats it.  (Of course now I have an ultranav too).

[xsphat]

Topre's aren't rubber domes.

And a lot of members around here like the IBM M4 which is a rubber dome. I have one at work and it is nice enough to get me through the work day. Some BTC boards are pretty nice to type on, and so are some older NMB full sized models.

So I think they are out there.

WTF, your cache of keyboards cost only $200? Man, I'm typing on the one keyboard I own right now and I ended up paying $400 for the whole sh!t ( at the peak of the JP Yen's recent heyday), and that's nothing. I could have bought a car or rented a really hot hooker for what I spent on boards in the past couple to few years.

And that brings me to my point. After having paid all that money for boards, I feel butt-raped when using a keyboard I consider to be subpar. My knowledge base will make me look at keyboards differently until they go the way of the typewriter (...) and a "better" way is taken up as standard for text entry.

And then we'll all have a whole other world to bicker about as we dissect every result Google sh!ts out.

[wellington1869]

WTF, your cache of keyboards cost only $200?

lol, well thats after I diligently sold off all the ones I didnt think I was going to keep. So I did get some of my money back that way. But ya, my most expensive board right now is an endurapro ($99 retail). (Which I bought new, sold, bought used, and might sell again). lol.

I feel butt-raped when using a keyboard I consider to be subpar

yea, i know what you mean... but much of the time when i'm on campus i dont have a choice so I've learned to not let the keyboard bother me so much. Problem is I come home and I'm like, well, i just spent the day on a dell and it didnt kill me.  (I do need to try an M4 btw. Hmmm, something else to buy! yay )

But that said, at the same time, when I came across an old model M last summer at work (which launched me down this keyboard search path), it was like a religious experience (and made me so nostalgic since I grew up using one). But that was before I realized how many choices there were out there and how impossibly picky I could get if I wanted to, lol.  (I had never heard of alps, or cherries, or topres, etc before I came to geekhack)

And then we'll all have a whole other world to bicker about as we dissect every result Google sh!ts out

I think this is part of what i'm thinking - I spent soooo much time analyzing and re-analyzing these mechanicals. And at the end of the day, partly because of my own pickyness/obsessiveness, I'm not entirely happy even with perfectly first-rate boards. There's always something else to tweak or ***** about.  And when I'm at work, its like, whatever, its a freakin keyboard, just get the work done.  I know its not the same when  you're at home and have the luxury of having nice things, but I do think I've probably spent way too much time analyzing the minute details of these boards.  Even though it was fun (and I suppose, hobby-like), sometimes it also seems like more a procrastination technique than anything else when I go overboard on it. And times like that I'm like its a damn keyboard get the work done, lol.

make me look at keyboards differently until they go the way of the typewriter

I think keyboards are going to be with us as long as 'the book' was (500 years?). Its just way too efficient and convenient as an instrument, I think it will take a lot for something more comfortable, better, cost effective, etc, to finally oust it.

[xsphat]

Tell me about campus computers. At home I use a MacBook with an HHKB Pro2 sitting on it, at work I have an iMac with an M4, at school, some mass-bought Dell garbage with f'ing XP on them :puke:

[Rajagra]

I think your taste can change. I used to hate - really hate - the Logitech Dinovo keyboard. I assume it's a scissor switch board, it's very laptop-ey. But I recently connected it using a normal Bluetooth dongle (instead of the hideous BT mouse charger that has cables all over the place) and I quite like it now. It has a lazy, relaxed feel. It makes a nice change sometimes.

[xsphat]

If your opinion on something you've posted about here changes, like I mean EVER, do yourself a favor and don't mention it here. I still get slammed when somebody buys a keyboard I liked years ago (more often than not after I changed my mind and sold it) and thought it wasn't good enough.

[wellington1869]

I think your taste can change.

True. they've changed a lot, tho stabilized in a 'range' I think.  But I feel they're about to change again.

Love your avatar btw

If your opinion on something you've posted about here changes, like I mean EVER, do yourself a favor and don't mention it here. I still get slammed when somebody buys a keyboard I liked years ago (more often than not after I changed my mind and sold it) and thought it wasn't good enough.

lol, too late for me, I've left a trail of strongly felt impressions that I've changed my mind on as I went forward ;0  But I think people have more fun slamming you for it, you respond to that so well

[wheel83]

dear lord,
  i enjoy typing on a keyboard at work called dell "quiet key." it's very old and looks "vintage" lol
   i would not rate it as all that quiet and i enjoy typing with it.  what shall i do for penance?

[wellington1869]

I'll always remember Welly when I hear the word "meaty".  Eww....

well then my work here is done

2nd that!!  It's the look on his face that makes it.  You know he's gonna rip it out of the typewriter, ball it up, and throw it across the room.

Try doing that with a keyboard!

lol. I actually meant Rajagra's, but xs's is nice too

[wheel83]

Typewriters are OG lol

[wellington1869]

There's always something else to tweak or ***** about.

its kind of like me and my various copy holders/book holders. I have a lovely collection of them at home (I think i've tried every 'book holder' there is out there. really, test me - name one, I'll bet I've tried it!).  And I like them and find them useful, including my beloved desk-O-bra. But here's the problem. Most of the time I'm not in my room, i'm in starbucks or other coffeeshop or even the library. And what do I use to prop up my books while typing there? My good ol' forearms.





Which, er, look something like the above.

So I rest the book on my forearms and against my (er, ever expanding) belly, and I type away, and you know what? Its fine, it works, I dont really have a problem with that, lol, most of the time anyway.  Sure it slips now and then but its not killing me. So I come home to my collection of two dozen book holders and I'm like, well, I didnt really need those, even if they're nice to have.

Anyway, similarly I feel that way about my beloved boards now and then.  I mean dont get me wrong, you'll have to take my M out of my room over my dead body and all, but maybe I can simplify a bit more, is what i'm thinking, by not being so picky and maybe for once -- gasp -- using a keyboard with its stock parts!

[watduzhkstand4]

well I don't go back to it but I do change my keyboards like every other day and one of them was my Microsoft Natural Elite. That one fits me perfectly and I have no problem typing on it. Unfortunately, I gave it to a friend because he said he liked it =P

[wellington1869]

dear lord,
  i enjoy typing on a keyboard at work called dell "quiet key." it's very old and looks "vintage" lol
   i would not rate it as all that quiet and i enjoy typing with it.  what shall i do for penance?

for your penance, you shall continue typing on it at work

[Rajagra]

Show Image

That Model M Workout really works eh? :thumb:

[itlnstln]

Real keyboarders know Blue Cherries are ideal. Low weight, lots of reps.
 

Show Image

I just tried some blue Cherrys (making sure Lam's new 'board works before making the long trip across the pond), and honestly, I didn't like them.  I thought they were kinda annoying.  To me, they felt very similar to the browns with a plasticky click.  The high-pitched click would get on my nerves when typing for an extended period of time.  The blank keys and small size were pretty sexy, though.

[wellington1869]

ya the blues are smooth and kinda fun but the click is too high-pitched for me too. (Just like XM's).

[wheel83]

every day I type on my Model M. And every day I wonder why anyone would think this would work, and it somehow works awesome.  I think its the Hysteresis portion of the Spring Rate Graph haha.

[Mr.6502]

I had to revert.  My one and only IBM M was at my office since I did my coding there vs casual use at home.  On her last day, a disgruntled co-worker with an eye for quality keyboards swiped it thinking it belonged to the company.  I don't think she realized I had brought it in myself (she had no beef with me so I doubt it was personal).

It was quite a shame to switch back.  At the time I had to just switch over to a rubber dome that came packed with a cheap-o Compaq desktop computer.  Pure garbage.  I eventually switched to the rubber dome IBM I have now.  Its not the same but I don't think I'm typing any slower because of this keyboard.  Its comfortable and it works.  

I'll get another good mechanical keyboard eventually.  Preferably another IBM M.  But now that Street Fighter IV is coming to PC I'll be focusing on something good for gaming first since Keyboard is my weapon of choice for fighting games and I didn't have much luck playing those on an M.

[wellington1869]

I had to revert.  My one and only IBM M was at my office since I did my coding there vs casual use at home.  On her last day, a disgruntled co-worker with an eye for quality keyboards swiped it thinking it belonged to the company.  I don't think she realized I had brought it in myself (she had no beef with me so I doubt it was personal).

It was quite a shame to switch back.  At the time I had to just switch over to a rubber dome that came packed with a cheap-o Compaq desktop computer.  Pure garbage.  I eventually switched to the rubber dome IBM I have now.  Its not the same but I don't think I'm typing any slower because of this keyboard.  Its comfortable and it works.  

I'll get another good mechanical keyboard eventually.  Preferably another IBM M.  But now that Street Fighter IV is coming to PC I'll be focusing on something good for gaming first since Keyboard is my weapon of choice for fighting games and I didn't have much luck playing those on an M.

Thats interesting - thats kind of what i was wondering. Too bad about losing the M, but interesting that you managed after that on decent dome boards.

[wellington1869]

I think your taste can change. .

btw hows this for a taste change. After 6 months of swearing by two-piece keys on the M, I just ordered a set of 1-piece keys, lol.  I've always thought the diffrence was in sound, but from another thread i realized the difference was more in feel. My M feels more tactile on my finger tips with 1 piece keys. so decided to try it out with a whole set.

The difference is subtle, but its 'cumulative' - ie, if you type on it continuously there's a diff effect and its noticeable, to me anyway.

[bitflipper]

I'm currently pressed for desk space and had to break out the HHKB Lite. I also use the BenQ x120 as a change of pace from mechanicals - mostly to relieve my ears!

Regulars are:
Omnikey Ultra
Tactile Pro 2.0
1990 Model M

[wellington1869]

welcome, bitflipper

as a change of pace from mechanicals - mostly to relieve my ears!

ya, saving my ears is sometimes my reason for switching boards too. Sometimes i yearn for the clicky noise and sometimes I really prefer near silence. Depends on my mood and the material i'm working on. Often times I need the clicks when I first start work, but once i'm into it I prefer a quieter board so I can concentrate and focus.  

I used to be able to focus thru the clicks, but lately I prefer silence when focusing. Like I said, mood and time of day and other random reasons come into play. I keep all my boards right by my desk though, with a long usb extension cord right by my chair, so switching them is easy.

I also use the BenQ x120

is that a decent rubber dome?

[ricercar]

I had a boss request that I stop using an M because it was too loud. I was in a cube farm after maybe 3 years in an office with a door.

So I started in with Cherry switches in earnest. I hadn't found my $40 Kinesis yet (blue Cherry), but even so, the black Cherry was sufficiently pleasing that I didn't go back to the M for a long time. I've been back with the M and again am in a Cherry stage. The wife uses an M now, and that sort of balances things out.

[wellington1869]

Me, I consider the Topre to be a rubber dome.  It's quiet.  It has a little rubber dome in there ( I peeked), and has the "good feeling of oneness with cup rubber".

...thats what she said?  
[sorry, it had to be said, and this cant be the first time! thats just low hanging fruit].

I'm about to have my own experience with cup rubber in less than 24 hours...

If you're asking will I go back to my $10 OEM Logitech's the answer is no.

no, but the dinovo counts for instance. But it isnt your daily driver at work or home, so i guess it doesnt count. I'm just wondering if anyone went back to a rubber dome daily driver (at work or home) after having a mechanical as their daily driver.  Can be an expensive one, thats fine.

Incidentally, if i had to go back to a dome board today, I'd probably go with the saitek eclipse II (if forced to shop at best buy). It really wasnt bad. I also had a logitech dinovo which wasnt bad, although for me my finger would get caught on the underside of the keycaps now and then which was annoyingly disruptive when typing fast. I also have a decent dell board right now at home which is passable. I doubt i'd prefer any of them to the topre though. Or my trusty M which quite reliably attracts my attention.

I think I just want to simplify my options and not fuss so much about customization. The mechanicals are easy to tweak and customize (which is half the fun of owning one of course) but at the same time - man, what a time killer

[patmok]

After using dell at102w and a SS 6G, I still revert back to logitech media elite thinking of getting a 7g now as its quite compact

[itlnstln]

ya, saving my ears is sometimes my reason for switching boards too. Sometimes i yearn for the clicky noise and sometimes I really prefer near silence.

If you would just man up and use some Cherry browns, you wouldn't have this problem (at least the rubber dome part).

[bitflipper]

welcome, bitflipper

is that a decent rubber dome?

It uses scissor technology over a rubber membrane. I'll compare it to a notebook keyboard, but it differs in a few important areas. The keycaps are about double height of the norm and the key area follows the curve of the board itself. So it's not like they just jammed a notebook KB into a desktop form factor. They put a little engineering effort into it. The low profile is also a relief for my wrists. If I use a wrist rest with the BenQ, my wrists are floating above the KB level. That helps reduce fatigue over the course of a day. Too bad they quit making them.

[wellington1869]

It uses scissor technology over a rubber membrane. I'll compare it to a notebook keyboard, but it differs in a few important areas. The keycaps are about double height of the norm and the key area follows the curve of the board itself. So it's not like they just jammed a notebook KB into a desktop form factor. They put a little engineering effort into it. The low profile is also a relief for my wrists. If I use a wrist rest with the BenQ, my wrists are floating above the KB level. That helps reduce fatigue over the course of a day. Too bad they quit making them.

Amazon has them starting at $15. I see what you mean about curvature and larger-key-size. It does look interesting.

[bitflipper]

Amazon has them starting at $15. I see what you mean about curvature and larger-key-size. It does look interesting.

Looks like somebody has a stash of old stock. Before you decide to pick one up, be aware the 'board has a couple of durability issues, though. Wherever my fingers/hands rest on the silver surface, the paint wears off fairly quickly. Also the texture wears off the key surfaces faster than any other 'board I own. I have somehow caused the right alt key to cease working on one of mine. I own 4 - that's not obsessive is it?

These durability issues I've found in the cheaper 'boards really does justify the purchase of a higher quality 'board for someone who keys a lot.

[wellington1869]

 really does justify the purchase of a higher quality 'board .

dont worry, i'm about to receive my first topre today


good to know though about the wear-n-tear issues on the benq. It does look comfy for an inexpensive rubber dome though.

[bitflipper]

I don't think I've ever seen a curved scissor switch before.  I haven't bought a Benq since when they used to make top notch DVD drives.

I just can't type for extended periods on a flat 'board. I'll flip your comment upside down - do you know of a mechanical KB which is flat? Even HHKB has some curve / graduation to it.

[itlnstln]

do you know of a mechanical KB which is flat?

Dell AT101W.
 
Cherry ML-4100.

[bitflipper]

Dell AT101W.

Not mine. Now I'm curious, which were prevalent? Are the flat ones newer or older? I believe mine's a 1990.

Cherry ML-4100.

Yeah, I forgot about those. My G84-1000 is also flat.

[itlnstln]

The side of the Dell has a curve, but the keys are flat; they don't have the curve that my other 'boards have.

[ch_123]

After using dell at102w and a SS 6G, I still revert back to logitech media elite thinking of getting a 7g now as its quite compact

How much are those 7Gs versus the black fullsize Filcos?

To answer the question, if scissor switches/buckling sleeves count then yes, yes indeed. But for lots of heavy typing I can't really handle anything other than my Model F (or my new Filco)

[cmr]

i briefly did for a couple of days, because i'd splashed water on my das and was letting it dry, my M was disassembled, my M10 had a broken solder joint, my AEK2 was on loan to a coworker, and my AT-101W was in use at work.

so, basically, no, i just used it because it was the only thing left.

[wellington1869]

Welly's on a rubber dome now.  A very, very expensive one.

Here's a funny thing - so after 8 months of nearly non-stop experimentation with mechanical keyboards, I wound up with two rubber domes.    (My ultranav while in front of the tv, and the topre at my desk).  So technically you might say that I tried all the mechanicals and "reverted" to rubber domes  albiet very good ones.

(Of course I still have my M, though its unceremoniously tossed under my bed for the moment... and I'm sure I'll take it out again when I want to hear clickety clacks  

And while the one thing I learned while on geekhack is never declare your rotation to be stable, its going to be really hard to beat these three boards for the different purposes and locations that I use them for.  So I'm going to take a chance... and declare my rotation to be stable.

So I think I'm once again going to declare it -- "I think I'm done buying keyboards."

Declared this day, June 26th, 2009, 10:54 PM.
Witnessed.

[itlnstln]

Unless something magical comes out, I am pretty mich done buying keyboards, too.  I love the Cherry browns, and I don't see myself using anything else anytime soon.  I might buy another Filco as a back up, but other that, I am pretty much done.  I might get an i-Rocks, though, but only if the layout is cleaned up a bit.

[wellington1869]

 So I'm going to take a chance... and declare my rotation to be stable.

Man, I should have known not to commit to such a statement -- just when I had resigned myself to my line up, and even hesitantly embraced a lighter board, this bombshell drops:

I just got a call back from Unicomp, he was a very nice gentleman who answered a lot of my questions. Something with a "J" I think, Jim maybe? Sorry, I'm not very good with names.

The one thing I thought I'd share here is that when asked about a keyboard similar to the IBM space saving model, he said it would be coming soon. How soon? Well depends, anywhere from 3-6 months to a year.

So I guess I'm not done buying new keyboards  

So I think I'm once again going to declare it -- "I think I'm done buying keyboards."

I officially rescind my statement!

[itlnstln]

I think I'm done having kids. I owe it all to Rubber Domes.

Pretty much the best use of rubber domes in my book.

[wellington1869]

lols

[Rajagra]

The good news is I fixed my Logitech G15 (original model) that lost a few keys after a tiny coffee spill.

The bad news is I fixed my Logitech G15!

Ewww the keys feel horrible. I used this for years and never knew just how bad it was. I wonder if I can grease the keycaps to improve the feel. Those 18 programmable keys are mighty tempting.

[timw4mail]

The good news is I fixed my Logitech G15 (original model) that lost a few keys after a tiny coffee spill.

The bad news is I fixed my Logitech G15!

Ewww the keys feel horrible. I used this for years and never knew just how bad it was. I wonder if I can grease the keycaps to improve the feel. Those 18 programmable keys are mighty tempting.

Well, there are programmable mechanical keyboards...

[itlnstln]

Well, there are programmable mechanical keyboards...

Northgates and the CVT Avant Prime come to mind.

[o2dazone]

Ewww the keys feel horrible. I used this for years and never knew just how bad it was.

How else would you know good mechanical keyboards are, if we didn't have ****ty keyboards like the G15 to remind us how bad it can be.

[itlnstln]

I seriously thought about going back to my MS Natural 4000 or a Logitech Wave for about a week. Eventually, I thought better of it. Cherry browns for life.

[microsoft windows]

Well, I use both a mechanical keyboard and a rubber dome keyboard. But that's because I have multiple computers.

I took apart my rubber dome one once to fix the NunLock light to see that even though it s probably one of the most ordinary keyboards with the grey and beige keys, it still was very well constructed, which would explain why it still works perfectly (with the exception of the Num Lock light which I fixed) after 18 years.

That keyboard puzzles me though. It's got a big steel plate in the back but doesn't weigh as much as my Model M which I use on my main computer. But, I have noticed that the Model M does have a much sturdier case than that one which could also attribute to its weight.

Remember, though; there are some good dome keyboards which can last 20 years out there!

[D-EJ915]

Welly's on a rubber dome now.  A very, very expensive one.



They look like IBM style keys from the pic - all the same.  Someone should do a Key Wiki.

the switches are mounted on a flat plate pic it does look curvy pic but the keys are what gives it a curve pic