I have used Gateway AnyKey keyboards exclusively since I bought one with my first computer, a 4DX33V, in early 1993. In searching this forum regarding the AnyKey, I did not find the following information, which may be helpful to someone.
Last December I bought two AnyKey keyboards from an Ebay vendor who refurbishes them. Below is a link to one of his current listings:
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-GATEWAY-2000-ANYKEY-PROGRAMMABLE-KEYBOARD-PS-2-/290484521043?pt=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item43a23a0853One of the two keyboards I acquired from him was distinctly more pleasant to use. In response to my inquiry, he stated that AnyKey models through 1993 used white Cherry keyswitches. I eventually acquired six 1992 and ’93 models from him. I learned to play piano by ear when I was four and taught myself to type on an old Underwood typewriter that was given to me when I was about ten, so you can guess why a clicky keyboard makes me more efficient and accurate, and less tired.
AnyKey keyboards were manufactured by Maxi-Switch in Mexico. One source states that Gateway’s AnyKey was a copy of the Maxi-Pro II keyboard, which sounds as though it might have been a Maxi-Switch product.
The AnyKey is extensively programmable, including macros. I successfully tried a macro once but never pursued the keyboard’s programmability, so I can’t say much about it. I stayed with the AnyKey because changing to a smaller, lighter keyboard always seemed daunting. I am sure I could have coped, but I did not want to give up having the function keys arrayed on the left hand side—f2 gets used all the time to edit Excel formulas and Internet Explorer Favorites—that big fat L-shaped Enter key, and the full set of arrow keys.
The AnyKey resembles the Northgate Omnikey Ultra keyboard—especially the Enter key and the function keys at left and on top. The Northgate has fewer arrow keys and a smaller right hand Shift key, but offers a larger Backspace key. In the photos I have seen of the Northgate, it appears that the Caps Lock, Alt and Ctrl keys have been swapped, though it is not clear whether this was as-built or a user modification. The Northgate Omnikey Ultra lives on as the “Avant Stellar,” which sells for about $190 new. The AnyKey offers a low-cost alternative.
Someone else posted here that the later Gateway AnyKey keyboards were some of the most “clicky” rubber-dome keyswitch keyboards made. They are that. I suspect that one of the six keyboards I bought, built 11/3/93, is actually a rubber-dome type, but I can’t tell for sure. That’s unusual—with every other one I have used I could positively identify the type of keyswitch. I have a 3/18/93 model that is definitely the clicky type, so perhaps the changeover occurred between those dates. At one time or another I have owned a dozen AnyKey keyboards, and my impression is that the earlier, the better, even among the rubber-dome type. Wikipedia says that the AnyKey was built through 1996, but I acquired two from Gateway that were built in October 1997.
I have seen some concern expressed here that the AnyKey requires more power than some motherboards supply. I have used these keyboards with several different Gateway and Dell desktop computers and never had a problem.
Hope this will be helpful to someone.
