Cool Goodwill find today: Lite-On SK-7100 wireless keyboard

[jkercado]

Went this afternoon to the local Goodwill to see if there was anything new in the keyboards area. It was mostly the usual jun, but a box there caught my attention...It was an opened but new Lite-On SK-7100 wireless keyboard!



It's complete...in fact, it even smells of new plastic. Includes everything, even has a serial-to-PS/2 adapter for the pointing device.



Here's the label...



And here's the pointing device thingy...It's some sort of rubbery joystick contraption...



I initially got it because I like the layout, it is a full-size keyboard (yay!), and has very nice scissor switches! The keys feel great. So the idea was to create from this some sort of special tenkeyless unit. The problem here is that I think the design looks awfully dated and corny, otherwise I would leave it as is. But on the other hand, it's kinda cool in its own quirky way and a part of me doesn't wanna f-it up.

What do you think, guys?

[DaemonRaccoon]

I think the problem (and why it was at Goodwill) is IR wireless is way too finicky for real-world usage.

[jkercado]

Hmm...Maybe if I rehoused the whole thing in a custom-made aluminum case...open up the receiver, take out the circuitry, put it inside the keyboard so that the IR emitter shoots directly into the receiver, inside the keyboard...Basically turning it into a wired version. It would still need batteries, though, which kinda sucks...

Or maybe re-house it, but leave it wireless, also creating a custom housing for the IR receiver.

Hmm...

[NorrisB]

what a pile of junk

[jkercado]

what a pile of junk

Very useful comment! But I guess this won't cause a computer crash after a firmware update. Hehe.

The scissor mechanism is actually pretty good, so there...

[NorrisB]

You should re-donate that to the goodwill, that thing looks like an air craft carrier, yet the keys are so close together, I would be hating life if I had that piece of crap, get something smaller with the good German switches.

[jkercado]

You should re-donate that to the goodwill, that thing looks like an air craft carrier, yet the keys are so close together, I would be hating life if I had that piece of crap, get something smaller with the good German switches.

You're missing the point of tinkering...Re-house the thing in a sleek aluminum case, keep the pointing device, take advantage of the crisp scissor switches.