Dell SK-8000 Quietkey

[noir]

Ok, so I've read a bit about them and it got me interested.

They're supposedly superb membrane keyboards, but the quality depends on where it was made.

I heard that the made in China's one's suck while the made in Taiwan one rocks.

What I'm wondering about is if anyone tried the made in Malaysia ones?

Also. semi-off topic. But has anyone else heard of any good membrane keyboards?

[Daniel Beardsmore]

The Dell KB1421 is pretty decent for a dome switch IMO, but some people here hate it.

The tactile feel is similar to Topre, but with the usual rattle and scrape of cheap domes instead of Topre's smooth, fluid keystrokes.

Even Topre is pretty squishy and rubbery after using Cherry though.

[aegrotatio]

I'm mystified.  There is nothing overtly unusual about these rubber-dome keyboards, except that certain models of them made from 2004-2008 are rather pleasant to type on.  These early "slimline" Dell OEM keyboards that came out which have the heavily sculpted Windows/Alt/Space keys and very thin bezels stand out as good rubber dome keyboards.  They're usually marked SK and are manufactured by the famed keyboard maker from the old days known as "NMB."

Models made later than 2008 may or may not be NMB-made, so the quality of those is touch-and-go.  The 2004-2008 models are usually NMB and are good keyboards for being rubber-dome keyboards.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

When people here say "Quietkey" they're referring to old beige keyboards, which the SK-8000 is. I had a beige 105-key Dell rubberdome that was pretty decent – no idea on the model number as it wore out and died. That one had carbon-coated domes, probably over an actual PCB instead of membranes, as I took it apart once to clean it as part of an increasingly futile attempt to keep the one good keyboard I'd ever had, working. (OK, blue ALPS notwithstanding.)

The slimline sculpted models include the SK-8115 ("midnight grey") and L100 (jet black). I find both prone to emitting a horrid rattling noise, and while the SK-8115 is light but gritty, the L100 keyboard is stiff and gooey. Neither keyboard is worth bothering with, and the KB1421 is a significant improvement all round.