What a disaster

[nrp]

After being kindly requested by wife to buy a "silent" keyboard, I put my model M aside and ordered an IBM scissor based Ultranav Keyboard.

Folks, let me tell you.... what a disaster. I mean, the stuff is well constructed, by after you get used to a Model M, nothing else works.

Now I have to think if I ditch the Ultranav or the wife.

[wheel83]

lol that is a tough decision indeed.

 i've heard about sound dampening the inside and greasing the keys.  maybe that will help

[cchan]

I want an ultranav! Ditch it by way of the Geekhack Marketplace!

[patrickgeekhack]

Will another quieter mechanical keyboard work though? I know my Customizer is the loudest among my keyboards. I would get the same request if I were to use it in the same room as someone else. I, myself, would go crazy if I had to concentrate on my reading while someone else is using a buckling spring in the same room.

[nrp]

I tried a Dell with white Alps.

Still loud.

Would you suggest anything quieter than white Alps?

[patrickgeekhack]

I think others will be able to offer better advice. The quietest among my keyboards is the Dell and maybe the ABS. I don't have any experience with Cherry Browns.

[wheel83]

ya i would go with a realforce if you need quiet and quality.

[patrickgeekhack]

Seriously though, the Topre is by far the quietest board. Filco Brown Cherry would be acceptable to 99% of spouses as well but both these keyboards are light, light, light.

I think in his case, a very light keyboard is better than the Ultranav and for his marriage :-). Seriously, do you and your wife share the same "office" or are you using the keyboard in the bedroom? If yes, then maybe you should try moving your computer in a different room unless you don't have a spare room of course. Whatever you do, don't ditch your wife. It's not worth it :-)

Personally, I might find myself in a similar situation in the future. My parents may join us in Canada. My brother will move in the basement and parents in my "office" until they find their own place. As a result, I will have to move my computer in the master bedroom. God knows if my typing will bother my wife. I can always setup my computer in the living room I guess. I don't to get into the same situation as the OP. Thank God I'm moving towards lighter keys.

[nrp]

We share an office. And she does a lot of data analysis and the click-clack make her world a misery.

- I can't concentrate with all this noise.
- This is not noise, woman, this is music!
- Yeah, right....

[wheel83]

ripster i just watched cool hand luke for the first time ever like 3 days ago.  thats just scary

[patrickgeekhack]

We share an office. And she does a lot of data analysis and the click-clack make her world a misery.

- I can't concentrate with all this noise.
- This is not noise, woman, this is music!
- Yeah, right....

I thought so. In her case, click-clack can be very annoying. The "Yeah, right..." should be interpreted as a warning sign. Red Flag!!!

[wheel83]

"yea, right...(i'm leaving you for a guy with a realforce, and i am cutting that damn model m in half when we are divorced!)"

ok maybe a little extreme, but ya, i would ditch the model m if it really pisses her off, which is understandable.

[itlnstln]

My suggestions:
 
1 - G80-3000 with brown Cherrys from DataCal.  They are no louder than other rubber dome 'board you might get from an OEM.
 
2 - Filco with brown Cherrys.  A little louder than the G80, but still very quiet.
 
3 - Ditch the wife.  If she loved you, she would let you type with whatever you want.*
 
 
 
*I'm sure your wife is a very nice lady.  Ditch her, anyway.
 
 
 
Just kidding, of course.  About the "nice lady" part, anyway.
 
 
Seriously, just kidding.

[chimera15]

lol  That's sad. Yeah I'd try a white alps, followed by pink alps.  I was surprised you can get old mac adb pink alps keyboards fairly cheap and they work great even on pc's with an imate with no additional drivers.  The m1242 looks interesting to me next if I can get it cheap, it's got low profile alps keys which look pretty interesting.

[huha]

Get her a Model M. When she's accustomed to the noise when typing herself, she won't bother if someone else types while she thinks.

-huha

[chimera15]

Is it wrong that hearing someone else typing on a clicky gets me sexually excited? roflol

[pmyshkin]

Is it wrong that hearing someone else typing on a clicky gets me sexually excited? roflol

No, but it may become a problem in an office environment. Speak to your company's ombudsperson.

[chimera15]

Hey. I happen to love that laptop.

lol

I've looked all around... How the heck do you change your avatar?  Is it only for moderators or something?

[patrickgeekhack]

No, but it may become a problem in an office environment. Speak to your company's ombudsperson.

OMG. Good thing I was not drinking anything when I read this.

[chimera15]

OMG. Good thing I was not drinking anything when I read this.

lol

I figured it out, it's under user cp..I figured out what cp was. lol

[chimera15]

Did you know that Ombudsman is one of the few Swedish words adopted by (among others) the English language?

I had to look it up. lol  It's interesting, the first ombudsman position was created in 1809.

[chimera15]

Did you know that Darwin was born in 1809?

Ok, it's official. I'm bored.

lol

[pex]

I think the keyboard issue is a symptom of a marital (or perhaps more general a human relationship) issue.  Something about YOU annoys your wife and she is manifesting that by projecting it onto your keyboard.

There is a set of noises people make when eating (chewing and the like).  I find that sometimes I am annoyed without explanation when those persons making the noises are nuclear family, or rarely, are good friends.  I cannot recall a time the feeling was manifested without these types of parties, but there's no explanation that makes it reasonable.  Basically, these people annoy me (in some part.)

Why is every other ambient noise dismissable?

[dougy]

She (who must be obeyed) has been sharing my office of late and was at first horribly annoyed by Cherry blues. I gave her one of the Cherry black linear boards, and because she always bottoms out its actually noisier than the blues. Plus, she really liked the board.

[MANISH7]

simple answer: get yourself a keyboard with brown cherries. i made the switch from model ms to brown cherry and can't go back. you enjoy the crisp register of a mechanical switch but it's quieter and not to mention - nicer on your poor wrists.

occasionally new in box compaq mx11800s can be had for $20 but you'd have to wait for that. if you can't wait then seek a filco or cherry brand keyboard. topres are too expensive imo.

[wellington1869]

After being kindly requested by wife to buy a "silent" keyboard, I put my model M aside and ordered an IBM scissor based Ultranav Keyboard.

Folks, let me tell you.... what a disaster. I mean, the stuff is well constructed, by after you get used to a Model M, nothing else works.

Now I have to think if I ditch the Ultranav or the wife.

maybe you can buy her a nice pair of ear muffs

[rdjack21]

simple answer: get yourself a keyboard with brown cherries. i made the switch from model ms to brown cherry and can't go back. you enjoy the crisp register of a mechanical switch but it's quieter and not to mention - nicer on your poor wrists.

occasionally new in box compaq mx11800s can be had for $20 but you'd have to wait for that. if you can't wait then seek a filco or cherry brand keyboard. topres are too expensive imo.

True the Topre boards are Expensive but once you type on one that big price tag seems to fad to the background. What does become a issue, at least for me, is that you want more of them.

[itlnstln]

3. Model M
2. White Alps
1. Model F

 
Perfect.

[itlnstln]

Are the White Alps really that annoying? I always hear complaints about the high pitched Cherry Blues.

It depends on the keyboard.  I have heard them in some keyboards, and they are not that bad.  My Northgate is all steel, and it sound like machine gun fire.  The click is fairly soft as far clicky switches go, but the clack of the bottom/top out is the killer (this goes for the blacks as well).  If you have a resonant 'board, the clacks are deafening.

[watduzhkstand4]

ditch the wife of course :doh:

[chimera15]

I just got my mint m1242 in box, and would definitely recommend it as a quiet compact mechanical.  It has a really nice feel to the keys. alps low profiles.  It's got a very nice tactile bump.  It works perfectly on windows machines with an imate.  There's one going for about $50 right now on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-M1242-Adjustable-Keyboard-Keypad-Vintage_W0QQitemZ260418158913QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca221c141&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

I'm not sure how they feel with age, but for a fairly common compact mechanical I'd say it's probably the best, lowest cost, one that you can readily get that isn't extremely rare.   The only problem is the imates usually run another $20-30 and as much as $50 if you buy it now. I had one for an old huge wacom tablet I was using on an old mac for doodling, so this was a nice use of it since I no longer use it.

[chimera15]

It depends on the keyboard.  I have heard them in some keyboards, and they are not that bad.  My Northgate is all steel, and it sound like machine gun fire.  The click is fairly soft as far clicky switches go, but the clack of the bottom/top out is the killer (this goes for the blacks as well).  If you have a resonant 'board, the clacks are deafening.

Real alps complicated are about half the db of fake alps simplified from my limited experience.  It could be I have a really worn real alps board, but doubt it.  Of course it might also have to do with the case manufacture like you said more than anything...  Although I think the click of the little copper leaf is a lot louder even outside of mounting to the silver.

[keyb_gr]

Real alps complicated are about half the db of fake alps simplified from my limited experience.

Do you mean half the perceived volume? That would be about 10 dB less...

[vils]

Did you know that Ombudsman is one of the few Swedish words adopted by (among others) the English language?

Apart from all those scandinavian words that enterd the english language during the Dane law, such as window.

Some more recent are Tungsten, means just "heavy stone". For some obscure reason we use the german name: volfram (wolf's drewl?).
Lingonberry
Gravlax
Angstrom
Moped
smorgasbord
Orienteering

[vils]

Did you know that Ombudsman is one of the few Swedish words adopted by (among others) the English language?

Knäckebröd

[chimera15]

Do you mean half the perceived volume? That would be about 10 dB less...

Yeah, half the perceived volume. I haven't taken a db meter to it or anything.  I'd be interested to see what the actual measured difference is though to see if I was right with my guess. lol

Also I have a used siig minitouch with fake simplified, and it's slightly lower volume than my brand spanking new siig minitouch, and new smk-85, so an older board, certainly white alps, I think will loose db if it's real or fake, but the loudness scale for me for white alps is definitely:

new fake simplified,
used fake simplified(maybe half it's lifespan),
real simplified,
real complicated.

 I'd say each one looses db's and certainly sharpness of the click by a significant and noticeable amount.

Maybe if you took your board and just gave it 5000 keypresses or so it'd get lower db's and be tolerable.... lol

[Idiot_Hacker]

I own this Ultranav keyboard.  The coolness factor is what led me to buy one from ebay. It definitely feels different then from a thinkpad  but I still find it quite enjoyable to type on.  In fact, I am typing this reply on it.  It's no Model M but when I am in the mood, I use it for a bit.