What would be your ideal keyboard?

[bigpook]

Perhaps you already have it and use it day to day.

For me it would be something in a HHKB layout with Unicomp BS keys.
Not likely to ever happen of course...

While I have tried most of whats out there and like them all for one reason or another, I find myself going between the HHKB and the Unicomp/IBM.

One is peanut butter and the other is chocolate.... if only they could be combined.

[itlnstln]

I'm in the same boat.  HHKB with brown Cherrys would be awesome.  I can't wait until the Miniguru comes out.  Hurry up, Lowpoly.

[ch_123]

Beam Springs and Trackpoints. Oh yeah, oh yeah.

[iMav]

HHKB layout + blue cherrys (brown would be acceptable) + Trackpoint.

[elbowglue]

Tenkeyless PCB mounted cherry browns.  
Wait I can make that by chopping up my g80-3000LSCRC.. Hmm..

[didjamatic]

87u Topre that you can flip upside down to reveal a Filco with brown or blue cherries and a dampened switch plate to eliminate filco-reverb.  But both boards have the F-key row eliminated and Esc merged into Number row.

Trackpoint like IBM M13 but 4 programmable mouse buttons on the keyboard edge and some way to scroll, preferrably a modifier key to change trackpoint into scrollpoint.

USB ports on each end and far edge to allow hot plug of a keypad built for the keyboard, so you could place the tenkey on either side of the keyboard, OR on the top edge of the keyboard toward either end.

Textured Blank or Double-Shot Keys.

OR....

THIS:

[itlnstln]

87u Topre that you can flip upside down to reveal a Filco with brown or blue cherries and a dampened switch plate to eliminate filco-reverb.

Trackpoint like IBM M13 but 4 programmable mouse buttons on the keyboard edge and some way to scroll, preferrably a modifier key to change trackpoint into scrollpoint.

USB ports on each end and far edge to allow hot plug of a tenkey built for the keyboard, so you could place the tenkey on either side of the keyboard, OR on the top edge of the keyboard toward either end.

Needy bastard.

[Rajagra]

Hmmm, let me see...
HHKB size. In 2 parts to adjust/separate.
Wireless that works perfectly.
Fully programmable, with multiple layers.
Full NKRO over PS/2, optional USB driver to overcome normal limit.
Adjuster to change key force across the board.
Audible feedback via speaker - adjustable volume, changeable .wav file.
Tactile feedback that genuinely reflects precisely when keypress is registered.

I will probably think of more. Heated keycaps for those cold mornings?

[bigpook]

I'll have whatever it is that you are smoking : )

[didjamatic]

Needy bastard.

Agreed.

[Specter_57]

..

My ideal keyboard does not exist.

It is in the realm of "if only I could put one together with these features...."

...............
Spec_57

[InSanCen]

I think I have it. IBM M13 in black. The only thing I want to change is to make it blank, and maybe an ISO layout.

Saying that, an M13, with F mechanicals on USB. Now that I could go for, hell, WOULD go for.

[pfink]

Filco tenkeyless form factor and layout with buckling springs.

[bigpook]

Filco tenkeyless form factor and layout with buckling springs.

: ) that would be nice.

[ch_123]

The M2 is around the size of a fullsize Filco... Just watch out for those capacitors!

[kishy]

Super Carrier buckling spring 122-key (membrane is fine but capacitive preferred for reliability), with a volume knob, trackpad to the right of the numpad, trackball in the M5-2 position, trackball in the M5-1 position, trackpoint and buttons in their usual spots, and natively PS/2 in interface for the keyboard while USB for the pointing devices, but with each operating as in independent device (so basically an integrated USB hub for them to share, plus one or two ports available outside the case), in black with chrome highlights, original silver/black metal IBM logo, dark blue backlighting but dim with dark red backlighting (again dim) around the lock keys when locks activated.

And a ridge at the top to act as a pen holder, somewhat more defined than what's on the existing cases.

And software to easily map the extra keys to anything you want, including keyboard-side macros saved to memory in the keyboard itself.

And a dedicated calculator function for the numpad.

And an ESC key, with either a Cherry blue or white ALPS switch just for fun, in the upper left of the keyboard, with a doubleshot Geekhack key attached.

[Mercen_505]

Ideal? Let's start dreaming a little.

I'll take an IBM M13 casing and use white Alps switches with black doubleshot two-piece keys... failing that at least two piece keys in black with white legends that won't rub off over time. USB support + PS2 to be on the safe side, with amber LEDs under the lock indicators.

[pfink]

The M2 is around the size of a fullsize Filco... Just watch out for those capacitors!

I've still got two of them, however I've decided that tenkeyless is the way to go.

Have any of the kbdmania guys ever modded an M2 into a tenkeyless?

[hyperlinked]

I would love a slightly quieter low force buckling spring in a compact 104-key with a built in multi-touch pad and Matias Optimizer layout built in.

Or maybe an easy to push scissor switch that feels like a bucking spring. I'm not sure if this would be really ideal for me, but it just sounds like fun.

[Specter_57]

..

I'd have to agree with most of what Kishy has suggested as a fantasy wish-list in a keyboard...good place to start....and to add a few items of my own...

The 122-key terminal type board...I'd want to exchange the number pad with the double row vertical keys, ie a "left-handed" terminal board...with...
the keypad being a five by five grid

The area around the arrow keys filled in ...ie a three by five grid

Windows keys (remapped in firmware) and the Alt-Gr key

Keys colourized, using some of Quadibloc's illustrations as inspiration...

A power on LED

Keyboard repeat rate and acceleration set in the keyboard, not in software...

A true Shift-Lock (instead of the stupid Windows Stinky-keys) in addition to a Caps-Lock (ie Shift + CapsLock = board-wide Shifted keys)..on the board instead of in the keyboard driver (the German one has a Shift-Lock)...with an LED indicator of course...

...and typewriter-like...the CapsLock and/or ShiftLock keys reset to normal by hitting any Shift key...

An additional Enter key where the CapsLock key normally sits...done in firmware, not in the registry...

An indicator LED for the Insert key....

Mouse keys implemented in the keyboard, not in Windows or software...again with an indicator LED for it...

...and speaking of indicator LEDs...instead of having them steady-on...how about replacing them with self-blimking LEDs?  .. or maybe have them flash...think of the British telephone ringing cadence....

A small speaker or piezo audio device in the keyboard, for indicator LEDs on and off...for keystrokes...via audio file(s) stored on-board, not done in software via Windows...

A mouse repater jack (PS/2) working along side, ie simultaneously with the embedded pointing stick...perhaps with a PS/2 "Splitter"...so plug in a mouse and trackball into repeater jacks mounted in the keyboard itself...

A CAT5 cable as the keyboard's cable.., having 4 sets of twisted pairs means...

(1)  B+ and Gnd
(2)  PS/2 - Mouse Clk and Data
(3)  PS/2 - Keyboard  Clk and Data
(4)  USB -  Data + and Data -

An SD or MMC card in the keyboard with setup information on it, removable and setup files put on in any card reader-writer...or perhaps having the ISP pins accessible for programming...maybe even doing it "live" with a live reload....

....and...blah...blah...blah...could go on forever....enough...enough!

:-)


...............
Spec_57

[ricercar]

My perfect keyboard is in progress.

Artist's Concept:

• Form Factor - Kinesis Advantage, but adjustable
  
• FKeys - normal size (not Kinesis chicklet)
  
• Cursor Control - Trackball: Billiard-ball sized, centered between thumb keygroups; Buttons: 3-button with center button scroll feature
  
• Numeric keypad- centered between between finger keygroups
  
• Key Switch - Cherry blue
  
• Color Scheme - blue and black
  
• Connection - USB
  
• Programmable
  

[Specter_57]

..

Shouldn't that be a black-8?

...............
Spec_57

[ricercar]

Nah, the blue of the 10 is more important. I use base 10 more often than base 8. Besides, every schmoo has an 8-ball.

[Zalusithix]

My perfect keyboard is in progress.

Artist's Concept:

Show Image

• Form Factor - Kinesis Advantage, but adjustable
  
• FKeys - normal size (not Kinesis chicklet)
  
• Cursor Control - Trackball: Billiard-ball sized, centered between thumb keygroups; Buttons: 3-button with center button scroll feature
  
• Numeric keypad- centered between between finger keygroups
  
• Key Switch - Cherry blue
  
• Color Scheme - blue and black
  
• Connection - USB
  
• Programmable
  

How are you going to manage adjustable when there's a keypad and trackball between the wells? You'd need a pretty damn fancy sliding mechanism to adjust the angle and separation of the wells while maintaining those things in the center. Even if you managed that, you'd still have a gap between the wells and center piece.

[eunjea]

I love my ten(win)keyless dell ssaver but I need to swap all switch. The problem is I want NEW alps blue or pink switch. ;-)

[kriminal]

white filco tenkeyless with detachable cable, double shot white keys with black lettering, leds built into caps\scroll switch

[clickclack]

87u Topre that you can flip upside down to reveal a Filco with brown or blue cherries...

HAAAHAAAAAAA!!!! WERD!


I guess I would go with whatever it is that I am currently making...
And a how you say... ah yes "miniguru" =D

[ricercar]

How are you going to manage adjustable when there's a keypad and trackball between the wells? You'd need a pretty damn fancy sliding mechanism to adjust the angle and separation of the wells while maintaining those things in the center. Even if you managed that, you'd still have a gap between the wells and center piece.

The adjustable part can be implemented with rack rail sliders; I have some 7" sliders. The central portion will be immobile on a base, while the R & L keygroups will adjust.

The 'enclosurre' will be sacrificed for adjustability. I saw a photograph from The Matrix in which a Kinesis Contour was de-enclosed and the keygroups mounted near each other. Sacrificing the enclosure for adjustability will be the last step, and has a close dependency to how effectively my thumbs can use the trackball while my palms are completely stationary (as I use the Kinesis Contour today).

A previous experiment proved to me that I can't use a centrally-mounted tween-thumb trackpad without lifting my hands from my accustomed typing positions. I've been testing thumb-only trackball manipulation and have higher hopes.

An asymmetrica build with a small trackball on one thumb and a trackpoint under the other is a fallback plan. However a large ball and a symmmetrical design appeal to my aesthetic far more than this.

[ch_123]

I've still got two of them, however I've decided that tenkeyless is the way to go.

Have any of the kbdmania guys ever modded an M2 into a tenkeyless?

In the M2, the controller (which is quite small, even by today's standards) is right above the numpad, and there's no space elsewhere in the keyboard where it could hide, so no.

[microsoft windows]

My ideal keyboard would be something along the line of a Unicomp On The Ball Plus with the trackpoint and trackball.

[ricercar]

^ nice

[DreymaR]

My perfect keyboard is in progress.

Sorry for derailing, but: I wonder if there are hex-labeled billiard ball sets...

[noctua]

splitted keyboard like kinesis contoured, with blue mx-switches and keypads arranged by an angel of 20-22°, flat not curved, also the thumb keys should be re-arranged! ..of course a trackpad or trackball located between the two keypads would be fine..

..more..in due time..

[zerocool]

thats a kool design

[noctua]

thats a kool design

patience and you'll see! :tape2:

[Rajagra]

How about a tenkeyless that comes with a docking station to become full-sized?



Sadly, the HP 5302 keyboard is NOT such a thing, judging by what I've googled.

[Zalusithix]

Why a docking station? A design like the MS SideWinder X6 makes a lot more sense. Just have the numpad detachable from the main keyboard.

[NOMiS]

Lots of great ideas, I really like the 10keyless Filco sized buckling spring. I've very satisfied with this filco, but if there was one thing I could change about it is...

A driverless controller that lets you remap keys in the firmware, and with drivers have application detection.

This way I always have my custom setup, even with direct input.

[Morning Song]

My ideal keyboard would be a white-letters-on-black, 104-key version of the model M with full N-key rollover and usb/ps2 support and detachable cable. I like keyboards that you have to register as a weapon. Media/programmable keys might be nice, but they'd have to look the same as regular keys.

Alternately, same as above but usb-rechargable bluetooth.

I'd also love if they made black keyboards with two-tone keycaps like the beige/brown keys on the Model M, but that's easy enough to get the old fashioned way (insofar as RIT dye is old fashioned )

[Superfluous Parentheses]

Possibly the M-15.

[bhtooefr]

I've not used beam springs yet (got some on the way, though,) but they sound exactly like what I want.

That said, my dream keyboard is two boards.

Something as "well-oiled" and tactile as buckling spring, while being as light as a blue Cherry MX.

104-key layout, I don't need anything fancy there.

TrackPoint IV. (Both the negative inertia and the scroll button, please.)

The second keyboard... the same switch feel, but much thinner, somehow. Again, TrackPoint IV. And, standard 6x-series ThinkPad keyboard layout.

[quadibloc]

Hmm. My "ideal" keyboard...

Well, if I'm dreaming, I'd have it use the kind of keyswitch found on the IBM 3278 terminal, or the IBM 5100 portable computer.

I would want the keyboard to be fully user-programmable, like the forthcoming Miniguru, or like many point-of-sale keyboards.

And the layout? It's so hard to decide. Do I want a compact keyboard, one with a standard 104-key layout, or something with a lot of extra keys?

Do I want the main typing area to follow the 101-key standard, or do I want the Enter key to be enlarged, even if that means moving some keys out of the way?

That is, perhaps something like this:



Rather than getting lost in a maze of possibilities that never ends, I think I'd opt for a Unicomp 3153 terminal keyboard - like a 101-key model M, but with one extra key in the numeric keypad - with the electronics replaced to make it a programmable PC keyboard.

One extra key opens up a world of possibilities, but one of them would be for the keyboard to be almost identical to the standard.

[mr_a500]

Show Image

I love my ten(win)keyless dell ssaver but I need to swap all switch. The problem is I want NEW alps blue or pink switch. ;-)

Looks like you raped a NeXT keyboard for its keys. I feel like shouting "Sacre bleu!" and spitting on the ground. (and I'm not even French)

[itlnstln]

(and I'm not even French)

But you are Canadian.  If you live near Quebec, that's close enough.

[itlnstln]

That's quote-worthy.

[mr_a500]

I raped my NeXT and tossed it into the trash.

That's how Vintage I am.

There's a special Hell for people like you... where demons harvest whatever body parts they want from you and toss the rest into the trash. (...actually the "Recycle bin", to be processed and re-formed so they can do the procedure over... and over again... for eternity)

[porgo]

Das Kb Model 2 ... split like in the pic



And some nice keys in the upper section to be configured any way I want. The usual battery of multimedia keys would suffice, their rebinding is easy in Linux.

This would be pretty ideal to me

[mr_a500]

I absolutely love the quality, feel and look of the early TI-99/4A keyboard. There are a few different versions of that keyboard so if you think I'm crazy, you probably have never tried the version I'm talking about. The plastic has a thick, quality feel like nothing else I've ever tested (except maybe TRS-80 Model III) and doesn't seem to go shiny with wear like other thick sculpted plastic keys in keyboards like the Kaypro portables. The text in the double-shot keys is thick, centred, crisp and doesn't yellow over time. The feel of the switches is similar to the Apple Extended (M0115), but has a more satisfying "higher quality" solid feel.

So, my ideal keyboard would be something with the same feel, look and quality of the early TI-99/4A, with Amiga 500 US layout (nice big Help & Enter keys) in a thick aluminium case (maybe like the Kaypro  "portables"). I would also go for something similar, but with IBM XT-style buckling spring switches.

[didjamatic]

Ti99/4a... My first computer and my avatar.  

[mr_a500]

Ti99/4a... My first computer and my avatar.  

That's one of those horrible cost-cutting "albino" TI-99/4A monstrosities. No, I meant the earliest black & silver one:



I also have another black & silver one, but it has keys with slightly rounded corners, has cheaper key plastic and a worse feel.