Favorite rubber dome keyboard?

Daniel Beardsmore · 04 Jan 2013, 22:30

Dell KB1421 is decent for a dome. I had a beige Dell once that was decent, but the contact areas on the PCB/membrane (I have reasons to suspect both, so I don't know) and the conductive part of the domes needed regular cleaning, until I finally killed a section of the keys completely. I was sad when that died — my spare keyboard was a really horrible Cherry rubber dome.

Julle · 05 Jan 2013, 11:33

Pretty much any Keytronic board is good for me. Also this Lenovo board in all its incarnations is quite tolerable:

coredumb · 07 Jan 2013, 16:46

HHKB lite for me

LaCap · 07 Jan 2013, 22:43

Same as coredumb.
HKKB Lite. Love the layout

phetto · 08 Jan 2013, 13:36

Realforce 55g

exousia7 · 08 Jan 2013, 17:31

I like the iRocks 6260

MegalomaniaC · 10 Jan 2013, 00:38

Olivetti ANK27-102N

I love that RD keyboard, in fact, I rather use it to an ALPS xD

tipo33 · 10 Jan 2013, 22:17

I loke the ALPS variant of the T60 Thinkpad keyboard. The chichony is awful, and the NMB is overrated.

vivalarevolución · 16 Jan 2013, 04:06

I remember using this keyboard back in elementary school, so that's about mid 1990s. The keys were shaped like a top hat, if you could imagine. The top of the key was a smaller square on the large square keycap. It wasn't a gradual taper to the top of the keycap. I still remember that keyboard as being the best keyboard I have ever typed on. I typed so fast and correctly when we did typing exercises in school. Just a joy.

With some research, i found this keyboard is the Apple IIgs keyboard and i can pick it ip on Ebay if i so please:

Spoiler:

vivalarevolución · 29 Jan 2013, 01:29

prdlm2009 wrote:I remember using this keyboard back in elementary school, so that's about mid 1990s. The keys were shaped like a top hat, if you could imagine. The top of the key was a smaller square on the large square keycap. It wasn't a gradual taper to the top of the keycap. I still remember that keyboard as being the best keyboard I have ever typed on. I typed so fast and correctly when we did typing exercises in school. Just a joy.

With some research, i found this keyboard is the Apple IIgs keyboard and i can pick it ip on Ebay if i so please:
Spoiler:

Got the today and it turns out the Apple IIGS keyboard is not a rubber dome. It has some sort of white alps. Non clicky. No wonder I liked it so much as a youth and it stuck in my head.

Turns out I've been in love with mechanical keyboards all my life. I just didn't know it. Thanks, Apple IIGS keyboard.

TAdams · 29 Jan 2013, 07:05

Ms internet pro I think it was called.
Logitech g15 rev 2, although some keys did not register when hit in corner of keycaps. When I first got it, I thought it would break in... It never did.

maxmalkav · 30 Jan 2013, 03:33

MegalomaniaC wrote:

Olivetti ANK27-102N

I love that RD keyboard, in fact, I rather use it to an ALPS xD

And also the keycaps are absolutely beautiful, great design and feel IMHO

Rafen · 01 Feb 2013, 13:03

asdf wrote:Low profile logitech k200 feels pretty good. Not as low as shuttlemunky's though

This was the board I was using previously to discovering the mechanical keyboard. It's not a bad board for $20.

Hop-Scotch · 03 Feb 2013, 00:32

Personally, I LOVED the default keyboard that HP shipped with their PCs in like 2008 or 2009.
It wasn't fancy but it felt good and had a mute button that would mute all sound.

It stood by my side for a few years of gaming until the one day I spilled a glass of water on it...

phirestarter · 26 Mar 2013, 22:42

I used this at work until recently, found it better than most of the logitech keyboards around.

HybridCore · 27 Mar 2013, 02:27

Most scissor switch keyboards are fine by me.

urbancamo · 28 Mar 2013, 15:08

I hated it at first, but the Sun Type 6 USB has grown on me immensely.

Not sure what tech is in the Sun Type 5 (I highly suspect that it is rubber dome) but that's much nicer than the type 6...

I got a type 5 new in box (together with a brand new Ultra 5 workstation

) and it was really stiff to start with which was kind of cool

and soon loosened up. I think these are like Model M's - feel better as they age.

Julle · 14 May 2013, 13:50

i have fallen in love with Logitech K200 boards. They are low profile, nicely tactile, and best of all, cheap. i've been using them lately at work, and I'm seriously contemplating getting one home as well. There is also a Bluetooth version of the K200, the K240 (if I recall the number correctly).

I can't recommend this marvellous, compact board enough.It's one of my favourite rubber domes of all time.

davkol · 21 May 2013, 21:15

TypeMatrix 2030 followed by any thinkpad keyboard that isn't worn-out chicony (those are awful). Definitely not the Apple Aluminium.

If scissor switches don't count, Goldtouch Adjustable Keyboard. Very light touch, soft landing, decent shape and layout. I guess I could live with it in case I didn't have any mechanical keyboards.

Otherwise, I like keys on my BTC 5169 (Cherry MX compatible lasered keycaps, individual sliders, RD-over-PCB mounted on a plate) and some other old keyboards including keytronics or quietkeys, but I can't stand the 101key layout (too wide compared to 75% keyboards, and AltGr is hard to reach). Oh, maybe LiteOn SK-6000 (direct competition for the original MS Natural Keyboard; Silitek Maxi Switch feels quite nice, definitely lighter than rubber dome on the MS Natural) as well.

Findecanor · 21 May 2013, 22:26

davkol wrote:Otherwise, I like keys on my BTC 5169 (Cherry MX compatible lasered keycaps, individual sliders, RD-over-PCB mounted on a plate) and some other old keyboards including keytronics or quietkeys, but I can't stand the 101key layout (too wide compared to 75% keyboards, and AltGr is hard to reach).

I had a BTC keyboard like yours but with Windows keys, but I took it apart. The keycaps are indeed quite nice. The profile and texture is a lot like Signature Plastics'. Font is Lucida Sans Bold. Too bad that the larger keys are not Cherry MX-compatible. I have assigned the 1u caps to my ErgoDox and the plastic case top has been rebuilt to be the top of my Phantom.

Einea5mk · 04 Jun 2013, 01:38

I've been using Logitech Illuminated Keyboard for 7 Years now, that layout is just carved into my spine and that's the main problem why I haven't gotten a mechanical yet.

I finally found a keyboard with similar F-button-to-numbers-layout (Yes, I use F-buttons alot, especially in games) and my Illuminated is finally retiring, and hopefully I'm getting my KBT Race soon!

Masterchief79 · 04 Jun 2013, 16:47

The Cherry G86 are very nice, I also liked and used the Logitech G15 Refresh for a long time. I still type as fast as on any mechanical on it (about 120WPM, got 125 with browns, 120 with blacks and 110 with blues).

There's also another old Zenith Data Systems Rubberdome in my basement, it feels pretty accurate and stiff, with Dyesubs I guess. Dirty as hell though

val · 07 Jun 2013, 00:37

Spoiler:

mapple · 05 Jul 2013, 16:16

dell sk-8135

z80 · 05 Jul 2013, 17:07

Sun Type 5

coffee · 06 Jul 2013, 14:16

Ohh, iFeel a bit odd ty type ith in here, but iPrefer the old Apple white-and-translucent big bulky cool powermac-esque keyboard that came with our old trusty iMac G5. Maybe because iGrew up with it.

Muirium · 06 Jul 2013, 15:17

Coffee! Really!?

I am literally banging my head into the mushy, transparent, dirt and fly-trapping disaster of a keyboard that my favourite computer maker used to inflict on its desktop users when I first got one too. Fortunately, it's so weak I don't seem to be doing any damage.

Apple's current ones are way better. In fact, they're legitimately great keyboards in every respect besides the simple little matter of feel, which is still miserable. Gah! At least it's shorter travel than the old mushies, but still!

bhtooefr · 06 Jul 2013, 16:53

I don't mind the grey versions of the Dell smartcard keyboard that I've dealt with. Don't have the part number at hand, though.

Meanwhile, the black version with a domed Windows key, part KW240, I hate with the fire of a thousand suns. Mushtastic.

Daniel Beardsmore · 06 Jul 2013, 19:36

Amaurobius fenestralis or A. similis in the aforementioned Crapple keyboard (the one without clear gaps between the F keys and number row):

: Amaurobius sp in Crapple keyboard.jpg (116.52 KiB) Viewed 8074 times

He just wanted somewhere cosy to take a nap. I am not sure that Apple's current keyboards are any better: they're only a little bit more tactile than those laser projected virtual keyboards. Sony do the island scissor keyboard a little bit better (maybe 20% more tactile), but neither company come close to the level of precise tactility possible in a scissor board. The only company so far to perfect it, is the OEM for the Dell Latitude E4310.

I did encounter a Dell card reader keyboard that was fairly decent, and better than its non-card-reader equivalent. However, that was the black one I think, not a grey one.

Compgeke · 06 Jul 2013, 19:51

I personally find the Latitude keyboards to be quite nice, specifically the one used on the D series (D610, Precision M60, etc) and the one on the earlier E series, such as the E6400.