Longterm Daily Drivers

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Bjerrk

08 Apr 2021, 19:49

lhutton wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 19:44
I usually wind up on some Model M long term on my PCs and an AEKII on the Mac. I don't mind lacking media keys.
If you make (or buy) a converter with e.g. TMK (or Soarer's) firmware, you can essentially have media keys on a Model M (or any other good old AT/XT/PS2 keyboard).
I use Caps Lock as the Fn key on my Model M and then have vol up/down/mute on Fn + A, S and D, for instance. And mouse keys on I, J, K, L. What's extra neat is that you can use the same converter for all your AT/XT/PS2 keyboards.

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zrrion

08 Apr 2021, 19:55

My M122 before it decided to be haunted again and my omnikey 102 with white alps are my 2 dailies. the omnikey was nos when I got it but its been shined up nice at this point. I don't understand this desire to shell out for NOS and then not use it, if you aren't going to use it then condition doesn't matter IMO. NOS is desirable to guarantee the quality of the board you're going to use.

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lhutton

08 Apr 2021, 20:07

Bjerrk wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 19:49
lhutton wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 19:44
I usually wind up on some Model M long term on my PCs and an AEKII on the Mac. I don't mind lacking media keys.
If you make (or buy) a converter with e.g. TMK (or Soarer's) firmware, you can essentially have media keys on a Model M (or any other good old AT/XT/PS2 keyboard).
Yup, I've done this with an Model M122 since it has so many spare keys to start with. Remapped a number of the PF keys to pause/play, skip, volume, etc. I just have an external DAC with its own volume knob and use CMUS with vim keybindings most of the time anyway so the media keys didn't see that much use. I don't bother with them on my smaller Ms.

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raoulduke-esq

08 Apr 2021, 20:16

zrrion wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 19:55
I don't understand this desire to shell out for NOS and then not use it, if you aren't going to use it then condition doesn't matter IMO. NOS is desirable to guarantee the quality of the board you're going to use.
100% agree with this. I buy keyboards to enjoy rather than to flip like it’s a baseball card or pork belly future. Two of my favorites in this NIB/NOS category were an AEK II and a M122 with F-style case. It was worth the price to have the same experience as folks got to have 40 years ago and that new keyboard smell is special!

ollir

08 Apr 2021, 21:29

Gonna be honest here, I like my Acer 6012s with white and blue Alps and the NEC APC-H412 very much and I use those quite a bit too, but the Realforce 105 is the workhorse that I most likely use if there's any pressure to really get shit done - and even if there's not. Reliable, no bullshit, gets out of the way, but never gets boring.

tape_artist

08 Apr 2021, 21:49

Thorogrimm wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 17:00
My first vintage keyboard was a Dell AT102W and it's stood the test of time. When I first had it, it was a mess and I've spent a LOT of time on it cleaning it, messing with the switches (which were surprisingly clean) and using it for all tasks. It's a great keyboard and I've used it without the tactile leaves, which was nice but not nearly as nice as the tactile mod which I did on it. The tactility is perfect now, and all it took was a paper clip inserted under the bend of the leaf to stretch it out a bit. I would love to get my hands on a black ISO Dell bigfoot, however. That's one on my wishlist.

My daily driver currently is the New Model M from Unicomp as I paid a lot of money for it.
Others in my collection (which is still pretty small) that I've used longterm are the Dell Quietkey and an Olivetti ANK 27-102 N.
Can you please elaborate on the following: "all it took was a paper clip inserted under the bend of the leaf to stretch it out a bit." Under which bend? Maybe make a short video?

BTW for the last 7 years my home driver are 2 black Dell AT102W, ISO layout. One is (currently typing on) lubed heavily with a special blue lube from Japan, the other is click modded (only the letter part is click modded, the rest is linearized. Hopefully they will last me 7 years more

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Weezer

08 Apr 2021, 22:00

The keyboard I use most is the keyboard from a 5285.
Image

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Muirium
µ

08 Apr 2021, 22:08

Arrows on the left? Really? Are you shitting me?

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Weezer

08 Apr 2021, 22:51

Muirium wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 22:08
Arrows on the left? Really? Are you shitting me?
Come fight me irl.

Arrows on the left kick ass. They let me move around my idiotic work forms, navigate CLI and adjust the volume while my right hand is still on the mouse. I can hit the arrows easily with my pinky to move my cursor around without having to move from home row, which means I can adjust the volume in games without having to take my left hand off of wasd or my right hand off the mouse.
Last edited by Weezer on 08 Apr 2021, 22:55, edited 1 time in total.

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Muirium
µ

08 Apr 2021, 22:53

Image

Ahem. Case well made. I can’t condone it but I can dig it.

kelvinhall05

08 Apr 2021, 23:05

Weezer wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 22:51
Muirium wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 22:08
Arrows on the left? Really? Are you shitting me?
Come fight me irl.

Arrows on the left kick ass. They let me move around my idiotic work forms, navigate CLI and adjust the volume while my right hand is still on the mouse. I can hit the arrows easily with my pinky to move my cursor around without having to move from home row, which means I can adjust the volume in games without having to take my left hand off of wasd or my right hand off the mouse.
Agreed, left hand numpad, arrows, and/or nav are awesome.


(source: Southpaw75)

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TNT

08 Apr 2021, 23:08

Zenith Z-150 and Model F XT, but I use the first one more atm. Love these boards to death :)

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apb

09 Apr 2021, 02:50

Before my HHKB, it was my Unicomp EnduraPro. I am hoping to trade away this HHKB (Professional Hybrid black printed) for a Realforce full size or TKL if I get the chance. I prefer full size. I used my G80-11900 for a little while and the layout is just a pain. For now, BS and Topre (Orange ALPS discounted because I'm too much of a baby to use my M0116 daily) are the switches (and boards) I come back to most.
kelvinhall05 wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 23:05
(source: Southpaw75)
I've only seen a few of these with the numpad properly backwards instead of just moved to the left

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Polecat

09 Apr 2021, 04:44

Wish I had kept notes, but here's the last thirty years from memory. The first keyboard I got to choose, or more accurately that chose me, was a Leading Edge 2014 (blue Alps). I used that on all my XT boxes. I eventually built a 286, and I quickly found a DC-2214 (white Alps) to use on that. I played with a lot of others during the next decade or two, including several Northgates, but the 2214 was "it" for most of that time. I replaced a switch or three, but it got a lot of use. Just a lovely keyboard, and I still have it. That one finally got replaced by a Monterey K104 (white Alps), which I used almost exclusively for ten years or so. The K104 is, far and away, the best keyboard I've ever owned. It literally never missed a keystroke in all that time, and still works fine today, but it's badly yellowed and has the legends worn off quite a few of the (printed) caps. It still has the $6.00 price tag on the bottom from the junk store where I bought it. I've bought two or three more K104s, but none of them has as good a sound and feel as the first one. Since then I've used a customized Multitech KB-101A (blue Alps), which led me here, and most recently a rebuilt and slightly modified black Focus FK-2001/2002 (blue Alps), which is as close to an endgame keyboard as I've been able to come up with.

Jacobalbertus1

09 Apr 2021, 05:18

the keyboard i use the most is my IBM 4978Image

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Bass

09 Apr 2021, 05:31

Redmaus wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 18:44
inmbolmie wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 18:25
Always returning to my regular M SSK. That with the F mechanism would be the perfect keyboard for me.
It's funny I actually have an FSSK now, but I don't use it much as I have my Unsaver and for some reason some of the keys feel inconsistent. It does feel like an F though, so maybe I would use it more if I tweaked the screws on the back for about 20 minutes.

The boards I always go back to at some point are my F122 and Unsaver. Although I should say UnSABRE instead, as I finally got around to decking it out in my SABRE airline caps:
IMG_7096.JPG

I do have another two that I use all the time but are new additions this year, my kingsaver with amber alps(this thing is in my top three favorite keyboards), and my 3276 that I restored.
I'm with you on that, years have passed by and I have sold off a large chunk of my collection but I will almost certainly hold on to my Unsaver for as long as I live. I have a new F77 too and though find it superior in some respects (mainly in the metal enclosure), I still vastly prefer the Unsaver. Mainly because of all the extra F keys and the cross nav, but still kind of like a TKL because of the lack of numpad. I also happen to like typing at a steep angle and actually use the flip out feet at full height on mine.
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Jacobalbertus1

09 Apr 2021, 05:33

i want an unaver, but il take what iv got for right now(no i will not trade 4978 for unsaver nice try)

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kbdfr
The Tiproman

09 Apr 2021, 06:38

Simply copying here my post in another thread:
kbdfr wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 06:35
Happy to show off :mrgreen:

This is an old pic (2015) of my daily driver.
The physical layout hasn't changed, but many keys have been reprogrammed and/or received new keycaps.

This is a Tipro (MID range) POS keyboard consisting of three modules. It has Cherry black switches, every (absolutely every!) key is (freely, i.e. also with extended macros or e.g. Unicode characters) programmable on 4 levels, with the configuration stored in the board itself.

Nothing for gamers, but exactly what a mouse-hating professional typist dealing with extensive text files and sometimes weird software, occasionaly transcribing audio and video files, and often performing demanding searches i.a. in multilevel multilingual online databases, needs.
.
Image

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Muirium
µ

09 Apr 2021, 09:58

You're going to have to update your picture someday, Kbdfr. Even if the board remains the same, the lighting might have improved in all this time!
Bass wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 05:31
I'm with you on that, years have passed by and I have sold off a large chunk of my collection but I will almost certainly hold on to my Unsaver for as long as I live. I have a new F77 too and though find it superior in some respects (mainly in the metal enclosure), I still vastly prefer the Unsaver. Mainly because of all the extra F keys and the cross nav, but still kind of like a TKL because of the lack of numpad. I also happen to like typing at a steep angle and actually use the flip out feet at full height on mine.
Aye, there's definitely a difference when you like to work with a steep keyboard. I never flip out the feet on any of mine, so I don't miss their absence from the Kishsaver at all. When I had an M122 (recently sold) I found those upper F-decks ludicrously far from home, and up at the wrong angle for me. My hands hover over a keyboard—I don't keep my wrists down on the desk. So when I swoop on over to another region of a big board, I come down on it from above, and those forward tilting upper rows all point the wrong way a bit. I even feel this on an SSK. The Kishsaver just doesn't curve up that far, and so feels nicer to me.

I too plan on holding onto my Kishsaver for good. And I mean it: recently turned down an offer for $2500! (Going on 20X what I paid for mine.) I'd just miss the wee man too much.

But yeah, a lot of my keyboards don't get used any more and really ought to go. Even more so that mostly untouched Round 5 haul of mine. I'm just not a natural seller, to put it mildly. It feels all… reversed. :roll:

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TNT

09 Apr 2021, 21:26

Jacobalbertus1 wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 05:18
the keyboard i use the most is my IBM 4978Image
Awesome sleeper PC and also very awesome :duck:

The keyboard however... :mrgreen:
Bass wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 05:31

I'm with you on that, years have passed by and I have sold off a large chunk of my collection but I will almost certainly hold on to my Unsaver for as long as I live. I have a new F77 too and though find it superior in some respects (mainly in the metal enclosure), I still vastly prefer the Unsaver. Mainly because of all the extra F keys and the cross nav, but still kind of like a TKL because of the lack of numpad. I also happen to like typing at a steep angle and actually use the flip out feet at full height on mine.
Spoiler:
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2021-04-08 21.22.11.jpg
That is an amazing board, it looks so good!

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kps

09 Apr 2021, 23:11

Rayndalf wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 12:57
Kinesis Advantage.
n00b :​-​) I'm still using the Kinesis 130 I bought in 1998.

Rayndalf

10 Apr 2021, 03:15

kps wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 23:11
Rayndalf wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 12:57
Kinesis Advantage.
n00b :​-​) I'm still using the Kinesis 130 I bought in 1998.
Technically mine are a Model 110 and Model 130. Finally got around to swapping the controller after putting it off for years. Lots of strange build variety with early Kinesises (Kinesi?)

I've only had mine for a few years now but I can't imagine switching.

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Palatino

10 Apr 2021, 07:14

Rayndalf wrote:
10 Apr 2021, 03:15
Lots of strange build variety with early Kinesises (Kinesi?)
Actually "Kineseis" (since it's a Greek third declension noun).

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Muirium
µ

10 Apr 2021, 11:38

Image

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vvp

10 Apr 2021, 12:28

Custom build K84CS, the best keyboard ever :twisted:
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Muirium
µ

10 Apr 2021, 13:10

Okay, nerd just levelled up!

I've still unkind feelings about those gamerfont legends, though. :lol:

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vvp

10 Apr 2021, 18:18

Yeah, keycaps are not my strong skill :)
I put there whatever has the right shape with little regards whether it is properly labelled, ABS/PBT, shiny or not ...

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Redmaus
Gotta start somewhere

10 Apr 2021, 19:07

Bass wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 05:31
I'm with you on that, years have passed by and I have sold off a large chunk of my collection but I will almost certainly hold on to my Unsaver for as long as I live. I have a new F77 too and though find it superior in some respects (mainly in the metal enclosure), I still vastly prefer the Unsaver. Mainly because of all the extra F keys and the cross nav, but still kind of like a TKL because of the lack of numpad. I also happen to like typing at a steep angle and actually use the flip out feet at full height on mine.
2020-09-05 19.21.38.jpg
2021-04-08 21.22.11.jpg
Definitely. The F122 was something that I loved to death, but the only problem was my right mouse hand was a little uncomfortable given the length of the board. The Unsaver fixes this problem and gives you in my opinion one of the rarest and best layouts of all time. It's like a TKL+, because you don't have much extra space horizontal wise but get far more functionality than a normal TKL. The left bank of function keys is something I actually rely on with media keys.
I use the flip out feet at the half height setting, and that is the perfect height for me. Whats even better is modding the cross nav into a full block, since you can have a normal T arrow cluster and windows key adjacent to it(mine is the / key). The layout also has this iconic look to it that nothing else beats in my opinion.

If I had to only use one board for the rest of my life it would definitely be the unsaver.

Also gotta say I'm a little jealous of your unsaver, with the red sublegends(something I have always wanted lol) and distinct embedded numberpad. Isn't your from NOS as well?

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hellothere

11 Apr 2021, 00:57

Straight answer: I'm not sure. My semi-custom TKL with Kailh Box Jade switches is one I quite often come back to. On the far other side, I'm really happy with my Steel Series Apex Pro (Hall Effect switches).

I've now got about 30 keyboards. The majority of these are ones I want to repair and sell, but I think I need to give more time to my Alps orange and salmon keyboards. I don't think my blue Alps KB is my favorite. Model Ms are nice, but I genuinely think that the Box Jades are equivalent or better -- and I can get really nice looking keycaps. I've not been overly impressed with Model F XTs.

I haven't tried a beamspring and I'd really like to. Same goes for Alps Plate spring, although prices for those really shot through the roof. Maybe if I sell 20 keyboards at $125 each ...

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Reshala

12 Apr 2021, 03:13

For home, reproduction F62. Wouldn't mind a F122 after getting a larger desk lol

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