Looking for a cheap keyboard

[tape_artist]

First of all I would like to say Hi!!! to all forum members. It's my first post!!! (I've been reading though for a long time)

This is my problem. I'm on a tight budget. I'm used to Logitech ultrax premium (had it for ages), but sadly it's time has passed.

So I'm for a similar keyboard. The requirements would be as follows: it should have a metal backplate (like the ultrax) - this is a must, it should be responsive like the ultrax, scissor switch or rubber dome (as long it's a relatively good RD), should be aprox. 30-40$. Any suggestions.

p.s. keyboard is for typing purposes mainly. I play mainly Counter strike source, any I can bunny hop with almost all keyboards (with no cheats of course).

[robo]

Apple USB keyboard? It's very solid, scissor switch, and you can probably find one on eBay for under $50 since most people like the wireless TKL ones nowadays.

[scottc]

ne0phyte is selling that exact board for nothing:

http://deskthority.net/for-sale-f55/ne0 ... t%20thread

[tape_artist]

It is my humble opinion that the Apple keyboard is overpriced POS. No pun intended. For that price it would be ok, but it seems that his has some problems.

[Muirium]

Absurd as it seems, this might be the kind of question to ask someplace where people know less about keyboards. We're much too snobby to suggest some turd in good faith. But pretty much everywhere else online this isn't such a problem!

[Hypersphere]

You might want to check the classifieds at Geekhack or shop on Amazon or eBay.

[tape_artist]

Absurd as it seems, this might be the kind of question to ask someplace where people know less about keyboards. We're much too snobby to suggest some turd in good faith. But pretty much everywhere else online this isn't such a problem!

I see. Maybe I asked the question wrong? How about this!

Let us imagine this. You (forum members in plural), are all successful business people with loads of cash. Since you all love keyboards (don't we all), you own lots and lots of kick ass boards. However, one day you meet a beautiful woman in which you fall in love and marry (let's say that she gives great bj's, for the sake of the story). But like all beautiful women, she has a dark side to her. After a while she becomes a drug addict, and squanders all of your money and possessions on high grade cocaine and horse tranquilizers:)

For some reason she failed to squander your computer, and out of sheer luck she left you about 30 dollars to buy your self a keyboard (she sold your existing ones, don't forget). So you are left with only 30$ for a keyboard. Which one would you get? We will presume that you prefer short travel, good feedback and a feel of a metal backplate?

p.s. inspired by a cheapo speedlink board

[scottc]

Model M from eBay, of course.

[Hypersphere]

Absurd as it seems, this might be the kind of question to ask someplace where people know less about keyboards. We're much too snobby to suggest some turd in good faith. But pretty much everywhere else online this isn't such a problem!

I see. Maybe I asked the question wrong? How about this!

Let us imagine this. You (forum members in plural), are all successful business people with loads of cash. Since you all love keyboards (don't we all), you own lots and lots of kick ass boards. However, one day you meet a beautiful woman in which you fall in love and marry (let's say that she gives great bj's, for the sake of the story). But like all beautiful women, she has a dark side to her. After a while she becomes a drug addict, and squanders all of your money and possessions on high grade cocaine and horse tranquilizers:)

For some reason she failed to squander your computer, and out of sheer luck she left you about 30 dollars to buy your self a keyboard (she sold your existing ones, don't forget). So you are left with only 30$ for a keyboard. Which one would you get? We will presume that you prefer short travel, good feedback and a feel of a metal backplate?

p.s. inspired by a cheapo speedlink board

Sounds like a plot for a neo-noir pulp fiction movie. Write up the script and see if you can sell it to HBO.

About a keyboard, take a look at the offerings from Perixx. You can get them on Amazon.

[Paralel]

Model M from eBay, of course.

Really the only reasonable answer.


However, I would suggest the OP read up on the proper care and feeding of a Model M as any $30 'board on e-bay is most likely going to need some TLC.

[scottc]

Definitely.

I got my original Model M for $30 shipped to the USA, and luckily had a friend there to receive it for me and then take it to me when visiting. It was missing 3 or 4 keycaps, but otherwise fine. I'd recommend it.

[scottc]

Good: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/IBM-Vintage-Mode ... 338fc4cdab

Meh: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Vintage-IBM-Mode ... 6#viTabs_0

Okay: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/VINTAGE-IBM-KEYB ... 2308daf36a

[Compgeke]

I also recommend a Model M. I also use almost only buckling spring so, yeah.

If you're able to save up a bit more money you might be able to grab a Rosewill RK9000 or similar board off Newegg during a sale. They're fairly decent for the price and with a Black Petal replacement controller pretty awesome as well.

[Hypersphere]

Model M from eBay, of course.

Really the only reasonable answer.


However, I would suggest the OP read up on the proper care and feeding of a Model M as any $30 'board on e-bay is most likely going to need some TLC.

Good point. Buying a keyboard on eBay is a bit of a crap shoot. Sometimes you can find a diamond in the rough for cheap; other times you can pay a bundle for a piece of junk. At the very least, even a model M in the best shape will need an active adapter, which will run another $7.50 or so.

Although my favorite boards are IBMs, from the OP's description of what he wants and his budget, I would still recommend shopping on Amazon. I have seen some Perixx and HP boards that seem to meet his requirements. Amazon has the added advantage of customer reviews and usually a reasonable return policy.

[scottc]

You can get adapters very cheaply. Plus, if you have a computer with a PS2 port (like most people who aren't using laptops or Macs), you don't need one!

[Muirium]

Trouble is Tape Artist wants a short throw laptop style board explicitly. That's the bigger problem than the horse tranquilliser induced lack of budget.

Well, it would be if Gore wasn't selling G84s:

http://deskthority.net/for-sale-f55/mov ... ?hilit=G84

Mechanical, leightweight, and absolutely better than the nicest scissor switch (those are also rubber dome over membrane, don't you know?) I just don't know about the backplate. Give it a shot. Should blow your, uh, maybe not that…

A Model M, meanwhile, is a hell of a lot of keyboard, and often for a perfect price. I got a nice one, all but new in box, for £30 inc. shipping. But you could never mistake one of them for a modern flat laptop board. They are like arctic trucks versus lambrettas.

[Compgeke]

I've actually used ML switches (even if I had no controller or anything - just a PCB with switches and caps) and they aren't half bad for their purpose. A modern laptop with ML switches would be awesome, it's just the fact of actually finding the switches and keycaps.

Unfortunately I managed to get it wedged between a computer tower and a wall and broke a chunk of the PCB off so I can't hack a controller without resoldering traces but meh.

[Icarium]

I think one of those modern Apple keyboards fits your description quite nicely.
Also, in this price range it is probably worth trying some at best buy. You might just find something you like.

I still do most of my actual work on a no-profile rubber dome at work.

You can also find cheap cherry boards on Ebay quite easily. Many of these have metal plates.

Anyway, a ton of things contribute to how a board feels so if you don't straight up want something you just have to try a lot. (That's why most people on this forum ended up buying totally unreasonable amounts of keyboards.)

[Paralel]

Definitely.

I got my original Model M for $30 shipped to the USA, and luckily had a friend there to receive it for me and then take it to me when visiting. It was missing 3 or 4 keycaps, but otherwise fine. I'd recommend it.

The first Model M I got off of ebay for around the same price was ok, but truly filthy inside. Probably hadn't ever been cleaned. The jerk who sold it also stuck several keycaps on keys that were not correct, so I needed to replace them.

[tape_artist]

Well I would love to me some model m's, but for my location, all the ones from ebay start to become really really expensive...

Been to a local store. Sidewinder x4 seems ok, but it's out of my price range. Every other keyboard I tried in the store feels more or less the same, quite unresponsive.

[Muirium]

Always helps to know which part of the world you're in, to be able to make sensible suggestions!

If you're in Britain, try one of Gore's G84s. I'm still tempted, myself.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

When I got my first Filco, I didn't understand what all the fuss was about in terms of their weight, until I realised how heavy my scissor switch keyboard was compared to an all-plastic keyboard.

I was using a Trust Slimline Keyboard KB-1450, which must have a metal backplate in it. New price was £14.10 (ca US$20). It's an old model now (I bought mine over five years ago) but at least one shop still stocks a few:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trust-KB-1450-S ... B005626OW0

As far as scissor goes, it's snappy but a bit crunchy, and the keycaps are really soft and wear really badly, unlike the way my Filco keycaps have worn smooth in a very even way (something to do with the factory texture — Filco's factory texture is smooth, so you don't notice the wear anywhere near as much).

I still use the KB-1450 from time to time — it's not bad to type on. I only replaced it because I couldn't deal with switching to/from short travel every day, and I replaced both my home and work keyboards with Filcos at the same time, since my work keyboard was awful.


G84 is a bit hit and miss it seems — the Windows key G84 I got from gore isn't as smooth as my NIB G84-4400 — there's noticeable off-angle binding with his, which is more noticeable when dropping to an 18 mm layout. I don't know if this is due to wear or whether the older switches were just made better.

[Findecanor]

The Logitech UltraX sure has fans. I know a couple of programmers who only use that one.
It is low profile but doesn't have flat chiclet keys.
IMHO any Cherry G84/Cherry ML keyboard does not have even near as good feel as some of the better scissor switches.

Apple USB keyboard? It's very solid, scissor switch, and you can probably find one on eBay for under $50 since most people like the wireless TKL ones nowadays.

Over where I live the wireless is much easier to find at low prices, sold off by people who have changed to the larger wired keyboard because they need the numpad. The large wired is sold used for around $50 or more. The small wired was made during only a shorter amount of time and is harder to find, but when it is it is usually cheaper.

Model M from eBay, of course.

If we are going to troll, let me also shout "TOPRE!!!!" and "ERGODOX!!!" so that others won't have to. Done.

[damorgue]

The Logitech UltraX sure has fans. I know a couple of programmers who only use that one.
It is low profile but doesn't have flat chiclet keys.

The old one does that is. The new ones with backlighting have terrible keys and quite the bad reputation. I liked the feel of the old one actually. It remains one of my favorite keyboards of all time. There are petitions online for Logitech to remake it.

[Muirium]

Petitions are just about as useful as spouting "Realforce!" Except that some of us do wind up going Topre, while I've never heard of a successful petition to a company.

[scottc]

Model M from eBay, of course.

If we are going to troll, let me also shout "TOPRE!!!!" and "ERGODOX!!!" so that others won't have to. Done.

I don't know where you got the idea that I was trolling from. It fits the price requirement, and is one of the few nice mechanical boards that you can reliably get for about $40 in the US and definitely deserves a mention. Unlike Topre boards and Ergodoxes.

I see. Maybe I asked the question wrong? How about this!

Let us imagine this. You (forum members in plural), are all successful business people with loads of cash. Since you all love keyboards (don't we all), you own lots and lots of kick ass boards. However, one day you meet a beautiful woman in which you fall in love and marry (let's say that she gives great bj's, for the sake of the story). But like all beautiful women, she has a dark side to her. After a while she becomes a drug addict, and squanders all of your money and possessions on high grade cocaine and horse tranquilizers:)

For some reason she failed to squander your computer, and out of sheer luck she left you about 30 dollars to buy your self a keyboard (she sold your existing ones, don't forget). So you are left with only 30$ for a keyboard. Which one would you get? We will presume that you prefer short travel, good feedback and a feel of a metal backplate?

I can also recommend Cherry G84s that others have suggested. In my opinion, they feel much better than most junky scissor switch boards. Maybe you can find a pre-owned Thinkpad USB keyboard on eBay for that price. As far as scissor switch boards go, they're not bad. Don't get the chiclet version, though.

[tape_artist]

Well this is starting to look like a real thread, maybe we will even get some flaming on? Flaming is nice (and puts our keyboards to good use)

You are right, petitions never work. Just a useless waste of time... They wouldn't be if the people which need to see them, actually saw them. I can imagine the reasons behind Logitech's decision to abandon this keyboard (after I have completely disassembled it). Inside (comparing with current, aprox. same price keyboards), looks very hard to make. Hard to make = a few cents of less profit = CANCEL

[scottc]

Well this is starting to look like a real thread, maybe we will even get some flaming on? Flaming is nice (and puts our keyboards to good use)

Fortunately, DT is usually free of flamewars. It's a pretty nice place to be, at least it has been for as long as I've been here. Flamewars aren't a good use of a keyboard, because after just a few of them you'll probably end up exceeding the 50 million keystroke lifetime of your 1/! key and wearing it out.

If you want one of the Apple wired keyboards, I have one at home in good condition that I don't want/need and could probably sell it to you cheaply if you don't want to buy ne0phyte's (but you should buy his because he's a cool bro and he needs money for some camping stuff)... but I'm on an extended holiday abroad until July. And I live in Ireland, so I have no idea about US shipping.

[Muirium]

They show up plentifully over here. (I had to contrive a complex eBay search string back when I was hunting for an Apple Extended Keyboard II just to exclude the buggers!) Apple's laptop keyboards are thoroughly meh, and the Bluetooth one is only better for its solid wireless. The desktop one doesn't appeal to me at all. Although it's better than the shite with transparent enclosures they shipped before! One of those monsters was what clued me into the concept of keyboard quality in the first place: NOT THIS!!

[Hypersphere]

They show up plentifully over here. (I had to contrive a complex eBay search string back when I was hunting for an Apple Extended Keyboard II just to exclude the buggers!) Apple's laptop keyboards are thoroughly meh, and the Bluetooth one is only better for its solid wireless. The desktop one doesn't appeal to me at all. Although it's better than the shite with transparent enclosures they shipped before! One of those monsters was what clued me into the concept of keyboard quality in the first place: NOT THIS!!

In defense of the current crop of Apple desktop and laptop keyboards, they satisfy the OP's criteria for a metal back and scissor switches. They also have a good layout and they look stylish. Moreover, although I prefer not to work on a laptop except when traveling, I have found in direct comparisons that my speed and accuracy are better on a Macbook than on other laptops, including Dell, HP, Toshiba, and Lenovo; of course, that might apply only to me.

I do agree, however, about the Apple keyboards with the bright white keys and transparent enclosures -- they were terrible for typing and the enclosure ensured that the keyboard trapped every bit of detritus within a radius of several parsecs.

There are a number of keyboards to be found on Amazon that appear to meet the OP's criteria, including being under 40 USD with shipping.