Which Beam Spring keyboard has the most usable/modern layout?

[enrique.aliaga]

If I were to buy an IBM Beam Spring keyboard and pretended to use it as my daily driver in a modern computer (MacBook Pro in my case), which exact model would be the most convenient, layout-wise?

Thanks!


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[seebart]

To me the 3276 and 3278 have the most usable layout and they are not so very insanely bukly as the 5251 for example. None of the Beamsprings have modern "practical" layouts. The Displaywriter layout is actually pretty good but it's just such a huge bulky beast to use.

Here is hammelgammler's with that cool wrist rest:

photos-f62/ibm-displaywriter-wrist-wrest-t13935.html

ACn4dBA.jpg (862.17 KiB) Viewed 2655 times

[Sangdrax]

3278 with a little remapping is pretty perfect. You just set the numpad/function cluster as a standard nav cluster in one of the layers and bottom keys to modifiers. Then you can also set the block nav to media and volume controls in that layer too.

The only thing you really miss out of habit is the dedicated upper function row. It takes a bit to get used to swapping back to base layer to use an F key. It's why I like my Harris better than the 5251 the Harris layout is cloned from, because it has a normal function row up top.

Just about anything that has a numpad you can remap and pretty standard qwerty alpha keys is very usable though.

[y11971alex]

There are two layouts that the 3278 keyboards are known to have: the 75-key and the 87-key. The 87-key has a 3-by-4 cluster of keys to the right side, over what the 75-key model has; most often this cluster seems to be assigned as a numpad as apparent from the legends, though they may also have PF (programmed function) designations or some other uses. Other than that, both keyboards have a 2-by-4 cluster to the left, a relatively normal alphanumeric section, and another 2-by-4 cluster to its right. To me, this layout is crippling because the 2-by-4 cluster is one column short of being able to accommodate a nav cluster, whose function must then be relegated to the 3-by-4 on the far right. The 2-by-4 on the left is most often assigned to be F1 through F8, which is analogous to the XT layout. This leaves 8 keys in the middle of the keyboard difficult to utilize according to modern habits, and on the 75-key model, it's hard to find any place to assign arrow and navigation keys. The 3727 and 3101 keyboards have the same 87-key layout.

The 3277 keyboards have the same layout as the 3278, except the cluster on left seems to be mostly 1-by-4 as far as I know; this leaves no good place to place your function keys, as F5 (refresh) and F6 (URL) have nowhere to go. It suffers from the same 2-by-4 cluster to the right of the alphanumeric section. However, the 3277 also comes with a 66-key version which has only the 1-by-4 on the left plus the alphanumeric section, known as the "data input" model, which is valuable because it is 60% and rare.

The 5251 keyboard is identical (except for the back-tab and "DUP", which are resized on the XT) to that of the later XT Model F keyboard, which ironically may be the most usable beam spring layout, even though the XT layout is widely acknowledged to be awkward and cramped. The 5251 may be marginally better since it does not have the notorious stepped caps that plague (and characterize) the XT Model F. My experience is that the Model F is stable enough that on any key except the "+" key on the numpad, which is 3x, vertical, and unstabilized will go down properly and smoothly, even if struck off-centre. This same key is stabilized on the 5251, though.

The Displaywriter keyboards (which come with either a ISO return key or BAE) allow for some more room for customization, with two 4-by-2 banks to the right of the alphanumeric, though the space bar is split, which may introduce additional frustration. What also ought to be noted is that the Displaywriter does not have a caps lock key, but a shift lock key; this actually does not generate an electrical signal but mechanically depresses both shift keys to produce the shift lock effect; when it is pressed, all keys will output its shifted value, including the number row.

There are also beam spring keyboards on IBM 5100, 5110, and 5120 portable computers, but those (I think) have not yet been converted successfully by any simple means; in any event, they do not have their own cases but are attached to their computers permanently.

The mechanisms behind the IBM 2250 and 2260 (the predecessor of the 3270 family) keyboards are, as far as I know, not yet known on this forum. Judging by their layout and containers, I am inclined to think that they may be derivatives of the Selectric mechanism, but this theory I have nothing except superficial similarity to support.

[seebart]

There are also beam spring keyboards on IBM 5100, 5110, and 5120 portable computers, but those (I think) have not yet been converted successfully by any simple means; in any event, they do not have their own cases but are attached to their computers permanently.

Possibly yes.

The mechanisms behind the IBM 2250 and 2260 (the predecessor of the 3270 family) keyboards are, as far as I know, not yet known on this forum. Judging by their layout and containers, I am inclined to think that they may be derivatives of the Selectric mechanism, but this theory I have nothing except superficial similarity to support.

Possibly the electric mechanism of that IBM card punch keyboard I don't have the link now. Here is a IBM 2260 terminal in Ryerson Computer Centre:

[y11971alex]

That too is a possibility. I will note that I'm 10 minutes away from Ryerson by foot, so I might call on them and ask for the keyboards

[seebart]

That too is a possibility. I will note that I'm 10 minutes away from Ryerson by foot, so I might call on them and ask for the keyboards

Yes, please do that and ask them what else they have in that regard.