Keyboards banned from work

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TheInverseKey

04 Feb 2020, 19:48

This thread originates from the following thread: viewtopic.php?p=459331#p459331 where my AT&T 56k 460 was banned from work for being too loud by multiple co-workers

Personally, I don't care too much as I like linear boards as well and they are office friendly. I think just the amount of click that came from this board and my typing style put it over the top. My other SKCM Blue and SKCM Amber boards have been fine.

I was wondering if anyone else had other issues like this as well?

kshopper2084

04 Feb 2020, 21:16

I have not, but it is a bit ironic to think that this business computer keyboard is no longer suitable for use in a business office.
I think it says *a lot* about the suitability of modern office spaces with their lack of visual and noise privacy. :)

Backpropagated

04 Feb 2020, 22:30

I took a loose magsep switch into work just to fidget with and was told to go back to clicking my pen.

Pretty sure the only reason these were usable in their original office space is that the users had headsets on as they were in some sort of phone contact center for Blue Cross.

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kps

04 Feb 2020, 23:12

They were preceded by typewriters. Some keyboards had solenoids to smack something, just to make up for the lack of smacking paper.

Riverman

05 Feb 2020, 00:22

We still had two people in our office using some sort of IBM terminal keyboards 20 years ago, and man were they loud. I could hear one of them clear as day halfway across the office. Our office has been remodeled twice since then, and we keep getting squished closer and closer together. I never had anyone complain about my MX brown keyboard, but when I swapped it out for a silenced Topre after feeling guilty about how loud I thought it was, my two neighbors did admit that it was pretty loud.

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zrrion

05 Feb 2020, 00:34

So far I haven't had any boards banned, or any complaints even. I now use an M122 with the rubber mat removed so it is pretty loud. Someone else in the company wanted to use a MX blue board but their manager told them it was too loud, so I suspect I might have to switch if I move departments.
Last edited by zrrion on 05 Feb 2020, 22:35, edited 1 time in total.

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depletedvespene

05 Feb 2020, 20:17

Where I work now, I couldn't even dream of bringing a Model M keyboard. In fact, instead I got a modern MX-based keyboard modded by Mike to be as silent as possible, just so I could use a decent, if not great, keyboard without the cow orker next to me complaining about the noise.

All was well and good, but now I'm in a different desk and my former desk is used by someone else... who has a common, run-of-the-mill rubber dome keyboard. And the cow orker I mentioned now complains that the new guy's keyboard makes a lot of noise.

JBert

06 Feb 2020, 01:19

depletedvespene wrote:
05 Feb 2020, 20:17
All was well and good, but now I'm in a different desk and my former desk is used by someone else... who has a common, run-of-the-mill rubber dome keyboard. And the cow orker I mentioned now complains that the new guy's keyboard makes a lot of noise.
I had a colleague who you could hear across the entire (open) office, I think he really gave the spacebar and return key a good workout.

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Darkshado

06 Feb 2020, 07:15

I've been running MX Clears at the office for some time already, no complaints yet and a few compliments on the custom keycaps. My Matias is quieter but I've had keys chatter on it before so I'm hesitant to bring it since I wouldn't have the tools or time to deal with that there.

Not sure I could get away with buckling springs during normal office hours, but there are times I'm mostly alone so I might bring one in sometime.

treeleaf64

09 Feb 2020, 03:57

Darkshado wrote:
06 Feb 2020, 07:15
I've been running MX Clears at the office for some time already, no complaints yet and a few compliments on the custom keycaps. My Matias is quieter but I've had keys chatter on it before so I'm hesitant to bring it since I wouldn't have the tools or time to deal with that there.

Not sure I could get away with buckling springs during normal office hours, but there are times I'm mostly alone so I might bring one in sometime.
Those are a great deal louder than MX Clear! Lol :D

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robo

13 Feb 2020, 23:37

It's all about boiling the frog. 5 years ago, everyone in my office used Apple's default aluminum keyboards. I brought in a Cherry MX brown board, and everyone commented how loud it was. Then a few more people got mechanical keyboards, mostly Cherry MX reds or browns. Then one of the most vocal original complainers suddenly bought himself a Cherry MX blue board.. he didn't even know the differences between clicky and tactile and linear, he just bought it and started using it. So then the stage was set. I brought in my IBM SSK, and started using it. So far, several people have asked to try it but nobody has complained!

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Willy4876

14 Feb 2020, 04:00

robo wrote:
13 Feb 2020, 23:37
It's all about boiling the frog. 5 years ago, everyone in my office used Apple's default aluminum keyboards. I brought in a Cherry MX brown board, and everyone commented how loud it was. Then a few more people got mechanical keyboards, mostly Cherry MX reds or browns. Then one of the most vocal original complainers suddenly bought himself a Cherry MX blue board.. he didn't even know the differences between clicky and tactile and linear, he just bought it and started using it. So then the stage was set. I brought in my IBM SSK, and started using it. So far, several people have asked to try it but nobody has complained!
I did something similar. I brought in an SGI AT-101 with dampened alps then I replaced that with a Zenith board. A gold badge omnikey, however, was a step too far.

treeleaf64

15 Feb 2020, 02:14

robo wrote:
13 Feb 2020, 23:37
It's all about boiling the frog. 5 years ago, everyone in my office used Apple's default aluminum keyboards. I brought in a Cherry MX brown board, and everyone commented how loud it was. Then a few more people got mechanical keyboards, mostly Cherry MX reds or browns. Then one of the most vocal original complainers suddenly bought himself a Cherry MX blue board.. he didn't even know the differences between clicky and tactile and linear, he just bought it and started using it. So then the stage was set. I brought in my IBM SSK, and started using it. So far, several people have asked to try it but nobody has complained!
Soon you'll have everyone using clicky switches! :)

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BitbatClicks

15 Feb 2020, 02:40

I hope i can get a work from home job so that way i don't get my keyboards banned from works.

I need to have my razer greens or mx blues. Someday i will get a board with them confirmed.

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Darkshado

15 Feb 2020, 06:55

BitbatClicks wrote:
15 Feb 2020, 02:40
I need to have my razer greens or mx blues.
You have much to learn ;) If you want something clicky there are many options I'd consider better than those two: buckling spring, clicky Alps SKCM, and Kailh Box would all be a significant improvement on click-jacket designs.

schwasam

15 Feb 2020, 14:56

I brought a IBM Model M13 to work one day. My colleagues were not amused ;)

ollir

15 Feb 2020, 15:05

The loudest I've dared to go and got away with is SKCM salmons in Apple M0118, and it's my current driver at work at the moment.
It would be great if I could bring in board with clicky switches and no-one said anything but I highly doubt it would go that way. But I'm still tempted to take my NEC APC-H412 and see what happens, because the NEC blue ovals are the least loud clicky switches I've got.

Jacobalbertus1

28 Feb 2020, 19:58

Lol well I don't know if you can consider this "work" but at school, since I am special needs I got them to add to my iep allowed to use a key beeper, so I decided to take it a step further and take an IBM model F in and to my surprise only 1 person has complained out of many classes. I use to use a model f xt for this but i "upgraded" to a new model f77 from modelfkeyboards.com thing is someone gets me that 3278 beam spring keyboard whatsit and the solenoid on, that is probably on the banned list. some other kid brought a razer green board and instantly got yelled at because it sounded like rattling plastic, and when he pointed out that I use a model f the teacher said "at least that sounds like a proper mechanical switch and not rattling plastic "

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diseeease

28 Feb 2020, 20:32

I finally have a keyboard to add to this thread. I worked from home for the last 5 weeks and when I returned to the office on monday, I brought my Sanyo-branded FDA-102A with SKCM White. On tuesday, I was asked to please bring in another, quieter board, if I absolutely have to 'type on those old things'.

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pdc

29 Feb 2020, 16:25

I had a very nice KBParadise V80 with Matias Quiet Click switches as my office keyboard and that was pretty quiet and nice to use but it had a chattering equals key which I could not fix so I fell back on my £27 clicky blue board which to be honest sounds kind of obnoxious. I have just this week built a Quefrency with brown switches that I will try out as a replacement :-)

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depletedvespene

29 Feb 2020, 17:38

diseeease wrote:
28 Feb 2020, 20:32
I finally have a keyboard to add to this thread. I worked from home for the last 5 weeks and when I returned to the office on monday, I brought my Sanyo-branded FDA-102A with SKCM White. On tuesday, I was asked to please bring in another, quieter board, if I absolutely have to 'type on those old things'.
Beamspring with solenoid it is, then. :mrgreen:

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depletedvespene

29 Feb 2020, 17:41

Jacobalbertus1 wrote:
28 Feb 2020, 19:58
some other kid brought a razer green board and instantly got yelled at because it sounded like rattling plastic, and when he pointed out that I use a model f the teacher said "at least that sounds like a proper mechanical switch and not rattling plastic "
Is gainsborough your teacher? :D :D :D

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//gainsborough
ALPSの日常

29 Feb 2020, 17:58

depletedvespene wrote:
29 Feb 2020, 17:41
Is gainsborough your teacher? :D :D :D
:lol:

Jacobalbertus1

29 Feb 2020, 18:23

nope but I wish he was

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depletedvespene

29 Feb 2020, 18:26

Jacobalbertus1 wrote:
29 Feb 2020, 18:23
nope but I wish he was
Perhaps we should send a Model M keyboard to your classmate, so he'll learn the difference between a plastic rattler and a real keyboard (your teacher already does).

headphone_jack

19 Oct 2020, 05:28

Brought a silenced 60% with holy pandas in it to class, and I though that was noisy. Using an IBM in an office should be considered illegal from the hearing damage it must cause to anyone unfortunate enough to sit near one in use.

Rayndalf

19 Oct 2020, 11:09

headphone_jack wrote:
19 Oct 2020, 05:28
Brought a silenced 60% with holy pandas in it to class, and I though that was noisy. Using an IBM in an office should be considered illegal from the hearing damage it must cause to anyone unfortunate enough to sit near one in use.
Those boards where made by International Business Machines not International Pleasure Machines (that'd be a good album title though), they were purpose built for office work :lol:

All this talk of the "savagery" of buckling springs and I was actually underwhelmed by the sound of my Model F XT.
Believe it or not my clip on microphone picks up the MX browns echoing in my Kinesis Advantage (hollow case and plastic plates) better than IBM's symphony of springs. My F XTs are actually quite polite (the click is high pitched but consistent and the keys are soft and not too tactile). They are surprisingly refined and very approachable (i.e. layout issues aside they'd be comfortable to someone who hasn't had a mechanical board before, not the "death metal of switches" like Zealios)

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zrrion

19 Oct 2020, 15:35

I suspect with how loud some of my coworkers manage to type on HP dome boards (some of that is heavy typing force, some of that is fingernail clack) I suspect an F with floss/foam plugs in the springs to reduce ping would fit right in.

headphone_jack

19 Oct 2020, 21:43

Rayndalf wrote:
19 Oct 2020, 11:09
headphone_jack wrote:
19 Oct 2020, 05:28
Brought a silenced 60% with holy pandas in it to class, and I though that was noisy. Using an IBM in an office should be considered illegal from the hearing damage it must cause to anyone unfortunate enough to sit near one in use.
Those boards where made by International Business Machines not International Pleasure Machines (that'd be a good album title though), they were purpose built for office work :lol:

All this talk of the "savagery" of buckling springs and I was actually underwhelmed by the sound of my Model F XT.
Believe it or not my clip on microphone picks up the MX browns echoing in my Kinesis Advantage (hollow case and plastic plates) better than IBM's symphony of springs. My F XTs are actually quite polite (the click is high pitched but consistent and the keys are soft and not too tactile). They are surprisingly refined and very approachable (i.e. layout issues aside they'd be comfortable to someone who hasn't had a mechanical board before, not the "death metal of switches" like Zealios)
Then again, remember that people used to use machine gun typewriters in an office without complaint. Standards have definitely changed, that's for certain!

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Yasu0

19 Oct 2020, 22:11

We still use a machine gun here..

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