So, the Extended Keyboard II has the Alps, but is quieter and lighter than the original and the Model M. That would be nice (although the Model M might bring up some nostalgic feelings in my newspaper advisor—she's a middle-aged English instructor who's been working with computers for awhile). Yeah, I saw the prices on the ADB to USB… ouch. I'm not a big Dell fan… COUGH*cheap*COUGH. But I'm willing to look at it and see. We have crappy keyboards for almost all of our computers here at home, so I think I might look at getting several different keyboards (especially the AEK and AEKII). The PowerBook Duo we have is possibly going to get a floppy here in the near future, so I think I might get an AEK for its sake.
On Feb 25, 8:01 am, "Caleb S. Cupples" <[email protected]> wrote: > On Wed, 2010-02-24 at 21:28 -0800, Austin Leeds wrote: > > So, my question is, are there any of you out there that use > > keyboards in the caliber of the Apple Extended Keyboard and the IBM > > Model M? How do you like them, and would they be worth carrying around > > (with a USB adapter, of course)? > > I have an Extended Keyboard II, a Model M, a Sun Type 5c and a Dell > AT101W that I have on several different machines, but when I need to > carry an external board to class, I always go for the AEKII, because it > is my favorite out of the lot. I'll try and give my benefits and > drawbacks to each (minus the 5c, because you have to build your own > adapters for those.. It speaks TTL RS-232 over what looks like a Mac > serial port(RS-422)) > > AEKII: > Benefits - Great feel, not /too/ heavy, at only ~4.5 lbs. Very quiet for > a mechanical board. Plus, it has all the Mac keys already. > > Drawbacks - ADB-USB converters are a pain to find, are more expensive > than a Model M with a PS/2 to USB converter. > > Model M: > Benefits - Wonderful feel, my favorite out of my collection. Very > substantial build, makes an excellent improvised weapon. Bliss to type > on. > > Drawbacks - Very, very heavy. Let me emphasize heavy... It makes my > Lombards or my ThinkPad seem light in comparison. It is also loud. Very > loud, and I've been booted from a class for using it instead of my > built-in keyboard before. Only 101 keys, so no Command key. > > Dell AT101W: > Benefits - Fairly cheap, well-built (not quite as well as the AEKII, but > very close) and uses the Alps switches, like the AEKII. Also fun to type > on. PS/2 to USB converters are cheaper than ADB to USB converters, by a > lot. Available in black, as well as beige. Looks a lot like the AEKII. > > Drawbacks - Have to look at Windows keys, keycaps nearly impossible to > remove (like the AEKII), Dell logo. Key lettering can wear pretty badly > on the black ones. > > Keyboards are very subjective, though. Personally, I like the AEKII, but > honestly, if I didn't need an ADB board, I'd get the Dell, because it > looks almost identical, has the same switches and is cheaper to make > work on a modern Mac. > > Just my $0.02, > Caleb -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
