Hello James, I have three different - no make that four - keyboards in my little office room. Probably my least favourite is the Apple one with the Intel iMac; it is a little stiff but not in a pleasant way. At least it is full size with a proper number pad, though, and probably nicer than the very flat keyboards I have only tried out in showrooms.
The Apple Pro, that came with my Cube, is pleasant to use, in spite of having a pretty short travel. It is easy to use with gentle pressure, thus not jarring my finger joints too much. I have a cheap Trust keyboard for use with my PC (I play EverQuest and also, thanks to my son in law, Halo: Combat Evolved). This is not at all a bad keyboard and I mainly keep it for use with Quicken and Access Payroll, as it has more keys than my much more compact, illuminated Deck keyboard, which is used for gaming but has no numpad and just manages to squeeze in a set of arrow keys. This is a very clicky keyboard and I'm currently trying out a large table mat under it because it sounds noisy via the desking shelf on which it rests and my husband can hear it downstairs. If I try hard, I can type much more quietly on it but that does slow me down. I love the illuminated keys! It's the letters that are lit up, rather than the whole keyboard. I am no keyboard guru and have no knowledge of the IBM Model M. I have used ADB keyboards and have one at present with my SE/30 but the space bar is faulty and needs a sledgehammer to make it function properly. :D Regards Susan On 14 Sep 2009, at 23:27, James Fraser wrote: > > Hello, > > --- On Mon, 9/14/09, Susan Platter <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I do have a quarrel with the right-hand Shift key on this >> two-year-old Intel iMac, as it sticks sometimes; it's the >> length of the key which does not seem properly supported underneath. > > So as an old-school typist, do you prefer keyboards with a long key > travel? > > One of the beauties of the old manual typewriter keyboard was the > long key travel. As someone who is familiar with those, and with > Apple's trusty old ADB keyboards, it's exasperating how short the > key travel on Apple's keyboards has gotten as the keyswitch > mechanisms have gotten cheaper and cheaper. :/ > > I'm not convinced that Apple's newer keyboards are good for your > hands long-term, as, between the short key travel and lack of > tactile feedback, you end up really mashing down on the keys. With > the comparatively long key travel and tactile feedback offered by > the Alps keyswitch mechanism on the old ADB keyboards, you didn't > have to mash down on the keys. > >> Yes, I've looked at ergonomic ones generally but, as you say, they >> are >> very expensive. > > Are you familiar with the IBM Model M keyboard? It's about as close > as you can hope to get to an old-school typing experience that's > kind to your hands. > > My Pismo supposedly has one of the better laptop keyboards, but all > my typing is done on it using a Model M coupled with a PS/2 to USB > adapter. The catch is that the Model M's key mechanism is not > quiet, and touch typists can make quite a bit of racket as their > hands dance across the keys. :) > > But I mention this because the buckling-spring mechanism that's > exclusive to the Model M has found favor among old-school typists. > People who type for a living like professional secretaries and > medical transcriptionists strongly prefer it. And while I have > plenty of ADB Apple keyboards, and love them all, I have to say that > they are *almost,* but not quite, as good as my Model M. > > However, if you don't happen to have the luxury of an enclosed > office and/or a tolerant significant other, you may want to look > into the possibility of picking up, say, an old Apple Extended > keyboard and use that in conjunction with an iMate ADB-USB adapter. > The Apple Extended offers better feedback than modern keyboards and, > because it uses an Alps rather than a buckling-spring mechansim, is > much quieter. I believe the iMate will work through 10.4, but > support seems to have ended with 10.5. :( > > Anyway, just an idea. [shrugs] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are a member of the Vintage Macs group. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.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/vintage-macs Support for older Macs: http://lowendmac.com/services/ -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
