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rez, is this a disassembler on you screen? if so, which one? looks pretty neat

This old coding horror article might be of some help. :)

(might have been posted before too, didn't read the whole thread)

I'd found them before, but they don't seem very active. Some people on their forums found issues, but they could be isolated. I liked what I had back then, otherwise I might have gotten one to try.

real coders use the keyboarders keyboard:

Thanks again everyone for the info. tomaes, that article was very helpful, cheers. I've decided to go mechanical, so I'm just narrowing down those options now. A friend has a clicky Razer Blackwidow Ultimate and loves it, so that's certainly on the shortlist.

IBM PS2 from the 80's
Take the screws out, take the circuit board out, pop the keycaps off, throw all the plastic in the bath, heaps of fun.
Still use mine every day since my 286 IBM-PS2 50Z

I have a Roccat Valo too, macro keys are sooo handy...

FunGas, I found a really old Sony keyboard in my attic just now. It's kinda similar to an old CPC keyboard, with mechanical keys, so similar to what you suggest :)

I also opted for a Razer BlackWidow Elite, which I'm quite liking so far. The keyboard scale is slightly shorter horizontally, so it's taking a bit of adjustment to be able to touch-type on it (I'm constantly out by one key to the left at present).

The Sony one has one of those old 5-pin Din connectors. Is there a direct to USB converter for those? I'd like to avoid going via a PS2 adapter if possible, but I can only find DIN->PS2 and PS2->USB adapters so far, no DIN->USB. Has anyone ever come across a DIN->USB adapter?

This is an impractical but fun keyboard: an antique typewriter converted to a keyboard.

http://www.usbtypewriter.com/

Someone else also prototyped a "typewriter" that banged directly on an iPad screen:

rez: coupaing!

psonice: it takes some getting used to, but not very long. I kept the paper with the keymap next to the keyboard for a couple days, and that's all.

On mechanical keyboards:

I own a razer blackwidow (old one, with blue switches)

pros:
- mechanical switches, they dont wear out with time
- cheapest mechanical switch keyboard (around 100e)
- easiest to find (at least where I live)

cons:
- blue switches are very noisy for my taste, my next keyboard will most likely have browns or blacks. You can hear the sound differences on videos on youtube, and if you find it in a shop, it has the cursor keys exposed so you can see how they feel/sound.
- the key caps are of poor quality, the letters are starting to fade out and they feel thin
- the glossy frame attracts fingerprints like a mofo

dont mind the special keys on the left, you can remove them if they bother you (as I have)

razer now sells a silent version (brown switches) you might want to see, also their newer models are not glossy which is better.

You might also have a look at the das keyboard as many suggested, and also the logitech g710 http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/g710plus-mechanical-gaming-keyboard

Try to listen to the keys on youtube, and even better, try to feel the keyboard in a store. No matter what anyone tells you, only YOU know better what you prefer under your fingertips.

Good luck with your purchase!

I'd argue you can get a cherry g80 for less than that.
But the casing is not exactly the best quality...

I opened beer bottles with my Cherry G80-3000LSCDE. Dunno what's bad about the casing quality...

PS: dfox-style. Eure Armut kotzt mich an.

oh, that went well. again:

bump

Any of keyboard freaks attending to NVScene?
if there's a demand, I can bring along the following kit

I used also some very cheap white keyboards for ages. You can depart it, when it drunk too much coffee, beer or gf's lemonade. I only got new ones for fitting new plug ports, more PC's or if something was serious broken. I like compact layouts without much plastic and spaces, like 'hama basic 210' (6-8 bugs, build in spare parts-> you have to take of three stupid rubber domes before using it) for example. The stream xt evolution is nice, compact and heavy but is has these spaces I dont like. Good to have one for a backup solution. A cool layout I prefer is still the G81-1800. Thats my lamer usb-keyboard for modern pc's.

For what it's worth, I'm loving my filco majestouch II (with lettering on the side of keys)

It sounds like a machine gun, that's its only downside

Some people really like that mechanical switch sound. ;)

(Not me either, though. I currently use a wired Apple keyboard without the number pad (MB869LL/A ?) which they stopped making. Works great with my Windows PC. :P Too bad the down arrow has become a bit touchy and doesn't want to work much of the time, the spacebar fails to trigger occasionally ... ate at the desk one too many times I guess. Otherwise I really like it and it's super quiet.)

so, i still love the model m, machine gun++.

at work i use some random fake apple keyboard, it sucks.
at home i currently use the roccat ryos mk pro with brown switches. very solid, very nice, programmable macros, windows, caps lock and other special keys can be remapped or disabled completely (huge +). on the keyboard heap i also have the as 400 model m keyboard (with F13-F24 and some special keys). i used that for years but it needs intense cleaning. i also got an old cherry keyboard with mx blue switches and a new logitech, one of those flat, water proof ones.

i talked to a guy who works for a keyboard manufaturing company about what makes the perfect keyboard for me: water proof, mechanical switches, configurable special keys and such. hope they take that input and produce something that's usable in real life and resistant to drunk coding ;)