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ChipMusic.org / Forums / Posts by arfink
Or, get an old IBM and do the hydrogen peroxide and oxi clean trick to it. Mmmm, industrial grey! 
If you got the skills to convert it, the best IBM to go for IMO is the Model F. Model M is great as well, but easier to find and use, since it just requires a simple AT to PS2 or USB adapter, where the Model F gets much more complex.
Yeah, those G5 keyboards are almost universally loathed, even though they look kinda neato.
Of course, any things I say about keyboard feel/tactility etc. are going to be highly colored by the fact that I've been using an IBM Model F keyboard, which is about as far from a laptop keyboard as you can get.
EDIT: Looked at your laptop model, and it's got the same kind of keys as mine, even though mine is a bit older. I honestly don't know if it's just because yours is newer (and mine very worn out), or if you're mistaking the rubber-bump collapse for a true tactile bump. I can feel the "bump" if I'm really careful, but it doesn't always trigger the key at that point, and then you very quickly hit the bottom of the key's travel. Any extra cushion I could feel at the bottom was due to the whole keyboard flexing just slightly. I dunno though, my typing style is very demanding and this keyboard doesn't seem to hold up too well to my desires, and has been falling apart.
Huh. I'd be curious to see this keyboard. Mine certainly doesn't have this feature. What laptop are you using?
Yup, sounds about like what I was expecting. Just thought I'd throw it out there, since I know people would be interested in discussing it. It's always been curious to me how "regular" musicians get by anyhow.
OK, yet another random discussion topic! Yeah!
How many of you do chip stuff for just hobby enjoyment, and how many of you would say it's the main thing you do, AKA, it's your job?
I can already guess how this'll look, but I'm still curious. For myself- very much a hobby, though depending on how I do it, a self-paying hobby. (selling stuff I build, etc.)
OK, what I mean by "tactile definition" is, you can feel exactly when the switch makes contact so that you can let up on the key and move to the next one without bottoming it out. It doesn't matter how "soft" the bottom of the key is, if you've hit the bottom and haven't felt the defining tactile point, then there is no tactile definition. For a touch typist, this is definitely important.
Also, if your keys are going glossy they're wearing out. I have a laptop which I have (ab)used for about 5 years, and the keyboard is beginning to de-laminate inside.
I've been trying (in vain so far) to get the software to work under some kind of virtualization software, like VMware or Wine. The drivers are a bit of a kludge job, so it's not surprising that the cartridges want to see good ol' Windoze XP in order to run.
Gotta check my schedule- I think it's an option, but I'm not sure.
Only one problem with the Optimus boards- no mechanical key switches = your expensive board fails after 2 years of use. Also, I'm really curious about people who prefer modern laptop-style keys. I have always hated them because they bottom out so quickly and have no tactile definition. Bottoming out the key means you're destroying your finger joints faster and fatigue very quickly becomes a problem. Not to mention they break SO fast. Of course, using retro equipment I'm used to a hardware lifespan measured in decades and not months...
WIN
It's odd because I have only heard it here, actually. Most people are of your mind Ant1, that the Amiga 500s didn't come with good keyboards. As for low travel and small keys- it tends to make my hands cramp. 
EDIT : Spectrum FTL
Yes. Mega FAIL on those keyboards. Timex Sinclair 1000 also had a pretty fantastically bad keyboard too.
I find it funny how everyone mentions the C64 and Amigas. I have never typed on one before, ever. I saw one in person over at UnicornDreamAttack's place, but didn't really mess with it at all, so I can't say whether I like the feel. Of course, if any of you know me, you know I'm not in this for nostalgia- I wasn't alive when most of these machines were around, and if I was I was far too young to have used any. I like the old 'boards because they're usually of a better build quality and just plain feel better to type on.
Just post what are your fave keyboards (the typing kind) and why! Vintage keyboards are of course preferred, since they're obviously superior!
I'll start off by saying the Apple Extended I have with my Apple IIgs is an excellent board, with individual switches under each and every key, none of this membrane garbage. And I am currently retro-fitting an IBM Model F XT board for USB connection, and that keyboard is the king of all keyboards IMO, having a totally funky layout (ISO standard!), amazing clickety sound, heavy steel body, and fantastic durability. It'd probably rank right up there with a sawn-off shotgun and chainsaw as my favorite zombie apocalypse defense weapon if it weren't for the fact that I also enjoy typing on it. Lastly, my Tandy 102 probably has the finest laptop keyboard ever made, being well built, tactile, and quiet.
I'll post pictures of them here when I can borrow a camera.
Well, get goin' Andrio! This could be kinda cool.
Oh man, I pretty much don't use LSDJ, so yeah... games! I mostly keep Kirby's Dreamland 2, Super Bombliss, Hyankyo Alien, Tetris Attack, and of course GBWars Turbo around. I have a copy of Pokemon blue, but it just sits around and people drop in and play it at random times. i live in a seminary community where all of us guys pretty well know each other, and I leave mt GBC and custom Pocket laying on my coffee table with other misc. loot and people just drop by to chat/play games. Kinda like some people have coffee table books... except I have a big bowl full of coffee table toys.
Humm, probably just pick through the front page for challengees.
ChipMusic.org / Forums / Posts by arfink
