[crouton] Nathaniel Trost: Sweet Sweetback's Clicky Keyboard

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Posted by Nathaniel Trost:
Sweet Sweetback's Clicky Keyboard
http://crouton.powerblogs.com/archives/archive_2007_02_18-2007_02_24.shtml#1172168277


   More work, more deadlines, more trips, less blogging.
   I continue to be exceptionally glad I purchased the MacBook Pro.
   During my most recent trip, I realized Iâd likely be doing a lot of
   source code reformatting, as well as construction. While the MBP
   keyboard is quite a good one, the small arrow keys and function keys
   tend to wear out my fingers during extended editing sessions. Thus, I
   decided to splurge on an external keyboard.
   This led me to my keyboard dilemma, getting my hands on a decent
   keyboard quickly without paying a fortune. I have always been picky
   about keyboards and monitors, after all I frequently spent hours upon
   hours a day typing and staring, using cheap stuff is just plain silly.
   In this day and age, however, now that computers are a cheap commodity
   rather than several thousand dollar investments, keyboards have become
   one of those peripherals that seem to suffer from a race-to-the-bottom
   syndrome. Even if you go into a computer store, the $80 keyboards are
   just as crappy to type on as the $12 keyboards, they just have a bunch
   of extra buttons and useless features.
   I wanted a good keyboard, which meant I wanted a mechanical keyboard.
   At the same time, I was working on-site in an open plan office, which
   meant I wasnât going to subject those around me to the sweet sweet
   clamor of an IBM Model M, or equivalent. Since it was going into a
   MacBook Pro, I also wanted USB native.
   A little searching with Google didnât turn up anything promising,
   except for one no-name keyboard from an OEM manufacturer Iâd never
   heard of: the [1]Scorpius-M10 Mechanical USB Keyboard. No word on
   whether or not the have a Crichton-M9 bluetooth mouse. I decided to
   take a stab in the dark, roll the dice and give the M10 a shot. Two
   rolls of the dice actually, since it was so obscure none of the usual
   suspects (Amazon, Newegg) stocked it.
   I was pleased with the results, the online retailer (Cyberguys)
   promptly shipped it and I had the new keyboard in my hot little hands.
   And then I realized that I had made a most unfortunate assumption.
   Years of Mac usage had conditioned me to be used to the convention of
   ADB, and later USB keyboards having pass-through connectors so you
   could plug your mouse directly into the keyboard. This never caught on
   in the windows world (remember that lowest common denominator?),
   although it isnât surprising since unlike Apple, it was a long time
   before PC keyboards and mice ended up using the same physical
   interface (Bus mice? Serial mice? Ah, the bad old days). I now had one
   mouse to plug in, one keyboard to plug in, and one devkit to plug in,
   3 USB cables, 2 ports on the MBP, and not a single USB hub in the
   office. Itâs only February and Iâm already glad I ponied up for Amazon
   Prime.
   The keyboard itself gets a thumbs up. Purely functional visually, with
   the sole fashion concession being its matte black appearance. No
   stupid useless keys, I actually wish it didnât have the Windows key,
   but Iâve come to learn to live with it in 2007 (control-escape
   forever). Thankfully, it is quieter than an old-school clicky
   keyboard, which was one of my major concerns. Iâd put the noise level
   right about midway between a normal keyboard and a Model M. The
   tactile keypress feel is pleasant. My only quibble is that the keys
   have a bit more âjiggleâ to them then on a Model M or my Matias
   Tactile Pro. The up and down is fine, but resting my fingers on them,
   the keys donât quite have as solid a lateral feeling as Iâd like. That
   said, it still beats the heck out of any non-mechanical keyboard and
   Iâm glad I bought it.

References

   1. http://www.barrys-rigs-n-reviews.com/reviews/2007/hardware/m10key/m10key.htm