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A Glance At 24 Keyboards & Mice
robyn217 writes "Hey, KBs and mice aren't the most glamorous hardware in your system but there's no reason for them to be dull. I spent the last month testing out a new keyboard and mouse every day; covering everything from strange one-handed KBs to cool gesture-sensing pads to tacky ball-based mice. Check it out if you're thinking about trading up." Strictly one-paragraph blurbs here (I wish she'd talked about each keyboard's tactile feedback, and long-term comfort on the oddball designs), but if you need to do a visual scan of current offerings (many wireless), you can work toward a new mouse by clicking your way through. Update: 01/21 21:58 GMT by T : Errr, Robyn's a He, not a She -- many apologies. That hasn't happened in years!
As everyone who will read this article will soon find out, it has almost no content. As such I suggest we talk about our own mice/keyboards and experience. I for one really want to know if anyone has tryied the "iGesture" pad/keyboard. It looks cool, but got only 3 circles in this article.
Currently I am working with all standard QWERTY keyboards. I had one that had volume buttons and some hot keys, but found that I never used them. My student informed me he switched to DVORAK under MacOSX just by switching the key binding. He says that it only took him 2 weeks to get used to it, and two months to get to loving it. I may make the switch after I finish writing my thesis.
As far as mice, I have a Microsoft Optical Mouse with the side browsing buttons. This is a very good mouse. At work I have a logitech mouse, and it functions perfectly and was very cheap. If I bought another mouse I would buy from Logitech.
Lastly I have an IBM mobile optical mouse. Do not buy this mouse. Its useless.
Each of my USB port is connected to a 4 port USB hub. But most USB device manifacturer's derive all power from the USB and you would be lucky enough to support even 2 devices on a hub.
If you read the fine print on all USB devices, it says "Don't connect via a usb Hub, directly plug-in to the pc's usb port.". Call any tech support for a problem on USB device, and the first thing they tell you is NOT to connect via a hub.
How the fcuk I am supposed to connect 8 usb devices on a 3 port USB card without a USB hub ?
for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
Get yourself a Model M - I found mine at a salvage yard for $5 (not including the PS/2 it was attached to). Loudest most satisfying keyboard I have ever owned. Guaranteed to keep the housemates awake and sharpening their bowie knives.
You'll find lots of Model M stalwarts out there, including myself. This is a keyboard that harkens back to a time when keyboards were considered honest to goodness peripherals, not just little flimsy bits included in the box when you buy your PC and best not thought about. The Model M is not the only high quality, tank-like mechanical keyboard to ever come out, but it's by far the cheapest if you want to go that route now (you can still buy Northgate keyboards marketed under the Avant name, for example, but they cost more than $100).
You know you're old-school when you have to make sure you avoid the full DIN connector model when purchasing.
As for the PS/2/USB debate (yeah, not sure how else to write that), I'm sticking with PS/2 until somebody invents something better. USB ain't it, at least not for keyboards and mice. 125hz vs. 200hz? No thanks. You also can't even use your keyboard until the USB driver has loaded - same goes for the mouse. This means if you get stuck in DOS for whatever reason (or, say, at the Recovery Console), you're basically screwed. Same is true for anyone using Linux - I tried a USB keyboard on a Linux box, and every time I screwed something up I'd just have to go and connect my Model M up anyway. I'll say the opposite of what someone else said: it's always better to have a dedicated connector intended to do one thing and one thing only. The PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports on your PC are only intended for the keyboard and mouse and because of that they work better with those devices than any other port your PC has.