Maximum PC

This seems to be a question that should be of no surprise. It almost seems like a lot of keyboards these days seem to be lacking quality anymore, imo. I mean, sure, they got all fancy with backlighting, fancy macro/programmable keys, and LCD screens, and what not, but whatever happened to those old keyboards that we all know and love from the IBM PCs of yesteryear? I mean, at least with those, you had control over what you type and had faster, more accurate feedback.

So, that leads to mind the question...do you think that these nostaglic, yet effective input gems made a standard once again? Let's hear your thoughts.
Yes, I know that they're out there, and I have a DAS Professional coming my way, but...it just seems like these should definitely come back down to consumer price levels and become a standard again. It would make gaming a whole lot more accurate, too...just saying.

Although, I'm not too sure that DAS made those keyboards themselves, wasn't Cherry the real manufacturer behind most of the mechanical keyboards that are out there today? I've seen Cherry themsevles selling keyboards on Newegg, but not too sure if those are the same keyswitches that make those same noisy clicks, tho.

i miss my old mechanical keyboards, the northgate was my alltime favorite, http://www.northgate-keyboard-repair.com/ this is a company that rebuilds and sells them, they were not cheap though. i paid over 200 for mine new (still have it somewhere). the IBM were a second best, but i have a couple of those around too. there are still companies that make these old style mechanicals out there, do a search on northgate keyboards they will show up in the results.

You should take a look at these keyboards from Deck http://www.deckkeyboards.com/

They are built just like old style IBM boards, even have the Cherry key switches. They are built like tanks, have indivdual LEDs behind each key and are easy to mod with more LEDs for special effects.

I've used a lot of keyboards in the last 20 years and these Deck keyboards are the best I've ever come across.

Jim in NYC

I just bought the Razer Blackwidow keyboard. It's the new mechanical keyboard that Razer has built:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823114011&cm_re=blackwidow-_-23-114-011-_-Product

I got to say that it's the best keyboard I've ever used. A real pleasure to type on. Built like a tank and should last a long time.

Should they make a comeback? Yes, but they're not going to, with rubber-dome keyboards so cheap and the exposure of mechs so low. People would rather have more buttons or an LCD screen or backlighting rather than a mechanical key switch. That's really unfortunate because my BlackWidow has given me one of the best typing experiences in my life. It's not the best keyboard, but the Cherry Blue switches are amazing to type on.

Anyone wanting to learn more about mechs should visit http://www.geekhack.org, they have a full guide for everything keyboards and their community is very friendly.

I was just thinking a few weeks ago, how much I missed those old keyboards. There's absolutely nothing like them. Sadly enough I probably still have some of my old ones in storage somewhere. I even think I have my first PC (Tandy) stored away. Makes me want to pull it out and see if it still boots, lol. Nostalgia at it's best.

I'm typing this on a 1984 IBM Model M right now. I have a few logitech keyboards and a mechanical Steelseries 7G but this is my favorite because of the reactions it gets, the feel of the buckling spring switches and the durability of the lettering on the keys. Every other keyboard I have owned wears down on the WASD keys and the space bar and the lettering on the keys is not visible. I just don't like how it doesn't have a windows key. The Das keyboard with no letters on it is mechanical. Razer and Thermaltake now make mechanical keyboards so I am hoping Logitech follows suit and comes out with one of their own.