Do Know Evil - A Blog by Tyler Mulligan » peripherals http://www.doknowevil.net Tips and Tricks About Computers, Web Development, Linux, the Internet and the Like Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:37:42 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Most computer keyboards today suck… http://www.doknowevil.net/2008/12/03/most-computer-keyboards-today-suck/ http://www.doknowevil.net/2008/12/03/most-computer-keyboards-today-suck/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:58:15 +0000 Tyler Mulligan http://www.doknowevil.net/2008/12/03/most-computer-keyboards-today-suck/ I just trashed my Logitech MX Duo. Which I haven’t even used the mouse with in over a year. Not that I could, I ended up throwing that thing at a wall and stomping it to death after all the frustration it has caused me. Mind you, I’m not normally a violent person but this keyboard duo… boy howdy. The design is flawed in the fact that you have to DOCK THE MOUSE if you want to charge it. That means, you can’t use the mouse when it’s charging. Sure if I was more disciplined in the art of mouse charging, you could argue that the device gives me ample time to charge while I sleep for the usual 6-8 hours… but aside from the fact that getting the contacts to align properly meant 3 minutes of jiggling the damn thing in the dock, why not just use A STANDARD AC ADAPTER? This way, you can use your mouse when it’s charging. Is that not common sense?

A few other things I disliked:

- when it starts dying it exhibits random behavior that initial begs the question “what’s wrong with my computer?” — oh the keyboard’s just dying.. duh!
- the keyboard just started to randomly scroll documents when I was typing (not fun when trying to write final papers)
- KVM compatibility? HAHAHHAHAHA… AHAHAHAHAHA. no.
- You plug a big AC adapter that covers 2 plugs on a power strip, then an additional USB connection (st00p1d)
- don’t press the logout button by mistake!

Things I liked:

- wheel for volume, god yes
- simple, (arguably) helpful media buttons
- the insert, home, page up, delete, end and page down buttons are layed out the classic way

As a programmer, I prefer the classic:

Keyboards

Which my Dell Quiet Key I’ve been using to bridge the gap after I made the decision to abolish the evil MX Duo and receive thy bounty from Trust has :) .

Anywho, the mainstream keyboards couldn’t seem to meet my expectations. Logitech came close but I don’t think I’ll ever buy Logitech again. I’m happy with my DiamondBack Razer mouse (the copperhead was a joke and broke rather quickly).

After some careful research, I found a brand that fit my picky needs, the Trust Multimedia Scroll KB-2200 which I was able to pick up for a mere $33.50 on Amazon. I’ve been using it for a little over a day now and I’m very pleased.

41prfud-ugl_ss500_.jpg

It feels like a very solid keyboard, I like the way it types. My only complaint is the backspace button. It’s the size of a letter key, that’s going to take some getting used to.

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