[Coco] CoCo4! 50% done!

[Aaron Wolfe]

On Feb 7, 2014 5:57 PM, "Steven Hirsch" <snhirsch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Fri, 7 Feb 2014, Richard E Crislip wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 6 Feb 2014 20:52:27 -0500 (EST)
>> Steven Hirsch <snhirsch at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Thu, 6 Feb 2014, Aaron Wolfe wrote:
>>>
>>>>> Is PS/2 even still a thing? I haven't seen a system with it in
>>>>> years...?
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Yep.  Most brand new business line PCs come with PS/2 boths, as do
>>>> most PC enthusiasts motherboards (just put a brand new intel i7
>>>> system together with the latest asus motherboard.. PS/2 ports
>>>> included).
>>>
>>>
>>> Great minds must think alike...  I just built a nice i7 system with
>>> one of the ASUS Z87 motherboards - selected specifically because it
>>> had a PS/2 port for my beloved Type M keyboard :-).  Cannot touch
>>> type accurately on anything else.  And, they last forever!  My
>>> fingers are currently tickling a Type M with a 12-Nov-87
>>> manufacturing date.  They do not build them like they used to.

I was a long time model M devotee.  Still have two and will never let them
go.

That said, there has been a revival in mechanical switch keyboards in
recent years.  You can now get a variety of keyboards with them. My main
keyboard these days is a Filco TenKeyless.  Yes, the lack of any numeric
keypad is actually one of its key selling points.  When you consider how
much distance your right hand has to travel between typing position and
mouse position,  removing the numeric pad saves your arm miles of movement
in a year.  Nearly instant improvement in overall navigation speed just by
not forcing the mouse to be 5 inches farther away than it has to be.  Then
you have the key switches, which are the best part.  Imagine a model M that
feels "light" somehow but still has that cerchunk that let's you know
everything is OK.  The switches are mechanically similar to those used in
the model M, just different weighting and trigger points, and IMHO its a
(very slight) change for the better.   They are still just as annoying to
everyone around as the model M keys are, I can provide references for that.

Back when I got this keyboard it was only available in Japan and I paid
nearly as much to a buying service as I did for the keyboard itself.  Came
out to over $300 and worth every penny 100 times over in terms of
efficiency.  Today you can get them on Amazon for under $100.  There are
other vendors and models that are very good too.  The dark ages of holding
onto your model M desperately are (maybe) over :).