Anyone tried using a different keyboard on the 3B1?

[DoN Nichols]

In article <6299 at idunno.Princeton.EDU> yren at idunno.Princeton.EDU!phoenix.UUCP (Yong Ren,,,) writes:
>> In article <12086 at helios.TAMU.EDU> n177ac at tamuts.tamu.edu (Daryl Biberdorf) writes:
>>
>>Having owned my 3B1 for 9 months now, I still don't like the AT&T
>>keyboard very well.  It's way to 'stiff' feeling and the initial
>>resistance to a keypress is too high.  I tend to type fast, and it
>>seems like I'm always skipping characters on it.
>>
>>Anyway, has anyone tried to use a better keyboard with this box?
> 
>I don't know whether some other keyboards will fit this machine, but when
>I bought my new keyboard from Discovery Electronics, they told me there 
>are two kinds of keyboards for 3b1, one feels softer than the other. I 
>got the softer one, and most of my friends who have used my machine think the
>keyboard feels much better than those on IBM PC or Mac's. And isn't it
>cheap! $35 dollars for both the new keyboard and mouse, with two telephone
>cables.

	I FAR prefer the stiffer keyboard.  I have three machines, two 3b1's
and one 7300.  One of the 3b1's came with the newer keyboard (the stiffer
one), and the other two with the older, softer keyboard.  (They may be
identifed by the tactile indicators on the home keys (F & J)).  If the
tactile indicator is a vertical line, to the left of the letters, it is the
older keyboard, while if the tactile indicator is a horizontal line under
the letters, it is the newer keyboard.  I was lucky enough to be able to
purchace replacement keyboards from Wierd Stuff, following a note on the
net.  (The soft ones are being saved against the possibility of failure of
one of my machines' keyboards.)

	I believe that in general, touch typists prefer the stiffer
keyboard, while two-finger typists will prefer the softer ones.  (I LIKE the
feel of the keyboard on a IBM-PC, just don't like the layout, and the
underlying OS. and cpu :-).

	If I hadn't been able to obtain these keyboards, I would probably
offer to trade my softer ones for the stiffer.

	BTW, the softer keyboards are marked as being made in USA, while the
stiffer ones are marked as originating in Japan.

	Happy Typing
		DoN.
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