Define cheap?
My friend swears by normal membrane keyboards and his have backlighting AND drainage holes so your KB doesn't die when you spill stuff - think it was about £20-£25, could ask him for the name if you want?
elite keyboard ...
- Thread starter jmg
- Start date
Define cheap?
My friend swears by normal membrane keyboards and his have backlighting AND drainage holes so your KB doesn't die when you spill stuff - think it was about £20-£25, could ask him for the name if you want?
Yes please. That's exactly it.
That PS2 -> USB adapter would not work. That is a passive adapter. It means it only has a few wires in it, and relies on the keyboard controller chip to recognize it is plugged into USB and send the appropriate signals. Even an active PS/2 -> USB adapter would probably not work because a quick search on the net reveals that the old Acorns A5000s had a special protocol to communicate with the keyboard. The newer A7000s had the PS/2 protocol.
So, unless you find someone who wants to spend some time hacking this thing, you are probably out of luck.
So, unless you find someone who wants to spend some time hacking this thing, you are probably out of luck.
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That PS2 -> USB adapter would not work. That is a passive adapter. It means it only has a few wires in it, and relies on the keyboard controller chip to recognize it is plugged into USB and send the appropriate signals. Even an active PS/2 -> USB adapter would probably not work because a quick search on the net reveals that the old Acorns A5000s had a special protocol to communicate with the keyboard. The newer A7000s had the PS/2 protocol.
So, unless you find someone who wants to spend some time hacking this thing, you are probably out of luck.
You are correct - they were RISC. The A7000's however as you mention are PS/2
I'll have a look though for a conversion mod as you've piqued my interest in getting it working now
Edit:
Some searching has come up with this documentation on the keyboard protocol and possibility of expanding to PS2 !
http://www.kbdbabel.org/
A good starting point
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I'll ask him when he comes online tonight and PM you
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Of you like the sound and feel of DAS keyboard, you'll love the northgate. IF you see one cheap on ebay, grab it... they routinely go for over $300.
The DAS keyboard has a very similar feel to the northgate --- very crisp feedback. I love the "m," but the keys feel just a touch to mushy for me vs. the northgate and DAS.
I like the DAS because , well, it's newer, and has a convenient usb III hub, the completely blacked out keys are awesome, and it is well made. Believe it or not, the northgate is heavier, and has even less give than the DAS. Also, for the truly nerdy, the northgate has a more robust sound ... the DAS sounds awesome, but a little too high pitched. like women's fingernails clicking on a desk. The northgate just sounds a little meaner.
Any, you can tell I have a keyboard thing, so feel free to poke fun. The red glowy thing on the upper right hand side is a volume control... the buttons to the left of it are media controls, but since I never use them, I have no idea which is which.
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huh.. just read through the posts in this.. a little shocked I got no "blasphemy" responses for ditching a northgate omnikey ultra for a DAS keyboard...
I use a cyborg strike 7 keyboard I got for free at Pax prime 12 for being the grand prize winner. Sure it's not old-school like everyone's but I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Also have a razer naga mouse have most of the important combat related hotkeys on that.
Also have a razer naga mouse have most of the important combat related hotkeys on that.
I love my Aivia Osmium with Cherry MX Reds, dimmable backlighting and it weighs a ton, works like a dream.
Proper clicky keys.
After I saw your pic last night I got onto the DAS website to check it out. When I bought mine the S was the only one they had, and I really missed the media & volume controls from my previous logitech. I had almost convinced myself to buy it based on the media controls now being on it (and even better, they GLOW! OOOH!) and coz the USB ports are on the back where my head tracdker plug wouldn't run into my joystick, but I told myself I was being silly and I should stick with my perfectly good DAS S.
Now you tell me the USB hub is USB 3? Damn you and your pretty socks! How can I NOT buy it now? Now... how to justify it to the other half...
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Oh I had one of them before my logitech. For a cheapie it was actually a REALLY good keyboard... the only reason I replaced it was coz the letters had worn off most of the keys and a friend who kept borrowing my computer complained she couldn't type without the letters! I don't think I -ever- used the enormous mouse wheel on it, but the rest of it saw regular use. For anyone who wants a cheapie diaphragm keyboard I'd recommend this one.
I'd bet real cash that one of these will still be a better keyboard. They last forever!
You may need a PS/2 to USB adapter though, and yes, it's not black. But you could just pull the keycaps off and bask in a sea of beige
You may also need headphones - they are loud
I still use one of those at work, the manufacture date on the bottom is May 1994. I even had to buy an electronic converter/adapter rather than simply a physical adapter to get it work in a USB port. Mind you, that's a lightweight compared to the all metal keyboards we had when I started in Mainframe operations in the mid 80s.
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Using a Logitech G110 for elite with lots of programmable keys etc.
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