[Sussex] Check Out Tesco for a Cheap MP3 Player

[John Crowhurst]

On Tue, February 6, 2007 09:02, Jacqui Caren wrote:
> Fay Zee wrote:
>> Anyone else spotting bargains like this, please do mention it :-)
>
> The great Keyboard hunt
> -----------------------
> Using a keyboard for a living I tend to go through a new one every year
> or so. I am not a touch typist and tend to hammer the poor sods to
> death. So I have been hunting for a decent split layout keybaord to
> force me to type correctly.

My suggestion is buy a more robust keyboard. I use an old Dell keyboard
from my first Dell computer as its heavy and mechanical with proper click
to the keys. My niece (11 months) and nephew (3) play on it with no fear
of damage.

When I worked at Demon, we were using Olivetti keyboards that had
Coca-cola and foodstuffs in the keys so we'd regularly pull the keytops
off, open the keyboard and wash the board, case and keys in a sink before
drying under the hot air dryers.

Cheap keyboards simply won't last. You may find that a membrane keyboard
will have an odd feel to it, that and repeated hammering will resort in a
worn out membrane.

> Item#1
>
> Maplin have a split keyboard for sale at 7.99 - the catch is that it is
> US not UK layout :-)
> The advantage is that it does force you to ty[e correctly.
> The disadvantage is that you type much slower for a day or two and
> heavily used programing keys are no longer in easy reach. (such as # and
> \)

The European keyboard has typically 102 (105 with a Win98 keyboard) and
the US keyboard has 101 (104), so you will soon miss that key. You can get
keycaps for the key quirks but its not the same as having that key.

> Item #2
>
> Aldi were selling a rubber rollup keyboard for ~8UKP.
> This is a membrane jobbie but real handy for a firled laptop
> where you want to do data entry with wet/dirty hands and dont want
> "crap in your lappie".

This keyboard won't last 5 minutes if you are percussive with the keys.

Have a look at Cherry keyboards for their reliability. Something like the
Cymotion for £10+VAT for instance:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=175498
Or for the novelty of a Master Linux keyboard for £20+VAT:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=137168

-- 
John Crowhurst
John's Computer Support