[tech] [committee] Keyboards

[gozzarda at ucc.asn.au]

My personal (if brief) experience and anecdotal evidence leads me to 
believe that the Das Keyboard 4 is a significantly overpriced gimmick 
compared to the older Das Model S that we have been using and that I use 
at home (I recently went out of my way to get a second Das Model S 
rather than a Das 4). Unfortunately it seems the Model S is not stocked 
by Australia retailers anymore, though it is available for just A$170 
shipped from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Das-Keyboard-Professional-Mechanical-DASK3MKPROCLI/dp/B008PFABI8/

If people want to get something locally, there are a couple of much 
cheaper options compared to the Das 4 that still review well:

https://www.ple.com.au/Products/625096/Logitech-G610-Orion-Backlit-Mechanical-Gaming-Keyboard-MX-Blue-Switch
https://www.ple.com.au/Products/624331/Corsair-Gaming-K70-LUX-Red-Mechanical-Keyboard-MX-Blue-Switch

Out of the above two I would recommend the Corsair for its unnecessarily 
sturdy frame and ease of cleaning. Overall I would personally recommend 
the Das Model S as it has served me (and UCC) well for several years 
now.

Cheers,
Gozz

On 2017-10-23 16:48, Andrew Adamson wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I've just arrived at the clubroom to find that the DAS keyboard from
> clownfish has been moved to cobra and relabelled, and then replaced 
> with
> an old Sun rubber dome thing. Catfishes keyboard cable is broken, so I 
> can
> only assume there has been a three-way swap.
> 
> This sort of behaviour is frequent, and incredibly unfair to those of
> us who use the Linux machines. We are not here to use the broken gear 
> from
> the Windows machines.
> 
> If a computers keyboard is broken, that should be replaced with a 
> spare,
> or fixed - not taken from another machine. I note there has not been 
> any
> sort of email or communication to the lists to say that the USB cable
> needs replacing, yet someone made the effort to use the label maker to 
> say
> the cable is broken. I have no words for this.
> 
> Can door members please keep an eye out for people doing this (or stop
> doing it themselves).
> 
> Can committee please approve me buying a new DAS keyboard for clownfish 
> -
> there are other brands, but the DAS keyboards have outlived nearly
> everything else in the room. This one for $239 with $19 shipping:
> https://www.pccasegear.com/products/27227/das-keyboard-4-professional-mechanical-keyboard-cherry-blue
> 
> Andrew Adamson
> bob at ucc.asn.au
> 
> |"If you can't beat them, join them, and then beat them."               
>  |
> | ---Peter's Laws                                                       
>  |
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