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Keyboard Builders' Digest

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27 pointsgballan16 comments

Anybody know where I can find some good maximalist keyboards? So many keyboards seem to be absorbed in minimising the number of keys you want and the space between them.

I'm kind of interested in seeing some boards with lots and lots of extra keys, maybe separate areas like how numpads are often separate, etc.

It seems like there aren't a lot of "commercial" offerings.

Of small-scale/hobby projects, there was the GH-122, a long-passed project, and I think there was a board called the "Boston" in the 120% size class.

For commercial choices, the common examples are 122-key boards from Unicomp and other firms servicing the terminal market, and programmable POS boards like the Cherry G80-8113 and 8200 series. The old Northgate Omnikeys sometimes added an extra bank of a dozen function keys, and some models had interesting takes on the navigation cluster.

I know some people have used the Tipro modular/POS boards which can be daisy chained to the order of several hundred keys.

I personally ended up designing a custom PCB for a 130% board (normal 104 + an extra 10 keys on the left, in the IBM XT style, and an extra copy of the function row)

If 173 keys are enough for you, there is currently a rare Hyper7 group buy running until they sell 500 units: https://mechboards.co.uk/products/hyper-7-v4?variant=4191139...

That is a thing of beauty right there. Not sure my finances can absorb that right now though, but I'm in love.

This would be a great movie prop

I bought a bunch of MCK-142's [0] years back, as my forever keyboard(s) - still using them to this day. 12 F-keys on the left, 24 programmable F-keys along the top and otherwise conventional except for the assignments in the cursor cluster where it comes with a 3x3 layout giving 45-degree movement keys as well (I remap/relabel mine to the conventional T-layout though - interestingly the ones on the deskthority site are slightly different, missing the extra keys at the corners of the cursor cross).

Despite the website [1], they are not available any more. I've got a keyboard template designed to make a more or less identical replacement, which I'm going to order one of these days.

[0] https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?t=17462

[1] https://www.mck142.com/ - shows full cursor pad

Curious as to why you are interested in 100%+ Keebs.

I know that everyone has a different comfort zone, especially for their daily driver (which is a 60% split for me) and the only reason I can think of (besides aesthetics, of course) is a „feeling of power“ when handling a larger battlestation.

I’m not shaming or judging in the slightest yet am genuinely curious.

For software that uses F-keys extensively - especially with shift/control/alt combinations - having f-keys on the left is hugely easier than awkward top-row-reaching. Plus having a 24 programmable F-keys along the top (MCK-142 Pro mentioned above) is great for long sequences that are only used occasionally (mine are a mix of long 'cd's, mail checks, ssh to various hosts and one to paste links to HN stories into the local wiki).

Definitely the feeling of power is one of the appeals, but I think it's backed up by the presence of actual power.

To summarise without writing a small essay on my opinions on where modern computing is going wrong, I think that modern computing comes with a lot of impedance nowadays, and one of the things that makes people nostalgic for retro computing is that feeling of less impedence. Think of all the articles we've seen on the front page about using old IDEs and word processors like WordStar.

Ironically (given I just targeted "modern" computing in that critique) one of the things I want to remove impedence from is Emacs. I absolutely love Emacs, but after using it for so long, I'm convinced that modifier keys are a terrible way to do computing. They should be a last resort way of cramming in rarely used functionality, not your main interface to commands. I'd really love to have loads of keys for binding mode-aware macros and such for Emacs. One issue with Emacs is that the only safe "namespace" for keys is extremely limited and behind a keychord requiring modifier keys, making it clunky as hell. Big keyboards like this mitigate these issues.

This also becomes an issue navigating between different layers of the desktop experience. Virtual machines, embedded X sessions, key conflicts between your window manager and a program, etc.

I probably have ADHD (psychiatrist was a bit on the fence about it) and this kind of impedance drive me nuts and can really kill my focus sometimes. The less impedance I face in getting to a command or action, the smoother my thinking is and the less frustrated and distracted I become.

So yeah, I want lots of buttons so I can get to things as quickly as possible. Even holding shift to type symbols (on top-row numbers) annoys me. I have a numpad for numbers, just give me the symbols up top.

Also, stuff like this just tickles something pleasant in my brain aesthetically.

The company Unicomp, whom bought the tooling from IBM, still manufactures the venerable IBM Model M in the 122 keys version (with basically two rows of function keys instead of one and with also an additional eight keys at the left of the keyboard).

It's clickety click but that's brand new stuff still build and sold today.

Another option also still being build and sold would be a Bloomberg keyboard but I have no clue as to which switches they're using.

There has to be options out there.

A good alternative would be to get a programmable macropad alongside your regular 110 key keyboard. You could get 4*4 macropads and add 16 extra keys. I'd argue that getting a 60% and 2 such macropads is better than a 110 keyboard. You just need to manage the wires.

I've seen this 433% keyboard (450 keys). https://www.hackster.io/news/someone-made-a-massive-mechanic...

I think it's quite DIY, though.

That's hilarious. Might be a little maximalist even for me. But I could almost see myself using this with some gapped sections and variety in cap colour as a visual cue, haha.

Search for 'multifunctional keyboards' such as e.g. those from https://www.weytec.com/en/products/user-interfaces/

I keep thinking about modding a Northgate Omnikey ULTRA keyboard to add modern keys with an Arduino Nano PS/2-AT keyboard protocol interposer/MITM.

Still think the IBM keyboards that came with the Model 80 etc were the best keyboard I ever used. Only terrible when you wanted to play on the computer late at night while your parents were asleep. Keyboards were quite noisy :)

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