DEC Keyboards (was: Re: Classic Computers vs. Classic)

From: Eric Dittman <dittman_at_dittman.net>
Date: Fri Sep 14 14:34:11 2001

> >Okay, this lead me to pull an LK201 out of the closet. You're right, the
> >LK401
> >is not as mushy as the LK201.
>
> That's only part of it, the angle of the keys are slightly different, and
> (and this is the part that is really hard to explain) somehow the LK201
> seems to have sharper corners to me, with the LK401 seeming to be a more
> polished feel to it.

A big difference is the LK201 uses those easily-lost black plastic posts
to raise the back of the keyboard to a decent height. The LK401 does have
a more polished look and feel. The LK201 keyboard always looked to me like
the case was a temporary prototype. The old flip-top version of the LK201
struck me as too much for what it does. The simpler slot for the strip in
the later version was simpler and less trouble.

> BTW, I just checked and it's a pair of LK450's I got recently, though I
> think I've got a LK461 up in storage. The LK450 is almost identical to
> LK401, except it's got the PS/2 interface, and the keyboard is about as
> mushy as the LK201.

I wonder if the mushiness of the LK201 was a response to complaints that
the VT100 keyboard was a little too heavy at times. As a VT100 keyboard
aged the keys seem to develop little "catches" that made some keys more
difficult to depress.

> Of course for the people that prefer a VT100, none of these keyboards are a
> substitute, but for those that want a proper keyboard for VMS, they're
> great. I personally don't really care for the VT100 keyboard, though I am
> trying to figure out where in here I can set one up as I want to use it to
> access the PDP-10 emulators.

A VT2x0/VT3x0/VT4x0/VT5xx can emulate a VT100, so use an emulated VT100
with an emulated PDP-10. :-)
-- 
Eric Dittman
dittman_at_dittman.net
Check out the DEC Ethusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/
Received on Fri Sep 14 2001 - 14:34:11 BST

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