Time has come to replace my UltraX Media keyboard, after a couple of years of intensive usage it now has a couple of sticky keys.

I would buy another a new one but the only place I could find one in Canada is newegg.ca and the cost of the shipping is nearly as much as the keyboard itself. Not to mention I would rather buy it locally.

I was looking at the Logitech illuminated keyboard but after reading some reviews I am concerned that the wrist-rest coating will rub-off after a while, and that it might be a dust magnet. If you have any experience with this keyboard please share.

I also looked at the Enermax Aurora but I find it a tad expensive for a keyboard without any extra keys.

If you know of other good wired and full size laptop style keyboards please share.

"Time has come to replace my UltraX Media keyboard, after a couple of years of intensive usage it now has a couple of sticky keys.

I would buy another a new one but the only place I could find one in Canada is newegg.ca and the cost of the shipping is nearly as much as the keyboard itself. Not to mention I would rather buy it locally."

Why not repair the keyboard if you liked it while it worked? Just disassemble it, wash mechanical parts with warm water and dishwashing fluid (hot water is best if there's much greasy deposits in case you like to eat junk food while using your computer but hot water may damage painting or surface finish of the keyboard, cause discoloration, etc). Wash top plastic piece, keys may be best washed attached, wash the rubber mat as well.

And some keyboards use springs instead of rubber mat. Maybe even most of them. Anyway, the principle of how to clean them is still the same: generous amounts of warm or hot water and a bit of dishwashing fluid. It removes food of kitchenware so it does the same to your kb.

Wash the foil pieces with isopropyl alcohol... or any stuff you use for cleaning old heat-transfer paste. Not absolutely necessary if you only have sticky buttons and no non-functional buttons. Sticky buttons is smudge in buttons themselves (on the non-visible surfaces at the bottom of the keys, and on the rubber mat under the said button) but non-functional would more likely be oxidation/corrosion/dirt between electrical contacts.

Let it dry for a could of days. Of course you need to shake the pieces to remove excess water before putting them somewhere to dry... otherwise it'd stay wet for weeks.

Don't just let it air dry with water. Most water has a bunch of crap in it that will make things worse. Use the same IPA on all the contact films (and in between the layers) to rinse them off and dry with lint-free paper towels.

Then let air dry for at least a day.

I usually do this once a year for both my home and work keyboards (I'm messy).

I remember back in the day when people used to wash their keyboards in the dishwasher with no soap.

Anyone cleaned an UltraX?

I am also still interested in keyboard recommendations.

I've been using these for the last year or so:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823155003

The buttons are pretty quiet, but still responsive. It feels solid. I've had trouble putting the buttons back in place after removing them, but other than that they've worked fine.

It's not as wide as a full-sized keyboard which is good for ergonomics (the mouse is closer to your body). Obviously a full laptop style keyboard would be best for ergonomics, but numpads are useful, so I find it to be a fair compromise. The compressed home/pgup/pgdn is helpful and doesn't diminish the ease of access to the buttons I feel.

I've had a lot of trouble finding decent quality keyboards that have laptop style buttons, aren't full-sized, and all that. This is the best I've found and I'll probably buy them again if I need another (I have one at work and at home). If others have other recommendations I'd be happy to hear them.

Well, the best I've found to my liking is the Logitech diNovo for laptops k/b. It's not cheap. It's cheaper than the larger version, and not bluetooth which is a plus in my book. But it's still not cheap. Better than an UltraX in my experience, but then again there seem to be several different versions of the UltraX and I haven't yet managed to buy a good one. Ho hum.

yep
except I took the keys out actually used soap. worked great

I picked up a PSK-5000 a couple years ago now. It's great but not cheap. The only place I can find that has it is Green Laptop.com for $40. I believe I got it for $35 from Directron who hasn't had it since I bought mine.

fanerman91, that Kensignton looks pretty nice. I don't think I've even looked at it before as I tend to prefer the full size keyboard. Although at the very least it looks like it follows the normal laptop key layout + numpad.

Another one I've been looking at is the BTC-6300C. All the keys in the right place at least. (Does anyone like the big enter key which pushes the \ key up next to a small backspace key?) I think it used to go for about $25. I liked it for $25 compared to the $45 that newegg has it now. Looks like other places have it for about $30.

Thanks, I ordered a BTC 6300 ps/2 from directron ($20.99 + shipping)

Bells Hopslam? Never thought to use beer to clean my keyboard.

Best keyboard I've ever had. I got it 2 weeks ago and it's simply gorgeous. Keystrokes are like silk, and I'm simply loving it. Highly recommended.

it's actually the reason I can't find a good rusb/wireless eplacement for my ps2 keyboard, I like my _| shaped enter key, don't want a -- or a ^| shaped one.

Got the BTC 6300 today.
I really like it, build quality seems to be superior to my old UltraX and it also sound less hollow than the UltraX.

I will take a picture of the ultrax and BTC 6300 side by side

Another vote for the Logitech Illuminated keyboard. The keys have a very firm lap-top-y feel to them. The illuminated keys are a delight.

BTC 6300 and UltraX side by side



It doesn't show on the picture but the BTC is also a bit thinner than the UltraX

Using the Logitech Illuminated at home. It's just fantastic, and keystrokes are just perfect.
Using a Cherry Stream at work, the keystrokes are shorter (much more laptop like) but it's about the same layout, just without the backlight and without the wrist rest. I am more comfortable on the logitech due to the wrist rest. Also the key lighting is very well done and even at say time it makes the keyboard more readable at a quick glance. We are talking about $30 for the cherry vs over $70 for the logitech though...

Dunno if this has been posted in another thread already, and I know the OP wasn't too keen because of the price, but TechReport have recently reviewed the Enermax Aurora.

Checkout Ultranav keyboards. Lifted straight from Thinkpads. They are expensive but really nice. Especially if you like using the Trackpoint.

The older IBM versions are cheaper, but have PS/2 connectors instead of USB. http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-English-PS-2-Ul ... 7C294%3A50

Another vote for the Logitech Illuminated Keyboard. Typing feel is the best I've ever experienced and the back-lighting is great.

I replaced an Enermax Aurora with the Logitech. The Logitech was a big improvement.

Hi!

Today I got Ocz ultra slim Alchemy series "gaming" keyboard: Elixir II. Gaming is for name that it has blue strike going aroind keyboard.

It appears to be slightly slimmer than my Logitech Ultra Flat. All keys are rubber encoated and very clearly seen in any angle. Its key's are a lot quieter than Logitech Ultra Flats or Logitech Waves I have.

Key response seems to be good. Traverse seems to be bit more than I expected for such slim keyboard and perhaps you need to use slightly more strength than with Logitech UltraFlat. It might be due its brand new and after while when its "driven in" it might improve in this field.

Price for Ocz Elixir II was 13,90€'s when I bought it. Not bad price compeared my 44,90€ logitech wave. corded

I'll post user eview after thoroughlly tested it.

Ditto. I'm REALLY pleased with mine too. It's one of the best keyboards I've ever owned. Another thing I like is that unlike Microsoft keyboards you can actually press the function keys (F1 etc.) without having to press a stupid 'F-lock' key first.

That's a shame that you can't get another ultraX locally. I'm using it here, supply is plentiful and it's dirt cheap so replacing is no problem.
Should the supply run dry though I have this thread for future reference. Thanks!

Logitech is a great keyboard, I love the typing feel, it actually makes me want to type on it. The touchpad is okay once you adjust it and is nice when my MX Revolution is charging or when I'm not sitting at the desk.

Logitech Illuminated. But it's pricey.
And on mine, the "e", Tab and Shift (the big one) keys are little noisy.
The illumination is somewhat uneven but I don't like bling to begin with so I turned it off.

Otherwise it's excellent. Some people have reported that the space bar is very noisy but mine is acceptable.

+1 for the Logitech illuminated keyboard. I shopped around and was a little patient, and ended up getting one for $40 shipped.

Pros:
- illuminated without being a gaudy piece of gaming bling
- pretty quiet
- has the right keys: volume keys but no "multimedia" keys

Cons:
- it's too thin, and the "feet" are too puny, so the whole thing flexes if you're rough on it
- palm rest isn't removable
- delete key is twice normal size and insert key is in a weird place

Forty bucks shipped? I envy you.
I'm considering to RMA mine mostly because of the noisy Shift key. When I press the Shift key I can feel there's something catching/scraping under it... especially if I press it right on the middle spot.
The "E" key is also noisier than the other ones but I think I can live with it.

But then, I might get a replacement that suffers from more inconsistencies... or a noisy space bar which is even more devastating...ah, listening through 105 keys is a stressful job, I tell you.

All of you who own this Illuminated keyboard; are all your your keys silent?

Decisions, decisions

For what's worth I really like my Apple keyboard. Same one they use on their laptops too.

I would've liked to get one of those too, but white keys? What are they thinking of? Not only do they get dirty, but they don't even match with Apple products like the iMac. But then the keys on their laptops are black! Dumb.

I'm actually thinking about picking up one of these:
http://www.kbcovers.com/servlet/Detail?no=225

http://www.kbcovers.com/servlet/Detail?no=224