Recommend a Silent Mouse and Keyboard?

madfirestorm · Joined: 13 Dec 2002 Posts: 2 Location: England, UK

I work late at night and get sick of the mouse clicking and keyboard tapping but can't seem to locate a silent mouse or keyboard.

Can anyone help?

Queue · Joined: 09 Sep 2002 Posts: 61

I read your post thinking it would be a joke....

Anyhow, heres some ideas:

Keyboard-
Not sure if you could stand the action, but I'd bet that the "Virtually Indestructible Keyboard" (flexible rubber/silicone something or other roll-up keyboard) would be silent.

Mouse-
Not exactly a mouse, but if you got a touchpad that supports taps (on the pad) as clicks, that should be less noisy than mouse clicks.

Queue

powergyoza · Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2002 12:35 pm Post subject:

Touchpads are good, but if you want a bigger area for mousing around, then I would suggest a drawing tablet. I have the wacom 4"x 5" intuos 2 and it's fairly silent. It comes with a pen and a mouse. If you don't use the mouse, you would only hear noise from clicking the quiet buttons on the pen or drawing with the pen directly on the surface.

It's much more expensive than a mouse though. $300+ CAN. There's a less expensive model, the Graphire2 I think, but the pen and mouse that come with it are not as well designed.
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GamingGod · Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2002 2:12 pm Post subject:

lol omg, i swear u guys are gonna go deaf. It will never be quiet enough.

Ralf Hutter · Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2002 2:33 pm Post subject:

ez2remember · Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2002 5:02 pm Post subject:

ricechex · Joined: 13 Dec 2002 Posts: 7

i've found that most of the big computer sellers (Gateway, Dell, etc) offer fairly quiet keyboards.

GamingGod · Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2002 1:08 pm Post subject:

i think they make keyboards to make noise so u can hear urself typing.

wussboy · Joined: 23 Oct 2002 Posts: 635 Location: Southampton, UK

AlexHu · Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2002 11:45 pm Post subject:

Try Korean Flexis who specializes in elastic roll-up keyboards. The fxCUBE-USB type keyboard is compatible with PC.

http://www.flexis.co.kr/web/pd.htm

GamingGod · Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 12:33 pm Post subject:

why doesnt anyone make a keyboard with a rubber layer to stop the keys from clicking?

SungHyun7 · Joined: 09 Nov 2002 Posts: 149

try dell's 'quiet keyboard'. it's a generic keyboard that used to come with their older pentium ii's. it's extremely quiet. clicking sound is definitely gone... and all you hear is the 'thump' when you strike the key and very quiet spring release noise....

well my roommate in college had that... and that's what i can remember. at the time i had hot swap scsi running so noiseless wasn't really my thing Smile

all i can remember is since we shared a room, when he went to sleep, i used his computer for typing essay due 8am next day Shocked

because my microsoft keyboard was way too loud at night.

your best bet however will be go to bestbuy or other retailers and try them out. for me, the touch and feel of the keyboard is more important... you wouldn't want a quiet keyboard with sticky keys and heavy springs... it does diminish the level of endorphin as you're typing in front of your computer!

as of the mouse, i'm not too sure... but since the noise seems to be plastic clicking sound, have you tried to do a simple custom mod on your mouse? it could be very simple.... as simple as wrapping a strand of ductape around some plastic release mechanism. good luck to you!

GamingGod · Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 2:23 pm Post subject:

i have a dell quiet keyboard and it sounds like any other keyboard, im saying what if someone put a layer of rubber under the keys or something so they dont tap at all. While ur at it, u could make keys that glow in the dark or are clear and have light shining through them so u can see them in the dark.

Ralf Hutter · Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 5:57 pm Post subject:

I have three Dell QuietKeys of various vintages and manufacturers, they're my favorite keyboards. They are definitely NOT particularly quiet. Just ask my wife, the clicking wakes her up even though my computer room is 2 rooms away from the bedroom.

Actully this is a very valid topic. As my computer nears inaudibility, my keyboard has turned into the loudest component of my system. You can have quiet keyboards. I have a Dell Inspiron 7500 notebook with a keyboard that is damn near silent. The key feel is very good too. Short travel but not mushy, actually kind of crisp. I only wish I could find a full-size keyboard this good (and I've tried dozens of them).
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SungHyun7 · Joined: 09 Nov 2002 Posts: 149

mmm maybe my ear back then was spoiled by four ibm dchs scsi drives!

davidhooper · Joined: 11 Aug 2002 Posts: 52

Yep, I'll second (third?) that Dell QuietKeys aren't actually quiet in any way.

Ralf Hutter · Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2002 4:47 am Post subject:

madfirestorm · Joined: 13 Dec 2002 Posts: 2 Location: England, UK

Sounds like a hole in the market. I am confident enough with my typing and mouse clicking not to need a noise.

AAHGHH. Frustrating. Mad

rally · Joined: 11 Aug 2002 Posts: 33 Location: UK

Have you looked into the new microsoft office keyboard?

Alistair · Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2003 1:12 am Post subject:

this is a huge gap in the market and one i have been thinking about for years. i am also surprised how little attention this has recieved on silentpcreview. i asked a number of people in the tech industry and got mostly strange looks or laughs, no one understood why i would want to do this. but people said that about silent cases too and now they come asking me about it. i haven't talked much about it because to tell you the truth i wanted to manufacture one myself. but penetrating the mouse market seems really difficult, and with

the idea has also caused me to disassemle plenty of mice.
two main causes of the sound are not just the tiny clicking mechanism but the echo of the click inside the casing of the mouse. i plan to experiment isolating these sounds with my new mouse, a microsoft cordless optical, and will return to post images shortly.

Gandalf · Joined: 24 Dec 2002 Posts: 331 Location: Belgium

I have a logitech internet navigator keyboard which is fairly silent. Came with a nice dual optical mousen which isn't noisy either.
I really don't recommend that flat keyboard for anyone who uses a computer a lot. Those things have barely zero resitance which really increases chances of getting RSI and various other joint and muscle problems. If you want to avoid RSI (and those other problems) I suggest you dig out an ancient klink-klonk ibm keyboard (and go deaf using it). I can't stretch my right arm anymore without dying of pain, and I'm only 17 Confused

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TheMuffinMan · Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 146 Location: New York, NY

Here's my 2 cents:

Keyboards:
Most silent: Rolling/Indestructible keyboards. Completely silent.
Very Quiet: Apple Pro Keyboard & Dell Quietkey
Very loud: What I'm using now, most Compaq branded keyboards, most keyboards under $10.

Mice:
Most silent: Trackpads
OK-Loud: Everything else pretty much (IMHO). The clicking on the Apple Pro mice is sort of muffled.

I like Macs in case you missed it. My Mac is next to silent, inaudible more than 2-3 feet away. Cool

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Alistair · Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2003 3:18 am Post subject:

those rolling/flat keyboards are no option, that is a ridiculous solution.
the same goes for anything apple. ;o)

here's my little experiment tonight...

the mouse, case apart.

those black boxes in front are the clickers, tiny buttons on top recieve the click. these need to be altered or isolated.

i wrapped some putty around the left clicker, which seemed to make a bit of a difference, but not enough. the click does not sound nearly as loud with the housing apart, but once echoed inside the case it is far too loud. obviously that little box can not be isolated completely.

there is not much room in there for stuffing anything, but i think some dense foam would help a lot. any suggestions for techniques or materials welcome.

ll.

Gandalf · Joined: 24 Dec 2002 Posts: 331 Location: Belgium

How 'bout rockwool?
I don't think it's electroconductive but it does have nice insul(and isol~)ation properties. You would however have to find a way not to get it under your mouse ball. Or is that an optical mouse?

Alistair · Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2003 3:49 am Post subject:

it is optical.

never heard of rockwool, is it used in other silentpc applications? where would i get some? i'm thinking i might try some thin, dense foam.

Gandalf · Joined: 24 Dec 2002 Posts: 331 Location: Belgium

Rockwool is generally used to insulate rooftops and such. I just thought of this because I'm currently insulating my roof Very Happy

. It's basically a dense and heavy kind of wool. I don't think anyone's used it in a silentpc application before, but there's a first time for everything! I guess it would work, but I don't know for sure. Perhaps I should try it sometimes.

A thin dense foam would be nice as well yes. If you find such a foam please let us know Smile

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Alistair · Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2003 6:05 am Post subject:

the left mouse button is now actually -much- quieter than the right which i did not isolate... i will experiment with using more of this stuff (i actually took a picture off my wall to get the blue tack from it and only had this little bit).. it is now at least at a tolerable level, but far from as quiet as i would like.

perhaps someone knows what kind of mechanism would be inside those little black boxes that actually make them click...?

GamingGod · Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2003 6:15 am Post subject:

as far as quieting keyboards, couldnt u just remove all the keys and put in a layer of rubber or something underneath the keys to keep them from hitting the bottom and making the clicking sound?

Alistair · Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2003 6:23 am Post subject:

what makes the keys so noisy is that they sit, or hover, on the spring mechanism that they clip onto. this explains why laptop keyboards are so quiet because they are nice and tight. lightly tap on your keys and you will notice they are all slightly loose, clumsy and loud. bigger keys are louder because they move around more.

also contributing to noise is the echo under the keys, the whole keyboard is echoing because there is nothing to absorb the sound. i don't think mod's to keyboards is much of a possibility, i think manufacturers just need to think about this and make better products.

(i use a fujitsu 8729. the 8725's were better but were discontinued)

GamingGod · Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2003 1:57 pm Post subject:

im saying it wouldnt be really that hard for a manufacturer to make a quiet keyboard.