Keyboards.

[Feba]

Obviously everyone here gets a fair amount of use out of their keyboards. I just finished washing my G15 for the second time in the two years I've owned it, and it gives me some questions, but mainly I ask them just so there's an easier basis for discussion about keyboards in general.

As in the poll, do you wash your keyboard? If so, how indepth do you go with it? A small handvac once a month? Putting it in the dishwasher?

How long do you tend to use your keyboards for before you replace them? How much do you spend on them? What do you like and dislike in keyboards, in terms of construction and layout? Do you have a 'media' keyboard? Do you have a keyboard that's marketed towards gamers? What unique features does your keyboard have?

And for typing; can you type without ever having to look at the keys? If you took all the keys off your keyboard, could you put them all back in their proper positions without a reference? Or are your keys so worn that you can't even make out the letters anymore (It's more liekly than you think.)

When do you think a keyboard should be replaced? When are you going to replace yours, and what are you going to look for when you replace it.

[Jarre]

Re: Keyboards.

I have a small vac with some small nozzel attachments that can get in between teh keys. i make it a rule not to eat in front of my computer / keyboard and also my drink is on a die table well away. This seems to work for me and its only loose hair and dust that needs to be vacumed up every quartre.

[Feba]

Re: Keyboards.

When I cleaned mine, the smallest attachment wouldn't have fit between the keys... and even if it had, there were huge clumps of hair (I hope most of it was the dog's...) that even after removing most of it clogged the vacuum nozzle a couple times and had to be removed by hand. I do agree with not eating at the computer, I stopped doing that a few months ago and it's actually been much nicer.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Keyboards.

Nope no fancy vac here for mine. I just turn the damn thing upside down and smack the hell out of it! lol I made the mistake once of putting my face really close to it and blowing....won't do that again....

Currently my board is clean as a whistle! ....only cause I just bought a new one. lol I personally love the split boards for comfort but since no gaming boards are split, I only use that for long word processing sessions. My gaming board is a Merc Stealth currently. Still getting used to it so the jury is out on whether I like it or not. Silly little option that I really love on it is the lit keys. But I guess as I wear out the keys (like on my split board), the lighting won't matter. lol

I can type without looking so yes I could put the keys back in correctly. Been typing for 35ish years now so I damn well better know! I replace my boards whenever they begin to irritate me. Tried a wireless recently and HATED it so hence the new one. You'd laugh your butt off at me while I was using the damn wireless cause at times I had to hold the f***ing thing up in the air so the strokes would register!! As far as features go, programable crap appeals to me. I also like little features like a volume up/down, email button, etc. Unfortunately I haven't had the time to fiddle with my board since I got it a couple days ago. (Though talking about it now makes me want to futz with it! lol )

[Kuro]

Re: Keyboards.

I remove all the keys then useing a vaccume remove all the crap.

Wash all the keys indivudually and give the whole thing a spray down with disinfectant.

However I now use these peice of junk £4 keyboards. Basics of the basics, but I don't need anything special. I have a all singing all danceing keyboard that i don't use, because its so much easier to use the cheap ones. I can break several a year if i was so inclined.

[Sabaron]

Re: Keyboards.

If by vacuum you mean the opposite of vacuum (i.e. Air Can) then yes, I "vacuum" it.

[Akashimo]

Re: Keyboards.

My keys are half way worn from using this one for about 4+ years after my free in the mail swiftboard.com keyboard faded out on me. On both, I never cleaned it >.> after all its my personal keyboard, so my hands are the only ones that touch it. So no a food rule doesn't apply to me XD

[Jarre]

Re: Keyboards.

ewww aka I can only imagine what new lifeforms are breeding under the the keys.

My mac keyboard at work is an arse to clean due to the snuggly fitting plastic that dust and hair seems to be able to teleport through as we still havn't found a way without breaking teh damn thing to get it out! machines at my work last 3 years and so does the keyboards so yeah its getting a bit mucky, my excuse is that its a white keyboard so is harder to keep looking nice. anyways its works not mine so i don't give a shit

I always remember my mate telling me about this house he went to to repair some guys computer, the keyboard was in a state (which was an extreem understatement) all the keys were sticky i.e. to the touch, he though it was just spilt coke as their was about 20 empty 2 litre bottles on the floor. It was until he found the 200gb of porn on this guys pc that he realised it wasn't all coke.... I have never known a person wash his hands so much. He now has a box of latex gloves he carries around in his tool box for these situations.

[Skoal]

Re: Keyboards.

I use my little vac to start off. I then take a wet rag and clean the exterior. If I am really bored, I will take a q tip and clean in between. Also some times I will remove a few keys but then I distracted and forget where some of the more obscure keys go. I also clean my mouse pretty often.

[Feba]

Re: Keyboards.

TGM: Ahh, I never could stand the split keyboards. Much easier for me to type on a traditional keyboard, although that might be because my typing method is non standard.

Sabaron: Ew. I tried that. That just sends the nasty crap on your keyboard all over your desk, unless you take it outside.

[Akashimo]

Re: Keyboards.

Sabaron: Ew. I tried that. That just sends the nasty crap on your keyboard all over your desk, unless you take it outside.

Yar, why i never clean it after my first try with it after this silver thing inside those sercurity stickies got trapped underneath the keyboard.

[Omniblast]

Re: Keyboards.

How do you clean your G15 keyboard? I don't think I cleaned mine since I bought it... uhhh that was a few years ago...

[Feba]

Re: Keyboards.

How do you clean your G15 keyboard?

first, take off all the keys. Be very careful to hold them down so they don't go flying all over the place. All the keys should pop off with no problems. Put the keys in a bowl.

Put warm, soapy water in the bowl, and mix it around some.

Second, get out a vacuum cleaner with a small hand attachment, use a wide attachment at first to get at the big stuff, then use a smaller one to get inside and inbetween the key slots. You might want to go over the plastic piece with a damp washcloth, it's up to you.

Third, dry the keys off, and put them back in place.

Downside is that the G15's keys are painted on, so after using them for awhile the keys start to fade and become hard to know where to put them. I email'd logitech customer service and asked for a new set of keys, if they won't do that I'll probably just spraypaint all mine black so they look good at least.

Plus, I will then be running Linux and have a completely unreadable keyboard. I will be every tech support idiot's worst nightmare.

[Lunaryn]

Re: Keyboards.

Downside is that the G15's keys are painted on, so after using them for awhile the keys start to fade and become hard to know where to put them. I email'd logitech customer service and asked for a new set of keys, if they won't do that I'll probably just spraypaint all mine black so they look good at least.
Plus, I will then be running Linux and have a completely unreadable keyboard. I will be every tech support idiot's worst nightmare.

Be sure to set the keyboard map to the Dvorak layout.

[Omniblast]

Re: Keyboards.

Plus, I will then be running Linux and have a completely unreadable keyboard. I will be every tech support idiot's worst nightmare.

Pfft. My ISP won't even service anyone that isn't running Windows.
I lied to them once saying I had Linux, and they said they can't service me and I had to plug the cable modem into a windows machine before I can help them. I also lied that my Router was running Linux as well.

"What no one invented a scripted response for Linux or mac users?" rofl.