(last edited on April 29, 2014 at 1:29 am)
Since switching to notebook computers for my day-to-day production machine, I’ve become a fan of the docking station. Why? It’s because I like using my trusty IBM Model M Space Saver Keyboard from the 80s. It has superior feel to anything out there on the market, and I’ve tried everything I could get my hands on. As a bonus, there’s no Windows Key.
I periodically scour Ebay for them to make sure I never run out of them. Occassionally, PCKeyboard.com has a few. Then there’s this split ergo keyboard that I’ve never seen before with buckling spring technology…I must have it!
Lately I’ve been noticing a neck crick, so I think I need to raise the laptop up by about a foot. And like my buddy Bo Jordon, I have a high resolution LCD that gets kind of hard to read far away. So I’ve been eyeing one of those vertical laptop stands, such as the Oyster Ergodock. Would solve a lot of problems, though I would lose access to some docking features.
2 Comments
I dunno if I’d like the screen up so high, but that’s definitely a neat approach. Definitely better than the monitor-on-top-of-closed-laptop strategy.
My holy grail is an actual Thinkpad keyboard (preferably with the T40-era pointer; each generation gets better) that I can hook up via USB. I know it’s blasphemy, but I’ve developed a taste for scissor switches over buckling springs.
If you ever have to KVM up your Mac, the Windows key works conveniently as the CMD. ;)
Also, the best docking station solution for me was to just bite the bullet and drop some cash for a Dell 20.1 wide-aspect LCD (often 25-35% off these days), and stick the laptop in the corner.
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There is a keyboard called the IBM SpaceSaver II which is, I believe, a laptop keyboard mounted in an independent housing. I have not personally tried one myself.