Dell Keyboard

I found a nice item on eBay very recently. It’s a Dell keyboard sporting mechanical key switches instead of the traditional rubber dome crap. I couldn’t really dig up a lot of information on the keyboard itself, but I can say that it’s a pleasure to type on. Not as stiff as my Model M, but not as light as a typical keyboard. The feedback I get is very satisfying.

Time to stop talking and post some pictures!

Front and back. Nothing really special here. This is after I’ve cleaned it up a bit. A little bit of alcohol and a cotton swab works great for this.

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Notice the channel for the cable so you’re not screwed on cable length no matter which side your computer is on. It may be hard to see, but a lot of the letters have been worn and are faded. Everything except function keys and special punctuation have suffered this fate. Time to crack this baby open!

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Nothing really special looking here, though you can tell that the internals take up a LOT less space than what the external casing would imply. I’m thinking of modding this little baby into something that saves quite a bit of space…

Let’s get a closeup of one of the switches, shall we?

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As you can see, each key is given its very own little mechanical switch. Very novel and very tactile.

And a closeup of the label on the back.

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The P/N and S/N are indeed blank. No trick of the camera there.

Well, there you have it! Overall, it’s a very tactile keyboard, though not as clicky as a Model M. It’s a pleasure to type on and it still feels like it has many years left in it.

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