Comments on: Das "Most Disappointing" Keyboard https://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/2009/05/12/das-most-disappointing-keyboard/ Thoughts, rants, and even some code from the mind of Barney Boisvert. Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:58:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Anon https://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/2009/05/12/das-most-disappointing-keyboard/comment-page-1/#comment-341270 Anon Thu, 10 Jan 2013 12:55:41 +0000 http://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/?p=910#comment-341270 I bought a Das Keyboard several months ago and I've had none of these problems, and I type at roughly 130 wpm. It's been everything I expected so far. I have two complaints I can think of: One is the glossy finish gets little scuffs on it rather regularly, but it's not noticeable enough to be a major issue. Two, the keys make a squeaking noise when pressed from an angle. However, very rarely have I ever pressed a key on an angle necessary for it to occur, except with the backspace key. Often when you press it, you are using your right picky stretched to reach it. This doesn't bother me at all since Colemak maps the backspace function to the Caps Lock key, but it might be a deal-breaker for someone who types on Qwerty and makes many mistakes while typing. I bought a Das Keyboard several months ago and I've had none of these problems, and I type at roughly 130 wpm. It's been everything I expected so far. I have two complaints I can think of: One is the glossy finish gets little scuffs on it rather regularly, but it's not noticeable enough to be a major issue. Two, the keys make a squeaking noise when pressed from an angle. However, very rarely have I ever pressed a key on an angle necessary for it to occur, except with the backspace key. Often when you press it, you are using your right picky stretched to reach it. This doesn't bother me at all since Colemak maps the backspace function to the Caps Lock key, but it might be a deal-breaker for someone who types on Qwerty and makes many mistakes while typing.

]]> By: Anonymous https://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/2009/05/12/das-most-disappointing-keyboard/comment-page-1/#comment-222372 Anonymous Wed, 06 Oct 2010 21:50:54 +0000 http://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/?p=910#comment-222372 I have several Model II and III Das Keyboard, and they mostly work fine. I type a lot, and a rubber dome keyboard doesn't last more than 3-6 months for me (several keys begin to fail on them), DKs haven't failed on me yet. Recently, I noticed an input problem with a Model III (swallowed characters), but that was on RHEL5 (RedHat Linux), it didn't occur on any other OS. At first I thought the keyboard was broken, but then I figured it's a chipset driver problem. Other USB or PS2 keyboards work flawlessy, and so I had to use a different keyboard on that particular box. I've been very satisfied with my DKs for a few years now. What I find odd however, are some USB problems that I occasionally had with them. One blown USB circuit on a motherboard, and one blown USB hub. This kind of thing shouldn't happen ... I suspect it's a long term testing issue. In Model S, they've apparently used new circuitry and firmware, so I might look into that one day. I have several Model II and III Das Keyboard, and they mostly work fine. I type a lot, and a rubber dome keyboard doesn't last more than 3-6 months for me (several keys begin to fail on them), DKs haven't failed on me yet. Recently, I noticed an input problem with a Model III (swallowed characters), but that was on RHEL5 (RedHat Linux), it didn't occur on any other OS. At first I thought the keyboard was broken, but then I figured it's a chipset driver problem. Other USB or PS2 keyboards work flawlessy, and so I had to use a different keyboard on that particular box. I've been very satisfied with my DKs for a few years now. What I find odd however, are some USB problems that I occasionally had with them. One blown USB circuit on a motherboard, and one blown USB hub. This kind of thing shouldn't happen … I suspect it's a long term testing issue. In Model S, they've apparently used new circuitry and firmware, so I might look into that one day.

]]> By: Peter Crabtree https://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/2009/05/12/das-most-disappointing-keyboard/comment-page-1/#comment-206885 Peter Crabtree Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:24:55 +0000 http://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/?p=910#comment-206885 I have a model S, and I'm using the PS/2 adapter. And it seems to have the same transposition error that my non-model S does, as tested with pushing buttons down with an angled credit card. In fact, I don't even have to be *that* quick about it; I can consistently get the issue while I'm pressing keys slow enough to hear each keystroke separately for three different keys (d, s, a, which comes out asd), which implies that the poll time is still around 100ms (at least), since human hearing can't distinguish very well at small time scales (I can't find a study, but it's ~20ms if I recall). I have a model S, and I'm using the PS/2 adapter.

And it seems to have the same transposition error that my non-model S does, as tested with pushing buttons down with an angled credit card. In fact, I don't even have to be *that* quick about it; I can consistently get the issue while I'm pressing keys slow enough to hear each keystroke separately for three different keys (d, s, a, which comes out asd), which implies that the poll time is still around 100ms (at least), since human hearing can't distinguish very well at small time scales (I can't find a study, but it's ~20ms if I recall).

]]> By: A.J. Brwn https://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/2009/05/12/das-most-disappointing-keyboard/comment-page-1/#comment-204323 A.J. Brwn Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:56:07 +0000 http://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/?p=910#comment-204323 I would just like to say that I purchased Das Keyboard a few days ago, and gave it a test today. I'm not experiencing the above issue. I'm guessing that the reviewer either chose not to use the PS/2 adapter (which the instructions say is required for full N-key rollover), or had an older version of the product. Since this review appears on the first page of a google search, I figured it was important to come here and give an opinion. Again, with the PS/2 adapter on a Model S Ultimate, I'm having no issues with the bug mentioned above. I would just like to say that I purchased Das Keyboard a few days ago, and gave it a test today. I'm not experiencing the above issue. I'm guessing that the reviewer either chose not to use the PS/2 adapter (which the instructions say is required for full N-key rollover), or had an older version of the product.

Since this review appears on the first page of a google search, I figured it was important to come here and give an opinion.

Again, with the PS/2 adapter on a Model S Ultimate, I'm having no issues with the bug mentioned above.

]]> By: Any Das Professional Owners? - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net https://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/2009/05/12/das-most-disappointing-keyboard/comment-page-1/#comment-177944 Any Das Professional Owners? - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net Sun, 17 May 2009 03:22:47 +0000 http://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/?p=910#comment-177944 [...] to us, please keep it coming to help us improve future generations of our keyboard. Thank you. http://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/20...ting-keyboard/ The comment is at the very bottom. [...] [...] to us, please keep it coming to help us improve future generations of our keyboard. Thank you. http://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/20…ting-keyboard/ The comment is at the very bottom. [...]

]]> By: Daniel Guermeur https://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/2009/05/12/das-most-disappointing-keyboard/comment-page-1/#comment-177543 Daniel Guermeur Thu, 14 May 2009 04:19:00 +0000 http://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/?p=910#comment-177543 Hello everyone! I am Daniel the co-founder of Das Keyboard. We are a US company located in Austin Texas and we love the passion of our users. We have been looking into this issue since it was brought to our attention last November. Our testing has shown that this is in fact a “limitation” of the first version of our keyboards. The detection time of the current version was designed as 100ms which means that if you are a very, very fast typist, approximately 120 words per minute then, you might encounter this limitation. It’s something we are redesigning for the next version of Das Keyboard. In the meantime, we would be more than happy to let anyone who is experiencing this problem return the keyboard for a full refund. To do so, you can contact me at any time at +1-512-346-0360 or via e-mail at daniel(at)daskeyboard.com. If you would like to discuss this with me personally, you can reach me the same way or I am happy to discuss it here in our community. Your feedback is critically important to us, please keep it coming to help us improve future generations of our keyboard. Thank you. Hello everyone! I am Daniel the co-founder of Das Keyboard. We are a
US company located in Austin Texas and we love the passion of our
users.

We have been looking into this issue since it was brought to our
attention last November. Our testing has shown that this is in fact a
“limitation” of the first version of our keyboards. The detection
time of the current version was designed as 100ms which means that if
you are a very, very fast typist, approximately 120 words per minute
then, you might encounter this limitation. It’s something we are
redesigning for the next version of Das Keyboard.

In the meantime, we would be more than happy to let anyone who is
experiencing this problem return the keyboard for a full refund. To do
so, you can contact me at any time at +1-512-346-0360 or via e-mail at
daniel(at)daskeyboard.com. If you would like to discuss this with me
personally, you can reach me the same way or I am happy to discuss it
here in our community. Your feedback is critically important to us,
please keep it coming to help us improve future generations of our
keyboard. Thank you.

]]> By: barneyb https://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/2009/05/12/das-most-disappointing-keyboard/comment-page-1/#comment-177538 barneyb Thu, 14 May 2009 03:57:03 +0000 http://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/?p=910#comment-177538 xzxzzx, Perhaps a centimeter between them; whatever it takes to hit neighboring keys. And I dropped them from about the same height. My "spacer" was a metal pocketknife, though, so that lent significant weight to the apparatus. The idea is to press them just hard enough to trigger the action. xzxzzx,

Perhaps a centimeter between them; whatever it takes to hit neighboring keys. And I dropped them from about the same height. My "spacer" was a metal pocketknife, though, so that lent significant weight to the apparatus. The idea is to press them just hard enough to trigger the action.

]]> By: xzxzzx https://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/2009/05/12/das-most-disappointing-keyboard/comment-page-1/#comment-177495 xzxzzx Wed, 13 May 2009 21:52:24 +0000 http://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/?p=910#comment-177495 How high did you drop your pencils from, and how far apart were they? I'd like to try and figure out the polling time that the Das uses. How high did you drop your pencils from, and how far apart were they? I'd like to try and figure out the polling time that the Das uses.

]]> By: Jamie Krug https://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/2009/05/12/das-most-disappointing-keyboard/comment-page-1/#comment-177475 Jamie Krug Wed, 13 May 2009 18:04:31 +0000 http://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/?p=910#comment-177475 Hilarious that you put together a scientific test (though I completely understand) -- complete bummer on the results. I just ran your test on my Logitech keyboard, which is USB, plugged in to a laptop, and got the same results -- what should have been "fd" was repeatedly "df" -- never noticed it before! Hilarious that you put together a scientific test (though I completely understand) — complete bummer on the results. I just ran your test on my Logitech keyboard, which is USB, plugged in to a laptop, and got the same results — what should have been "fd" was repeatedly "df" — never noticed it before!

]]> By: Sven https://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/2009/05/12/das-most-disappointing-keyboard/comment-page-1/#comment-177431 Sven Wed, 13 May 2009 10:56:06 +0000 http://www.barneyb.com/barneyblog/?p=910#comment-177431 My Logitech USB keyboard does the same thing, I never noticed it before though. My Logitech USB keyboard does the same thing, I never noticed it before though.

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