Older technology?

[shikhae]

I was at my university and I had some spare time so I decided to go to the one of the on campus computer labs to check my e-mail. When I got to the computer lab the all the computers looked ancient compared to my new built computer at home. But to my surprise when I started using the computer, I realized that both the monitor and keyboard were far superior to the ones I had. The keyboard was a Dell at101w which I later found out was a Alps mechanical switch computer and even though it was nearly a decade old it made my logitech dinovo keyboard seem pathetic. The monitor which appeared to be an aging flat panel CRT, amazed me as well. There's a forum that I rarely visit at home because the colors show up too bright on my TN Panel LCD and it's almost blinding sometimes. (It's supposed to be gold frames and white background.) But when I viewed the site from this CRT the gold showed up beautifully without being a bright yellow eyesore, and all the lines and fonts were crisper than ever.

So now I'm seriously considering taking a step back (or forward, whatever) and getting a mechanical switch keyboard and a CRT. But cost and availability presents an issue. So does anyone still use these older technology at home? And is it worth the trouble?

Edit: Sorry I just realized this belongs in Peripherals not Hardware. Can a moderator move it please?

 

[nineball9]

I have a Dell AT101W keyboard which I ordered with a Dell P3 system in 1999. Dell simply called it a "mechanical keyboard". After having used real IBM PC keyboards and IBM 327x keyboards for many years, it was what I wanted. Eventually I spilled soda on it and the the left shift key was sticking so I ordered another mechanical keyboard from Dell.

Over the years I dismantled and cleaned both keyboards (including the spilled soda) and until last year I continued to use one as my primary keyboard. One of the keyboards finally died and when I went to replace it, I discovered that mechanical keyboards were pretty much extinct. I figured it was time to relearn my typing techniques (I learned to type on a manual typewriter) and after experimenting with various keyboards I finally settled on a scissors keyboard - Enermax Aurora. A year later I'm still getting used to it; I miss the old "keyboard-banger" style keyboard. I still have my original Dell AT101W keyboard attached to another system but I seldom use it any more.

I like CRT's too. I have a Dell-branded flat screen Trinitron which came with the aforementioned Dell P3 system but for everyday use I have a large NEC Diamondtron aperture grill CRT. In their heyday, the more common (and less expensive) CRT's were shadow mask models which worked OK, but the aperture grill CRT's were (IMO) far superior. Alas, Sony stopped manufacturing Trinitrons and NEC/Mitsubishi could no longer license Sony's technology.

I have a notebook with an LCD screen and I've used many other LCD screens and various keyboards on other peoples' systems and they work OK, but I suppose I'm just an old fogie - I prefer the "older technology".