That is a fantastic looking keyboard Jeff, simple and classic. I’d love one of those, but at $268 Australian it’s way out of my reach! 
I really want one of these but don’t use a keyboard enough to justify it
I’ve always been curious about the Vortex Vibe, but could never bring myself to pull the trigger on one. It’s close enough to a full size board that I keep thinking, just put the dang F-row and navcluster back already. 
Lol I thought I’d miss it, but all of them are in there with the Fn key. Even the arrows are on the 2, 00, 0, and . keys with Fn or if you turn off num lock.
Oh, I know. It would just bug me to have to chord those keys (with Fn).
I could see that. I use it for work where I send passive-aggressive emails all day, so I don’t usually need to access them anyway.
That’s a great price! I would want it with MX Blacks, but that is basically exactly what I was looking for before I settled on the ViBE. The dedicated arrow keys and F-Row are pretty great.
There’s a change I’m getting my hands on an old IBM keyboard that has a 5 pin DIN connection (AT) Does anyone know of a converter that works to connecting to my PC?
You might be able to do 5-pin DIN to active PS/2 to USB. Seems pretty mad-sciency but it’s supposed to work with AT protocol according to this stackexchange post.
I use cherry MX browns at work but use clears at home as for gaming I like a bit more feedback. 
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I think something like this would work. You could just put a typical PS2-to-USB adapter (like comes with practically every keyboard) on it.
Can someone tell me what really is the difference between an expensive and a cheap mechanical keyboard? The Qaulity of the components seems around about the same to me. I can’t imagine that I would outlive my $39 mechanical keyboard. It has a excellent tactile typing quality and a sturdy construction. As far as I can tell there are only very small differences between something like mine and a $200 one. Some of those differences are really unnecessary.
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I’d have to know which $39 keyboard you are comparing to which $200 keyboard to be able to answer that.
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Really? I thought there would be known features that more expensive keyboards have over cheaper ones.
So mine does not have a steel backing plate that the keys sit in, it does not have a detachable cord and it has Outemu switches instead of Cherry MX. The only one of these that is a serious quality increased as far as I can tell is the cord. A detachable cord would increase longevity.
Well, in general the more expensive keyboards have PCBs that are more carefully QC’ed. They have better mounting plates. They have genuine Cherry switches rather than Chinese knock-offs (though the clone switches have definitely improved over the years, making that difference negligible these days). The cases are usually better designed, sturdier, and easier to find third party upgrade replacements for. The tolerances for all the parts, including switch gaps and plate depths are better, making it less likely that you’ll have issues if you want to swap out the stock keycaps for higher quality ones. And in many cases the more expensive keyboards will be programmable, which cheap keyboards typically are not.
Many of these benefits are of little to no value to the average computer user who doesn’t think much about the keyboard, and has no particular desire to upgrade or customize any aspect of it.
I think when it goes past a certain price it’s similar to comparing a $50 SF Cadence ES to a $200 YYR Sleipnir
(Not sure how much a new Sleipnir actually is. But you get the idea)
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That’s not a bad analogy. Topre keyboards, for instance, come at a premium merely by virtue of being designed and manufactured in Japan, though they are beginning to outsource manufacturing (but not QC) to China these days. And the Topre brand name adds a premium to the price as well. But if you want that Topre typing experience, there’s really nowhere else to turn unless you are willing to build it entirely yourself.
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In my example my TKL Filco Majestouch Ninja I use for work. And the WASD Code TKL I use for home (cough aka gaming) is more than adequate for me.
For the layman both of these are overpriced items just like how even saying I spent £50 on a yoyo is met with a 
(This is even before I tell them I paid £150 for the Ti-Vayder after shipping and tax)
But for enthusiasts I think both are considered entry level. I guess a shutter comes to mind here.
By the way if it isn’t obvious I like Ten Keyless keyboards.
Yeah, TKLs are pretty popular among mech board enthusiasts. But I find them to be the most useless form factor for me. If I’m doing real work at a desktop PC, I want a full size keyboard. I like having the numpad, and it feels like a limb is missing when its not there. But for my iPad, a TKL is just too big, and a 60% keyboard like the Pok3r is ideal and does everything I need a keyboard to do on an iPad. TKLs simply have no place in my life.