[TriLUG] Replacement motherboard help

[al johson]

Cool!! Actually there is a company that bought up all the Northgate plastic
molds and specifications and manufactures them with some significant
enhancements to the ROM software that many of the Northgates have (search
Google for "northgate +keyboards" --omitting the quotes, naturally).
Unfortunately the new improved versions cost OVER $100!! (at least they were
the last time I checked). The guy who used to go to the Durham fest used to
charge just $10 (he claimed he had rescued them from a dump in the New
Jersey area). If you're a touch typist (i.e. you can type blindfolded) you
know what I mean when I say that today's computer keyboards leave much to be
desired in regard to tacile sensation (you can't actually tell how many
times you hit a key because the touch is mushy and there is no tactile
"click" that you can feel or hear --the original IBM AT keyboards clicked so
loudly that there was a constant clicking in whatever office a lot of them
were used. But they also had a good touch--but not as perfect as a Northgate
:-). Unfortunately good keyboards were another casualty of the quest for
cheap parts for computers. A friend of mine who worked for the IBM home
office in New York to insure quality control locally told me that the
keyboard was actually one of the most expensive parts of a computer--well it
isn't any more, unfortunately. There are actually Northgate keyboard
websites and fanclubs which will tell you more than you'd ever want to know
about Northgate keyboards and why they're considered one of the best you can
buy. You can still buy Northgate computers, but not their great keyboards,
unless you find a guy who lives near a certain New Jersey dump:-).

How do you know if you have a genuine one?? First off, they are simply
slightly heavier than ordinary keyboards. But the best test is by simply
pressing its keys vs. the keys of any other keyboard. There were also
several different models, so if you're suspicious you can go to the websites
and see if the model you're interested in is a real model. I'm using an Omni
Key/Ultra at the present time. --Apologize for the lengthy discussion;
thought this might reduce the number of questions. --Al Johnson.

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert martin <robertlmarti at earthlink.net>
To: <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 9:32 AM
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] Replacement motherboard help


> the guy who used to sell Northgate computer keyboards (my favorite
> keyboard).
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------
>
> woody leonhard said in his latest www that if you google the MS shopping
> site you can find a keyboard that comes close to a NorthGate
>
>
> (yes you actually have to use an open source tool on the borg shopping
> site to find the item)
>
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