VOGONS


First post, by heretyk

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Can you name any manufacturers still producing PS/2 compatible mechanical keyboards? Recently, I was looking for a tenkeyless mechanical keyboard for my retro rig, and to my surprise, they all seem to be gone. Leopold used to make great keyboards that came with PS/2-USB adapters, but they stopped production about two years ago and switched to Bluetooth. I was lucky to find a slightly used one in beige, which is a perfect reminiscence of the '90s. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I found typing on it so pleasing that it ended up as my daily driver. Another manufacturer I know is Filco, as well as Cherry, but I don't like their products. Are there any left?

Reply 1 of 7, by Shponglefan

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Unicomp makes retro style mechanical keyboards. Looks like they only offer them in USB these days, but you can probably use a USB->PS/2 adapter.

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Reply 2 of 7, by jakethompson1

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Shponglefan wrote on 2024-10-18, 20:31:

Unicomp makes retro style mechanical keyboards. Looks like they only offer them in USB these days, but you can probably use a USB->PS/2 adapter.

They told me that they are unavailable due to a parts shortage, but are not formally discontinued.

Reply 3 of 7, by jakethompson1

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Shponglefan wrote on 2024-10-18, 20:31:

Unicomp makes retro style mechanical keyboards. Looks like they only offer them in USB these days, but you can probably use a USB->PS/2 adapter.

I noticed tonight that PS/2 keyboards are back on the Unicomp site. They cost more than USB though. I guess it makes sense since it is now a niche item.

Reply 5 of 7, by paradigital

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MikeSG wrote on 2024-10-26, 08:27:

There's lots of HP PS2 keyboards... Business PCs in the Windows XP era were PS2 compatible and a lot were produced.

They aren’t mechanical though, they are without fail all membrane.

Reply 6 of 7, by Vaudane

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I've been on the same quest as you, but for full size so I can give some names at least:

Filco Majestouch 3: the latest model, the 2 is easy to find on ebay but keycaps aren't as good quality. Japanese manufacturer so very high quality but no extras like RGB.

Leopold FC900R: haven't been able to find this one for sale in the EU but seems still available in the US.

Unicomps already been mentioned, they produce the new line of Model Ms after buying the branding.

Cherry G80-3000: available on your nearest Long River Shopping site.

You need to be looking for more subtle wordsets like "ps/2 adaptor included" or "code set 3 support" or "nkro" although the latter doesn't narrow it down as much as it used to.

Hope this helps!

Edit: I should have read your whole post. I've just named the keyboards you already know about. Why do you not like Filco or Cherry?

Reply 7 of 7, by firage

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The Xtrfy K2 is a recent mechanical gaming keyboard that came with a PS/2 adapter - not tenkeyless though. I think Leopold was the manufacturer, actually. They didn't have PS/2 for most of their other stuff.

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