Keyboard trivia · 5:02am May 15th, 2018

Normally, I just blast my ol' Micro-Innovations/Chicony KB-2961 keyboard with some compressed air, but every so often, around once every 2-3 years, that thing just needs a bath. Don't worry, the heavy plastic has survived since the '90s, so it's fine.

Last time I took apart the keyboard to was was when I was still in middle school, and boy has it gotten grimy since then. Luckily, with the lettering being laser-etched into the caps, I don't have to worry about anything dissolving the lettering off of the keys. After all, this keyboard used to be my dad's workstation computer keyboard. It's nearly twice as old as I am, but it's certainly still functional enough for Windows 10!

After doing a bit of research, this keyboard model seems to be known for having a mechanical keyboard-level of quality even though it's a membrane keyboard, and Chicony, the brand that manufactured the board, was at the time known for... wait for it-- mechanical keyboards. Though, nowadays Chicony seems to be more of an OEM manufacturer for things like laptop keyboards and stuff, while Micro-Innovations, the vendor that sold and branded the keyboard just kinda disappeared from the hardware market completely.

Either way, with this keyboard being more yellowed than anything I own, it certainly stands out on my desk against the predominantly blue/silver/black color scheme of my build. I've been considering on and off about replacing it with something more modern, but taking into account both my personal experience of the board as well as the few reviews I've found noting it's mechanical-like tactile feel, the most I'll probably be doing in the short-term would be buying a NOS Chicony board off of Ebay for the sake of having not only a spare in case this one breaks, but also because I don't think my parents would let me make a vat of Retrobrite to whiten the yellowed plastic.

For reference, here's my keyboard alongside a (not-so-matching but same brand) 5-button mouse. This is what I use day-to-day, and what I've been using ever since I got my first computer. Sure, it's so old that I have to chain together multiple adapters to get the AT-keyboard interface to connect to my Core i5 PC, but y'know, when it comes to typing experience, the tactile feel of your keyboard is often something of importance.

Going back to cleaning the thing... When I first cleaned it, I noticed that this keyboard actually appeared to have survived multiple soda spills as evidenced by a sticky brown goo stuck on the lower portion of the rubber dome/membrane part of the keyboard. Stripping away the membrane and domes from the not waterproof electronics, I basically just scrubbed the keyboard piece-by-piece under the showerhead until the thing was free of dust and soda residue. The biggest problem I had was mostly putting it back together, since at the time back in middle school, I was hardly even familiar with the QWERTY layout. Also, yes, that enter key is massive. I've gotten so used to the unusual size of the backspace and enter keys that at school I often end up hitting the wrong keys while typing.

As for the yellowing, it's gotten so bad now that the only parts that haven't yellowed far beyond the original beige color are the undersides of the keycaps.

Also, I happened to stumble upon the mouse in its original packaging in a thrift store for $5. Pretty nice deal, considering how it's a 5-button mouse with programmable buttons, though after about a year of use now, it has occasional issues of detecting multiple clicks when I only click once. I suspect that it may be due to the age of the mouse and/or mechanical degradation of the buttons inside the thing. After all, even though it was new in its packaging, it was tossed in a thrift store under a heaping stack of dongleless wireless mice.

So yeah. That's my keyboard in a nutshell. I like the clicky sound because I can't afford a true mechanical keyboard. At least, not yet...

Report TheMajorTechie · 254 views · #keyboard

Comments ( 6 )