My keyboard broke - I've been using a trackball and the on-screen keyboard.

For keyboards I'm an old IBM clickety clack person. I did most of my early typing on late '60s era Teletype machines and still have a very heavy touch; the old Model Ms are about the only ones that stand up to it. I have one Model M at one station, one "new in the box" in reserve, and recently picked up a Scorpius M-10. Though not quite as hefty as the old IBMs it's based on the same bucking spring technology and is updated with a Windows key. Not bad, seems to take a pretty good pounding. It's wired, but heck, how far away from my machine am I going to be?

I'm not too picky about mice, but find the Logitech MX6000 quite nice. Responsive, fits my hand well, holds a pretty long charge, and like all the on-mouse control buttons. Pretty versatile piece of gear.

I'm not really picky; but I don't like anything but a regular rectangular grid. No natural keyboards or the like.

I'll say that the keyboards which come with Macs are nice to type on. I've got one of those here which I use sometimes.

My keyboard broke - I've been using a trackball and the on-screen keyboard.

Hmmm, I've not tried that. Can you share with us how that is done?

For keyboards I'm an old IBM clickety clack person.

Ah, those are the one's I'm looking for. They are putty in color and take a good beating. I'm heavy on the keys too but I like the soft touch keys, they seem to withstand what I put them through at 100 words a minute on a good day. :)

I'm not really picky; but I don't like anything but a regular rectangular grid. No natural keyboards or the like.

You know, that kind of sums up the way I feel too. After using this keyboard for less than 24 hours, I have a feeling I'm going to be using a rectangular style version in the not too distant future, we'll see how this works out over the next week or so.

I'll say that the keyboards which come with Macs are nice to type on. I've got one of those here which I use sometimes.

For me, the Mac keyboard is absolutely one of the best pieces of hardware out there. It doesn't get any simpler. I can't remember the last time I was using a Mac wishing there were more keys on the keyboard or that the layout of the keyboard was not comfortable.

Currently using a Macally Icekey for it's laptop-like scissor keys. The shorter the keys the better in my opinion.

My favorite keyboard ever is on my old 12" Powerbook.

I bought a "only four corners" wireless keyboard and mouse that I found in a store because it has the size of clasical keyboard but laptop movement. It's the best keyboard I've never had:
- weight (enough to fix to table but not too much)
- plain and elegant
- easy to write

The only negative part: 85$

What about color? I've always been fond of the "Putty" colored ones that we had for years. The keys were easy to see in both daylight and nighttime conditions. I'm still not used to all the black and white lettering. ;)

Out of all the keyboards I looked at, I don't recall seeing any putty colored ones. Don't they make that color anymore?

Don't they make that color anymore?

I ain't seen any in a long time. Black is the new putty.

the indestructable classic ibm ps2 keyboard has a steel chassis.
you can find these 24/7/365 on ebay for $20-40 shipped and new or barely used at that.
used doesn't really matter, you can practically hose them off and use them as new!
anything wireless is intended to be lightweight and will be primarily or entirely made of plastic.

Quick update, I retired the Microsoft 6000 keyboard for now and replaced it with a new Microsoft Reclusa. Talk about a piece of work. I like it. It feels nice, it's straight, the keys are where they should be, all of them, including the F keys. Full size everything without a bunch of extras. Its a gaming keyboard but hey, I feel like I'm gaming sometimes when I'm doing the daily grind. ;)

Oh, it has this cool blue glow under the keys. The letters are big too, not your typical upper left 1/3 size. No, these are big, bold and beautiful. And, with that blue glow, you can see everything, even in the damn dark! This is a first. A true accessible keyboard. :)

I kept the mouse. I don't have any complaints about Microsoft and their line of mice. < That just doesn't sound right...