Re: DEC Keyboard Question

johnhreinhardt_at_yahoo.com
Date: 01/25/05 

Date: 24 Jan 2005 20:54:54 -0800

Ken Fairfield wrote:

> I was the instigator of one of those discussions, from Sept.2003. :-)
>

Yes, I remember the name. :)

> I don't know specifically about the Outlook ES, but when I queried
> Avocent's technical support that Fall, the answer I got back was,
>
> "While our switches do support mode 3 keyboard, it is
> currently only in the 101/102 keyboard layout. The
> additional keys would not pass through."

That is very bad news. :(

>
> I got similar negative responses from Adder, Linksys and Belkin.
> I didn't expect anything different from Belkin, but Adder had a
> nice little switch I would've liked to buy...too bad...

*sigh*

>
> As others have said, all the LK46y-xx keyboards (at least the US
> versions) have the same key layout and are all compatible with a
> standard PS/2 keyboard connection. IIRC, the LK46W-xx is white.
> I have an LK461-A2 (beige) at work and an LK462-A2 (black) at home.
> The new LK463-xx has a USB connector, plus a USB-PS/2 adapter, so
> it can be used with both Alphas (and older PCs), and with new PCs
> and (presumably) Integrity (IA64) servers. The only difference
> I've noticed between the various models is that the newer ones feel
> cheaper/have poorer action. :-(
>
> Regards, Ken

After some additional thought I had come to the conclusion that the
LK461's were the beige and the "W's" were white. I didn't know about
the black ones and the USB versions. The LK451's that John Malmberg
mentioned seem to be in short supply. I have found none listed on Ebay
and only one DEC reseller in the States that lists them in inventory (
http://www.computertradingpost.com/webpages/rjr.htm ). I haven't had a
chance to call and get the price. They are not new, but reconditioned.

I think I will still aquire one of these and try things out, but I'm
not going to have any great expectations. Thanks for everyone's input.
John H. Reinhardt