Looks like it's based on the IBM Model M. Used ones go for a couple hundred on ebay. The key feel, click and travel are very satisfying if noisy to type on.
this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2025
2 points (100.0% liked)
Dull Men's Club
2658 readers
1 users here now
An unofficial chapter of the popular Dull Men's Club.
1. Relevant commentary on your own dull life. Posts should be about your own dull, lived experience. This is our most important rule. Direct questions, random thoughts, comment baiting, advice seeking, many uses of "discuss" rarely comply with this rule.
2. Original, Fresh, Meaningful Content.
3. Avoid repetitive topics.
4. This is not a search engine
Use a search engine, a tradesperson, Reddit, friends, a specialist Facebook group, apps, Wikipedia, an AI chat, a reverse image search etc. to answer simple questions or identify objects. Also see rule 1, “comment baiting”.
There are a number of content specific communities with subject matter experts who can help you.
Some other communities to consider before posting:
5. Keep it dull. If it puts us to sleep, it’s on the right track. Examples of likely not dull: jokes, gross stuff (including toes), politics, religion, royalty, illness or injury, killing things for fun, or promotional content. Feel free to post these elsewhere.
6. No hate speech, sexism, or bullying No sexism, hate speech, degrading or excessively foul language, or other harmful language. No othering or dehumanizing of anyone or negativity towards any gender identity.
7. Proofread before posting. Use good grammar and punctuation. Avoid useless phrases. Some examples: - starting a post with "So" - starting a post with pointless phrases, like "I hope this is allowed" or “this is my first post” Only share good quality, cropped images. Do not share screenshots of images; share the original image.
.
founded 7 months ago
MODERATORS
Wow, I'd totally forgotten about PB. I seem to recall they were on the low end of the PC clone market but I could be misremembering. I can't seem to find my Computer Shopper catalog right now to check. I dig that huge Enter key but it's a shame this came with the utterly useless Windows keys and what I guess is a "menu" key. I've never used either but then I've used Linux exclusively since the aughts and OS/2 before that. My M$ "Natural" keyboard wastes space on these keys too. This specimen is going to look great when it's cleaned up. Hope you can find a pen or a pencil to put in that little trench just for show.
mechanical keyboard communities on lemmy may help here. There are loads of really old, forgotten keyboards that are early or pre rubber dome where the quality is vastly superior.
A Packard Bell mechanical? Well done. Impressive even
I always love seeing old keyboards with the pen groove along the top.
I have the same one its great.
I had to get a new keyboard, and I just wanted a basic black or beige one. The internet really wanted to sell me one that lights up and has a bunch of extra keys. I don't need or want that. Just a basic tool with all the keys, thank you.
I got mine free, from a bunch of stuff our company IT was throwing out because it was too old. That was over a decade ago, and it’s still the best keyboard I’ve ever had.
I'm generally not a fan of the oversized Enter key, but this is beautiful and I'd use the hell out of it
I grew up with that keyboard lol
Edit:actually not quite. Mine was older. Didn't have a windows key etc
Omgggggg I want fucking all the keys: gimme Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, a whole number keypad. Pleeeeease. Especially now that laptops are big enough. Come on.
Nice, but definitely needs a cleaning
Everything does honestly. I have unmedicated adhd I think. Been meaning to take some wipes to it.
Ah, the beige years.
The early naughts were a little more aesthetic.
Not an apple fan but this is the only aesthetic tech should have. Transparent plastic everything. I yearned for the clamshell PowerBook g3 as a kid. Still do.
I have two of its older siblings. Both having an older design, one US layout with the bigass enter key and no winkeys, one HU ISO layout with winkeys.
I hope those aren't pubs up there on the right
Still has a windows key. Microsoft must have made some crazy OEM deal with keyboard manufacturers.
L-shaped Enter key master race.
We always called them a BAE (Big Ass Enter)
More of a J shape tho
Nah, fuck that shape. Look what they did to my boy Right Shift. I'm glad L-shaped Enter keys died out in the mid 90s.
Yeah that's dirty and messed up, but l-shaped enter key is ughhshahhhhhhdhhshhhhdhhfh mmmmmmm yesss
Ewwww
I'm typing on the black Dell version of this right now.
Me too! I’d get a new mechanical keyboard but they start asking if I want red, brown, blue or beige switches and I’m like “I dunno what that is!”. Also they cost a tonne and my Dell came free with a tower PC.
I had one of these when I was a kid, it's good to see an old friend again!
Ohhhh I know these. Btc dome with slider switches, I've kind of wanted one of these for a while now. They use cherry MX compatible keycaps
Is it weird if I remember exactly how this feels?
Dude! Congratulations! Mechanical?
As for the big ass enter key, when I bought my laptop, I specifically ordered it with ISO layout for my keyboard.
Isn't it super heavy as it contains a metal core? Or else it's another one from the same era.
I don't know but I guess Packard Bell is way too modern to have heavy stuff inside.
view more: next ›