shopping for a keyboard and looking for a hat

[sergebroom]

I'd like to get my wife a keyboard to go with the new laptop I got her this week. (Yes, it runs on Windows XP - I'm not stupid enough to get Vista.) The old keyboard works, but some of the keys are showing the wear and tear from having been used by a writer for 5 years. I'm looking for a non-wireless (aka wired) keyboard with a USB port in which I could plug the mouse. Would you have recomendations - with or without links? I went to Best Buy yesterday, but they had nothing of the kind. Not only that, but when I asked one of the salespeople there, he declared that there is no such thing unless you use a Mac. That pretty much leads me to dismiss anything that young man has to say about what he's supposed to know because my wife's old HP keyboard has two USB ports. I went to HP's site, but they don't seem to carry keyboards like that.

Moving on to another shopping subject... I'll be in the Bay Area the last week of February and I was wondering if there's a store in the region where I could get a hat like the one below. There may be sites that sell this, but my experience with the online acquisition such as shoes has had me come to the conclusion that some things must be tried in the real world before buying them. No, I don't wear shoes on my head.

Comments

[n6tqs.livejournal.com]

I think The Hat Guys, downtown Oakland, on Broadway (quick Google)- 1764 Broadway, will do the job for you.
I have a nice Stetson I got there, unfortunately, it's really hard to take good care of a hat these days.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And it's right next to a BART Station.

[ckd]

Well, a Mac USB keyboard will work on a PC; if the key feel is suitable, it's an option.

It's quite possible that hubs got removed from keyboards in the past few years to save $0.50 or something; that's the general trend. (Also, ones that have PS/2 adapters might be less likely to include a hub, since people would be confused about why the ports don't work.)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

The MAC keyboard is compatible? Hmmm. Thanks for the tip.

As for non-Mac keyboards... It's so convenient for them to have a hub. That's one less cable snaking across your desk's surface, and one more USB port on your laptop to use for other purposes.

[ckd]

Of course it's convenient for them to have a hub. Sadly, that doesn't mean the manufacturers will put one in....

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I have this feeling that most people assume that only Macs can have keyboard hubs, thanks to the lack of awareness promotopm by the manufacturers. As a result, there is no superior demand for keyboards/hubs and no incentive for the manufacturers to put them in. Chicken or the egg?

[xeger.livejournal.com]

I haven't been to Fino Fino in Menlo Park myself, but their website claims that they've got something almost identical to what you're looking for.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Oooooh... A panama would be nice too...
http://www.finofino.com/Panamas.html

Move over, FDR!

[xeger.livejournal.com]

That's how I found them :) I've got this lovely panama hat that's in dire need of delicate 'salt' removal before I'm willing to wear it ...

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

This seems a familiar question.

Logitech made (can't say for now) a wired keyboard, with a couple of USB ports. Mine survived a trip to Iraq. the keys are a tad sticky as a result, but I liked it a great deal, and dragged it with me everywhere for years.

As for hats... you might see if you can find an REI, as they have a hat much like that (if the brim is smaller), which I've been wearing for years.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Logitech has a few 'corded' gaming keyboards that are described as having full-speed USB. I don't know if that means an extra USB port. What is your keyboard's model, in case they might still be selling it?

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I don't recall, and it's not something I packed to Ottawa.

I suspect "full-speed" means USB 2.0.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I found a Logitech one with a mouse port. It had occurred to me that their keyboards that are designed for Macs and Windows might have such a port, and they do. Yay!

[miltonthales.livejournal.com]

You didn't happen to hear All Things Considered today, huh?

Model M keyboards (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100076874).

Those are the old IBM PC keyboards circa 1984-1991. The company making them is Unicomp, website http://www.pckeyboard.com/

They even give you the option of the old "click click" when keys are depressed!

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, a keyboard without the damned number pad! Rather expensive, though.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Ah, thinking of loud keyboards remind me of the days when I had to use card punchers. As for the number pad, I feel pretyt much the way Marilee does. Stupid useless thing.

[miltonthales.livejournal.com]

You two obviously have never worked in accounting offices. I'm a 10-key kinda guy, myself. ;)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Me, I'm a not-too-many-fingers kind of typist.

[pedanther]

Do you know what kind of hat it is, or are you just hoping they'll recognise it when you show them the photo?

(The special edition DVD of the movie has a commentary track by the costume designer, which might say. I had hoped to go to my grave without ever watching the thing, but if you think it would help... *nervous gulp* What are friends for?)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

That's the kind of hat shape I associate with the character. Stewart Grainger had something similar in King Solomon's Mine, and so did Richard Chaimberlain. Speasking of dreadful, the latter's movie truly and really was. Anyway, I wouldn't make a friend watch a I'd-rather-go-to-the-grave movie. Heheheh.