Differences between PS/2 and USB Keyboard?

What was so wrong with the USB keyboard?

Why is a PS/2 keyboard better than a USB keyboard?

I'm looking to buy a new keyboard because mine is messed up. The keyboard that I'm looking to buy is the Saitek Eclipse Keyboard. This keyboard employs USB and from the reviews that I've read, especially from CNet, it's great.

If you have "one of those" motherboards that don't recognize it to get to the BIOS, you'll soon learn the issue firsthand.

Bob

And probably expensive although I didn't check the price.

I once had a LogiTec USB keyboard. Really neat, it had all sorts of special keys in the location of the function keys. I was impressed. Until I needed to boot in Safe Mode. The F-8 key was mapped to one of the "special" functions. Pressing F-8 on boot did nothing. An email to LogiTec brought a reply that the F-8 key was not changeable. Therefore I could not get into Safe Mode. Therefore it went into the trash.

Be careful.

It was priced at about $60 when it first came out.

On Amazon.com, it's about $30.88 and when you include the shipping, it's about $37 dollars.
I don't think it's too expensive when you consider that a cheap, decent keyboard costs about $20. Why not pay about $15 more and get a much better keyboard?

This keyboard is said to be for "gamers," but I think that it's for everyone.
It lacks the additional programmable buttons as a Logitech G15 might offer, but I'm not a hardcore gamer and don't find the additional buttons necessary.
Reading from the reviews, this keyboard has a nice feel when you press them and they are somewhat quiet. Essentially, this keyboard is very smooth.

However, what put this keyboard over the top and what attracted me is the blue LED key illumination and backlighting. It's pretty freaking cool.

So, when you have a cool blue LED light illumination and the keyboard is very smooth and good, I think it's worth the $35 dollars.
I haven't read anything where the Saitek keyboard has broken down. Hopefully, that will be the same case for me.

If you do that keyboard will not work. Keep a PS/2 keyboard handy.

Sorry if it may sound like a dumb question, but what is BIOS???
(Not an expert in computers, so I'm sorry.)

You can read up on it by clicking here, but in short it's what gets the computer from being off to launching your operating system. It performs the initial tests to ensure all hardware is working and can control various aspects of your computer, such as CPU and RAM speeds, amount of RAM that can be used for graphics, etc. It's a bit of a read, but it should give you a good grasp of the subject.

Hope this helps,
John

I read the wikipedia article about BIOS (Basic Input/Output System).

I don't know if my laptop uses BIOS. I have a Compaq Presario 900.
On the side note, I don't recommend the laptop, but it does the job.

Hopefully it doesn't use BIOS.

But I do have a USB PS/2 converter. Hopefully I don't have to encounter BIOS.

Let me restart my laptop and see if it uses BIOS.

Thanks for the heads up. If my laptop does use BIOS, I'll use the USB PS/2 converter.

Of course there are alternatives, like EFI, but BIOS is the standard and used in your computer.

John

If I use a PS/2 USB converter and I plug my USB keyboard into a PS/2 slot, it'll be fine, right?

In that case you can use a USB keyboard just as if it were a PS/2 model. That's the workaround since PS/2 devices are now the minority.

John

Thanks for the heads-up guys.

I'd be clueless without the help of all of you.

You can't use your mouse while accessing the system BIOS anyways, so it doesn't matter if you even have one connected.

John

I have another question...

Is there a difference between a USB PS/2 converter for a mouse and a USB PS/2 converter for a keyboard?

Any good USB PS2 adapters that you guys recommend?

I went on Amazon.com and Buy.com and it seems like most of the USB PS2 adapters are garbage.
There are many feedbacks that say that it doesn't work.

They're usually color coordinated so it's easier to remember which plugs in where, but you can swap the adapters around without a problem.

Sorry, I can't recommend any PS/2 converters as I've never even used all of the ones that came when I bought keyboards, but follow the user reviews and you should be fine.

John