On YouTube, I happened to run across a video about the $9,000 limited edition Acer
Predator 21 X laptop computer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_GM1JA608Y

One thing kind of surprised me while watching the video. The fellow in it commented on how weird it was "to find this kind of keyboard on a laptop"... a keyboard with full-height keycaps and full-travel mechanical keyswitches.

I thought... what? Weird? Once upon a time, _all_ laptops were this way! For example, the Toshiba T1200, or the IBM PC Convertible.

Of course, that's long, long ago - back before Windows; those were MS-DOS (or, in the case of the IBM one, PC-DOS) laptops, after all.

Fortunately for those without $9,000 to spend on a laptop, or who simply missed the limited edition of only 300 machines, there apparently is *one other* laptop
on the market with full-height keys.

Well, actually two. The GT80 Titan from MSI is available at a mere $3,299 - well, in comparison, at least - and it had a successor with the newer Skylake processor, the GT80S. I don't know if they have a new Kaby Lake one these days too.

It's true that slim is very important as a selling point these days, but it's also true that a lot of gaming laptops are bigger than a Toshiba T1200.

Anyways, perhaps I'm mistaken, and their are still some other laptops out there with full size keys?

Incidentally, I suppose Toshiba must have re-used that designation for a newer laptop as well, since there are sites on the Internet claiming to host disk images for Windows 10 recovery disks for a Toshiba T1200. Of course, someone constructing a recovery disk site by dumping in a list of every computer ever made to an automatic site construction program - I didn't look to see if they offered Windows 10 recovery disks for the AN/FSQ-7.

John Savasrd

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John Savard <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:

On YouTube, I happened to run across a video about the $9,000 limited edition Acer
Predator 21 X laptop computer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_GM1JA608Y

One thing kind of surprised me while watching the video. The fellow in it commented on how weird it was "to find this kind of keyboard on a laptop"... a
keyboard with full-height keycaps and full-travel mechanical keyswitches.

I thought... what? Weird? Once upon a time, _all_ laptops were this way! For example, the Toshiba T1200, or the IBM PC Convertible.

Most portables back then used the cheaper rubber dome type key mechanisms (though IBM were making the famous mechanical "Model-M" keyboards, so the
PC Convertible might have been an exception). I was never a fan of the flat laptop keyboards, but I don't need to do lots of typing where a regular keyboard can't be used, so it's not really a $9,000 problem.

Laptop key heights sort-of shrank over the years. I have a Toshiba T1910CS
from the early 90s where the keys are more or less half-way. Although
with that keyboard you have to have the feel for the keys and press
them from the right angle, otherwise it's borderline unusable.

Of course, that's long, long ago - back before Windows; those were MS-DOS (or,
in the case of the IBM one, PC-DOS) laptops, after all.

Fortunately for those without $9,000 to spend on a laptop, or who simply missed
the limited edition of only 300 machines, there apparently is *one other* laptop
on the market with full-height keys.

Well, actually two. The GT80 Titan from MSI is available at a mere $3,299 - well, in comparison, at least - and it had a successor with the newer Skylake processor, the GT80S. I don't know if they have a new Kaby Lake one these days
too.

It's true that slim is very important as a selling point these days, but it's also true that a lot of gaming laptops are bigger than a Toshiba T1200.

I don't understand slim. I'm more likely to have trouble fitting a
laptop's footprint on a newfound work surface than dealing with an extra
few centimeters under my arm (or more likely in a laptop bag, where it
doesn't matter anyway). The footprint of most laptops has swelled incredibly.

Anyways, perhaps I'm mistaken, and their are still some other laptops out there
with full size keys?

Incidentally, I suppose Toshiba must have re-used that designation for a newer
laptop as well, since there are sites on the Internet claiming to host disk images for Windows 10 recovery disks for a Toshiba T1200.

I imagine that nobody would live long enough to insert/remove all the
floppy disks required to use it, so I guess you couldn't prove that it
doesn't work. :)

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On Friday, June 2, 2017 at 6:19:23 PM UTC-6, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:

I imagine that nobody would live long enough to insert/remove all the
floppy disks required to use it, so I guess you couldn't prove that it doesn't work. :)

This called to mind a mental image of Criswell intoning "Can you prove that it doesn't work?" ... hmm, could AT&T's Plan Nine operating system be adapted to the
Toshiba T1200?

John Savard

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On Friday, June 2, 2017 at 6:19:23 PM UTC-6, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:

(though IBM were making the famous mechanical "Model-M" keyboards, so the
PC Convertible might have been an exception).

Yes, it was; it did have a buckling-spring keyboard.

John Savard

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