Laugh and the world laughs with you; spill wine, and say goodbye to your Logitech

Last night, I was enoying a nice glass of port while merrilly typing away at a friend when I accidentally spilled my wine onto my Logitech keyboard. So, I opened it up and did what I could. I've taken apart many keyboards, whether to clean the gunk between and underneath keys, or to clean the plastic sheets within when keys are becoming less responsive. It's safe to say that I know what I'm doing, but there was apparently a short I couldn't fix. The num lock, caps lock and scroll lock keys stayed lit, and Windows kept telling me that the USB device was malfunctioning, even when I unplugged the ribbon cables for the special key banks (like multimedia and Web surfing). I gave up and decided I'd just buy a new keyboard in the morning, and temporarily use a dinky one from my other PC.

My favorite keyboards are traditionally Microsoft and IBM because of the keystroke feel. Logitechs never appealed to me, but a few years ago, I settled on this one, since it was the only non-ergonomic model with all the multimedia buttons I like. I cannot stand "ergonomic" keyboards. Curved rows with a split down the middle is useless crap as far as I'm concerned. Maybe it's because I have an unorthodox typing style, but all I want is an old-fashioned straight keyboard with certain multimedia buttons (volume, mute, play/pause, stop, etc.).

Today I bought a non-ergonomic Microsoft "Digital Media Pro Keyboard" at Staples. I settled on it, but it's not perfect for me. The hand rest feels oddly long, so I'm not using it. And I now remember that I loathe hate detest dislike certain new keyboards. My fingertips have a strong sense of touch, and the new plastic feels so rough. It takes a while for regular typing to smooth down the tops of the keys.