THE KEY TO SUCCESS

I guess that phrases like 'up market' and 'down market' are still around. A certain sort of person used to label a certain kind of commodity this way. As so often with such expressions, they merely indicate a boringly obvious fact. Namely that given any sort of product, you will find examples which are on the one hand little more than functional. That is they do what is required of them without glamour or glitter. And on the other hand examples which have been given the luxury touch, or the executive touch, the super deluxe... and needless to say these are the most expensive. In between there is always something to suit everybody.

The keyboard which RICOLL ELECTRONICS have brought out for the Spectrum is a no nonsense steel housing which will put any office dweller in mind of filing cabinets and other office equipment with respect to appearances but not of course to size. Colour is similar too. Solid, sturdy and reliable, there are no trimmings, no smooth finish, indeed the finish is rough to the touch.

The space bar and keys follow the traditional typewriter pattern and transferring from the typewriter to this keyboard holds no problems. Nothing could be simpler or more straightforward. It's a keyboard. No more no less. I've hinted that this is a functional piece of equipment, the lettering and information on the keys in fact consists of transfers or stick on. They look vulnerable but do not come unstuck. They do collect marks around the edges however.

I've been using mine non stop now for several months and I can vouch for it's reliability and ease of use. Personally I find the keys positive and responsive and can use them for hours when writing without frustration or tiredness. When using it for programming the small size lettering will prove a problem to those not already familiar with the Spectrum keyboard.

It's quite a heavy piece of equipment and obviously designed for heavy use. Well I've certainly given it that. And when I haven't been using it my sons have and they are no respectors of fragile technology. In short the keyboard has taken a fair old 'hammering' and still going strong.

It measures approximately 280mm x 210mm x 55mm and is mounted firmly on four solid rubber cushions. Installation is no problem provided the Spectrum is handled with the care and respect it deserves in it's exposed state while being transferred from one home to another. It stands to reason that disconnecting and reconnecting the ribbon cable PCBs, and fixing the board into the new housing must be done carefully. Even so it is not a task which requires much time, or expertise for the serious Spectrum User.

If looks are not important but solid hard wearing efficiency is, then many people will be more than satisfied with this keyboard.

GOING OVER BOARDS

Feeling out of touch with your Spectrum? Then join Henry Budgett as he fingers his way through five replacement 'boards - all out to prove that pressing keys doesn't have to be a rubbery experience.

Ask a hundred owners of the Spectrum to point out their least favourite aspect of the machine and it's odds on that 99 per cent will plump for the keyboard as the prime culprit - which is hardly surprising, considering it feels not unlike a hunk of dead meat! Added to the peculiarities of its india-rubber action are the allied quirks of a non-standard spacing, a fiendishly complicated system of Shifts and Symbol Shifts to access the various keywords, and punctuation symbols littered everywhere.

While Sinclair Research's revolutionary keyword and syntax checking system works well enough for the beginner, it tends to stifle the familiarity that occurs on a more regular kind of computer keyboard. Remember, however much fast typing is simply not possible on a squidgy membrane, still there are several word-processing programs available!

Obviously, many of the major objections could be alleviated by the simple bolting-on of a full QWERTY keyboard that uses full-travel keys; this, however, is surely not the ideal answer. Many of the difficulties experienced by users trying to cope with the idiosyncratic shifting system could be solved through the addition of extra keys to handle the more commonly occurring characters - such as the punctuation and mathematical symbols, and the Delete key.

While carrying out such reorganisation, an astute designer can also build-in switches to control the power and isolate the EAR lead while recording. And further enhancements could include a case big enough to hold various components of the system... such as the power supply, Microdrive, Interface 1 and other add-ons. All these possible options have been considered while judging the five keyboards under test.

So, the question we're going to be asking ourselves is: just how far have the manufacturers gone towards creating the 'ideal' replacement? But there's a sting in the tail. Add a keyboard to your Spectrum and, although you're going to be enhancing its usefulness, you're going to raise its overall price to a level where you're justified in expecting something very special indeed. That's the high level of criteria to which the five units here have been subjected.

CONCLUSION

Just one of the keyboards on test comes close to meeting the exacting criteria I initially laid down for a replacement unit, and that's the Fuller FDS; even here the finishing touches let it down a bit. From a manufacture point of view, the best made by far was the product from Ricoll; given a set of decently engraved keytops, this would rate very highly as a direct replacement system - and it's also quite attractively priced.

Of the rest, the Lo>>Profile had most to offer but lacked the extra function keys of the Fuller model and could also do with more support for its keyboard. The Dk'Tronics unit needs to be supplied with the keys engraved or moulded - stick-on labels that the customer has to apply are not really sufficient. Otherwise it's a substantial add-on.

The Transform device seems to be a little over-priced for the facilities it has to offer over its cheaper rivals. Despite that it's recently been rated "top keyboard at the moment" by one of our magazine rivals; maybe you should check it out to see if I've missed an endearing quality or two.

On a final note, now that Sinclair Research has perfected the newer type of membrane - as used on the QL - it would be interesting to speculate whether the add-on companies are likely to make the switch too. It could be the key to success!

RICOLL ELECTRONICS RIKB1
Price: £37.95
Supplier; Ricoll Electronics, 48 Southport Road, Ormskirk, Lancashire L39 1QR

If you see sheer weight as a good judge of a product's quality, you're certain to be pleased with this one! Tipping the scales at a good old 1.5kg, this metal-cased keyboard seemed at first to be a solid prospect.

The system keyboard support proves better than that offered by many a rival and the main board stays firmly locked on to four metal studs mounted on the base. The 'manual' consists of two photocopied sheets, plus an extra note slipped in; this warns that one of the leads to the keyboard - must be twisted, and that the user should beware of long component leads from the Spectrum's PCB shorting out on the metal base. Shudder!

Unfortunately, apart from its full-size Space bar, the device is once again a real key copy of the original. But with no numeric keyboard added the unit is certainly compact and, being built of heavy gauge metal, it's virtually guaranteed to last. The same, however, cannot be said of the keyboard itself - it uses nasty little keytops that feature stick-on legends. Oh well, at least they've been stuck on for you! This could have been a winner, had the quality of the keyboard matched up to that of the casing. As it is it's still a whole lot better than the Spectrum's rubber pads and very reasonable at the price.