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Reliable Computer Hardware
Computer hardware that I personally have found to be reliable or work well, when nothing else did. Not all-inclusive; just my personal experience. Last updated 01-February-2006
Input Devices (Mice, Keyboards, Joysticks)
 Logitech MouseMan Mice
I've always been satisfied with these. In particular, the old three-button "wedge"-style mouse with the thumb indentation, the newer more elongated design with a thumb button and rubber grips, and the Dual Optical. All feel solid well-constructed, have a nice positive click, and the buttons aren't too soft (I dislike clicking on things by accident, or in a game discharging my weapon by accident and giving my position away). I find the Dual Optical has a slight tendency to jitter slightly, as it adjusts between its two optical sensors to determine which has the best view of the surface, particularly on slightly shiny surfaces, but that effect seems to have gone away lately (for the most part) - maybe my Ratpadz has finally gotten scuffed enough. It does work awfully well in games where I turn the sensitivity up high. I have learned to keep the optical sensors clear of dust and debris, as that can produce excess pointer vibration otherwise (although single-sensor optical mice are even more susceptible).
 Chicony IBM-style Model KB-5181 Keyboard
I have one of these on my desk. I rather like clicky-feel keyboards, and don't mind auditory feedback either. This keyboard is laid out and shaped much like an IBM-style classic keyboard. Includes an L-shaped "Enter" key, "\" up next to the backspace key, "/" next to the full-size lower-right shift key, full-size CTRL and ALT keys, and none of those bloody windows keys (I hate it when I hit one of those in a game or when I'm trying to do work). It's durable (has lasted for over ten years and taken several poundings and still works fine) and I like it. This uses an old-style AT-XT 5-pin DIN connector; I have it adapted to 6-pin mini-DIN (PS/2 port) to hook to my modern system. Keytronic sells modern keyboards in similar styles to this.
 Behavior Tech Computer Corp. Generic 104-key Keyboard (model: 5140 (corrected), FCC ID: E5XKBM10510)
I have a few of these that I picked up at a university surplus sale. I had to look up the FCC ID on Google to find the company name - according to this page of FCC certifications, these appear to be from about 1995. They're 104-key keyboards, but the layout is just fine, and they feel reasonably clicky, though they make a softer noise than my Chicony. Like the Chicony, they have an L-shaped "Enter" key and a "/" next to the slightly smaller lower-right shift key, but unlike the Chicony they put the "\" backslash key to the right of the lower-right shift key, and have a longer backspace, which actually works pretty well - I find that I can locate the backslash more easily this way, but I don't hit it by accident. They do have the Windows keys, but that's hard to avoid these days, and I don't find it too bad for typing work (I'd probably find myself popping them off with a screwdriver if I gamed with them). Reliability is good.
 CH Products F-16 Fighterstick
This extremely precision joystick has been with me for over six years, and has held up very well - it still calibrates nicely and snaps back to its dead center position well. I've used it for flight simulators, space combat games (such as X-Wing, TIE Fighter, and Freespace 2), and driving games (such as Need for Speed, High Stakes), all of which it excelled at. It looks almost identical to the real F-16 joystick, except for the lack of labels and the fact that it's molded out of nice, solid-feeling high-density plastic instead of aluminum. I have a gameport model, which is a good thing from one standpoint, since I have a fair amount of gameport equipment and accessories, and a bad thing from another, since some of the programmable features aren't programmable under Windows 2000/XP - you have to program it under DOS or maybe 98, but the USB model is largely identical aside from being newer and having more modern support. It also includes a keyboard passthrough for injecting keyboard commands using the programmable hat switches. I did have one problem with it at the beginning - it worked fine in all other respects, but the software would not program. I e-mailed tech support, and it turned out that the problem was a bad firmware chip - they mailed me a new one for free, and after I installed it the joystick worked great. It does lack a twist grip, but I kind of prefer that - I use another joystick for my left hand (dual joysticks).
Monitors
 ADI Microscan 4V 15" Monitors
These are frequently rebranded and sold as Micron monitors. Particularly common around roughly 1995-1998, if I recall correctly. These have good image quality, can run at least 1024x768 at 85Hz, and I find the controls fairly straightforward and easy to see/adjust. Plus, reliability seems to be pretty good. The photograph on the right shows one suspended on a monitor/keyboard arm.
Gateway/2000 CrystalScan and EV500/EV700 15" and 17" Monitors
 Good quality monitors, usually displaying a bright picture of reasonably accurate color. The only thing I don't like about the CrystalScans at least is that if you happen to switch to an unusual (by the monitor's reckoning) resolution, it will pop up this pale blue text over your work saying something like "Non-standard resolution - select <list of resolutions & refresh rates> or select User Mode". A computer tech would likely figure out that you need to push the dial wheel to get the onscreen menu, scroll down until user mode is highlighted, push on the button once to save, and then scroll down and exit, but the average user is going to be stumped. At least it remembers until the power goes out. Just an annoying little feature, but not a show-stopper. I don't think the EV500/EV700 monitors suffer from this, which is nice.
Optical Drives
 Sony CDU-311 (8X) CD-ROM Drives
After spending several years with failing Mitsumi and other brands of drives (even my Pioneer 6X-16X DVD-ROM drives have gotten a bit flaky), I ran across these relatively reliable, rugged CD-ROM drives. What tipped me off was that I remembered seeing them before, and they always seemed to be working. I was also beginning to encounter them in surplus computers that were four or five years old, in fine operating condition. Most of my other drives would have given up the ghost by then. Other people seemed pretty satisfied with them, so I ordered a few from a surplus seller (one of those Yahoo stores), and I have been happy with the quality and performance, and compatibility with various hard-to-read CD-ROMs and CD-Rs so far.
However, it doesn't seem to be able to read CD-RW media, at least in the case of a TDK 650MB CD-RW I recently tried (probably due to the lower reflectivity). Other drives, such as the ASUS DVD-ROM mentioned farther down, were able to read the CD-RW after a short delay.
Bear in mind, this is only the 8X model - people don't seem to be quite as satisfied with the 52X (CDU-5211) model. But hey, for some things I just need a drive that will work reliably without flaking out. 8X CLV, by the way - it apparently reads at the same data transfer rate all the way across the disc, even in DAE.
It appears that the CD speeds go like so for the different models:
- 6X - Sony CDU-111
- 8X CLV - Sony CDU-311
- 8-16X CAV - Sony CDU-511. I think I may have one of these models as well - I seem to recall getting one model of a slightly higher speed.
- 10-24X CAV - Sony CDU-611. Allegedly, average speed is about 18X; opinions on this model seem to be mixed.
CAV - "Constant Angular Velocity". Reads data at a higher rate at the outer edges of the disc, and slower at the inner edges of the disc. Common on almost all CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives today.
CLV - "Constant Linear Velocity". Reads data at a consistent rate across the entire disc. Due to the push to higher and higher "X"-number speeds (partially for marketing purposes), CLV drives are rarely seen anymore.
A good discussion on the relative merits of CLV vs. CAV is available at PCguide.com. The article also touches on why some high-"X"-number modern CAV drives are so slow.
 ASUStek DVD-ROM and CD-ROM Drives
One of our machines is using an ASUS 8X DVD-ROM, and I am quite happy with how good the drive is at reading discs that other drives had trouble with. The 8X DVD is also very quiet. I've also had good luck with the ASUS 52X CD-ROM, although it is somewhat on the noisy side and isn't quite the instant spin-up and recognition of the disc that the older drives used to do. We built a customer's machine once with what I think was a 16X (or maybe it was an 8X) ASUS CD-ROM, and the customer was quite happy with how quiet it was, and how quickly it spun up (so he didn't have to wait many seconds after inserting a CD for the drive to spin it up and recognize it before he could read it). Naturally, given the quest for higher and higher speeds these days, it's harder to find the lower-speed, quieter models, but some may be available used.
Printers
HP LaserJet 4, 4m, 5
I've had pretty good luck with these printers. I bought a bunch of them surplus and used once and resold them after minor cleaning and repair - they were in surprisingly good operating condition, despite their age. Repair parts are readily available, and they don't seem to break down very easily, even after 100,000 or 200,000 pages. The fact that you very rarely have to replace the toner cartridges is quite nice too, and saves a lot of money over inkjets. We've had a LaserJet 5 for over a year now that we bought used, and it's still operating fine with a moderate volume. The new printers cannot compare. Bear in mind: these are big boxy cubes; workgroup printers. Don't be suckered by one of the (shudder) vertical-feed mini models. The horizontal-loading low-profile models such as the 6P perform fairly well, but have cryptic readouts and controls, although I do understand them - but I prefer a workgroup printer any day - who cares about the height? And the footprint is only slightly larger than most of my inkjets (once you add on the inkjet's paper tray and such).
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