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Symbolics Space Cadet keyboard review (Honeywell Hall effect 4B3E)

Chyrosran22 · 259.3K views · 2017-12-23 · 15:15

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Overview

A review of the Symbolics Space Cadet keyboard, with its Honeywell Hall effect switches, including how it sounds and feels, and a typing demonstration. It is part of a series of vintage keyboard reviews.

On Hacker News

Linked in Lisp machine threads as the go-to video on the Space Cadet keyboard and how its switches differ from the Knight keyboard.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2019–2023

Topics

Consumer devices & gadgetsHistory of computingDemoscene & retrocomputing
Search by tags
space cadetsymbolicshall effectmechanical keyboardvintage computing

What people said

wantoncl · 2023-03 · Reference

Review of the keyboard: [LINK] And same reviewer on an original Space Cadet: [VIDEO] NSFW language here and there.

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cpr · 2020-03 · Reference

As gumby says, the Space Cadet keyboards, being Microswitch Hall effect-based, were a bit spongy due to the big plastic case, but the switches themselves were dreamy. But the whole experience was still not as satisfying as the original Knight keyboards, I suspect because the Knight boards used the original, larger switches, while the Space Cadets used the smaller. Chyrosran22 on Youtube explains all this ( [LINK] and [VIDEO] ). By the way, after 40 years of despairing over the loss of Hall effect switches (I nursed a Space Cadet Livermore Labs clone from a group buy for some years into the mid-80's), there are now two keyboards using this technology, and I'm loving the one that's actually available. Steelseries Apex Pro is what's now shipping, and it's a dream. ( [LINK] ) The Input Club Keystone is still coming, slowly ( [LINK] ), but I'm also really looking forward to trying it.

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leoc · 2019-04 · Reference

This is more Deskthority [LINK] country I'd think. Thomas Ran has YouTube videos on the Space Cadet keyboard [VIDEO] and several other Hall-effect specimens.

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Sources

Video by Chyrosran22, played through YouTube.

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