March 6, 2006
Six Keyboards Under $20
By Loyd Case

Six Keyboard Contenders

We actually went to retail stores to buy keyboards to test out. These are not one-off, Internet specials, and none were special sale items. Four were on the shelf at a local Fry's Electronics. Two were bought at Central Computers, a local white box outfit with three retail outlets in the San Francisco Bay Area. All the keyboards were under $20, and three were less than ten dollars. All were retail pack keyboards, not OEM versions.

Let's run down the features and prices of our candidates, from top to bottom in the picture above.

Manufacturer Model Name Width (in.) Depth (in.) Price (As Purchased)
Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000 18.75 8.5 $19.95
Logitech Media Keyboard 19.25 9 $19.95
Key Tronic KT800PS2 17.9 6.5 $ 9.95
BTC Multimedia Keyboard (BTC5207) 18.13 6.25 $12.99
Inland Pro Keyboard Typematic 17.25 5.5 $ 7.99
Labtec Media Keyboard 18 7 $ 8.99

The Logitech and Microsoft keyboards were the most expensive, while the lesser known brands were the cheapest. The Logitech was physically the largest keyboard of the bunch, while the Inland was the smallest (as well as the lowest priced unit.)

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