IBM PCjr keyboards

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IBM PCjr keyboards

File:Ibm pcjr with display.jpg
Part number	8600032 (1st generation) 6181835 (2nd generation)
Branding	IBM
Manufacturer	Advanced Input Devices<ref name=IrKeyboardThread/>
Layouts	62-key PCjr layout
Keyswitches	Rubber dome
Interface	IR or RJ-11 cable
Dimensions	341.5 × 168 × 26 mm (13.45 × 6.61 × 1.02 inches) (IR keyboard)<ref name=TechnicalRef/>
Weight	616 g (22 ounces) w/o batteries (IR keyboard)
Years of production	1984 - 1987

The IBM 4860 PCjr was IBM's first attempt to produce a low cost personal computer aimed at the home market. It used a low cost keyboard designed to be more suitable to the home market than the Model F keyboards of their professional computers. The PCjr is widely considered to be one of the worst keyboards ever designed, owing to its uncomfortable "Chiclet" keys, non-standard layout (it was one of the first, if not the first, PC keyboards to use a Fn shift), unreliable IR link, and hardware limitations in the PCjr itself that prevented PC-style type-ahead from working properly. It's considered to be one of the main reasons why the PCjr was a commercial disaster.

A later "enhanced" version switched the "Chiclet" keys with more standard shaped keys. The internals of both revisions seem to be the same, and the layouts are also the same.

IBM PCjr

• 
  Top
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  Rear label
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  Side Profile
• Top of PCB with rubber dome mat
  Top of PCB with rubber dome mat
• Bottom of PCB
  Bottom of PCB

References

<references> <ref name=TechnicalRef>Personal Computer PCjr Hardware Reference Library: Technical Reference — Appendix D: Cordless Keyboard (archive.org)</ref> <ref name=IrKeyboardThread>Deskthority.net - IR PC keyboards: IBM and Quadram</ref> </references>