Qwerkywriter vintage typewriter-style keyboard – best retro peripheral ever?

If you've ever fancied travelling back in time with your computing experience – we won't mention Back to the Future, as you're probably sick of that after yesterday – then the Qwerkywriter keyboard could be right up your street.

This is a fresh crowd-funded invention (spotted by Retro To Go) which gives the humble Bluetooth keyboard the appearance of an old-style typewriter.

We're talking round keys which look like they've come straight off a vintage typewriter, complete with slightly concave surfaces, and they boast mechanical switches that provide a clicky typing experience. Or should that be clacky?

This device even has a traditional looking carriage return lever built-in on the left-hand side, and this works as an Enter key when tapped (or indeed you can program it for different functions).

The Qwerkywriter has an aluminium alloy chassis, so it's not lacking in the build quality stakes, and it also sports an integrated tablet stand so you can prop up your slate while tapping away (it will fit up to 10-inch tablets which are a maximum of 0.5-inch, or 12 mm, thick).

The keyboard will hook up wirelessly to your iPad, Android or Windows tablet, or indeed your iPhone or iMac along with a number of other devices.

It carries a rechargeable lithium ion battery that offers up to 3 months of battery life, and weighs just under 3lb (1.35kg).

You can order your Qwerkywriter and have it shipped to the UK, with a pre-order price of $329 (around £210). No, this isn't a cheap peripheral, and the other slight downer is that pre-orders are currently backlogged for the UK, so your keyboard won't ship until December. With any luck, you'll have it for Christmas…

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