halfgeek asks:
"I was just considering how keyboard-centric I've managed to make my setup, even under the mouse-hungry Windows GUI (no shouting; I regularly SSH to my Linux routing box for experiments, bring up VMWare when I need some X, and can't live without Cygwin). Almost everything I would want to do can be done without moving a hand to the mouse. I can open up an SSH to my server with Win+Shift+V, bring up a calculator with Win+C, run a one-shot console command with Win+0, open up the MW dictionary website to a highlighted word by hitting Ctrl+C (to copy) and then Win+Enter (to look up the contents of the clipboard). (Much of this is implemented with Perl programs and WinKey.) I also make frequent use of the volume knob and mute button built into my Logitech keyboard. If there is any good route to finding the keyboard I want with all the features I'm thinking of at a justifiable price, whether prefabricated or a wicked mod, I would just love to know about it." There are quite a few options the submitter is looking for, but it basically boils down to is this: the more keys, the better. What keyboards have you found, in your browsing travels, that have been stuffed full of useful features?
"I'm aggravated over having the mouse still so separate from the keyboard, and I've been looking through the available options along the lines of keyboards with built-in touchpads. The closest I've found to what I want seems to be the Adesso WKB-120, but this is by no means the ideal choice. It does have three basic properties I want: One, it doesn't have the ergo-split form I so despise. Two, its touchpad is situated in the right place, just below the space bar. Three, it's all one piece, so I can keep the board off the desk and on my knees, where it belongs, eh. But it also appears to have those three intensely undesirable and horribly misplaced power management keys, and lacks the volume knob, mute button, and media controls. An illuminated keyboard would also be cool, but I'd take standard beige; it's just that my current black keyboard is hard to see in the dark."
Slashdot Mirror
I love my trackpoint (nipple) pointer that juts up in the middle of my keyboards - while it's not as accurate as a mouse or even trackpad, it's good enough to click on links or select the words/fields I need, with an absolute minimum of movement - I hate having to move my thumb down to a trackpad on a laptop, and then having to move it ALL the way across its surface a few times to get what I want.
I lament how trackpoints are disappearing off laptop keyboards these days.
Nice standard wide space bar, without the never-used Windows keys
Backslash above a regular-height enter key (no double-high enter key with the backslash in any of 5 other locations).
Standard layout, not the "think before you hit every key" (un)natural keyboard.
The superior tactile click of the IBM keyboard from the PC-AT era. I don't think these are around any more, and nothing still even comes close.
If there is one thing that should be standard, it is a keyboard layout. Extras are fine, as long as they are outside of the regular key area, which should be left alone. It is pretty unreasonable to have to learn different touch typing for different keyboards: the basics should stay the same. Nothing more frustrating than trying to hit the blackslash and then realizing it is one of those perverse Logitech or E-One keyboards that has "more enter key" where the backslash is.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
PCKeyboard, who own the rights to the venerable IBM high-tactile keyboards (aka "the wing of death").
They also have myriad options and some extremely programmable/configurable keyboards.
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I use a keyboard from Focus Electronic called the FK-8200
I sincerly regret not waiting for the FK-9200 to become available, since it has a trackball in the center of the keyboard.
This keyboard is great.. it has a built in calculator, a clock with batteries for when the machine is off, and 12 macro keys that can be mapped to just about anything..
Buttsex.
I like the ideas---I, too, have a Logitech keyboard (specifically, the Cordless Elite Duo) with volume, mute, etc. keys built in, and several shortcuts set up in (at least) a similar way.
Other than the volume and mute, and the wheel on the left side, though, I find the many additional buttons along the top almost as distracting as a mouse. Right now, they're essentially all mapped to different websites, and I still have to look at them and pick out the right one before hitting it.
Maybe it's because of too much Emacs, but I don't even think about my ctrl- or alt- keystrokes.
Don't get me wrong, I love your ideas; out of curiosity, have you tried using all the "miscellaneous" buttons and specifically liked those better?
Christian Jones
Medicine. Mathematics. Mediocrity.
Here's a couple to start with:
The first Macintosh. I think Apple was so awestruck with the new idea of the GUI that it looks like the keyboard was a mere afterthought with the the first Mac. What they ended up including was designed to encourage mouse-usage; with its heavy-force keystroke requirements and its almost rudimentary nature.
the Atari 400
Anyone remember saving $400 over the price of the full-keyboard Atari 800 by getting one of these things? It spawned a cottage industry of replacement keyboards.
TRS-80 Color Computer. The keyboard on the "ColorTRaSh" was eventually improved, but the earlier models had Fisher-Price written all over.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Are you insane? I don't care for Windows, but it is the most advanced mouseless UI there is. You can do everything without even having a mouse plugged in at all. The same cannot be said for gnome/kde or X in general. Granted, Windows is decidedly not a CLI, like your ssh sessions, but it's still the best there is if you don't like to use a mouse.
I recall reading something about how some beta of windows 95 or NT 3.x failed a DOD acceptance test because a lot of it depended on the mouse, so Microsoft spent considerable time making it work fine in case of mouse failure.
There aint no pancake so thin it doesn't have two sides.
a good roundup of fancy keyboards here
PI Engineering make a range of rather nifty "keyboard extenders" for all those keyboard macros. I've got my eyes on an X-Keys "Stick" or two, but want the USB version which has been "coming soon" for a few months now, so should be imminent. The only drawback is that the management software utility is Windows only, although you can still program the keys directly or use a Windows PC and then tranfer the keyboard to a Mac/*NIX box. Since you have Windows anyway that shouldn't be a major problem in your case though. They seem open to developing custom solutions though, so *might* be prepared to provide the info necessary to develop a *NIX version of the programming tool. In my experiences with programmable keyboards however that's only really of use to people who need to either bulk program the things or flip between application specific macro sets.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
The later versions of the Pet had standard keyboards - it made the Pet into a good, usable computer.
I repeatedly drool over Touchstream keyboards. I can't justify the expense, but the entire keyboard is a touch-sensitive surface (like those laptop glide pads), and has an absurd number of macro functions (including ones for emacs).
Sorry, as nice as the 'M' is, there is no comparison to a Northgate Omnikey, especially the Ultra .
I still have one. It weighs over 10 pounds, so it doesn't move. The feel of the keys is heavenly - perfect amount of force to depress, and a wonderful click when you do. All the keys are where they should be, including a superior diamond pattern for the cursor keys.
If you haven't used one, you don't know what you're missing. Northgates are still the golden standard for anyone who knows.
jonathan