Slashdot Mirror
Affordable, Compact Keyboards?
green pizza asks: "I'm in charge of building a lab of internet kiosk-style PCs for my local library. We have already settled on locally built Mini-PCs and will be netbooting the machines into a simplified Linux environment based heavily on JWZ's experiences in this area. We're cramped for space and luckily have been donated plenty of 15" LCDs. The only remaining issue has been keyboards. A supply of generic $5 keyboards would almost work, but we're already short on table space. I would really like to use low profile keyboards, as we have no need for a numeric keypad, F-keys, or media/shortcut keys. The Happy Hacking Keyboard series is almost perfect, but its build quality is overkill and the price is way beyond the $25 or so we'd like to spend. Anyone know of a bargain Google/Froogle is overlooking?"
I have a collection of SIIG Minitouch Plus low-profile keyboards. They are slightly more than $25 but are the perfect form-factor. They have a full-sized CAPSLOCK key suitable for use as a CTRL key.
Kris
Kriston
Go here, then search for all keyboards with "notebook" layout. I'd link to the search directly, but deep linking like that doesn't work on newegg.
I administered a setup like this for a library in the New york area, and our initial keyboards, IBM notebook keyboard/touchpads broke within one month of their first use. We replaced them with IBM Clickity-Clickity Model M keyboards, and they have lasted ever since (about 4 years).
I used a Logitech keyboard for the Playstation at work for a while. The keys feel pretty nice, but the layout is kind of wonky. It's not expensive, IIRC.
Here's an inexpensive one.
No need for a numeric keypad or fkeys? Never pressed F5 to refresh eh? F2 to open a new location in a browser? heh. Sounds like you need more tables instead of crappy keyboards. Keep in mind that a lot of people are comfortable with a certain kind of keyboard, and giving them laptop-like keyboards with small keys that are hard to type on may just deter their usage and make your whole computer lab project a giant waste of money.
Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.
You know your situation better (since I don't at all, other than what you wrote in your Ask Slashdot submission), but I wonder ... do you really want to be space-limited to small keyboards?
:) ) won't be that great; if there's a way you could rearrange your seating to fit full-size keyboards, then you'll be better able to fit replacements when they're necessary. (That is, you can replace full-size with either another full-size, or a compact version, but a compact version, if your whole space is built around that size, can't be replaced by a full-size one.) Given that I usually find my keyboards in thriftstores and at yardsales, I'd like the option to use either size.
...)
;) There *are* some compact clicky keyboards, but they're priced something out of this world, generally. I've considered buying some of the small Model M variants, but ... yow! The prices people want are pretty high, even used, even in not-great shape.
;)) -- it's symmetrical (good for lefties therefore), comes in USB though I have also owned PS/2 only versions, has a really fast, slick action, and has nice clicky buttons, not sluggish the way I find kensington buttons to me. Also, they're about the cheapest brand-name trackballs you'll find, about $20 at walmart or big computer retailers.
You're starting out with a space crunch that makes you ask the question, Yes, but the space added by full size keyboards (unless they're really huge ones!
Also, if your seating is so tight that full-size keyboards are hard to fit in, how's the elbow room? It sounds from here like a tight squeeze! Will people have room to swivel? (Not that any of the links google finds there are the greatest
I saw all this as a bigot favoring clicky, mechanical keyboards, which colors my perception of the world
One way to save space without forcing yourself into shrunken keyboards is to go for trackballs rather than mice; trackball+mouse can be squeezed next to the next trackball+mouse pair, and probably in no more room than a small keyboard+mousing surface. My favorite trackball for years has been the Logitech MouseMan (I think that's the right model name
Cheers,
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
Don't get something that looks cool because you'll develop a theft problem. I'd recommend the worst looking but toughest keyboard you can find. Anything that people thing would go for a lot at a pawn shop avoid.
Don't do it just cause you think they're cool!
We did it for a conference series for medical workers, and there was much complaining... I got chewed out for this! The mini-keyboards have too little throw, reduced sized keys and don't last. Go full sized. After the age of 35-40, vision decays. Waists expand. Asses sag. Fingers stop flying with kung-fu accuracy. The brain becomes full and no longer presents a blank sheet of paper with each new concept. Soon, Decay sets in.
You stop going out, and go to the library for a thrilling internet session! Ack! Those tiny keys!
These are little and fifteen. mini keyboard.
I bought this notbook-style USB keyboard a few weeks ago and have been very happy with it.
This thing is so tiny and thin that cute girls were actually looking at me when I whipped it out of my bag.
The keyboard is pretty good and what I'd expect from a 12" Dell laptop (it's actually substantially better than the keyboard on my Dell Inspiron 2100, a 12" laptop). That said, the keys are small and the backspace key is tiny (read: sucks), but the keyboard still might suit your needs.
"Brevity is the soul of wit." -Polonius, Hamlet.
Compact keyboards might work, but I myself have trouble working with any keyboard that deviates even the slightest bit from "standard". Very slow, lots of mistakes and profanity. And I have a feeling I'm not the only person who dislikes small keyboards. I can't imagine giving people less space than is needed for a standard keyboard and a mouse pad anyways.
http://www.btc.com.tw/english/2-7-06keyboard.htm#
http://www.btc.com.tw/english/2-7-07keyboard.htm#
I got one of these (the 9118) bundled with my Gigabyte TA-1 and it suits it perfectly, fitting nicely with the form-factor of the machine. I think all these models are very similar, with perhaps the 5100c suiting you best; they've got a reasonable action for the price and are available in both USB (with an upstream port built-in -- handy if you wish to allow pendrive access) and straight PS/2.
If you're buying a few of them you might want to fire an e-mail to BTC's US distributor (or ring them) and see what they can do for you -- many resellers put a high markup on these purely 'cause they're small (~USD30), but with a bit of hunting you can probably get them for closer to USD5.almost any machine you buy nowadays comes with a keyboard that is between shitty and complete shit. If you want to have good keyboards you will have to pay a good amount of money for them, or score some old dirty ones and clean them. as mentioned before the IBM model M's are great, and you can get other buckling spring keyboards from Unicomp I would recommend either the Customizer 140 which goes for $60 or the Endura Pro which goes for $100 and has a laptop style "nipple" pointer. if you want to spend $150 you can get the on-The-Ball which has a trackball in the upper right corner, make sure if you get that one that you select the buckling spring model not the quiet touch model.
Disclaimer, I in no way work for Unicomp or PCKeyboards.com
Snowden and Manning are heroes.