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New Keyboard Technology
An anonymous reader sent in linkage to a story running on a few places about a
new customizable keyboard. It's a bit beyond anything you've probably seen before. Also
tom's has more.
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Picture 1
Picture 2
Quite neat concept.
Dephine URL
the CLAW
The CLAW has 10 "keys" and every FPS made in the last 5+ years has dozens of keys that are needed to play well. The reviews I've seen don't mention any way around this problem, which to me says there isn't one.
And don't bring up that you can map the keys to do different things. That's not what I mean, I want to be able to move (4 keys), walk, crouch, jump (3 more), go next/previous weapon (2 more), select each weapon type (usually 9), talk (1) with only my team (1) or with everybody nearby (1). Then I'd like a few keys that do special functions like throw a grenade and then switch back to my weapons (Let's say 3). I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but right there we have 24 needed keys. This doesn't even have half that.
Pulp Audio Weekly - Geek News and Reviews
I bought an Ergodex keyboard exclusively for gaming a few months ago. It took them 4 weeks to fill the order -- apparently, they haven't been able to scale large enough to distribute through the retail chains.
Being able to move the keys around is just one of many features that make the Ergodex valuable to me. You can also program complex macros and key-chords to a single keystroke on the fly. You can fine tune the timing of the individual keystrokes to the millisecond.
Right now I have my Ergodex set up for World of Warcraft. Anyone who has a few high level characters in the game know how quickly you fill up your toolbars with hotkeys and macros. The ergodex allows me to have an extra couple rows of hotkeys placed exactly where I want them. It also lets me chain precicely timed combos in a way that WoW's UI won't let you do at all.
The Ergodex will store profiles for different programs and automatically switch to that profile when you run the program as well. The buttons have great tactile feedback, and when you anchor them on the Ergodex they do not shift or wiggle one bit. You can also buy extra keys and an extra clear transparent keytray so that you can swap out entire sets.
At $150, it's not cheap. But considering that i've spent $400 for my graphics card that I'll end up replacing in 2 years, I expect to get a lot more bang for my buck with this upgrade. I wouldn't consider gaming without one now.
Do shift+alt+numlock and magically numpad5 becomes your left mousebutton.
(in X11 this is, in windows it's ctrl+alt+numlock if I'm not mistaking)
"The day Microsoft makes a product that doesn't suck is the day they make a vacuum cleaner."
Argh - I wish you'd have looked harder sooner.
c tive ... they recently ceased operations. Maybe you can still get one. Reconfigurable with their Java tool, huge touchscream, low force needed, etc. I only have their iGesture - I didn't want to fork over the cash for the keyboard untested, but after realizing that I still need a general purpose mouse but at least the keyboard would have reduced that need - I went back looking, and found they'd closed shop.
Touchstream LP
http://www.fingerworks.com/
http://www.google.com/search?q=touchstream&safe=a
I don't know the situation behind it all, but it seems like they could've lowered their pricing before going out of business and saved their butts - maybe they never really broke even so they couldn't.
cyn, free software and *nix operating systems enthusiast.
Wow, remind me to use the preview button... Try this
One caveat, the MouseKeys setting needs to be on for the shortcut to work (accessed under the Mouse Tab in Accessibility Options in the Control Panel). And for Windows it is also ALT+left SHIFT+ NUM LOCK to toggle it on and off,
I love my Model M. If you want new buckling spring boards, the place to get them is pckeyboard.com (which was actually linked in that wikipedia article). Not only do they have many ayouts (some with a windows key or even an integrated trackball or one of those nipples that is on the thinkpad), but they do custom builds.
If you look at their site they have pretty well defined conditions where for how to return a product. (Basically they require it to be in a "good as new" condition and with everything included.) If you fulfill that you can send it back within 30 days of purchase. That seems like enough time to try it out.
If you are worried about it look for other user comments and see if anyone has had problems with returning their their products. If others have had no problems then is seems reasonable that they are trustworthy.
And just a little point. Just because you can walk into a store doesn't mean you'll get what you want. I've personally experienced that when I tried to get help with a broken graphics card which I couldn't find the receipt for. I couldn't get any money back no matter what. (Even the manufacturer refused to help me.)
A small upcoming company like this has a lot more to lose if they get dissatisfied customer rep than a large chain. So in that way I'd probably give them the benefit of a doubt until they mess up.
Finally at least here in Sweden there a consumer representatives which you can contact if a company mistreats you. I assume the same is available in the US so if you were to get in problems report the company.
Read about this last year:4 ,00.asp
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,155513
If you can go without tactile feedback, there's a neater toy you could buy. Check out the Fingerworks Touchstream LP. The entire thing is reconfigurable. The key layout shown is just an overlay. You can replace it with one for a dvorak keyboard or create your own. It also has the added benefit of mouse emulation so you don't have to take your hands away from the "keys." The technology is similar to the trackpad used on a standard laptop, only a bit more sophisticated. It can track all your fingers at once along with the amount of pressure being applied. Downside is that it's a bit spendy. $350 last time I checked. :(