Looking for my dream keyboard

[jpenguin]

I have this keyboard, love it!

http://zareason.com/shop/Lighted-Tux-Keyboard.html

[mhumm2]

Wow! Thank you one and all. Since i'm so particular about the feel of the keys, I think the only way to select the "right" keyboard is to got to Best Buy in Pensacola and try every one. Everyone that is illuminated (through the keys) and is not heavily software driven. Thanks the pic of the mod Steve. It's nice, but I prefer the light to come through the keys instead of siloetting the keys.

Buttlespit, I'm amazed your were able to assign the extra keys with Kubuntu. I would love to know how you did that exactly. Also, what do you use the LCD panel for and how did you get that to work. I was under the impression that those functions rely on the M$ CD Rom using Windoze. Again, great job and thanks to everyone for all the input. Steve, you may want to try some ice on that right arm and wrist of yours <grin>.

[Buddlespit]

I used the gnome15 project to connect all of my logitech gear that have buttons on them for gaming. Headset, mouse and keyboard are all mapped thru gnome15

[charles052]

Would the one remaining person on Earth who uses the number pad just die already? I would love for manufacturers to lop that useless five inches off the right side of the keyboard so that I can snuggle my mouse closer, and thus reduce a lot of extraneous side-to-side movement of my right arm.

(Oshun, no jokes about right hands, please. KTHXBAI)

Sorry, but I'm not planning on going anywhere. I do so love my number pad!

[SteveRiley]

Steve, you may want to try some ice on that right arm and wrist of yours <grin>.

I don't like to go slow.

[NickStone]

The picture. although poor, shows the result. Using standard sized keys, the whole thing was no more than 11 inches across. The genius behind this idea also decided that since the keys were no longer staggered like a typewriter, they need not be in the same order. Thus, the orange colored set in the lower left portion is the alpha keys and they are in ALPHABETICAL order!

That's right - All of us coming from years of the QWERTY keyboards (starting in grade school typing class) looked down and saw ABCDEF! The darker green keys on the right are the num-pad, the two bright green rows are function keys and the 4 in the corner were punctuation.

For your information when the typewriter was first invented the keys were in alphabetical order. They were changed to slow down the typists as the speed was causing the hammers to constantly jam.

Another bit of useless information there.

[NickStone]

... whether it is usb or regular plugin.

I always thought the "regular plugin" was called the PS/2 connector. Oh well you live and learn.

[SteveRiley]

For your information when the typewriter was first invented the keys were in alphabetical order. They were changed to slow down the typists as the speed was causing the hammers to constantly jam.

Not quite:

Contrary to popular belief, the QWERTY layout was not designed to slow the typist down, but rather to speed up typing by preventing jams.

[tek_heretik]

Would the one remaining person on Earth who uses the number pad just die already? I would love for manufacturers to lop that useless five inches off the right side of the keyboard so that I can snuggle my mouse closer, and thus reduce a lot of extraneous side-to-side movement of my right arm.

(Oshun, no jokes about right hands, please. KTHXBAI)

Dear Mr. Steve (lol), in regards to the numb pad (lol), you would be surprised at how many people use it at work, I've worked in some warehouses that were not fully 'automated', meaning the stock tracking had to be done via paperwork and an IT person sitting at a PC pecking the numb pad with lightning speed so......I don't think it's going anywhere for a while, as long as there are 'bean counters' around (last lol, I swear, lol, oops, I lied).

[woodsmoke]

please take a look at the keyboard on the left. it appeared in the Supernatural episode Bitten. The center "half" of the keys are clear and backlit white red and yellow. Purchased or a hack?



woodsmoke

[dmeyer]

Hi
I'm in the market for a keyboard with the following features:

- High quality mechanical keys Cherry switches or bucking spring like the old IBM keyboards
- Must be backlit (preferrably blue)
- I prefer PS/2 connector
- Must be compatible with Linux (if it comes with a CD to load drivers, it's probably not compatible)
- Matte Black in color
- media controls are required

Does such a keyboard even exist? Let me know if anyone knows of something like this. Thanks.

First and foremost, PS/2 is ancient tech. Get away from it. It's fragile and you really should get something forward looking. Now, any USB keyboard will work (as will a PS/2) because they use a universal way of communicating aka HID. No need for special drivers. Media keys will work; however, you might have to map some of them manually (trivial task so don't stress.)

Mechanical keyboards are great, just remember though that they can be irritatingly loud. They also tend to be very heavy (if travel is relevant.) They do take some getting used to and I personally prefer the chiclet keyboard on my laptop.

What is your general price range?

Would the one remaining person on Earth who uses the number pad just die already? I would love for manufacturers to lop that useless five inches off the right side of the keyboard so that I can snuggle my mouse closer, and thus reduce a lot of extraneous side-to-side movement of my right arm.

(Oshun, no jokes about right hands, please. KTHXBAI)

Ever watch an accountant on a computer? Ever watch somebody do data entry? That numpad is pretty much essential for a lot of people. Heck even I use it a lot! I really do not want the numpad to disappear.

[pnunn]

I'm using a Razer gaming keyboard. Apart from the useless (because of the windows driver needed) macro keys, its really nice, but, I use the dvorak layout so what works for me may not for you qwerty peckers.

Peter.

[dmeyer]

please take a look at the keyboard on the left. it appeared in the Supernatural episode Bitten. The center "half" of the keys are clear and backlit white red and yellow. Purchased or a hack?



woodsmoke

There are keyboards with customizable back-light colours. It's usually quite easy with a lot of the keyboards Heck, even some high-end laptops have it.

[NickStone]

Talking of keyboards. I just discovered something, tea and computer keyboards do not mix. The other day when I sat down at my desktop pc (running Debian 7 with KDE) I inadvertantly split my mug of tea on the table which got in to the keyboard. I rinced it under the tap to wash out all the tea then left it to dry but when I tried to connect it again it woudn't work at all and even stopped Debian from booting up.

So the moral of the story, if your clumsy like me don't bring drinks to your computer

[woodsmoke]

Ummmm hi.....

It was an "old trick" back decades ago to "wash the keyboards".

School students can really mess over keyboards and the IT woman washed them regularly under warm running water, shook them off and let them air dry.

Although she did it innumerable times, I, persoally have also done it several times when I was donating computers.

These were all corded of course.

Was yours wireless?

You might redo the cleaning, maybe go so far as to seperate the top and bottom halves, but again, run copious amounts of warm water over it, shake it off and let it air dry. at least a day.

woodsmoke