http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=pfu_keyboards,hhkbpro2&pid=pdkb400b
I got one of these a few years ago (with blank keys) and have never been so happy.
It isnât for the faint of heart; but there are ways of making a keyboard talkâŠ
I agree, though, that for a âCODEâ keyboard made because a programmer wanted it that way, a somewhat easier way to get at the firmware and make it produce arbitrary keycodes when certain keys are pressed would be rather nice.
Teensys and newer Arduinos make that pretty trivial; but DIYing the mechanical key array to trigger those arbitrary key sequences, and getting it all properly prettied up in a nice enclosure and all, is the part youâd like to leave to the experts.
âUltra-rare Clear switchesâ
Ummm⊠no. You can buy them by the bag. Theyâre not even remotely rare. You donât often see mechanical keyboards using the clear switches, but thatâs not because theyâre rare. Itâs because most people donât like them. Theyâre not rare. Theyâre unpopular. And theyâre unpopular for a reason.
Most people who want stronger actuation force donât want a tactile bump because itâs harder to feel when youâre already pressing that hard. Most people who want a stronger actuation force also tend to prefer the audible click of either the blue or green switches. It just provides clearer feedback. If you donât want the noise, the browns are there for a reason. The clears were created primarily to be used as the space bar switch in keyboards with brown switches. Some people do like them for their full keyboard, but those people are a minority (even in the already small minority of people who care about mechanical keyboards).
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Keypads provide a highly optimized assignable button grid.
At the time the IBM PC was invented, the dominant human/computer interface in the world was the DEC VT100 keyboard. It was used for everything - telephone company equipment, computers from companies other than DEC (including IBM, who were mortified by their customersâ clear preference for a competitorâs terminals). This keyboard had a keypad nearly identical to the PC (more on that anon) and a remarkable number of software packages were designed to use it.
This was before practical GUIs, keep in mind, so there were no mousable âon screenâ buttons really. And in those days optimal use by experts was prioritized over ease of use for neophytes; very much the opposite of todayâs pointânâgrunt âcavemanâ interfaces.
When the IBM PC keyboard was designed, some of the engineers (and, apocryphally, Microsoft) wanted to directly clone the VT100âs keyboard. IBM management, however, overrode them and used the traditional IBM tabulator keypad instead. They reasoned that by doing so they helped their primary target customer and sabotaged several of their competitors, including up-and-coming rival DEC. The target customers they envisioned included business accounting departments used to IBM adding machines, who were being seduced away from IBM products by increasingly inexpensive DEC minicomputers.
The difference between the two keypads was the removal of a single key. The PC keypad has a âstretchedâ plus key to cover the gap. This made it impossible to run powerful software (like the EDT editor) from IBMâs competitors properly on an IBM PC. Which was, in fact, the whole point.
I hate working on a keyboard without a numpad, personally. Iâd rather work without a mouse!
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If youâre doing numerical input (in Excel for example) not having a number pad is torture.
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It comes with a key puller. Pop it off! (I generally have my caps lock set to ctrl)
Ultra-rare Cherry MX Clear mechanical keyswitches are the heart of the CODE keyboard. These switches are unique in the Cherry line because they combine solid actuation force with quiet, non-click activation, and a nice tactile bump on every keystroke.
BOOOOO. I want my keyboard as loud as possible. Sticking with my '88 Model M.
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Furthermore, Ctrl, Alt, and Shift do not count towards these six keys,
making it possible to to hold up to nine keys simultaneously â
sufficient for even the most arcane keyboard shortcuts.
If you can meaningfully use nine keys simultaneously, finish plotting your interstellar coordinates and get your tentacles the hell off our planet.
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Well, in my experience, everything I can do with a keypad, I can do more easily with the keyboard itself, except for accidentally hitting num lock instead of backspace or insert instead of an arrow key. YMMV.
I can fit a compact keyboard and a mouse on my desk without having to contort my typing arm to reach either one. I canât do that with a keypad or with a standard/giant-sized keyboard.
I am also sick of the dismissal of more accessible interfaces as âpointânâgrunt.â
Not everyone can use a keyboard. Not everyone can use a mouse. Having more usable options means it is accessible to more users.
I type up a lot of tables. I donât use a number pad. I never found a use for a number pad, and Iâm glad I found a keyboard without one.
Iâm sure you could accomplish what you want with software like AutoHotKey (if you use Windows). Get something that has the hardware features closest to what you want, and then reprogram it on your desktop to suit your needs. If you use more than one computer, take the extra time to make some kind of package out of your customization so you can quickly install the same hack on every other computer.
For entering characters like © and é easily via the alt-codes. I use it on a nearly daily basis for that.
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My KVM switch is triggered by two presses of the Scroll Lock key by default. Iâve used a few others that use that key, too. (Maybe thatâs testimony to the uselessness of it, though.)
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I never use the top row. Thatâs not efficient at all if youâre typing more than a few numbers.
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Thatâs some serious keyboard speak.
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review here:
http://www.naildrivin5.com/blog/2013/08/29/a-real-keyboard-for-programmers.html
A brief examination of this keyboard shows that the design isnât spectacular - for prose or code.
My mileage does indeed vary. I used to be able to rock me some EDT, and the keypad has always been a great interface for activities that map diagonal movement against a grid. I envy you your ability to get when you need done efficiently with a smaller keyboard, but Iâll always want a great big one, with a numpad, for my great big hands. Luckily there are products readily available for both of us these days (it used to be near impossible to get a laptop with a numpad, but now itâs pretty easy).
Pointânâgrunt is not a synonym for âmore accessible interfacesâ nor is it a dismissal of the needs of less experienced or handicapped individuals. Donât look for insult in accurate descriptions, or people wonât be honest with you any more, and honesty is more valuable to the recipient than to the bestower.
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é ? You mean Ž + e ? And © = ALT-G?
Heâs obviously on to us.
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