tytso@athena.mit.edu (Theodore Y. Tso) (12/17/89)
I've been not paying attention to the ``state of the art'' of the IBM PC world, having been in the Unix world for the past 3-4 years. I'm now looking for a reasonable keyboard for an IBM PC, and I'm not quite certain it exists. These are my requirements, roughly in order of priority. 1) The control key _*HAS*_ to be above the shift key. I can type enough control sequences to blitz out anyone trying to use a mouse, and I don't want that to change. 2) The '|' and '\' key has to be located in a reasonable place, preferably to the right on the single quote/double quote key --- I use TeX and LaTeX far too much to deal with the backslash key out in Siberia. The vertical bar is also indispensible if I'm running Unix. 3) The tilde/backquote key should be located to the left of the digit keys. Again, I'm a unix weanie, and those characters are are quite necessary. 4) The escape key should ideally be next to the tilde key, for easy access. (Of course, there *will* be a meta key, so there won't be that much need for an escape key, but.....) I don't care about the rest; I hardly care about function keys nor keypads. Does anybody know of any commerically available keyboard that meets this requirements? Thanks!!!!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Theodore Ts'o bloom-beacon!mit-athena!tytso 3 Ames St., Cambridge, MA 02139 tytso@athena.mit.edu Everybody's playing the game, but nobody's rules are the same!
evas@cs.eur.nl (Eelco van Asperen) (12/17/89)
tytso@athena.mit.edu (Theodore Y. Tso) writes: >I've been not paying attention to the ``state of the art'' of the IBM >PC world, having been in the Unix world for the past 3-4 years. >I'm now looking for a reasonable keyboard for an IBM PC, and I'm not >quite certain it exists. Check out the December 12 issue of PC Magazine (Vol.8 Nr.21); it has a review of four replacement keyboard for PC's. -- Eelco van Asperen Uucp: evas@cs.eur.nl || Earn/Bitnet: asperen@hroeur5 No one is free to do what he can't think off.
davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.COM (Wm E Davidsen Jr) (12/18/89)
In article <1989Dec17.150635.1617@cs.eur.nl> evas@cs.eur.nl (Eelco van Asperen) writes: >I've been not paying attention to the ``state of the art'' of the IBM >PC world, having been in the Unix world for the past 3-4 years. >I'm now looking for a reasonable keyboard for an IBM PC, and I'm not >quite certain it exists. Take a look at a Northgate ad. They have three styles of keyboard, and that will give you an idea of some of the variations. Northgate and Macroswitch are delivering keyboards which have the 12 function keys on the left, separate keypad, and allow switching the control key back to the position above the left switch key. Northgate also has a kb with a very complete cursor pad (almost a duplicate of the original PC layout), numeric keypad, and 15 function keys. While I know of only two sources for function keys on the left, there are a number of vendors who sell keyboards just like the IBM layout. Some allow the control key to be moved, some don't. I believe that someone makes a replica of the 3270PC layout, with 24 function keys. Keytronics is a big player in this market. About touch: Northgate is the only one I've tried which comes close to the IBM touch, and they're not all that close. They do have a good overcenter action and mechanical click. People who type very lightly report bounce with the Northgate. I use it for both systems at home and for my system at work. Keytronics has a very soft touch and some have (or had when I tried them) an electronic click which may be disabled. The touch is somewhat like typing on a loaf of fresh bread, and taking one apart reveals what appear to be SPONGES inside, of some conductive material. Other models may use other construction. -- bill davidsen (davidsen@crdos1.crd.GE.COM -or- uunet!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen) "The world is filled with fools. They blindly follow their so-called 'reason' in the face of the church and common sense. Any fool can see that the world is flat!" - anon
pmjc@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Pam Arnold) (12/19/89)
In article <1989Dec17.002636.1736@athena.mit.edu> tytso@athena.mit.edu (Theodore Y. Tso) writes: [various requirements for a keyboard he would buy deleted] >Theodore Ts'o bloom-beacon!mit-athena!tytso I wouldn't worry too much about key placement, since you can remap the keys through software anyway. Buy one that has the touch you like, then get a keyboard program and lay it out exactly the way you want it. PAA
jpn@genrad.com (John P. Nelson) (12/21/89)
>I wouldn't worry too much about key placement, since you can remap the >keys through software anyway. Buy one that has the touch you like, then >get a keyboard program and lay it out exactly the way you want it. Except that not all software honors the remapping. I would MUCH prefer a keyboard with a reasonable layout over one that I have to remap. It is very confusing when your remapping works with some programs, but not with others. john nelson UUCP: {decvax,mit-eddie}!genrad!jpn smail: jpn@genrad.com