LUKEN@LEHIIBM1.BITNET ("Kenneth R. van Wyk") (12/23/87)
I suppose this is indirectly hz100 related...I just wanted to complain a bit to the world. I just got a Z-386 to use in my office. It's an extremely quick computer. Blows anything that I've ever used right out of the water. But, it makes me yearn for my H-100's keyboard. My one major gripe about this machine is the g*d d*mned keyboard! There *MUST* be a committee at IBM which designs keyboards and does nothing else. Perhaps "The committee for more ergometric keyboards (this page intentionally left blank)"... :-) The control key is way out in left field (and right field), the Alt key is to the left and right of the space bar, and the escape key is far up to the left, next to the function keys. But, the worst thing is that the caps lock key is right where the control key is on my H-100 and my Z-158. Ever get a long DIRectory listing and try to stop it with a capital S? Ack! Thippfft! Why do they insist on using a new keyboard every time they release a new machine?! The trusty (but rusty) H-100 used a keyboard which was based on the IBM selectric. Seems ironic that they abandoned such a wonderful keyboard. Has anyone ever heard *ANYTHING* good about an IBM keyboard? Sorry, I suppose I got a bit carried away. I just want all the Z-100 users out there to count their blessings as they type, for they're using the best keyboard in the entire world. Happy Holidays to all! Ken ------------------------------------------------------------------------ = Kenneth R. van Wyk = If found wandering aimlessly, = = User Services Senior Consultant = please feed and return... = = Lehigh University Computing Center =-------------------------------= = Internet: <LUKEN@VAX1.CC.LEHIGH.EDU> = That's the news, = = BITNET: <LUKEN@LEHIIBM1> = And I'm out of here! = ------------------------------------------------------------------------
malpass@LL-VLSI.ARPA (Don Malpass) (12/28/87)
I second the motion. I bought the AT-clone for work with a keyboard layout that you describe, only because it was the lesser of two evils. Having two CRL keys is nice, but putting them where IBM did is dreadful. Now a question, which I would research myself if this clone came with any documentation: Do your "Delete" and "Backspace" (left- arrow) keys squirt out the codes you are used to with the Z-100? I use this clone to access 7 UNIX systems, some via Kermit and some via Ethernet (SUN NFS board in the AT - fantastic!), and I've had a heqq of a time beating all the .login files into submission to deal with both the AT, some terminals I occasionally use, FTP from other machines, and the [well-behaved] HZ-100 from home through a modem using BESTERM. It appears that my left-arrow does NOT put out <CRL>-H, although it's not obvious that Kermit's simulation of a VT-100 isn't part of the problem. There's probably some PC-DOS program out there which would allow me to reprogram the keys (as Zenith made possible - perhaps too easy), but due to lack of documentation with this system, I haven't spent any time looking. It would be nice to set up the function keys easily too, and I'm sure there's a way. I'll have to borrow somebody's PC-DOS manual, except that every machine I can put my hands on is some sort of clone that has an almost-PC-DOS system (Compac, HP, etc). But it's still worth the pain not to have an IBM logo on my machine. don [malpass@LL-vlsi.arpa]