mueller@schaefer.math.wisc.edu (Carl Mueller) (06/10/91)
In article <4252@uc.msc.umn.edu> fin@norge.unet.umn.edu (Craig A. Finseth) writes: >In article <1991Jun10.063838.20847@marlin.jcu.edu.au> zlraa@marlin.jcu.edu.au (Ross Alford) writes: > >Why? I use the 48 as a calculator. In that mode, I (mostly) press a >button and see the results, then press another button. It does the >job fine. Speed typing is simply not an issue on this device. > >However, I find it difficult to type alpha stuff. Basically, I press >ALPHA / letter / ALPHA / letter / etc. (I am left-handed, so holding >down the ALPHA key is clumsy.) > Does nobody read the manuals? It is no wonder that you find it difficult to type alpha stuff on the 48!!!! Try pressing the ALPHA key TWICE and then typing lots of letters. You'll find it much easier (though I'm not saying that the 48 was designed for easy text entry). >Craig A. Finseth fin@unet.umn.edu [CAF13] Carl Mueller (mueller@math.wisc.edu)
fin@norge.unet.umn.edu (Craig A. Finseth) (06/10/91)
In article <1991Jun10.142009.13349@schaefer.math.wisc.edu> mueller@schaefer.math.wisc.edu.UUCP (Carl Mueller) writes: >In article <4252@uc.msc.umn.edu> fin@norge.unet.umn.edu (Craig A. Finseth) writes: >>In article <1991Jun10.063838.20847@marlin.jcu.edu.au> zlraa@marlin.jcu.edu.au (Ross Alford) writes: ... >>However, I find it difficult to type alpha stuff. Basically, I press ... >Does nobody read the manuals? It is no wonder that you find it difficult >to type alpha stuff on the 48!!!! Try pressing the ALPHA key TWICE and then >typing lots of letters. You'll find it much easier (though I'm not saying >that the 48 was designed for easy text entry). I read the manuals. I know about this. I don't use it. Why? Too confusing. Most of the time that I am typing alpha text, it is because HP has so well hidden which menu the function is on (don't those people believe in reverse indexes?) that I have given up (hunting through the menus) in frustration and all that I want to do is enter the name of the <censored> operation. The last thing that I want to do is deal with yet another confusing mode. Craig
akcs.vsteiger@hpcvbbs.UUCP (Rudolf von Steiger) (06/11/91)
You are tired of typing ALPHA / letter / ALPHA / letter ...? I can understand. You don't like ALPHA lock (pressing ALPHA twice)? I can understand,d too (a little less though). But: There's a thiird alternative! I picked it up somewhere in this BBS or in Wayne's mail server. Sorry to its author, but I forgot his or her name. The alternative is: Press ALPHA and hold it down while pressing the letters. When you release ALPHA, you are back in normal mode. I am a left-hander too, and I use my ring finger for holding ALPHA and the others for typing. Hope that helps. Ruedi
seitz@informatik.uni-tuebingen.de (Steffen Seitz) (06/11/91)
>> On 10 Jun 91 15:20:17 GMT, fin@norge.unet.umn.edu (Craig A. Finseth) said: Craig> ... >>However, I find it difficult to type alpha stuff. Basically, I press Craig> ... and Craig> Too confusing. Most of the time that I am typing alpha text, it is Craig> because HP has so well hidden which menu the function is on (don't Craig> those people believe in reverse indexes?) that I have given up Craig> (hunting through the menus) in frustration and all that I want to do Craig> is enter the name of the <censored> operation. The last thing that I Craig> want to do is deal with yet another confusing mode. For upper case letters you may *keep the \alpha-key pressed* while entering the name of an operation e.g. \alpha-R-C-L-F. Steffen Seitz -- = Steffen Seitz (seitz@informatik.uni-tuebingen.de) (Tel. +49 07071 29 5459) = = Universitaet Tuebingen, Wilhelm-Schickard-Institut fuer Informatik ========== = Sand 13, 7400 Tuebingen 1, F.R.G. ===========================================
lisa@hpfcbig.SDE.HP.COM (Lisa Rogers) (06/12/91)
In comp.sys.handhelds, fin@norge.unet.umn.edu (Craig A. Finseth) writes:
My quick summary is "unexpectedly good." I have both a 48 and a 95
(plus a dozen others, but that is a different article). I believe the
experts who say that the construction on the 48 and 95 keyboards is
the same and so they *should* feel the same. However, I find the 95's
keyboard to be much better.
I don't find it that bad either. (I have only had mine for a couple
of days; ask again in a month!). I think that people's biggest
problem is that you really cannot type with all 8 fingers that you use
on a regular size keyboard. If you are expecting to be able to, you
are probably going to be out of luck. I have pretty small hands, and
I *can* type that way if I try; however, I make many more errors and
it really slows me down from 2 finger typing.
Actually, I have been thinking of teaching my right hand to type all
of the characters in a qwerty fashion. The home row would probably be
S F H K (every other letter in the middle row). I would use the left
hand for the shift/ctrl/alt/char keys. It might be more efficient to
reverse the hands, now that I think about it, since I hardly ever use
alt/char/ctrl; I will have to try it. That is as far as I have gotten
so far in figuring out the key to finger mappings, although I have
tried a couple of possibilities which failed.
On the other hand, I use the 95 as a notepad (I am running an
Emacs-type text editor, not the built-in applications). Typing text
goes very smoothly. The horizontal format and QWERTY layout makes it
very easy to find the keys. In addition, I can fit about 1 1/2 hands
on the keyboard, so I can almost touch-type.
What editor are you using? I would love to have an emacs like editor
for this thing, just to compare it to the builtin memo editor (I am in
the emacs camp). I downloaded an old copy of microemacs but trying to
move around the screen is a real problem. Does your editor fit the
screen or do you have to move the around to the 4 parts of it? Also,
how big is it? Is it available?
If people have nifty public domain software that runs nicely on the
95lx, *please* post them (or send me mail!). I have a pc-compatible,
but I never use it anymore -- it is really old and so is all of my
software. Also, most of the software either doesn't work well with
the small screen or takes up too much space to be worth its weight.
Yes, I find the keyboard a little tight but I am willing to live with
that in exchange for having something that I can have with me instead
of in my briefcase.
I agree! (Some people may think that the 95lx is too big; it fits in
my purse just fine!)
Lisa Rogers
lisa@hpfclp.sde.hp.comakcs.joehorn@hpcvbbs.UUCP (Joseph K. Horn) (06/12/91)
It seems that the HP 48's flag -60 has been forgotten. You don;t have to press ALPHA key ALPHA key ALPHA key... Nor do you have to press ALPHA ALPHA key key key... Nor do you have to hold down ALPHA as you press key key key. Just set flag -60 and leave it set. Then a single ALPHA is all you need. -- Joseph K. Horn -- Peripheral Vision, Ltd. --
Dan_Ciarniello@cc.sfu.ca (06/14/91)
If you don't like typing ALPHA / letter / ALPHA / letter and you feel that pressing ALPHA twice to lock ALPHA mode is too confusing why not set flag -60 which activates ALPHA lock on a single keypress? Dan Ciarniello Capilano College North Vancouver, B. C.
jurjen@cwi.nl (Jurjen NE Bos) (06/14/91)
akcs.vsteiger@hpcvbbs.UUCP (Rudolf von Steiger) writes: >But: There's a thiird alternative! I picked it up somewhere in this >BBS or in Wayne's mail server. Sorry to its author, but I forgot his >or her name. >The alternative is: Press ALPHA and hold it down while pressing the >letters. When you release ALPHA, you are back in normal mode. It is unbelieveable to see how much work people do to avoid reading the manual... :-)
wpmadden@garcia.warfield.edu (Bill) (06/14/91)
--
about ALPHA lock and the like, I tried using the ALPHA lock flag
for a while but this got to be a pain when entering algebraics or the
like, so I now usually do what Ruedi (akcs.vsteiger@hpcvbbs.UUCP) said.
I am also left-handed and I hold down the ALPHA key and type with my
right for small alpha-num entries. Also I have the following im my
user key list:
... " " 54.4 " " 54.5 "<CR>" 65.4 ...
I find this a nice typing aid when in ALPHA shift mode. When in ALPHA
shift mode, the <DEL> key becomes a <SPC> key, the <ORANGE SFT> <DEL>
become a `tab', just really five spaces :^> and the </> key becomes a
<CR> Though you cannot use delete or type a ! or / while in usr mode,
I find these locations very useful when typing longer strings or algebraics.
Bill
--
Wm P. Madden, Jr.
Dept. of Electrical Engineering
North Carolina State University - Raleigh, N.C.
INTERNET: wpmadden@eos.ncsu.edu Ma AT@T: (919) 781-6390
madden@eceugs.ece.ncsu.edu
Bill.Madden@bbs.oit.unc.edu
"Pi is equal to 3, for small values of Pi and large values of 3"
"So naturally, I don't have to tell you that one never snaps
one's fingers on the beat...it's considered agressive.
Never push it, just let it fall on the afterbeat, thus."
Duke Ellington
fin@norge.unet.umn.edu (Craig A. Finseth) (06/14/91)
I will say this one more time as I have been flooded with messages: I READ THE MANUAL. MULTIPLE TIMES. I AM AWARE OF ALL OF THE TRICKS, ETC. I KNOWINGLY CHOSE NOT TO USE THEM. I will also say two other things: 1) I am an Emacs user and have been for over fifteen years. 2) I am left handed. Because of (1), I have a very - incredibly - amazingly - .... - strong preference for thinking in terms of SHIFT / KEY. (I quip that the Emacs command set has been programmed into my spinal cord...) Because of (2), it is awkward to hold down the alpha key while typing letters. (This is not a complaint. I agree with HP's placement of the shift keys. After all, they need to satisfy the 50% of the people who are born right-handed (that is not a typo: think about it)). However, because of (1), I am also used to using PREFIX KEY / KEY. Thus, I don't mind pressing ALPHA, then the key. It is a little cumbersome, but (unlike the 95), I didn't buy my 48 for taking notes. I had the silly notion of using it as a calculator. (:-) Craig A. Finseth fin@unet.umn.edu [CAF13] Networking Services +1 612 624 3375 desk University of Minnesota +1 612 625 0006 problems 130 Lind Hall, 207 Church St SE +1 612 626 1002 FAX Minneapolis MN 55455-0134, USA