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On Tue, 2011-01-18 at 15:35 -0500, Tom Metro wrote: > While looking at laptops and stand-alone keyboards recently, I see there > are several trends happening. I'd be curious to know what people think > of these "features." > > Number pads seem to be showing up on more laptops, even those with 15" > screens. I guess this is in part due to the wide aspect ratio screens. > Have we all turned into accountants? Do you use your number pad? It's a waste of effort for me: I'm so used to using the top row number keys that a number pad is superfluous. > F-keys on laptops have had a second function to control the hardware, > such as changing the display brightness, when used with an Fn modifier > key. Newer HP laptops reverse the logic of the Fn modifier key, such > that you have to press the modifier to get the traditional F1-F12 > function. I rarely use either mode of these keys, so this wouldn't > bother me, except I see they also put Insert into the F-key row, and I > use that all the time. I tried making use of the Insert key on several > demo laptops (of course running Windows) as part of the Shift-Insert > shortcut for paste, but couldn't get it to work with or without the Fn > modifier. (Have they removed that shortcut from Windows?) Cntl-X|C|V is universal AFAIK, so I don't care where the insert key is when I copy/cut and paste. I only use it occasionally to switch to "overwrite" mode when editing text. As for having the other F# keys accessible only via a "Fn" key, that would depend on the applications I was using. If I were a WordPerfect user, I'd insist on having the traditional function. Those who prefer mice might not care. > Half height up/down keys. No doubt in an effort to save space and cost, > several manufacturers are making keyboards with the up/down keys > occupying the space of a single key. While Up/Down make be less used > than right/left, this seems like it could be a disadvantage. I'd be uncomfortable with that: I still use a number of "old world" programs that require the arrow keys for navigation. > By far the most visible trend in keyboards right now is "chiclet" keys > or more formally island-style keyboard. I suppose it depends on what each user prefers: "Chiclet" keys are probably the result of pressure-pad switch matrices instead of individual switches under each key. I could get used to one so long as I wasn't switching from "chiclet" to traditional all the time. Bill
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