Unicomp hardware Dvorak (or Colemak) - anyone ever try?

[mech]

So the other thread about the Endurapro being a "programmable keyboard at the time of manufacture" got me wondering.  Unicomp also offers Linux layouts (among others).  The website also has a mysterious "Other Layouts -- call" option in their drop-down.

Has anyone tried to get a hardware Dvorak or Colemak from Unicomp?  I ask here because every time I've ever emailed them, it's been an utter black hole. I think they mean "Other Layouts -- call, this new-fangled email thing is for whipper-snappers."

[ch_123]

Some people have had the Linux layout keyboards. Not sure about the Dvorak/Colemak ones.

[AndrewZorn]

i dont understand the desire.  it would be nice, yes, to see more of it, but once you are properly set up, doesn't the desire kind of fade away?

[mech]

You mean the desire for non-QWERTY layouts?

[AndrewZorn]

i use colemak myself
i just mean
aside from (forgot this part) the aesthetic appeal of having properly labelled keys if they are not rearrangeable and having to go into control panel or use xmodmap or whatever a couple of times...
what's the big reason for a hardware _______ keyboard?

[mech]

• Pre-OS mapping change typing. (BIOS, log-in, etc.)
• Even though I personally have permission to change the layout at work, not everyone does.
• Pair programming.  My coworker can bring his keyboard and we can both work at the same time.  The OS keymap is global to all keyboards.
• Here's a Mac specific one: when you do Option/Control, Mac reverts back to the hardware scancodes, so if you want to type Option-Q, you have to press Option-' (on Dvorak).  This is the way it was last time I used a Mac, at least.
• Some software doesn't respect the OS keyboard map and reads the scancodes directly.
• When doing remote connections (VNC, X, etc.) it can be russian layout roulette.  You may get unmapped, or even re-remapped (this happened to me once) (QWERTY -> Dvorak -> Dvorak, so X -> Q -> ').
  

It's all relatively minor, but it's there - and in this forum, aren't we after keyboard perfection after all?  I saw the QIDO but it's $89 + $29 shipping - wow!

[AndrewZorn]

yeah, i suppose
the qido thing might actually maybe be kind of worth it if they made it 100% programmable like it should be

to semi-circumvent the travel thing i am going to buy one of these



(or perhaps the one with integrated memory) and 'permanently' put it in one of the USB hub ports on the HHKB, with things like portable keyboard layout and the colemak files on it.  so as soon as its plugged in i can switch the stuff over without administrator abilities, or more permanently so if i can.

[pseudolobster]

If you've ever tried gaming in dvorak, you'd understand why this is a good idea... Almost every game uses WASD or some other combination of keys based on the QWERTY layout, and the only game I've ever seen that actually uses window's layout is crysis, everything else assumes you're using QWERTY.. In fact some games, like Mirror's Edge, won't let you map keys to the comma key, making walking forward in the game impossible. I had to return Mirror's Edge to the store because the only way I could play it is to set my keyboard layout to QWERTY, reboot, play the game, set my keyboard back to dvorak, and reboot again.

[AndrewZorn]

actually post-switch i have found that about half my games rearrange the keys for me.  the other half i spend a minute or two redoing them, and at the same time, reevaluating the default locations.

you returned a PC game?  what store still lets you do that?

[pseudolobster]

actually post-switch i have found that about half my games rearrange the keys for me.  the other half i spend a minute or two redoing them, and at the same time, reevaluating the default locations.

you returned a PC game?  what store still lets you do that?

Maybe it's just the games I play, but like I said, crysis is the only one I've seen that plays nice with dvorak out of the box... A lot of games don't even have an option to remap keys at all (I play a bunch of weird indie games and things like flash games etc).

And yeah, EB games lets you return games, they also buy them or do trade-ins.

[AndrewZorn]

explains why they have no problem selling you a game out-of-box.
cant believe they still do this, like i remember from a long time ago, but went to go buy world in conflict and i couldn't figure out how a banged-up, stickered case off the shelf with a disc coming from behind the desk is not a USED game.

i think they use their security measures as an excuse to bypass the whole new/used standards that every other store in the world has.

[Hak Foo]

Aside from not going anywhere, was Mirror's Edge worthwhile?

I saw a bunch of new copies at a local closeouts-and-secondhands bookshop today at 6.00 per copy; I rejected it knowing my HD3650 doesn't have the oomph to play anything at 1920x1200.

[AndrewZorn]

i know you were asking him but
id get it for $6
its a really cool concept but they pull it off poorly
so at first its awesome but after a couple hours it feels the same

[mech]

Imagine the classic Skyroads, except you're in the first-person perspective and you're an Asian girl instead of a futuristic vehicle.