An interesting unheard keyboard for ChromeOS (Really good!)

[Kirby6]

An HHKB/Magic inspired Chrome Keyboard?

Hello everyone,

My name is Cirby1 and I'm one of the HHKB users here in the forums. Anyways, I wanted to share with you a keyboard that I recently received and wanted to share why I thought this was such a wonderful board. Anyways, here goes:

I recently purchased HP Chromebase All-in-One Desktop
https://www.amazon.com/HP-Chromebase-Processor-Touchscreen-22-aa0012/dp/B098DBHCMR/ref=sr_1_3_mod_primary_new?crid=1FBHIS2OAVGMW&keywords=Chromebase&qid=1670890044&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=chromebas%2Caps%2C283&sr=8-3

And let me just say that this device has been really nice. (That's a separate topic). The thing I wanted to talk about was about the keyboard that comes with this device I believe rivals the HHKB and the magic keyboard. Why do you ask? Because it's almost like the HHKB, ChromeOS, and the magic keyboard all combined and became this board. I've actually stopped using my HHKB Snow Board (at home not work) in favor for this board and for the following reasons:

-The keyboard was made for my OS. Big one! If a keyboard is made for the OS that is your daily driver then it’s probably the best board for that system. My family/home computer is a ChromeOS so this makes sense in this department.

-It feels like a sixty percent keyboard? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I can stretch all my fingers and extend my hands. Most people’s hands will cover the entire keyboard. Therefore, the miles my fingers take is still low in comparison to most 60 percent keyboards like the HHKB.

-It has media controls devoted to ChromeOS. Some of them are actually really handy! I can lock, turn down the volume, and do a host of other functions. With my HHKB it’s unclear in any OS what the best settings are and honestly I think they should’ve just left out those functions. It is kind of confusing.

-It has arrow keys. This will usually make or break people not having these. This keyboard does and it doesn’t require using hotkeys or a function layer like on the HHKB.

-The key feel? (This one is debatable) Remember how I mentioned the magic keyboard? It seems to be really snappy and has a crisp feel. Of course, I love the HHKB for the feel and always have, but If I can paint a metaphor it’s like having a really comfty flat pillow while sleeping compared to the ultimate overdone stuff pillow. Anyways, my finger don’t have to travel as much as on the HHKB and again the keyboard is snappy.

-Aesthetics? The Snow HHKB compared to this is debatable. Of course I like blanks, but they added a nice light grey legends to this board which I wish the HHKB Snow w/Legends had. I actually think this board looks better with it’s legends compared to the HHKB snow with legends. Plus, there isn’t any marketing logos on it which is a plus.

-Layout - It’s an interesting layout. In Chrome I immediately change the CAPSLOCK key to CTRL. So no loss there. ESC is farther (but just a little bit!) so it really isn’t that huge of a difference. Also, backspace is in the default position. So that’s the only really big change. You are getting the default backspace in exchange for media and arrow keys.

-Bugs - Nothing is always sunshine and rainbows. Keyboards do have issues. The only issue I have is that the board doesn’t immediately get recognized when I lock it. This is in comparison to the Bluetooth issues I was having on my HHKB’s. But I’m not going to blame them for it.

-Ergonomics? - I honestly haven’t spent many, many hours in one sitting with this board. So I don’t know if my hands will give out or not. Again, it’s still minimalistic and I can still use Vim keybindings everywhere if needed.

Anyways, these are my thoughts let me know what you think. I currently have 3 boards at home. Two HHKB type-s Hybrids with one of them being the limited 25th edition snow keyboard and the only one just plain black with the grey legends. The HP Chromebase keyboard is winning when it comes to an all around keyboard that my family can use, yet is still something I can get on and get some work done in Vim or the command line.

-Thanks!

[PlayBox]

is this satire? its just a generic laptop like keyboard with chrome os support (VeRy MiNdBlOwInG) could get a windows machine and use your hhkb for around the same price. imo you bought a **** overpriced desktop with **** os in it

[Kirby6]

Nobody cares about Winblowz anymore. It is 2022. Just get a Chromebook and stop being stuck in the past. The OS is amazing and simple. This keyboard is amazing too. I could care less about what you think.

[PlayBox]

Nobody cares about Winblowz anymore. It is 2022. Just get a Chromebook and stop being stuck in the past. The OS is amazing and simple. This keyboard is amazing too. I could care less about what you think.

no one cares about windows you say? chromebooks can't even do anything well enough, they lack the power of a pc, simplicity isn't what people actually want. the keyboard isn't anything special either its just a laptop type keyboard. also no one actually uses chromebooks outside of schools. windows isn't stuck in the past and never will.

[PlayBox]

also for the additional data windows has 70.6% of the pc market (laptops, pcs, allinones etc.) and chromeos only 1.7% while linux that's very rarely used on pc has 2.6%. imo chromeOS has its strenghts and it dominated a niche in the market but it can't really go of that niche to face windows macos and linux

[Kirby6]

Wrong again! It's all Linux or Unix choose a side. Windows doesn't even run Windows.

https://www.google.com/search?q=percentage+of+Microsoft+Azure+centers+that+are+Linux&rlz=1CAZNIN_enUS1007US1007&oq=percentage+of+Microsoft+Azure+centers+that+are+Linux&aqs=chrome..69i57.7488j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Copy and paste that link in Internet Explorer or whatever browser you use. Oh wait? You use what? Chrome? Wow... Who would've known.

If you don't know how to copy and paste you can just Google it. (I'm laughing now).

Chrome dominates browser, search, email, and owns Youtube too. There's no escaping Google.

Besides gamers and stock market traders Windows would be useless and it's awful and has always been. That's why no one wants to develop for it. They'd rather just go MacOS.

So If Mac = Unix, ChromeOS = Linux, and Microsoft are pretty much Linux (but haven't admitted it yet). Which would you give a general user?

-Would you give your grandma a complicated Mac or Windows device? Or a Chromebook? A Chromebook.
-Would you give your kids a complicated Mac or Windows device? Oh wait... That's right you already said it. A Chromebook.
-Plus most users, like yourself, don't even have a need for Windows. It's not even an Operating System and doesn't even make sense.
-I'd rather go full Mac before I ever touch Microsoft stuff again. It's that bad and even you know it.
-Most developers don't even need a Mac. ChromeOS comes with a Linux Terminal that's the easiest I've seen. Solves the problem of having two devices all the time. Plus, you can just ssh anywhere you want.

[Kirby6]

At the end of the day, pick whatever poison you want. All the companies try to shove everything down your throat. Myself personally I prefer it to taste good and be easier to chew. To each their own I suppose.... (*rolls eyes)....

[PlayBox]

Wrong again! It's all Linux or Unix choose a side. Windows doesn't even run Windows.

https://www.google.com/search?q=percentage+of+Microsoft+Azure+centers+that+are+Linux&rlz=1CAZNIN_enUS1007US1007&oq=percentage+of+Microsoft+Azure+centers+that+are+Linux&aqs=chrome..69i57.7488j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Copy and paste that link in Internet Explorer or whatever browser you use. Oh wait? You use what? Chrome? Wow... Who would've known.

If you don't know how to copy and paste you can just Google it. (I'm laughing now).

Chrome dominates browser, search, email, and owns Youtube too. There's no escaping Google.

Besides gamers and stock market traders Windows would be useless and it's awful and has always been. That's why no one wants to develop for it. They'd rather just go MacOS.

So If Mac = Unix, ChromeOS = Linux, and Microsoft are pretty much Linux (but haven't admitted it yet). Which would you give a general user?

-Would you give your grandma a complicated Mac or Windows device? Or a Chromebook? A Chromebook.
-Would you give your kids a complicated Mac or Windows device? Oh wait... That's right you already said it. A Chromebook.
-Plus most users, like yourself, don't even have a need for Windows. It's not even an Operating System and doesn't even make sense.
-I'd rather go full Mac before I ever touch Microsoft stuff again. It's that bad and even you know it.
-Most developers don't even need a Mac. ChromeOS comes with a Linux Terminal that's the easiest I've seen. Solves the problem of having two devices all the time. Plus, you can just ssh anywhere you want.

i kinda need windows as an IT and i also game. your usecase isn't what everyone does. all companies are **** from that point of wiev linux is the best option. google domination means **** in a os market. windows runs windows just their servers don't use it because linux is the best in the server space. also you are wrong too because anything that requires any serious computational power locally won't really work on a chromeos machine. devs develop most of the programs for windows its the most used os after all they would die if they didn't.i cam to a conclusion that chrome os won't ever get to real market recognition ever (im talking atleast 10%)

[Kirby6]

I'm actually a Unix administrator not someone who works the help desk at some little company. I'm sorry you use Windows at work. Mac is a better option obviously, but having a ChromeOS environment means less maintenance and more security. Google is the best when it comes to security.

-Android development runs the world. (You're wrong about Windows being dominant, it's not) IOS is obviously second.
-Duh, to nothing computational powerful runs on ChromeOS. It's a light Cloud Operating System on top of Linux. If I need something that's why there's the cloud with any Linux/Unix OS I need.
-If you were a true IT worker, you would just ssh to work and a Chromebook works just fine for that. But maybe you don't know what that is.
-ChromeOS already has steam support and you can already cloud game on GE Force now. I'm sorry if Microsoft did the good ol' Monopoly trap on you if you are Xbox/PC user.
-Everyone that tries to get anything office related (IN THE REAL WORLD) uses the G Suite for Enterprise. If you use Outlook and that other garbage then I'm sorry to hear that. Go be an intelligent person and go pay $100 for office software. Lol! I make myself laugh with these jokes.
-You're right Linux is the best in the Server space. That's why ChromeOS is Linux based.
-Stop assuming and putting words in people's mouth and actually read. This isn't the end all be all OS. It's good for a general audience and as a family computer that everyone can use.

*Mike drop. *Done

[PlayBox]

I'm actually a Unix administrator not someone who works the help desk at some little company. I'm sorry you use Windows at work. Mac is a better option obviously, but having a ChromeOS environment means less maintenance and more security. Google is the best when it comes to security.

-Android development runs the world. (You're wrong about Windows being dominant, it's not) IOS is obviously second.
-Duh, to nothing computational powerful runs on ChromeOS. It's a light Cloud Operating System on top of Linux. If I need something that's why there's the cloud with any Linux/Unix OS I need.
-If you were a true IT worker, you would just ssh to work and a Chromebook works just fine for that. But maybe you don't know what that is.
-ChromeOS already has steam support and you can already cloud game on GE Force now. I'm sorry if Microsoft did the good ol' Monopoly trap on you if you are Xbox/PC user.
-Everyone that tries to get anything office related (IN THE REAL WORLD) uses the G Suite for Enterprise. If you use Outlook and that other garbage then I'm sorry to hear that. Go be an intelligent person and go pay $100 for office software. Lol! I make myself laugh with these jokes.
-You're right Linux is the best in the Server space. That's why ChromeOS is Linux based.
-Stop assuming and putting words in people's mouth and actually read. This isn't the end all be all OS. It's good for a general audience and as a family computer that everyone can use.

*Mike drop. *Done

maybe let someone who actually knows stuff not us who tell **** on the other sode while saying our preffered os is best

[Sup]

Nobody cares about Winblowz anymore. It is 2022. Just get a Chromebook and stop being stuck in the past. The OS is amazing and simple. This keyboard is amazing too. I could care less about what you think.

My guy ever heard of Linux? Chrome OS is based on Linux. You could have better spend money on a good Laptop and put a decent Distro on it then a locked down Linux by Google.

[Kirby6]

My man read my post. I already know that. ChromeOS is easier to use and cheaper. Also comes with a Debian shell built in. Times are changing. Go out and try something different. Peace dude.

[Sup]

My man read my post. I already know that. ChromeOS is easier to use and cheaper. Also comes with a Debian shell built in. Times are changing. Go out and try something different. Peace dude.

Why would i use ChromeOS? I can use Ubuntu what is also super easy and user friendly these days. I am using enough different stuff. I dual booted Windows,Linux and used a bit of macOS. The reason ChromeOS is cheaper because, most of the time they lack the quality and specs. Why do you think schools loves Chromebooks because the only thing they really run is webapps.

[Kirby6]

You and the last guy didn't get the point of my post.

*My point was that HP made a Chromebase that is a great family computer. Comes with a great keyboard that is unique. That's it. Just wanted to share it on Geekhack, because I don't think a lot of people know about it.

Some reasons someone would want to run ChromeOS and be Google Centric are:
-It's only one thing. Instead of owning an Iphone and having a Windows machine and owning Alexa Smart Home Stuff. You keep everything in one ecosystem and it is just better. Having a consistent ecosystem is probably gonna be more important than the individual strengths of certain devices.
-It's user friendly, simple, and doesn't require maintenance. I run FreeBSD and a range of other Linux distros on a daily basis. I know how you feel. I'm a die hard command line junkie and I have to use the terminal at least once per day. I love the freedom that Nix boxes give me. At the end of the day, one just wants to get on with their lives when they go home, and have something that just works.
-It's cost effective. Of course gaming rigs are better. I'm not saying the specs that ChromeOS devices have are superior. But the overall daily productive experience of using Google software/devices probably is. They still have a lot to go in terms of improvement,  because they don't support heavy duty gaming and apps, and that's the trade off. But everything will eventually just be in the cloud. So there is beginning to be little use to having so much power locally.
-It eliminates the "carrying around two laptops problem". Myself I love using Linux Mint and Ubuntu for all my dev/sysadmin/programming stuff. At the end of the day, it's a security concern, because you're doing everything on the same box and installing all these different packages. Things break. Updates break things as well. I would just want to keep my personal business stuff (gmail/drive/docs/sheets/calendar) separate from my business work. So in ChromeOS just having a simple Terminal app that let's me just connect to a cloud machine and manage all that up there is one route to take. You get to the point where you can sometimes just get by with just that. Plus, the terminal app is in a container that is separate from the rest of the OS. (Without having to install or manage Virtual Machine software.) it's just a simple click away.

That's all I have to say. I hope anyone else reading this post doesn't spin this around and think I'm saying this is the "best computer system ever" and it "beats everything" and it's "for everyone". THAT IS NOT MY MESSAGE. My message is, "Hey look everyone, this is a simple and easy to use family computer that a techie can sorta get by with when he's at home." And if you are willing to make some sacrifices like gaming, downloading some software in exchange for little maintenance plus an enjoyable day-to-day experience: Then a ChromeOS device maybe for you. Oh and the keyboard is weirdly competing with my HHKB for some odd reason??? Although I'm a die hard HHKB fan.

Happy Holidays Geek Hack.

[PlayBox]

You and the last guy didn't get the point of my post.

*My point was that HP made a Chromebase that is a great family computer. Comes with a great keyboard that is unique. That's it. Just wanted to share it on Geekhack, because I don't think a lot of people know about it.

Some reasons someone would want to run ChromeOS and be Google Centric are:
-It's only one thing. Instead of owning an Iphone and having a Windows machine and owning Alexa Smart Home Stuff. You keep everything in one ecosystem and it is just better. Having a consistent ecosystem is probably gonna be more important than the individual strengths of certain devices.
-It's user friendly, simple, and doesn't require maintenance. I run FreeBSD and a range of other Linux distros on a daily basis. I know how you feel. I'm a die hard command line junkie and I have to use the terminal at least once per day. I love the freedom that Nix boxes give me. At the end of the day, one just wants to get on with their lives when they go home, and have something that just works.
-It's cost effective. Of course gaming rigs are better. I'm not saying the specs that ChromeOS devices have are superior. But the overall daily productive experience of using Google software/devices probably is. They still have a lot to go in terms of improvement,  because they don't support heavy duty gaming and apps, and that's the trade off. But everything will eventually just be in the cloud. So there is beginning to be little use to having so much power locally.
-It eliminates the "carrying around two laptops problem". Myself I love using Linux Mint and Ubuntu for all my dev/sysadmin/programming stuff. At the end of the day, it's a security concern, because you're doing everything on the same box and installing all these different packages. Things break. Updates break things as well. I would just want to keep my personal business stuff (gmail/drive/docs/sheets/calendar) separate from my business work. So in ChromeOS just having a simple Terminal app that let's me just connect to a cloud machine and manage all that up there is one route to take. You get to the point where you can sometimes just get by with just that. Plus, the terminal app is in a container that is separate from the rest of the OS. (Without having to install or manage Virtual Machine software.) it's just a simple click away.

That's all I have to say. I hope anyone else reading this post doesn't spin this around and think I'm saying this is the "best computer system ever" and it "beats everything" and it's "for everyone". THAT IS NOT MY MESSAGE. My message is, "Hey look everyone, this is a simple and easy to use family computer that a techie can sorta get by with when he's at home." And if you are willing to make some sacrifices like gaming, downloading some software in exchange for little maintenance plus an enjoyable day-to-day experience: Then a ChromeOS device maybe for you. Oh and the keyboard is weirdly competing with my HHKB for some odd reason??? Although I'm a die hard HHKB fan.

Happy Holidays Geek Hack.

i don't really agree woth all your points but im tired of all this bs, i kinda want to say that keyhboard isn 't really unique its just a chiclet keyboard you can find a lot in laptops and prebuilts that's it. i don't mean its not nice but its definitely not unique

[Kirby6]

Cool story bro.

[Sup]

Cool story bro.

My guy are you pretending to be a different Kirby?  )

[Maledicted]

This post finally pushed me to re-emerge from the ether again. PlayBox may have come across a little strong, but I don't think you can blame anybody for initially assuming that this post was satirical. I know I literally busted out laughing when I saw the picture of the keyboard.

HHKB itself is already a pretty hard sell for a lot of people. And scissor switches/magic keyboard layout are as well. That layout is pretty common in anything that uses those types of switches. The biggest issue is that the arrow keys are pretty abysmal. I would argue that they're unusable. I find the ancient AT layout to be more ergonomic than those boards, but to each their own.

I worked for a good number of years in IT in a school district and was basically the only one working on the individual student systems (Chromebooks). The whole district had 6 buildings and we were 1:1 down to 1st grade (kindergarten during emergencies during the pandemic). That was many thousands of devices I was maintaining.

They're great for having devices people can't easily compromise (intentionally or unintentionally), especially if you're actually managing them in Google Admin. They're also great for having portable, disposable devices. Some of the hotkeys are pretty slick, like when managing multiple displays. Some devices are now able to install desktop Linux applications, and that implementation is pretty slick. That's about where the benefits end. Chrome OS had already become more bloated than Windows a number of years ago, and their low overhead was about their only major benefit to lone users outside of an enterprise environment.

The menus are infuriatingly poorly laid out (worse with every update, which they shuffle around with 0 rhyme or reason), the actual options you have for customization are relatively low (with some novel exceptions compared to other operating systems), and I'm not sure where you get the idea that everybody should be using G Suite for office tasks. They've made great strides, but there are still many things you can't do in it (and there may not be extensions for). The most glaring weakness, however, in my eyes is data loss. It was a fairly common occurrence for students to lose large portions of documents they were working on because of communication issues with Google's servers. Rarely, the whole district would be unable to use G Suite at all, at the mercy of Google.

A lot of people don't like corporations like M$ and Google spying on every little thing they do either. It seems like your biggest argument for having it is just SSH and cloud computing ... neither of which you need a Chromebook for. Your preference is your preference, but you should be able to see why Chrome OS isn't for everyone.

Personally, I own some Chromebooks and have (ironically) installed Linux on them. Google Chrome is a terrible browser in my opinion, and minimal distros like Lubuntu run much more efficiently on the same cheap hardware. It is hard to find devices smaller running any other OS though these days. If you can pick them up on Ebay for $50-80 used and install Linux, you've at least got something perfectly usable that you don't mind breaking or losing.

Since that board is probably very similar to other scissor switch boards that can be popular with those who are not hardcore hobbyists, how would you compare it to others? Have you tried very many other enthusiast switches besides Topre? FYI, Chrome OS handles the F keys on any standard keyboard the same way it does its own proprietary keys. You'll have the same experience out of the box with any other USB keyboard with an f row. The processor in that device is pretty slow ... so you may not be able to blame the keyboard for its responsiveness to wake up after having sat a while.