The new-school chiclet keys are fashionable, but it reduces my typing speed dramatically.
Sort of do not want.
Shameless rip-off, tailored for PC use.
Ohh... so now IBM-PC-Compatible users can have a horrible chiclet keyboard. I think I'll stay with my Model M lol.
By the look of the hand model in there, this keyboard isn't full size. Definitely do not want. Otherwise it looks alright.
What people don't appreciate is that if they overcame their preconceptions, they'd find that those Aloomanum Mac keyboards are better than most rubber dome keyboards out there.
The layout is the same as a standard US ANSI keyboard (or pretty representative of a standard laptop layout in the case of the compact ones) and they didn't strike me as particularly stiff. Very little travel, but in a sense, this is a good thing with rubber dome-based switches because it covers up the mushiness of the dome. I can type as fast on them as I can type on just about any other keyboard, so it's not as if they are an inherent impediment to fast typing.
To avoid any confusion I've stitched together an image of the ebay board. As you can see it's ***IBM PC*** orientated. It has arrow keys. It has an embedded numeric pad. I can see every function from a 104 key PC keyboard except:
- No right Windows or Menu keys. (Very appropriate to be left out of such a design.)
- No Pause/Break key. (Possibly a problem, but not to most users.)
- I don't see the Ins key. (Possibly a big problem to some.)
Maybe the Ins function is there but not marked. Worst case scenario is you have to do Shift-Fn-M to replicate it. It's hard to believe they would leave Ins out when they went to the trouble of adding a Fn layer. But who knows? There are lazy and stupid people in this world who are content to do a half-assed job.
I'm not trying to push this as a good daily driver (though some would be happy with it.) But it is a tiny portable keyboard with a good layout. Better laid out than my Cherry ML4100 for example. I appreciate utility items that have good design features. When they are cheap to boot it makes me very happy indeed.Show Image(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=11303&d=1277089839)
So, let me interject a bit on the ergonomics issue of chiclet and super thin keyboards...
I don't know if it was by design or by accident, but super thin keyboards actually may be more ergonomic for your average user because your average user doesn't buy wrist rests, keyboard trays, computer tables, or computer chairs. They've got a computer on top of an old desk somewhere and they're probably sitting on a wooden chair or an old office chair that's too short for comfortable computer use.
For these people, a flat keyboard is an asset because they're either going be to resting their forearms on the table top or the keyboard will be on the edge of the table and a regularly sized keyboard with normal travel will cause them to have to arch their wrists back into a really bad position for typing.
If you're trying to use a wrist or palm rest with these keyboards then they'll be impossible to use, but wrist or palm rests themselves are not necessarily recommended ergonomic devices. They help some people correct or prevent bad habits, but they can also create discomfort and lead to problems as well.
For a travel situation in which your computing setup may end up looking very similar to the daily setup of the average user because you're just using whatever furniture is available in front of you, a super flat keyboard may be a much better idea than you think... you just have to get used to it. If you're any good of a typist, you will pretty quickly once you get over how strange it feels at first.
But it's the apple keyboards that are made as a MAIN one that send me into insanity.