geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: FinancialWar on Mon, 10 February 2014, 17:59:22
-
I am interested in getting a mechanical "left-handed" keyboard, what brand is the one in the picture with green/white keycaps?
(http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o615/FinancialWar/Capture_zps51af0df7.jpg)
Also, how many mechanical left-handed keyboards are there on the market these days, I'm talking about a completely left-handed board, with the arrows keys and the nine keys above the arrows keys all on the left side too, not just the numpad on the left.
Thanks.
-
That's a right-handed keyboard. Most keyboards on the market are left-handed: they leave room for the mouse to the left-hand side of the alphanumeric area. IBM and DEC designed their layouts before widespread use of a mouse.
The answer to your topic title lies deep inside the Alps vortex. This one below is a Strong Man KB-8861XP based on the FCC grantee code (KM9):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/349667-ta497636/tags/smkb8861xplifthandblack/
Strong Man, Datacomp and DSI were closely linked and I don't know quite who was responsible for what. That LED cover for example is exactly the same as on many Datacomp keyboards. Unfortunately the FCC ID and manufacturer are not the same thing: Apple keyboards had Apple FCC IDs despite being made by Alps, NMB etc.
I don't recall seeing any other "left-handed" design other than that one, personally.
-
That's a right-handed keyboard. Most keyboards on the market are left-handed: they leave room for the mouse to the left-hand side of the alphanumeric area. IBM and DEC designed their layouts before widespread use of a mouse.
The answer to your topic title lies deep inside the Alps vortex. This one below is a Strong Man KB-8861XP based on the FCC grantee code (KM9):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/349667-ta497636/tags/smkb8861xplifthandblack/
Strong Man, Datacomp and DSI were closely linked and I don't know quite who was responsible for what. That LED cover for example is exactly the same as on many Datacomp keyboards. Unfortunately the FCC ID and manufacturer are not the same thing: Apple keyboards had Apple FCC IDs despite being made by Alps, NMB etc.
I don't recall seeing any other "left-handed" design other than that one, personally.
Do you have left- and right-handed mixed up there in the beginning?
-
No. That's the whole point. Why do people go with TKL? Chances are they're right-handed and the numeric keypad gets in the way of the mouse. The keyboard pictured above moves the numeric keypad to the opposite side of the keyboard to where the mouse goes, making it a right-handed design; left-handed users can already put the mouse into an unobstructed space on a normal keyboard. I contemplated one, but a) my desk doesn't extend past the left side of the keyboard, and b) they're now sold only with Cherry MX Black (and have been for several years):
http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard/black-left-handed-keyboard-ps2-and-usb.asp
Now, here's the kicker. Strong Man went out of business years ago. So who's making these now?
-
Wicked! I would love one of those, if there was a buckling spring version.
-
I don't recall ever using the tenkey with my left hand as a right-hander.
No one markets a standard 104 key as left-handed, no matter the actuality of handed usefulness.
DSI makes a left-handed 104.
http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=25
-
That DSI is the same keyboard again. Remember I mentioned Strong Man/Datacomp/DSI earlier?
I asked Bruce at Keyboardco, and he thinks that theirs are Datacomp. The three companies (now only two, as Strong Man went bust around 2008) seem to be closely linked. I never got a reply from Datacomp; perhaps I should ask DSI ... DSI appear to be American, so they may be the US side of Datacomp, who are Taiwanese.
-
Should be similar to the Ancer KF-191 I just picked up from ebay. Will post pics when I get it in the mail.
-
No. That's the whole point. Why do people go with TKL? Chances are they're right-handed and the numeric keypad gets in the way of the mouse. The keyboard pictured above moves the numeric keypad to the opposite side of the keyboard to where the mouse goes, making it a right-handed design; left-handed users can already put the mouse into an unobstructed space on a normal keyboard. I contemplated one, but a) my desk doesn't extend past the left side of the keyboard, and b) they're now sold only with Cherry MX Black (and have been for several years):
http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard/black-left-handed-keyboard-ps2-and-usb.asp
Now, here's the kicker. Strong Man went out of business years ago. So who's making these now?
So that's why The Keyboard Co list it as a left-handed board.... oh, what? ;)
Your dominant hand is best for using the "extra" keys (arrows, edit, numpad).
-
a mouse is NOT required to be used with a keyboard. the handedness of a keyboard is determined by itself.
it has more junk on the right side. your dominant hand should be on the side with more junk because your dominant hand is better at doing more stuff. therefore, normal keyboards are right handed.
what you're ACTUALLY talking about is the logical way to use the equipment. real life does (and is usually not) logical; keyboards are part of real life.
-
a mouse is NOT required to be used with a keyboard. the handedness of a keyboard is determined by itself.
it has more junk on the right side. your dominant hand should be on the side with more junk because your dominant hand is better at doing more stuff. therefore, normal keyboards are right handed.
what you're ACTUALLY talking about is the logical way to use the equipment. real life does (and is usually not) need to be logical; keyboards are part of real life.
-
a mouse is NOT required to be used with a keyboard. the handedness of a keyboard is determined by itself.
How does hand dominance come into play on a device where both hands are expected to be trained to hit keys equally well? If your non-dominant hand is so wobbly that you can't hit keys on a numeric keypad, you might have bigger problems in being able to type at all!
How many "left-handed" keyboards are there anyway, and how many were around before the mid 90s? The only one I know of is the one pictured above, which if I understand correctly, is a Strong Man design acquired by Datacomp. (There's also the DSI Modular Mac, that arguably serves the same function.)
Don't forget that the function keys used to go on the left originally, which made more sense as you could hit them with your left pinky! It's not correct to assume any handedness with any keyboard based on the Model M, as people are simply copying a design from the 80s that's stuck, regardless of whether IBM had a clue. The top F key row was apparently only done to put the F keys below an on-screen contextual overlay, though it made room for more columns of keys (number pad AND navigation having dedicated keys).
One thing I struggle with when using my Poker II is having the alphanumeric area so central, as I guess I normally push the keyboard to the left to make room for the mouse and to not have so much of the keyboard so far out of reach; on the Poker I sometimes press keys one column over as a result. Personally I think that we should have the numeric keypad on the left, and navigation on the right. It's a compromise: the alphanumeric area is now central, it's "tenkeyless" as far as the mouse is concerned, and you still get numeric data entry speed.
Then again, despite believing that I couldn't live without the number pad, I mostly miss it on my Poker II simply by when I whack right shift when imagining that it is numpad enter ... My biggest confusion is mixing up Fn+A (left) with Ctrl+A (home in Linux) and trying to get home from Fn+A ... (that and misreading "PN" as "FN", which is really annoying).
The problem with the industry is that most companies prefer to just screw around with layouts in ways that don't really make any sense. The "left-handed" design is another weirdo idea that doesn't actually solve anything.
-
a mouse is NOT required to be used with a keyboard. the handedness of a keyboard is determined by itself.
it has more junk on the right side. your dominant hand should be on the side with more junk because your dominant hand is better at doing more stuff. therefore, normal keyboards are right handed.
what you're ACTUALLY talking about is the logical way to use the equipment. real life does (and is usually not) logical; keyboards are part of real life.
The last sentence is the stupidest and most illogical sh1t I ever read, even by geekhack standards.
Your reasoning is
Since real life is usually NOT logical
And because keyboard is part of real life,
Therefore keyboard need NOT to be logical.
Is that why you say illogical things because you live in the real world?
-
Logic. Not even once.
-
so that keyboard in the picture comes only in cherry black? Screw that. I'll guess I'll stick with my Left Naga+normal keyboard combo.
-
so that keyboard in the picture comes only in cherry black? Screw that. I'll guess I'll stick with my Left Naga+normal keyboard combo.
Hey Since you call yourself FinancialWar, why not try a financial keyboard?
This guy is probably as close as you can get to a right handed keyboard. Admittedly, the layout has problems of its own...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Financial-Application-Keyboard-Cherry-Mechanical-Switches-and-Touchpad-DCK-101B-/201036043894?pt=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item2eceae9676
-
so that keyboard in the picture comes only in cherry black? Screw that. I'll guess I'll stick with my Left Naga+normal keyboard combo.
Hey Since you call yourself FinancialWar, why not try a financial keyboard?
This guy is probably as close as you can get to a right handed keyboard. Admittedly, the layout has problems of its own...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Financial-Application-Keyboard-Cherry-Mechanical-Switches-and-Touchpad-DCK-101B-/201036043894?pt=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item2eceae9676
Lol what kind of ancient board is that? Maybe George Soros used back in the 80s.
Everyone use Bloomberg keyboard in finance.
-
a mouse is NOT required to be used with a keyboard. the handedness of a keyboard is determined by itself.
How does hand dominance come into play on a device where both hands are expected to be trained to hit keys equally well? If your non-dominant hand is so wobbly that you can't hit keys on a numeric keypad, you might have bigger problems in being able to type at all!
i'm not sure where you're going with this. both hands only split the base set in half. the dominant hand has to use the number pad + the cursor block.
which 52 keys do you use your left hand for?
i only reach far enough to the right to hit f5, 6, y, h, b, and space.
.
....
gj. you've figured it out.
ending things with incorrect logic appeals to people who don't analyze things. psychology 'trick'; makes the mentioned people happier. met a politician before?
but actually gj.
-
So that explains the WASD cluster as arrow keys?
Cause i'm left handed and im using the arrow keys as the "WASD" cluster, so somebody long ago just decided to put numpad on the right side?
-
so that keyboard in the picture comes only in cherry black? Screw that. I'll guess I'll stick with my Left Naga+normal keyboard combo.
Hey Since you call yourself FinancialWar, why not try a financial keyboard?
This guy is probably as close as you can get to a right handed keyboard. Admittedly, the layout has problems of its own...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Financial-Application-Keyboard-Cherry-Mechanical-Switches-and-Touchpad-DCK-101B-/201036043894?pt=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item2eceae9676
Lol what kind of ancient board is that? Maybe George Soros used back in the 80s.
Everyone use Bloomberg keyboard in finance.
are you in the financial sector? If everyone uses Bloomberg now, would be interested to know if you can get hold of some WEY keyboards, Reuters keyboards and other things that your company no longer wants to use.
-
so that keyboard in the picture comes only in cherry black? Screw that. I'll guess I'll stick with my Left Naga+normal keyboard combo.
Hey Since you call yourself FinancialWar, why not try a financial keyboard?
This guy is probably as close as you can get to a right handed keyboard. Admittedly, the layout has problems of its own...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Financial-Application-Keyboard-Cherry-Mechanical-Switches-and-Touchpad-DCK-101B-/201036043894?pt=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item2eceae9676
Lol what kind of ancient board is that? Maybe George Soros used back in the 80s.
Everyone use Bloomberg keyboard in finance.
are you in the financial sector? If everyone uses Bloomberg now, would be interested to know if you can get hold of some WEY keyboards, Reuters keyboards and other things that your company no longer wants to use.
I want that Reuters board that has 9999999 keys :-*