Filco JIS or Filco US for an ISO user?

[juguerre]

Hi all,
Ok, sounds a little bit weird but I just have being reviewing Filco keyboards at amazon.co.jp and I think there are some pretty good deals there... Being an ISO layout user (es layout) I have being thinking about getting a JIS Filco (a ninja TKL one) and take advantage of the extra JIS keys. On the other hand I know that could be difficult to customize a JIS layout and there are good deals for US Filco too (a lot easier to customize).
What do you think guys? Is going to be really hard to find keycaps for the Filco JIS layout? Is the tinny space bar the only problem?

Thanks!

[esoomenona]

I wonder if anyone has tried using a HID Liberator or Pegasus Hoof on a JIS layout Filco. I wonder if it would work. What kind of advantage are you hoping to take with them?

[juguerre]

I wonder if anyone has tried using a HID Liberator or Pegasus Hoof on a JIS layout Filco. I wonder if it would work. What kind of advantage are you hoping to take with them?

Hi! Thanks for your reply.
There are mainly 3 reasons:
1.- Better compatibility with ISO layout (more keys better than less keys)
2.- Filco JIS is cheaper in amazon.co.jp
3.- There are some keys that are not wisely allocated in the ES layout ([] and {} for example) and may be these extra JIS keys ...

[esoomenona]

The problem is this, which is why I ask: when you plug a JIS keyboard into your computer which is set up to use the ES ISO layout you mentioned, those JIS keys won't register anything. You won't be able to access them with any software to modify at will. This is why I brought up the custom controllers I mentioned in my previous post.

[juguerre]

Ups! I supposed that extra keys could be remapped using keytweak. I read that in this post:
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=55598.0

Is that not working or is there some problem?

[esoomenona]

Hmm, it seems it might be a possibility, based on that link. You could give it a try.

[juguerre]

Hmm, it seems it might be a possibility, based on that link. You could give it a try.

mmm ... any way, would be great to know about experiences customizing JIS layout. I didn't see many offers supporting that layout ...

[esoomenona]

The only other experience I've seen was from khaangaaroo. This thread here: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=44796.0

[Puddsy]

Don't ISO Filcos exist? Did I miss something?

[juguerre]

Don't ISO Filcos exist? Did I miss something?

95$ for a Filco Ninja is good reason to evaluate JIS layout  ... There is forwarding cost too (35$)

[IvanIvanovich]

Go JIS. While I don't have a Filco, I do have a Cherry G80-3600 JIS model. Yes, it will be a nightmare to find replacement spacebars for Filco JIS as they don't use a friendly size. As far as the extra keys they do send a distinct scan code and can easily be remapped via software on the OS level with utilities capable of scan code reassign available for whatever OS.
Personally, I find JIS layout more intelligent that ISO. When using other than Japanese key maps, you get all the punctuation on the right side... not one random out of place punctuation key between left shift and 'z' where it makes no sense.

As far as hardware replacement controllers like bpiphany's... I don't see any reason why you couldn't use it if you wished, as the JIS TKL/Full keyboards share the same PCB revision as far as I know. The only 'problem' you should encounter there is having to adjust the keymap in the firmware. Only the plates are different to accommodate the extra keys.