Hi. My name is Bill, and I made a mistake. Actually, a number of mistakes, but one in particular. Maybe you guys can help.
You see, I have a netbook. A little one - a Dell Mini 9. I like the size of it, I like its features, but I don't like the keyboard. That's not surprising, considering how tiny it is. The dinky keyboard has been adequate enough until lately, when I got a writing bug.
You see, I started using computer keyboards a *long* time ago. You may have heard of an ASR-33 teletype, but have you ever tried to type on one? I have - and I've written and edited programs on 'em. And that is only one of the truly awful keyboards I've used - actually, now that I think about it, all the really bad keyboards I've used were mechanical keyboards. Go figure. So that's why my netbook's dinky keyboard hasn't bothered me much.
But now that I've been bitten by the writing bug, I want to drag my netbook to work and to places like Starbucks, where I can sit around and write. But the Mini9's keyboard is in no way big enough for that.
That's when I made my mistake. I cruised a couple of office supply stores looking for a keyboard that wasn't twice the size of the Mini9. Finally, at a 'Best' Buy, I found a little keyboard. A Microsoft 'Arc' keyboard. There was no Arc unit on display - every one was in a sealed box. I bought the Arc without trying it. That was my mistake.
I've typed on good keyboards and I've typed on bad keyboards. But generally I can work with almost anything. There's a lot to like about the Arc. It's small, it feels sturdy, it's shaped well, and the feel of the keys isn't all that bad (by my very admittedly very lenient standards). It does what it needs to do - but I have found I really dislike that keyboard.
Maybe it's the toy-like feel of the plastic; but in any case it feels to me like something a toddler would play with. When I use that Arc, I keep thinking how much I don't like using the Arc, and that means it has to go.
While I've managed to work with just about every good or cruddy keyboard that has come my way, I have learned that the idea of a quality - i.e., mechanical - keyboard is very appealing to me.
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What I need right now is a smallish keyboard to go along with my netbook - something that is compatible with, and that does not look too huge sitting in front of my 9-inch-screen netbook.
I like the size and layout of the Happy Hacker keyboards. I've been around forever, and I've watched keyboards grow from small-but-all-that's-needed to ridiculously large, so a small but more-than-adequate keyboard layout appeals to me. However, I wonder if I have been spoiled by the half-acre sized 104-key keyboards of today? I'd really like to know for sure before I pony up $300 for a HHKBP2. I had been thinking of buying a HHKB Lite II and using that for a while to see if I like the layout. But the Lite isn't mechanical, and the Pro is more than I can spend right now.
Then I see that someone has a few Siig Minitouch keyboards available. It's small, it's mechanical - but it's not the HHKB layout. I'm sure I can configure the layout to a very close approximation of the HHKB if I wanted to.
However, the immediate need I have is for a keyboard for the Mini9 that I can use to pound out a lot of words - without irritating me, getting in my way, or causing me problems. I will use my netbook in class, in my cubicle at work, and in coffee shops, so it needs to play well with others. I'm not saying it needs to be silent - just not irritating to most other people. If I need to slap a sheet of rubber on the bottom of the unit to bring down the noise a few dBs, that's fine with me.
So... What to do? Buy the HHKB Lite II now or Siig Minitouch? I find myself bouncing between the two. So, I'm open to your suggestions. Maybe in a year or so I'll get the HHKBP2, but not now.
A little more background: I'm not a gamer, nor am I a particularly fast typist. I learned touch-typing a long time ago, and have typed most of my life, but I'm far from being a wonderful and demanding typist.
I run Linux - both on the Mini9 and on my desktop. Not that it makes much difference when I'm looking for a keyboard to type words on.
So... That's my story. Any suggestions?
-- Bill
