Any cons for getting keyboard with Chinese and English letterings ?

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Ok the keyboard i am looking at is the Ducky 9008 black on black letters (presumably laser etched with infills).

http://www.duckychannel.com.tw/index-2-1-7.html


So anyway the variant with chinese and english letters looks like this. I like the exotic look, plus my other family members who know chinese may find it useful, although for me, not at all.




The regular plain English one looks like this. Looks nice and simple.





So is there any cons I won't find a nasty surprise that i can only type in chinese letters with the chinese keyboard only :X

How do you toggle between chinese and english characters when typing on the keyboard ?

[abflex]

I have used greek keyboards and they have a "latin lock" key that works just like a caps lock.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Oh so this keyboard would have something like a Chinese lock key to toggle between Chinese and English

[abflex]

Oh so this keyboard would have something like a Chinese lock key to toggle between Chinese and English

Most likely, some boards have key combo to produce the same effecy like shift-caps lock. But yeah it should toggle in some way unless the Chinese are very unlike other non-latin nations.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Hm... i will try ask David about this. He is a rep for Ducky Taiwan.

From what i know so far, it has a function key that lets you disable the windows key which is awesome. I wonder if it also toggle english/chinese hm..

[Sam]

I had (actually still have someplace) a Chinese keyboard.  It's been years since I used it and then only used it for testing input of Chinese characters.  It was horrible to type on (I mean beyond the fact that it was probably the worst rubber dome board I've ever used).  The biggest problem was the modifier keys next to the space bar meant the space bar was tiny, and it was centered.  Being I'm used to hitting my space bar only with my right thumb directly below the 'N' key, I was always hitting a modifier rather than the intended space bar.  Beyond that, I recall there were some other difference in the key layout compared to what I was used to.  If it was my only board, I would have likely adapted over time.  I have no idea of the current status of Chinese boards, and how they might compare layout-wise to mine, but I'd definitely look carefully at the layout before deciding to buy a Chinese keyboard just to be cool.

[laden3]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=taiwan+keyboard+layout

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Ok found a clearer picture.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytn/4480800301/in/set-72157623746243676/#/photos/andytn/4480800301/in/set-72157623746243676/lightbox/




Looks like a Taiwanese character layout Zhuyin

Zhuyin Fuhao, often abbreviated zhuyin, and colloquially called Bopomofo[1] is the first official phonetic system introduced in 1910s for transcribing Chinese, especially Mandarin.

Consisting of 37 letters and 4 tone marks, it can transcribe all possible sounds in Mandarin. Despite being faded out in mainland China, People's Republic of China since 1950s, this system is still widely used as an educational tool and Chinese computer input method in Taiwan, Republic of China.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout



So only question left is how they toggle between language hm :/

[laden3]

shift+ alt with system locale set to Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan)

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Ah thanks Laden.

[sickchief]

As far as I know, there is no functional or layout difference between the Taiwanese and US English version of Ducky since they only use a combo like Alt+shift to switch between English and Chinese input mode. Simply get a new set of keycaps to replace the Chinese lettering ones if you really feel uncomfy.
Or you can just buy a English Ducky from China, which are identical to the boards sold in the US, including the lettering.

[kip69]

I am on the Irocks 6230 right now.  Its got Chinese and English and is from Taiwan.  All keyboards I have seen in every language use the OS to switch the keys.  In winders you hit the **** + Ctrl to switch lang or Shift + space to set Chinese input.

I could order you one to my house, test it then ship it to you if it passes.  My usual tip for such services is one can of Dr. Pepper ($35nt or $1us).

I have been eyeballing the Ducky sight myself.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

I am on the Irocks 6230 right now.  Its got Chinese and English and is from Taiwan.  All keyboards I have seen in every language use the OS to switch the keys.  In winders you hit the **** + Ctrl to switch lang or Shift + space to set Chinese input.

I could order you one to my house, test it then ship it to you if it passes.  My usual tip for such services is one can of Dr. Pepper ($35nt or $1us).

I have been eyeballing the Ducky sight myself.

What country are you from ? Maybe you want to join the bulk :music:

[kip69]

I am in that Taiwan.  Everyone thinks you can get'em cheep here but I just can't find 'em.  I doubt a Singapore order would help.  

OT: I did not like Singapore that much.  Sure its a "fine" city, but its just like Vancouver.  If I go to a far off distant country I want to see some oddness  The $ was at 1 to one, they are spoke great English, They followed traffic laws, they even had Dr.Pepper at the same price as in Canada.  How same is that!

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

By the way i am glad i didn't go with the cherry reds. Boy i almost made a great mistake.

Coming from using my laptop's scissor-switch board for the last few months I was developing some odd habits, such as resting my little finger on the control key when I knew I was about to use it in a second for a quick Ctrl+C, Ctrl+T, Ctrl+V operation and the like.

Accidentally pressing a key is almost completely undetectable. They are so light that I would end up pressing the Control key simply from the weight of my little finger. It took at least a week to get used to this and even now I'm still working on it. The degree to which these are light is very unforgiving and learning not to bottom out when so little force is needed to do so has been a similar challenge. Anyone coming from a high-force board, and who enjoyed said high-force, would initially be either horribly frustrated or uncontrollably amused.

Undetectable resistance also means that there's nothing keeping you from typing at mach speed. I have been using this board for the last three weeks in preparation for this review, but I also have a Majestouch with Browns that I initially thought was not tactile enough. Now I wonder what on earth I was thinking and how I couldn't feel the Browns before. Those who have trouble detecting the tactile point on Brown MX switches need only spend an hour on Reds and you'll have no trouble feeling the bump when you go back to Browns.

There is a bit of lateral wiggle on the keys but since they already yield downward with the lightest touch, moving sideways too is of almost no consequence. It doesn't make the key feel any less stable because the key already barely feels like anything at all. I would imagine with Browns or Blues the wiggle-room might be noticable around the actuation point but that's not the case here.

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:8597




Wow ..... sounds like the browns are perfect for me. Light but not crazy light @_@: Tactile yet may feel linear when you push down all the way. Sounds more balanced between typing heaven and gaming heaven if you ask me.

Red = too soft

Black = too hard

blue = too clicky

brown = nirvana


Anyway back to topic. So kip69 what are you saying ? Your in Taiwan but you cannot find that Ducky keyboard ? Are you serious :d

[kip69]

Wow ..... sounds like the browns are perfect for me. Light but not crazy light @_@: Tactile yet may feel linear when you push down all the way. Sounds more balanced between typing heaven and gaming heaven if you ask me.

Red = too soft

Black = too hard

blue = too clicky

brown = nirvana


Anyway back to topic. So kip69 what are you saying ? Your in Taiwan but you cannot find that Ducky keyboard ? Are you serious :d

Yap. That is what I am saying.  I looked for cherries and duckies and what not.  Even asked my store for any brown switch keyboards they could order.  The only one they could find was the Irock they had in stock already.  If you have any hints where to look I can do the looking.  I love the switch, tea colour is for me, but not to fond of the lay out.  And its hard for my wife to type Chinese on it.  Too small she says.  I would like to try a blue, but we need quiet due to sleeping children and I don't really touch type anyway .

My wife looked over that KBtalking squirly web sight but she has been mad at me for a few days so perhaps she chose not to find it.  She said she could not find a sales part, only a geek forum like ... well, like here

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Why don't you try contacting James from Ducky directly to enquire purchasing the Ducky keyboard.

james@duckychannel.com.tw


I am sure he can sell it to you directly from the official Ducky website.


I saw a utube of the Ducky 9008 with blue switches. Too clicky/noisy for my taste. I think you would be happier with the brown.

[SmallWalrus]

I am in that Taiwan.  Everyone thinks you can get'em cheep here but I just can't find 'em.  I doubt a Singapore order would help.  

OT: I did not like Singapore that much.  Sure its a "fine" city, but its just like Vancouver.  If I go to a far off distant country I want to see some oddness  The $ was at 1 to one, they are spoke great English, They followed traffic laws, they even had Dr.Pepper at the same price as in Canada.  How same is that!

Truth be told, I would much more prefer Vancouver to Singapore

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

I decided to just get plain English only.

Simpler that way. I don't want to risk getting my first mechanical keyboard and hate it cauz i picked one i may not have liked.