Can someone explain why tenkeyless are so popular here?

[itlnstln]

Umm, yeah... about that class...  can you come in on Saturday?

[Kairxa]

Help me decide about what I should get. FKBN104M/EB-AI or FKBN87M/EB? I already have FKBN104MC/EB now.

#threadhijacking

[Nadger]

the ergonomics for me is for gaming.  Since my right hand is always on the mouse, and my left hand is always on the wsad...a full sized keyboard causes either my left arm or right arm to be kinked at an angle off my arm-rests/shoulders.

You can still have a numpad with a tenkeyless.  You just get it separately.  You can place it on the left side of your keyboard or you can place it above your mouse or above the arrow key section.

The idea is to keep your arms straight.  This not only helps you avoid pain and even chronic pain problems down the road, but it also (for me at least) when my arms are straight i find my mouse movements are more precise and my wsad fingers are quicker.  This is simply due to how our muscles and tendons work.  If they are completely relaxed you are able to control them more effectively.  If they are tense or stretched you loose some agility/speed/dexterity.

So a tenkeyless for me is less about typing, as i dont spend long periods of time doing that, and more about gaming and web browsing.

[adamgoldberg]

Help me decide about what I should get. FKBN104M/EB-AI or FKBN87M/EB? I already have FKBN104MC/EB now.

#threadhijacking

Go ahead & jack my thread.  Seems like most folks like Cherry Blue, but if you know what you want, Brown is also popular with some.

My Unicomp arrives tomorrow; I'm tempted to buy a tenkeyless to try it out (since no one seems to be volunteering to loan me one).

[Lane Dean]

I just think they look uber l33t

[theferenc]

I've started paying attention to my mousing habits since this thread started, and I can say, personally, I'm rarely using both the keyboard and mouse at the same time. And even with a compact keyboard, I tend to move it out of the way when I am mousing a lot, so a lot of the advantages stated here are moot for me.

Besides, I do loves me a nice buckling spring keyboard. Now I just need to work up the courage to do the nut/bolt mod on my M, and then rearrange my keyboard layout.

Too bad I can't find a mod to split a fullsize M into the alpha block and then the arrows/editing/number block. Stupid membrane.

[adamgoldberg]

Now I just need to work up the courage to do the nut/bolt mod on my M, and then rearrange my keyboard layout.

What's a "nut/bolt mod"?

[msiegel]

What's a "nut/bolt mod"?

the plastic rivets that fasten the switch assembly together are drilled out and replaced by nuts and bolts. makes everything nice and firm; less pingy

[Snow_Fox]

Honestly..

After using a laptop for 3 years... I was so relieved to have a cheap 11$ keyboard with the ten keys..

Why? MMORPGS SUCK when all the keys aren't nice and neat in one spot..

Click enemy.. run around using wasd and go to town with num key pad..

Now that I have the ten keys, I don't use them nearly as much as I use to because, I am not playing as many mmo's.

So if your not playing mmorpgs.. or you already have one of those MMORPG mice with 11 million buttons on it.. I can understand not really wanting/caring for a ten key pad...

I still prefer to have it fwiw..

[Bullveyr]

the ergonomics for me is for gaming.

Same here, just gives me more space for my mouse without moving my keyboard too much to the left.

I need about 33cm for a 360° turn in a shooter.

[Nadger]

Honestly..

After using a laptop for 3 years... I was so relieved to have a cheap 11$ keyboard with the ten keys..

Why? MMORPGS SUCK when all the keys aren't nice and neat in one spot..

Click enemy.. run around using wasd and go to town with num key pad..

Now that I have the ten keys, I don't use them nearly as much as I use to because, I am not playing as many mmo's.

So if your not playing mmorpgs.. or you already have one of those MMORPG mice with 11 million buttons on it.. I can understand not really wanting/caring for a ten key pad...

I still prefer to have it fwiw..

Yeah my mouse had a numpad on it, but even if it didnt i doubt i would ever remove my hand from the mouse when playing a mmo to hit the numpad.  I normally use up the keys around wsad or i will use esdf so i can bind 1-7 and qwrtyaghzxcvbb~ for abilities.

[ynih]

I use the top #s on my keyboard for general # entering, but when it comes down to IP address (I work in IT), without the num pad, I would die...

[Senor_Cartmenez]

people just like saying 'tenkeyless'. it sounds kind of mysterious.

welly is the only one who got it right.

Hats off to you good sir.

[Lanx]

i never understood why ppl didn't use numpad for gaming. Especially in mmo's there are "at least" 20 seperate action keys needed not counting movement, yes you can activate it from gui/mouse but if your playing on the high end lvl, you'd be dead by the time you move your mouse to one of those action keys.

[Lanx]

you get logical "clusters" with the numpad area, you have 17 buttons with which you can assign hotkeys+movement then you have the arrow cluster and the 2x3 pgdn/pgup cluster and even the numlock 3button cluster. otherwise how can 20 or so actions be mapped out on a keyboard effectively. scroll through numrow?

the number one reason why i found that some recruits or even some long time guild members were sucking were because they were "looking" for the button to click. the 3 seconds spent looking for a hotbutton on the hotbar of a gui is basically death in many cases.
there were only 2 reasons for a person not to be on point when something had to be done, they were either too slow cuz they were old(at which point we either kept them around cuz they had good attendance/ their class was needed or just kicked them out)or they couldn't find their buttons cuz they were dependant on the gui.
at this point i basically gave them a week to learn how to use the keyboard for buttons instead of "searching" the screen for a specific button, otherwise they were gone.

[Johannes]

you get logical "clusters" with the numpad area, you have 17 buttons with which you can assign hotkeys+movement then you have the arrow cluster and the 2x3 pgdn/pgup cluster and even the numlock 3button cluster. otherwise how can 20 or so actions be mapped out on a keyboard effectively. scroll through numrow?

Or perhaps alphabet keys?

[Lanx]

Or perhaps alphabet keys?

how would you be able to effectively press an alpha key such as p at a moments notice or "L", you can't.

this is all w/o looking at the keyboard btw, looking at the keyboard to press a button, is just as bad as trying to find a hot button in a gui, it just means death.

with a "physical" clustering of clearly seperated areas you can touch feel around the area.

[Johannes]

Well, you can use just qwertasdfgzxcvb (assuming QWERTY). That gives you 15 keys to work with, in easy reaches that become muscle memory. You also have easy access to modifiers and 1-5.
The disadvantage is that you're forced to use QWERTY.

[keyboardlover]

I prefer tenkeyless at home (where I need the desk space) and tenkeyfull at work (where I have plenty of it). Also I prefer tenkeyless Realforce to Filco because it feels more like a regular keyboard with the side cut off than a super small keyboard.

[itlnstln]

This just in.  Due to all the success of the Tenkeyless 'boards, Filco has put out the ultimate in space-saving keyboard technology: The EightyFourKeyLess Keyboard:

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Yeah, but it can never compare with the utmost minimalism of some companies.

[Crypt]

Left handed keyboards seem to be an excellent alternative to tenkeyless.  I haven't seen them mentioned much on GH.

[Fwiffo]

We also don't often discuss unicorns as an alternative to ponies. :-)

[Fwiffo]

Hey, I made a smiley!

[db_Iodine]

Left handed keyboards seem to be an excellent alternative to tenkeyless.  I haven't seen them mentioned much on GH.

It's an alternative, but a separate numpad would be a better option at least for me.

Hey, I made a smiley!

Upvoted ^^

[itlnstln]

IMO, ten key was designed for using your right hand.  If the keys were inverted, that might help.  I tried a numpad on my left hand, and it just didn't feel right.


No pun intended.

[Crypt]

IMO, ten key was designed for using your right hand.  If the keys were inverted, that might help.  I tried a numpad on my left hand, and it just didn't feel right.


No pun intended.

Indeed, it's a compromise to avoid purchasing a separate numpad.

I'm also from teamliquid, so I'll spare him the downvote...this time...

Thanks for the welcome!

I'm coming from an IBM Model M / IBM X24 laptop (amazing for a laptop keyboard) -> Logi Illuminated and am looking at getting a blue cherry.

[dissident]

I prefer full size but that's because I game with the arrow keys and not with the keyboard area.. I like the extra length because the left side of the keyboard rests on the left armrest and I'm gaming with the right side, and the mouse on the right armrest.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

This just in.  Due to all the success of the Tenkeyless 'boards, Filco has put out the ultimate in space-saving keyboard technology: The EightyFourKeyLess Keyboard:

Show Image

I guess i am one of the few here that still prefers the 104 keys standard keyboard layout.

The extra numpad filco sells has to be inserted into a usb socket. So that will be one more wire lying across my table.

I don't have a neat round hole in my desk to manage my cables neatly so that is not an option for me.

The numpad keys i use for typing numbers quickly and also for gaming such as Starcraft 2 Storm of the Imperial Sanctum where i use the numbered keys to activate my items.

I can appreciate why people like 10keyless; so that they have more room especially so that the mouse is more to the center in the comfort zone. However after using the very big logitech G15V1, i'm pretty sure the standard 104 which is smaller than it, would be sufficient enough for me for the mouse positioning.