USB keyboard with Dvorak layout on iPad 2?

[JohnnyBoy]

Hi everyone.

I'm very close to buying an iPad, but I'd like to use it with an ergo/split keyboard (dvorak layout). However, I haven't seen many ergonomic BT keyboards, apart from the MS BlueTooth Keyboard 6000...

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I've been encouraged by the news that some people have successfully connected a USB keyboard to an iPad, thanks to the Camera Connection Kit dongle -- so that might open the door to using a split keyboard (assuming it doesn't draw too much power). But as a dvorak typist, I wondered if there was some way to connect a split/ergo keyboard AND use my preferred keyboard layout.

I know that this is a *very* long shot, because the iPad's "Hardware Keyboard Settings" probably only apply to a bluetooth k/b...

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...but has anyone tried to configure a USB keyboard connected to the iPad as a Dvorak k/b? I'd love to know!

(If it's not possible, I'll have to start looking for keyboards that are hard-wired to be Dvorak)

Thanks guys,
John.

[pitashen]

You could consider the option of getting a BT apple alumn keyboard and carefully swap the keycaps around.

[fossala]

I think he was meaning on a software level, not it just looking dvorak.

[sordna]

This is one of the reasons I never bother with alternate layouts.

But it's fun! I can switch back and forth between Dvorak and QWERTY no problem, although I am about 20% faster with Dvorak. It's sorta like playing different scales on your guitar or piano, ie going from a major scale to a minor.

[dorkvader]

But it's fun! I can switch back and forth between Dvorak and QWERTY no problem, although I am about 20% faster with Dvorak. It's sorta like playing different scales on your guitar or piano, ie going from a major scale to a minor.

Yeah, same here. on my "not work" computer, I use QWERTY almost without exception, and I can type almost as fast on it (though not as comfortably at all.)

After learning DVORAK, my typing speed for QWERTY increased greatly.

[JohnnyBoy]

Sorry for the delayed response -- I've had an intermittent broadband connection this week...

I dropped into PC World to see if they had the MS BT 6000 keyboard on display for me to try, but they didn't. However, they did have the MS 5000 desktop keyboard on display which also has the curved layout. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by just how usable it was. Not perfect, but a heck of a lot better than a standard straight keyboard.

Before mail-ordering a BT 6000, I really want to be sure that it's the same size and has the same curvature as the 5000 that I tried. So there's one place I've yet to check out for a display model -- Staples. If I have no luck there, I can always reduce my "I've bought this and it's not what I want" risk by buying second-hand from eBay and trying it out (Qwerty layout only) on my iPod Touch.

Thanks for everyone's input! :-)

[nodnerb]

Hasu's teensy-based firmware can do ps/2 --> usb and change the layout in the middle. He has demo firmware with colemak and dvorak layers. (You use a usb-ps2 adapter on the other end) I've been meaning to try this out myself.

[nodnerb]

... and it works. I am very impressed. My  GoldTouch PS/2 is helping me learn Colemak right now, but down to 15 wpm from 70.

[JohnnyBoy]

Just a quick update...

I didn't find an MS Bluetooth 6000 on the shelves of my local PC stores, but I did find one on eBay. I put in a bid of £15 and won it for that exact price (despite some cheeky sniper bidding the same amount in the closing seconds of the auction!).

Anyway, it's about as curved as I remember the 5000 corded model being. Here it is with my hand in-shot to show scale...

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Here it is next to my old, faithful, beaten-up Logitech Comfort Cordless (with the number pad sawn off). The curve on the MS isn't as pronounced as the split on the Logitech...

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And here is the MS k/b next to my iPod Touch. It took me a bit of fumbling around to establish the Bluetooth connection and then some more fumbling to find the 'External Hardware Keyboard' setting and switch it to Dvorak. But it's there, and it works...

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So, this seems to be the nearest that I can get to combining Apple's iOS, an ergonomic keyboard and the Dvorak layout. I'm going to try typing with the MS keyboard over a longer period of time to see if it's comfortable and that will influence my decision as to whether to get an iPad or not.

If I gravitate back to the comfort and familiarity of my old Logitech (as I suspect I will), then I may give up on the idea of using an iPad for portable computing and just plug my back-up Comfort Cordless into either my vintage Tosh Satellite CDT4030 laptop or the G4 iBook that I keep threatening to buy from eBay. At which point, I'll probably sell the MS Bluetooth k/b.