netbooks - best keyboard?

[PRISONER 24601]

After I ditched my Lenovo S10-2 (bad keyboard, ughh), I picked up a Dell Latitude 2100 for about $230 on the refurb site. Not a bad deal for a rugged, tough-as nails netbook. One of the reasons I picked it up is the good keyboard it's supposed to sport. I've played around with HP minis and Dell minis, and although they have pretty good keyboards for their size, I'm really hoping for more out of my 2100.
Next to the Thinkpads of old, Latitudes have my been the best typing experience for me. I hope the 2100 can live up to that standard.

Anyone here own a netbook? What has the best keyboard in your opinion?

I use the thing primarily for note-taking, so a good keyboard is an absolute must for me. It's gotta have near full-size keys, a full-sized backspace+enter+shift key, and clicky is definitely a plus.

Also, I abhor the chicklet keys on Mac and Sony laptops. so freakin' uncomfortable (pretty though).

[hyperlinked]

Anyone here own a netbook? What has the best keyboard in your opinion?

Also, I abhor the chicklet keys on Mac and Sony laptops. so freakin' uncomfortable (pretty though).

An Asus EeePC just landed in my lap out of the blue. The keyboard took a little getting used to, but I'm finding that it's ok to type on. It's sorta of a chiclet style keyboard, but the keys all touch. It's a decent typing experience for what it is... better than the early generation of Mac laptops that use chiclet keys. BTW, the more recent Mac laptops seem to have better feeling keyboards. They look the same, but they feel considerably different to me... good enough that I'll likely be replacing my Aluminum Styled MacBook Pro sometime in the next 6 months or so.

Anyway, back to the EeePC. The only problem is the size of the arrow keys. The left and right arrow keys are full sized and the up and down keys are half sized so all four keys take up the space of three keys laid out side by side. The lack of a real border on the touchpad is also a bit of a problem as it takes some extra effort to activate the border swipe to scroll.

I'm not going to be breaking any speed records on that keyboard, but it'll fulfill a basic need for good portable access. I'll just need to do some remapping so I can setup some macros for alternate arrow keys.

[vyshane]

I've got an MSI Wind U100. The keyboard is junk. The trackpad more so.

[iMav]

I own both an Acer Aspire One (passed on to my daughter because I grew frustrated with the limited vertical resolution) and an HP mini 2140 HD.  I really like the keyboard on the HP...best netbook keyboard I've laid hands on.  Of course, I'm also someone who enjoys the "chicklet keyboard" on my MacBook pro (just replaced my alum macbook with a 13.3" MBP so I could throw 8GB of ram into it...not that this is at all relavent).  

[PRISONER 24601]

thanks for the input. the hp mini series (2410 for sure) takes the cake for me, i would have picked one up if it weren't for the awesome deal i got on this refurb dell. now that i've spent a few days clicking around on it, i've grown to love the keyboard more than expected (low expectations for a 200$ latitude). they've got the strong tactile feedback that you can't find in many netbooks, and the keys are large and comfortable, even springy feeling like the hps.

as far as the chicklets go, i guess it's personal preference. i suppose it might take some getting used to. i spent a good weekend with my brother's macbook, and i never got used to the keys... but he seemed to like them enough.

[microsoft windows]

Also, I abhor the chicklet keys on Mac and Sony laptops. so freakin' uncomfortable (pretty though).

Apple's desktop keyboards are much worse.

This thing, to sum it up in a nutshell, is one of the WORLD'S CRAPPIEST RUBBER DOME KEYBOARDS EVER MADE. I mean it. They're even worse than newer Dell's!

Oh, and I forgot something. If they ever get a glimpse of sunlight, they turn yellow quicker than melting butter. They're JUNK.

[timw4mail]

Apple's desktop keyboards are much worse.

Show Image

This thing, to sum it up in a nutshell, is one of the WORLD'S CRAPPIEST RUBBER DOME KEYBOARDS EVER MADE. I mean it. They're even worse than newer Dell's!

The aluminum ones are better.

[microsoft windows]

But nothing from Apple comes remotely close to beating the Model M.

[timw4mail]

But nothing from Apple comes remotely close to beating the Model M.

Obvious comment is obvious.

[bigpook]

I don't think anything comes close to the model m, except for maybe a white alps.

[vyshane]

But nothing from Apple comes remotely close to beating the Model M.

Maybe the AEKII might have a shot?

[timw4mail]

Maybe the AEKII might have a shot?

It's not clicky.

[ch_123]

Beam Spring =P

And I have no idea where people get the idea that the AEK is Apple's answer to the Model M. The AEK feels like a very good rubber dome board - not that is necessarily a bad thing, it's just not as nice as a Model M.

[hyperlinked]

The aluminum ones are better.

I actually like the rubber domed ones better than the aluminum ones. The white keyboard itself sucked, but the keycaps were pretty good quality. The keyboard was fine for a week, but it didn't age well at all and I'm not talking about its ability to change colors on you either by sunlight or because crap falls into it.

[vyshane]

Beam Spring =P

And I have no idea where people get the idea that the AEK is Apple's answer to the Model M. The AEK feels like a very good rubber dome board - not that is necessarily a bad thing, it's just not as nice as a Model M.

I guess if your yardstick is clickyness, then the Model M wins. However, while I love my Model M to bits, I still prefer my Topre keyboard, which is not clicky.

[MsKeyboard]

I have a Samsung NC 10, and it is actually quite nice to type on, especially for a netbook.

Later.......

[hacfed]

I have to say, I've spent the last few days in bed (busted leg) using my EeePC 1005HA exclusively. I've got a HHKB Pro II and an M in the other room. I'm not missing them, believe it or not. I thought about taking the HHKB in to use as it's small enough but it was just an idle thought; there's no pressing need.

Now, I haven't used any other netbooks for an appreciable length of time, but I have pawed at a few. And I hated them. The Asus I didn't mind, so I bought one, and I've come to love it. Superior battery and build sealed the deal for me; I had resigned myself to getting a crappy keyboard.. it IS a netbook after all.

I was pleasantly surprised by its keyboard though. All in all, my typing speed hasn't suffered much: I usually type at a relaxed 50-60wpm and it's no problem to do so on this keyboard. Full sized right shift and enter (UK layout) as expected. 92% key size feels bigger than it actually is. Admittedly I couldn't break 70wpm on this board (whereas I can do ~110wpm on an M), and it does get a little tiring after a while, but that may not be true of others. My hands aren't large but I do prefer larger and more spacious keys. If you're buying a netbook I highly recommend the 1005HA. It's only real flaw is the low resolution (1024x600); I'd like to have seen..well..anything would be an improvement: 768 in the vertical would be a huge step up.

[tchuladdiass]

I've been looking at netbooks for a while, and have tried all the ones I can put my hands on.  For my tastes, I need a keyboard no smaller than 90% spacing.  Second requirement is that the keys are scooped on the top, not flat.  That way, if my fingers start to go off center, they can constantly re-calibrate themselves.

I've tried one of the HP netbooks (one of the 110 models, I think), an ASUS 1005, and an Acer D250 series.  I really liked the key spacing on the HP & ASUS models, but the problem with both of them is I kept making typing errors.  This is because the keys are too flat on the top, and there is no spacing between the keys.  Now the Acer key tops felt better (due to the spacing and a slight concave texture), but it felt a bit more cramped (not as bad as the original Asus netboks like the 701).  But in spite of the cramped feeling I was able to type several sentences without any typos.

So my vote out of those three would go to the Acer D250.  But you have to watch carefully which model you pick up.  Check the 4-digit model code on their web site -- each combination of features gets a different code.  Most of the stores (Best Buy, Office Max/Depot, Target, etc.) are getting the ones with the 3-cell battery.  You'd want the 6-cell battery (only costs $30 more online).  And they have three different 6-cell units -- 4800, 5200, and 5800 mAh).  That, in addition to different combinations of ram, cpu, and speed.

[ricercar]

The best keyboard is a pen. Samsung Q1 Ultra UMPC tablet.



 (You might ask what are those letters to the sides of the screen. I'm not sure, but even if they play one on TV, they're definitely not a useful keyboard.)

[xsphat]

I guess if your yardstick is clickyness, then the Model M wins. However, while I love my Model M to bits, I still prefer my Topre keyboard, which is not clicky.

Ditto. The white Alps are great, the Cherry blues feel like fake BS (take that as you will) switches and the BS is pretty phanominal to type on, but all in all the Topre switch is the best feel and the fastest typing experience which adds up to my favorite switch. With the form factor of the HHKB and the layout being so good, how could the outlandishly huge Model M beat the HHKB in anything but a fistfight?

[microsoft windows]

I like buckling springs, old complicated ALPS, and high-quality rubber dome switches with sliders (found on original Dell Quietkey and some old Compaq keyboards).  The keys on them, especially the old Quietkeys are VERY smooth and have a very good feel to them. You guys should try one sometime.

[hyperlinked]

I have a Samsung NC 10, and it is actually quite nice to type on, especially for a netbook.

Later.......

I just tried one of these today at a Best Buy store and I have to say I was really impressed with the keyboard of the Samsung netbooks. They were far and away the best feeling keyboards of all the netbooks that I tried typing on there.

I've gotten used to my Asus EeePC and can type rather comfortably on it. It doesn't feel as good as the Samsung, but I don't think a nicer keyboard like the one on the Samsungs would make a huge difference for me. The Asus Eeepcs look like it has unseparated chiclet keys, but each key is stepped so that the face has a ridge around it. I don't have any trouble at all touch typing on this.

I'm not a fan of slightly rounded corners on keys unless the key itself is also curved. The curved edges just aren't a sharp enough of a border for me. I tried out some of the other laptop keyboards (non-netbook and netbook) at the store that had rounded edges. It made it harder for me to feel the edges when I was getting off stroke. The keyboards on the Gateway laptops were awful.

[ch_123]

I guess if your yardstick is clickyness, then the Model M wins. However, while I love my Model M to bits, I still prefer my Topre keyboard, which is not clicky.

Kind of missing the point...I never said anything about Topres, and I doubt Cream Alps feel anything like them.

[microsoft windows]

The closest thing I have to a netbook is an old NEC MobilePro 770 H/PC (Hand-held PC) from 1998.