As we wait through this final stretch of the whole manufacturing quest, which has been so much longer than many of us anticipated… I find that my taste in keyboards has actually changed a fair bit since the time when I placed my order, and I'm dithering over whether I should change my order, assuming that's even possible now. With all the parts already produced, it would be perfectly understandable if it can't be changed. On the other hand, the website appears to still be taking new orders for this first production run?
Like so many before me, I've given 60% keyboards a try, and I've learned that they actually work pretty well for me. Thus, here I am scratching my head and wondering if I would prefer the F62 instead of the F77 that I put in for. The F62 is arguably better looking, space saving, and would let me keep the keyboard closer to my mouse as I have become accustomed now. And those extra 15 keys, well… What are they really good for?
It would be so much better if the 15-key pad was on the left instead of the right. But you know, it's a replica of the IBM, from an era before there was any such thing as a "mouse". They designed it the way they designed it, and it is what it is.
On the other hand, I've been using a split-spacebar keyboard (Banana Split 60) with a FN key right in the center, so I can simply press down my thumb and have all my nav keys right under my fingertips. Obviously the F62 doesn't have that. (Again, it is what it is.) So I'd be looking at:
My key assignments are all based on Linux usage, by the way. So, I don't need Windows or Menu keys. I love my Compose key, but it can be programmed to work with a tap of Right-Alt.
If I have to use both hands to navigate (with my right hand performing the critical task of holding down the FN key!), maybe I'd just be just as well off with the F77 anyhow. I mean, if I've got to take my right hand off the trackball, I might as well move it to the 15-key pad and do my navigating there.
And then it occurs to me that if this thing is really good (as we all hope), then there is supposed to be a second production run (which, I assume, shouldn't take years to get done), and I could end up getting both versions anyhow.
What do you guys think?