6 ms·

Some things are helpful -- large clear display, good keyboard That's why I prefer older equipment, especially laptops which have proper keys and a matte screen

Some things are helpful -- large clear display, good keyboard That's why I prefer older equipment, especially laptops which have proper keys and a matte screen.

SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
> proper keys Yes, please give me a full keyboard, and don't put things in weird places. My current machine has "Fn" where "CTRL" should be and it's driving me crazy. Also, the "PgUp" and "PgDown" are directly above left and right keys and I inevitably hit them when I'm jamming the keyboard with my meathooks. I don't need a number pad, but if you're going to give me nonstandard buttons, put em somewhere I can't hit em while I'm trying to do actual work.
- vel0city 8y ago
  In many laptops with Fn and Ctrl swapped there is often a setting in the BIOS to switch their positions. I know Thinkpads have this ability, and I feel pretty certain other brands can do this as well.
  - ja27 8y ago
    Not this Asus I have. I'm ready to cut some traces and solder jumper wires to rearrange this POS.
    - PhasmaFelis 8y ago
      You can remap any keypress that reaches Windows by editing the registry, as described here: https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/2155/Keyboard-Remapping-CAPSLOCK-to-Ctrl-and-Beyond.html https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/2155/Keyboard-Rema... (2011, but works with Windows 10) Unfortunately many "Fn" keys are handled purely in hardware and Windows can't see them. But it might be worth a look, if you haven't already tried it. AutoHotKey is also useful, especially if you want more complex hotkeys.
      - snazz 8y ago
        And xmodmap is the de-facto solution for X11-based Unix machines. Rebind your keys in an ~/.xmodmaprc that is run at startx by your ~/.xinitrc.
- jmkni 8y ago
  One of my old laptops had the function keys swapped (so you had to hold down Fn to hit the F key) and had mapped Sleep to F5, which I’m used to using to both start debugging and reload a web page. The amount of times I put my laptop to sleep by accident was infuriating, and it was a work laptop so I couldn’t get into the bios to swap the keys back!
- acheron 8y ago
  > My current machine has "Fn" where "CTRL" should be You mean directly to the left of the A?
  - SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
    I.. uh... no? Why, why would you think that?
    - acheron 8y ago
      Because that's where CTRL should be. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_key#Location_of_the_key https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_key#Location_of_the_ke...
      - SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
        Well, my laptop isn't a Teletype.
brobdingnagians 8y ago
I started using mechanical keyboards made for gaming, and I've never been happier with a piece of hardware in my life. It's like typing on butter instead of jamming your fingers into concrete. From what I remember, really old keyboards were all mechanical; sometimes older really is higher quality.
- chasil 8y ago
  The IBM keyboards used for the PC, AT, and PS/2 used a "buckling spring" mechanism that is not mechanical, as later models use a membrane. I am typing this on a Model M that is dated "22JJUL88" - I do all of my important typing on these keyboards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard
  - samatman 8y ago
    I’m fairly certain that Model F and M keyboards are considered mechanical. It’s not a precise category. But I’d even go so far as to say they are the type specimens for mechanical keyboards. Yes, most products in the category use Cherry-type switches, but Topres are definitely considered mechanicals and they combine a rubber dome and a spring.
    - css 8y ago
      Literally all keyboards are mechanical, what’s the alternative? Organic?
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
      - pixl97 8y ago
        Optical or touch.
      - samatman 8y ago
        The term is used figuratively, not literally. Buckling spring keyboards count, rubber-dome and scissors don't. There's no overarching principle here, if there is, it's how they feel under your fingers.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
I miss laptop mice that had actual buttons and didn't get in the way when typing. Laptop ergonomics are terrible these days.
- magduf 8y ago
  My laptop at home is a Dell Latitude E6450 (I think that's the one); it's the last one where they had a real keyboard and not that stupid island shit, and it also has a trackpoint and a normal trackpad with actual buttons. After that generation, they finally jumped on the stupid mushy island key bandwagon, so I don't know how to upgrade from this machine. I had one of the newer Latitudes at my last job and it was nearly unusable because of that shitty keyboard. Honestly, WTF is wrong with everyone these days? Luckily, this laptop can play x265 1080p video just fine and has 16GB of memory, but 4k is a no-go.
  - cr0sh 8y ago
    Best laptop keyboard I ever used was on a Compaq SLT/386 I owned. Keyboard could be detached from the laptop (ok, today it would be considered a "luggable", but back then, it was a nice machine), and it had a coiled cord that plugged into the computer underneath where the keyboard sat. You could unplug it from the computer (it was a mini-din PS/2 style plug). The keyboard itself wasn't mechanical (not a buckling spring or similar system), but it did have full-travel keys and a nice feel for typing on. I got mine used and had to build a custom battery pack from old cell phone batteries, which made me have to remove 2 meg of RAM (to fit the larger custom battery pack), leaving me with 6 meg instead of 8. I had Caldera OpenDOS installed on it: http://www.deltasoft.com/opendos.htm http://www.deltasoft.com/opendos.htm http://esca.atomki.hu/paradise/dos/opendos-en.html http://esca.atomki.hu/paradise/dos/opendos-en.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DR-DOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DR-DOS ...with Monkey Linux installed on top of that (Monkey is a distro that used DOS for the underlying file system - you could even share data easily): http://projectdevolve.tripod.com/ http://projectdevolve.tripod.com/ (downloads don't work) http://www.ipt.ntnu.no/~knutb/linux486/download/monkey/monkeyli.html http://www.ipt.ntnu.no/~knutb/linux486/download/monkey/monke... I'm honestly not sure where or if you can still get a copy of that distro - I should look into it; maybe I should host my copy somewhere...

Some things are helpful -- large clear display, good keyboard That's why I prefer older equipment, especially laptops which have proper keys and a matte screen.

SketchySeaBeast 8y ago

> proper keys Yes, please give me a full keyboard, and don't put things in weird places. My current machine has "Fn" where "CTRL" should be and it's driving me crazy. Also, the "PgUp" and "PgDown" are directly above left and right keys and I inevitably hit them when I'm jamming the keyboard with my meathooks. I don't need a number pad, but if you're going to give me nonstandard buttons, put em somewhere I can't hit em while I'm trying to do actual work.

vel0city 8y ago
In many laptops with Fn and Ctrl swapped there is often a setting in the BIOS to switch their positions. I know Thinkpads have this ability, and I feel pretty certain other brands can do this as well.
- ja27 8y ago
  Not this Asus I have. I'm ready to cut some traces and solder jumper wires to rearrange this POS.
  - PhasmaFelis 8y ago
    You can remap any keypress that reaches Windows by editing the registry, as described here: https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/2155/Keyboard-Remapping-CAPSLOCK-to-Ctrl-and-Beyond.html https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/2155/Keyboard-Rema... (2011, but works with Windows 10) Unfortunately many "Fn" keys are handled purely in hardware and Windows can't see them. But it might be worth a look, if you haven't already tried it. AutoHotKey is also useful, especially if you want more complex hotkeys.
    - snazz 8y ago
      And xmodmap is the de-facto solution for X11-based Unix machines. Rebind your keys in an ~/.xmodmaprc that is run at startx by your ~/.xinitrc.
jmkni 8y ago
One of my old laptops had the function keys swapped (so you had to hold down Fn to hit the F key) and had mapped Sleep to F5, which I’m used to using to both start debugging and reload a web page. The amount of times I put my laptop to sleep by accident was infuriating, and it was a work laptop so I couldn’t get into the bios to swap the keys back!
acheron 8y ago
> My current machine has "Fn" where "CTRL" should be You mean directly to the left of the A?
- SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
  I.. uh... no? Why, why would you think that?
  - acheron 8y ago
    Because that's where CTRL should be. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_key#Location_of_the_key https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_key#Location_of_the_ke...
    - SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
      Well, my laptop isn't a Teletype.

brobdingnagians 8y ago

I started using mechanical keyboards made for gaming, and I've never been happier with a piece of hardware in my life. It's like typing on butter instead of jamming your fingers into concrete. From what I remember, really old keyboards were all mechanical; sometimes older really is higher quality.

chasil 8y ago
The IBM keyboards used for the PC, AT, and PS/2 used a "buckling spring" mechanism that is not mechanical, as later models use a membrane. I am typing this on a Model M that is dated "22JJUL88" - I do all of my important typing on these keyboards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard
- samatman 8y ago
  I’m fairly certain that Model F and M keyboards are considered mechanical. It’s not a precise category. But I’d even go so far as to say they are the type specimens for mechanical keyboards. Yes, most products in the category use Cherry-type switches, but Topres are definitely considered mechanicals and they combine a rubber dome and a spring.
  - css 8y ago
    Literally all keyboards are mechanical, what’s the alternative? Organic?
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - pixl97 8y ago
      Optical or touch.
    - samatman 8y ago
      The term is used figuratively, not literally. Buckling spring keyboards count, rubber-dome and scissors don't. There's no overarching principle here, if there is, it's how they feel under your fingers.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago

I miss laptop mice that had actual buttons and didn't get in the way when typing. Laptop ergonomics are terrible these days.

magduf 8y ago
My laptop at home is a Dell Latitude E6450 (I think that's the one); it's the last one where they had a real keyboard and not that stupid island shit, and it also has a trackpoint and a normal trackpad with actual buttons. After that generation, they finally jumped on the stupid mushy island key bandwagon, so I don't know how to upgrade from this machine. I had one of the newer Latitudes at my last job and it was nearly unusable because of that shitty keyboard. Honestly, WTF is wrong with everyone these days? Luckily, this laptop can play x265 1080p video just fine and has 16GB of memory, but 4k is a no-go.
- cr0sh 8y ago
  Best laptop keyboard I ever used was on a Compaq SLT/386 I owned. Keyboard could be detached from the laptop (ok, today it would be considered a "luggable", but back then, it was a nice machine), and it had a coiled cord that plugged into the computer underneath where the keyboard sat. You could unplug it from the computer (it was a mini-din PS/2 style plug). The keyboard itself wasn't mechanical (not a buckling spring or similar system), but it did have full-travel keys and a nice feel for typing on. I got mine used and had to build a custom battery pack from old cell phone batteries, which made me have to remove 2 meg of RAM (to fit the larger custom battery pack), leaving me with 6 meg instead of 8. I had Caldera OpenDOS installed on it: http://www.deltasoft.com/opendos.htm http://www.deltasoft.com/opendos.htm http://esca.atomki.hu/paradise/dos/opendos-en.html http://esca.atomki.hu/paradise/dos/opendos-en.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DR-DOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DR-DOS ...with Monkey Linux installed on top of that (Monkey is a distro that used DOS for the underlying file system - you could even share data easily): http://projectdevolve.tripod.com/ http://projectdevolve.tripod.com/ (downloads don't work) http://www.ipt.ntnu.no/~knutb/linux486/download/monkey/monkeyli.html http://www.ipt.ntnu.no/~knutb/linux486/download/monkey/monke... I'm honestly not sure where or if you can still get a copy of that distro - I should look into it; maybe I should host my copy somewhere...