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the solution involves buying a 100 euro product with 6 customizable buttons (cool product but expensive). Anyone know of cheaper alternatives for a keyboard but

by Tarsul 6y ago

the solution involves buying a 100 euro product with 6 customizable buttons (cool product but expensive). Anyone know of cheaper alternatives for a keyboard buttonset (between 4 and 20 keys)? Probably standalone numpad (with customizable keys) comes closest but maybe someone knows better.

zachruss92 6y ago
You could do it with like an Arduino and any kind of button. There are tons of examples of using an Arduino to run a keyboard's firmware. Another project i've done was with a Rasberry pi. A benefit of that would be that the system is self contained. Their Python GPIO library is one of the easiest i've ever worked with and you could have it easily launch Chrome or Firefox programmatically and play audio without a monitor.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
IshKebab 6y ago
I've looked but they don't seem to exist. Closest I found was MIDI pad controllers (around £40) but I'm not sure about the ergonomics of using a pad as a button. I gave up and went with an Mbed board instead. It has the advantage that you can program key sequences without writing any host software. I use it with Audacity.
nguyenkien 6y ago
I think simple website (with all your favorite channel as big black button) and pin it to taskbar would solve your problems
chacha2 6y ago
Icons on desktop
opan 6y ago
Macropads are a whole big thing in the mechanical keyboard community. You can get one that runs QMK, you can put encoders on them, have many layers, etc. https://mechwild.com/product/murphpad/ https://mechwild.com/product/murphpad/ https://knob-goblin.com/ https://knob-goblin.com/ https://github.com/dekuNukem/duckyPad https://github.com/dekuNukem/duckyPad https://www.gboards.ca/product/faunchpad https://www.gboards.ca/product/faunchpad It's also worth looking into small ortholinear boards where you can do the same things, but the form factor is more horizontal or has more keys. https://mechwild.com/product/big-dill-extended-bde/ https://mechwild.com/product/big-dill-extended-bde/ https://www.gboards.ca/product/butter-stick-limited-edition https://www.gboards.ca/product/butter-stick-limited-edition https://github.com/nicinabox/lets-split-guide https://github.com/nicinabox/lets-split-guide
genezeta 6y ago
MAX Falcon-8. $50 assembled, $40 DIY (some soldering, but easy). Add a few dollars more for switches and you provide the keycaps. 8 programmable keys. I wouldn't call it cheap but it's definitely cheaper than the author's option. I got one somewhere; it is nice but I don't really use it much nowadays.
maturz 6y ago
Simplest solution would be to just remap keys you don't use with something like Autohotkey. If you want a separate keypad a cheap solution would be to use any old keyboard and then remap that one specifically with a tool like http://www.hidmacros.eu/whatisit.php http://www.hidmacros.eu/whatisit.php (optionally you can paint or add labels to the keys to make it easier to use).

by Tarsul 6y ago

zachruss92 6y ago

You could do it with like an Arduino and any kind of button. There are tons of examples of using an Arduino to run a keyboard's firmware. Another project i've done was with a Rasberry pi. A benefit of that would be that the system is self contained. Their Python GPIO library is one of the easiest i've ever worked with and you could have it easily launch Chrome or Firefox programmatically and play audio without a monitor.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

IshKebab 6y ago

I've looked but they don't seem to exist. Closest I found was MIDI pad controllers (around £40) but I'm not sure about the ergonomics of using a pad as a button. I gave up and went with an Mbed board instead. It has the advantage that you can program key sequences without writing any host software. I use it with Audacity.

nguyenkien 6y ago

I think simple website (with all your favorite channel as big black button) and pin it to taskbar would solve your problems

chacha2 6y ago

Icons on desktop

opan 6y ago

Macropads are a whole big thing in the mechanical keyboard community. You can get one that runs QMK, you can put encoders on them, have many layers, etc. https://mechwild.com/product/murphpad/ https://mechwild.com/product/murphpad/ https://knob-goblin.com/ https://knob-goblin.com/ https://github.com/dekuNukem/duckyPad https://github.com/dekuNukem/duckyPad https://www.gboards.ca/product/faunchpad https://www.gboards.ca/product/faunchpad It's also worth looking into small ortholinear boards where you can do the same things, but the form factor is more horizontal or has more keys. https://mechwild.com/product/big-dill-extended-bde/ https://mechwild.com/product/big-dill-extended-bde/ https://www.gboards.ca/product/butter-stick-limited-edition https://www.gboards.ca/product/butter-stick-limited-edition https://github.com/nicinabox/lets-split-guide https://github.com/nicinabox/lets-split-guide

genezeta 6y ago

MAX Falcon-8. $50 assembled, $40 DIY (some soldering, but easy). Add a few dollars more for switches and you provide the keycaps. 8 programmable keys. I wouldn't call it cheap but it's definitely cheaper than the author's option. I got one somewhere; it is nice but I don't really use it much nowadays.

maturz 6y ago

Simplest solution would be to just remap keys you don't use with something like Autohotkey. If you want a separate keypad a cheap solution would be to use any old keyboard and then remap that one specifically with a tool like http://www.hidmacros.eu/whatisit.php http://www.hidmacros.eu/whatisit.php (optionally you can paint or add labels to the keys to make it easier to use).