Re: Keyboard opinions (OpenRPN) Message #19 Posted by bill platt on 19 Apr 2004, 3:26 p.m., in response to message #1 by Hugh
Hi Hugh,
1) I would make the ENTER key the same size as the rest--the large ENTER wastes space.
2) I feel that the operators should be to the right, just as is the case with the Pioneers, Voyagers, Charlemagnes (and most other brands as well). The 41 series, Classics etc have the left side format--which is fine except that most of the world is on the other side, and so compatibility is not there.
3) I would leave generous space between the keys. The 41 is superb in this respect, the Voyagers are inferior. In fact, I would rather give up keys to do it--as the customization and overlay seems to be a central concept--so leave space for the key notation. I would even leave the keytops blank for all but arithemtic operators, numbers, and stack functions.
I happened to ask my wife's opinion the other day on keyboards--I laid out a 20s, 15c, 41cv, and 48gx next to each other. She said she thought the 20s was the very best display, best over-all, very readable, but the 41 had an even more readable keyboard. She also said it looked "old fashioned" like from the 60's or 70's (not far off!). She said the 48gx was just horrible--especially the screen (Of course I had Metakernel with 5 lines running so the text was really small). She also rated the 15c display nearly as good as the 20s, but she thought it not so easy to read the shifted functions--in other words the 41cv and 20s were easier to read.
Personally, I like a good condition singapore 48 keyboard mechanical feedback most of all out of all the machines I have used. Except for the nostalgia of a mint 11c. The 48 keys are really perfect in the snap, travel, resistance, force vs distance curve, sound, speed.......I say this only after having used a voyager more than any other, and then a Pioneer for 10 years straight.
A worn voyager is actually pretty lousy for table top use (but fine in-hand where the thumb is opposing the fingers in the squeezing). I find that If I use an old voyager after having used a pioneer or charlemagne, I tend to miss a few keystrokes! (Mint new voyagers are nice--I don't miss keystrokes with them).
I am becoming more and more excited about this project!
One "radical" departure that I considered I some sketches I did some time ago was to put the sin cos tan ln etc, along with ENTER buttons BELOW the numbers, and the stack operators above the numbers----this makes a vertical machine balance better in one hand for number entry (what you do most). The enter key is then literally central and directly below the "0".
Regards,
Bill
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