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AtariMac

macrumors regular
Mar 10, 2004
191
89
Southeastern, PA
I'll stick with my 1979 Atari CX-85.
 

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rockinrocker

macrumors 65816
Aug 21, 2006
1,322
0
Yeah, if it were cheaper I'd probably consider it as it would work fine for my needs.

But for only $10 more you can get the 'Cropmark LMP Bluetooth Keypad' and have a separate unit with actual keys? Makes way more sense to me.
 

fcortese

macrumors demi-god
Apr 3, 2010
2,211
4,997
Big Sky country
What Apple needs to come out with is a wireless keyboard with the number pad included, like the wired one. Why they haven't done this is a mystery to me.
 

ibis99

macrumors regular
Jul 14, 2010
131
0
$30 !!!!!!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha snort Hahahahahahahahahahaha choke hahahahahahahahahahahahaha deep breath hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!
 

spacemanspifff

macrumors 6502
Jan 23, 2010
267
19
SPACE
Way too expensive!

If this was £5 I'd definitely get it. I don't use the number pad that much anyway. Apple should have done this themselves, they could have put the keypad under the glass on the trackpad and supplied the software in the OS.

It's a great idea, but no way would I pay £30 for 3 bits of film! :D
 

Crissov

macrumors member
Jun 4, 2010
66
0
Wrong approach, better make complete keyboard touch-sensitive

Instead of putting the key labels onto a touch-sensitive area the touch-sensitive area should be put onto the key labels.
That means every haptic key, including the numpad, should become a depressible tiny touchpad and a software driver should combine all 80–110 “key-pads” into a huge virtual touchpad. Thus the whole keyboard area would be used in a 3D way: the X and Y axis for position and movement of the pointer, the Z axis for typing.

Then we would only have one input device instead of two that have been with us for 30 years now. There’s no need to combine output and input device everywhere, as has been done with the iphone, ipod and ipad.

One problem is that for many devices the width of the keyboard may be close to the width of the screen, but their heights will mismatch. Therefore, the vertical touch resolution would have to be finer than the horizontal one.

Actually, it would be even more useful on mobile phones and other devices with numeric keyboard only and a small screen that you would obfuscate with the touch of a finger.
 

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
If they could make the Magic Trackpad surface a display device (oled, eink), software could create any keyboard pattern you wanted (numeric pad, game controls, application control icons, etc), and it could go blank when you were using it as a trackpad.




-howard
 

driveparty

macrumors regular
Apr 19, 2008
105
32
Russia / USA
I'd prefer this one

I just wish apple would make a wireless version of the full-sized keyboard. I love my full keyboard.

Considering Apple devices power demands (i've used to change batteries once a three weeks in my Magic mouse), i'd prefer something like this one

solarmac.jpg

solarmac-4.jpg

solarmac-1.jpg


http://www.gizmag.com/solar-powered-keyboard-for-mac-from-logitech/19598/

I think Apple often makes technically unfinished devices, like that mice / trackpads, lacking USB3 computers, ugly 13.3 1280 resolution laptops, which suffer from overheating issues and so on :(

----------

Take a look at that one

cropmarklmpbluetoothkeypad.jpg


http://www.gizmag.com/cropmark-lmp-bluetooth-keypad/17652/
 
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Terry Stibal

macrumors newbie
Jun 15, 2008
10
0
South of Houston TX
I have both the LMP and the Mobee...

...and I see use for both of them.

I have also done extensive work on Sophisticated Circuits keypads (an elegant little thing that is, alas, no longer available) as well as with other cheaper USB models and one Microsoft BT model (which didn't work worth a damn with the Apple OS X).

If I'm in heavy number mode (spreadsheet entries), I go with the LMP. The key feel is slightly different, but it works well, the angle is similar, and the thing doesn't slide around like others that I have used over the years.

HOWEVER...

One thing that you cannot do with the LMP is to program one of the keys to act as a standard "Delete" key. There is a "Forward Delete", but I prefer to go at it from the other direction, particularly when updating the prices on Amazon.com books that I sell.

As a result, editing involves moving from computer track pad to computer Delete key, and then over to the number pad for the numeric entry. Cumbersome at best.

The function keys do work, but there's nothing that I can put in a function key without some way of picking from a menu.

The Mobee is a different item. It offers no tactile feedback (vital for quick accurate number entry by touch) and only a scarcely audible click from the computer. The film adheres perfectly to the track pad, and gives me three different optional layouts (I choose NUM20). It too has the row of function keys across the top, the page up and down keys, plus two completely programmable keys off to the left.

Once the software is installed on your computer, you just activate the numeric mode, then program the keys as you desire. (The largest layout offers a whopping seven programmable keys.

Another feature is that it can be programmed so as to only accept a light touch, only to accept a touch heavy enough to "click" the trackpad, or for both.

I use the LMP for the serious number entry, and the Mobee for the editing functions that it possesses. (It also has arrow keys for moving around within a document, as well as page up and page down, home and end.) Plus, if you have the Trackpad already, it's twenty bucks cheaper, as well as retaining trackpad functionality. And, one less thing to carry.

As for those who have commented that we don't need them in the first place, they obviously have never suffered through a large spreadsheet with data entered into a thousand or so cells. While I can touch type at about 40 wpm, my accuracy with the numeric row is way too low to trust figures that have monetary implications with touch typing upon it. For that sort of stuff, a numeric keypad is the only way to go.
 
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