Ultimate Coder Keyboard

Hello.

I am a hardcore coder, I use the keyboard that is attached to my laptop and I love it....

Lenovo T61, in case you are wondering,..

Maddus Mattus said:

I am a hardcore coder, I use the keyboard that is attached to my laptop and I love it....

Lenovo T61, in case you are wondering,..

I like the Microsoft Wireless Laser 6000 v2. You can set it with a reverse slant. The keys are like the keys on a laptop, kinda squishy and not loud.

How about this one?

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices/192&cl=ca,en

If you like the laptop keys. I don't have this, but I have it's predesessor the DiNovo Laser w/ mouse and keypad.

I use this, Microsoft Natural Keyboard:

Zeus said:

I use this, Microsoft Natural Keyboard:

JeremyJ said:

Zeus said:

*snip*

That is the same one I am using at work.

I've been on a multi-year quest to find a keyboard that I like to use for 8+ hours a day.
For me, it has to be scissor style keys (laptop keys) rather than the full on keys of a regular keyboard.

I've been through quite a few laptop style keyboards, but still never found the ideal one. For some reason, most of the ones available either don't have a regular numeric pad, or the manufacturers love moving all the 'home'/'end'/'page up'/'down' type keys either into new totally new places or in a different order to regular keyboards.

My ideal keyboard for programming would be:
laptop style keys,
wireless or bluetooth,
regular laptop style F1-12 keys - no stupid gimmics like the Microsoft keyboards where those keys are just flat touchpoints that you always touch accidentally,
full and regular keyboard layout - including numeric keypad, all other extra keys in the standard position,
I would also love a keyboard with at the very least dedicated copy/cut/paste keys and even better, 10 extra keys that you could program with custom shortcut combinations or macros (some of the gaming keyboards allow you to do this, but most of them aren't laptop keys).

The reason for the cut/copy/paste keys or the macro keys is that I am left handed and using CTRL+C/V etc is hard for me. I either have to move my left hand off the mouse and press them (interupts my flow) or use my right hand which causes me to twist my wrist into a slightly unnatural position.

My current keyboard is ALMOST there - laptop keys with full layout, but no programmable keys. Unfortunately, you can't buy this seperately, it's stolen from my HP Touchsmart IQ506 computer and looks like this:



If anyone comes across any other keyboard that meets my needs above - please let me know and I'll send you a virtual cookie!

Maddus Mattus said:

I am a hardcore coder, I use the keyboard that is attached to my laptop and I love it....

Lenovo T61, in case you are wondering,..

$5 no-namer from Newegg.  Never had any problems.

I had a Microsoft Natural keyboard once but it stopped responding after 6 months of light use.  I resolved never to spend more than $10 on a keyboard again.

Duncanma said:

rahsoftware said:

*snip*

"The MS dev teams including Steve B use Lenovo/IBM"

That, the dev team part that is, is a bit of an overstatement. Many people at MSFT use Lenovo laptops, although I mostly see them in the hands of non-devs personally, but we also use a huge # of Dell machines, HP machines and others. The C9 dev team are all running HP8510w laptops for example (some variation because we all bought them at different times) and various Dell desktops. I've met with many product team devs over the past few months and I've seen lots of dell xps laptops, some hp, and even some alienware machines.

As far as Steve goes, I have no idea... but I bet he has more than one machine... and that he changes them frequently.

Jeff runs a Lenovo though, he'd have to chime in with the model #, but I think is a X300 (guessing here)

Pace said:

Duncanma said:

*snip*

Im a coder and its all about the keypress travel and feel of the keys for me. I also like something a little unique which I hope you agree it does. This is by "Deck" note windows key placement. Its fantastic. I live in England and the company apparantly dont make money on these so no one in Europe sells them. I had to import mine from the US. its really awesome.

Deck Keyboards

gadget said:

I like the Microsoft Wireless Laser 6000 v2. You can set it with a reverse slant. The keys are like the keys on a laptop, kinda squishy and not loud.

I would of PM'ed this comment as the thread is kind of old. However, I felt it was importiant enough to ressurect.

The keyboards you have all listed are for mere mortals. Gods have to use these

http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/customizer.html

http://www.clickykeyboards.com/index.cfm

The shear power and force a coding demi-god produces is too much for a normal keyboard. The answer is the IBM model M keyboard, and it's variants use spring loaded keys instead of rubber keys. For people who type over 60 wpm, the current el-cheap-o rubber dome based keys are far, far too slow and breakdown much faster.

I can easily hit 120wpm on my Model M, and the only time they break on me is when I am

pissed off with my code enough to the point I try to kill my monitor / computer tower with

my keyboard.

spivonious said:

Pace said:

*snip*

Looks neat, but I hate it when companies mess with the insert/home/etc. group layout.

They haven't "messed" with the layout. Having the Home/PgUp/PgDn/End keys in a vertical column like that is standard for compact keyboards, especially on laptop keyboards smaller than 14".