brkn
I’ve never killed a keyboard before, but I did either yesterday or today. My Apple Pro Keyboard, bit the dust probably from a drop or two of water that landed on it. Thought it didn’t get in, but somehow it did. Plus I didn’t do what I normally do for keyboard spills…..disconnect the keyboard then place in front of a fan overnight. You’re drying up the liquid and removing the possibility of creating a short by leaving it plugged in.
So anyways, I didn’t do that. I did as much work as I could with a mouse and without the use of my spacebar and the lower line of a QWERTY keyboard. I also got tired of waiting on a replacement, so I ran out to Office Depot and purchased a Microsoft Wireless Keyboard & Mouse combo. Got it on sale too. The setup was easy and I have some of the keys mapped to make up for my missing “eject” key on the Apple. The Microsoft software installs fine and maps some of the keys to be useful. Reversing the alt & start keys was a good measure they took care of in the install.
I’m really picky on my keyboards, I tend to like the Apple and the old IBM boards, with a few old Compaqs in there as well. My main keyboard for years, was rescued from the trash before I took possession of it. It was an old Compaq that was missing a few keys, though none I really use were missing….plus I could salvage the board from one I had. That (probably 1996 Compaq) keyboard along with my original 1994 Compaq (pre-Windows key) were working great until I switched to an Apple Macintosh. It killed me, but I either sold em or trashed em…
January 7th, 2004 at 9:01 am
For more than a year I’ve been using the Fellowes touchpad keyboard is it’s the only thing I’ve been able to use without pain after a repetitive strain injury. The key thing with this is that the touchpad comes at an extremely neutral position for your right hand. Any kind of mouse causes me pain after only a few minutes so this was a lifesaver.
January 7th, 2004 at 10:01 am
I do like the all-in-one keyboards, like the Fellows, but didn’t have access to one yesterday….had about an hour to purchase one and install it, to meet deadlines. I believe one of my clients has the same keyboard, so I’ll try that one out as well. IBM makes a nice keyboard that’s pretty much a ThinkPad keyboard for a desktop…with the little “nipple” mouse in between the g & h keys. That’s what I’d love to try…or any all-in-one.
The mouse is really the one that causes me problems too. I’ve tried about 6 mice in 2003, with a little $9 round GE optical mouse being my favorite. They’ve disappeared from Target and there is nary a mention of it online. SIIG also has this JASCO mouse at BestBuy. It fits in the palm of your hand and only requires a little movement. My old trackball was making my fingers go numb.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?j=1&id=1067391571793&type=product