Left handed keyboards

23 Feb 2011, 03:38

I'm looking at left handed keyboards now, and all I've found have just the arrow-etc-section and numpad moved to the left side, numpad being leftmost.

This doesn't seem logical. In my mind it would be much better to have at least the numpad mirrored so that 1 is under the left index finger and enter under the pinky:

Code: Select all: - * / n + 9 8 7 + 6 5 4 e 3 2 1 e d 0 0

Smart eh? The E is for Edison :idea:

23 Feb 2011, 03:42

I bet you could easily re-map it and swap out the keys.

23 Feb 2011, 03:45

Yeah, but that's not doing it right from the beginning. I'd rather have a left handed than a regular if I were to get another full sized, but not like this. Not like this!

23 Feb 2011, 18:59

I think every single left handed keyboard that I have seen had this layout. There are a few good ones btw, Sejin in Korea made a few with Futaba switches. They have been rebranded till the late 2000s.

23 Feb 2011, 23:22

I should have flipped over the PCB for my custom numpad since I place it left of my keyboard, but obviously I was too mentally and physically lazy. I may have to follow Mass' holey guide now!

24 Feb 2011, 00:28

If you use a straight grid with keys, you could use double spaced keys and move around like MW suggested (if you could program it yourself).

24 Feb 2011, 03:05

I don't get what you're saying.
What's a straight grid ..with keys?
What's a double spaced key? The keypad I have has cherry stabilizers in it, so the 2x1 keycaps don't have 2 keystems on center for 2 1x1 keys, but 3.
What's moving around? "You could (use double spaced keys and) move..." <- I'm the one moving around?

24 Feb 2011, 10:49

Sorry for that crappy explanation

Straight grid is just a grid of keyswitches without stabelisers. A double spaced key is one which is mounted on top of to switches. If you had this, and can reprogram the numpad, you could move the keycaps around on it arbitrary.

04 Mar 2011, 23:08

Yes, commercially available lefty keyboards make no sense. Like, at all.

On my German keyboard page I have discussed various keyboard arrangements that made sense to me under the aspect of handedness and mouse usage, and none of them looks like the one seen on the keyboard in the first post. (This developed from a GH post at the time.) You will also find mirrored numpads there (btw I don't think there is any benefit to mirroring 1..9), and I doubt that nobody had the idea before me.

06 Mar 2011, 06:40

I use a Microsoft Sidewinder X6 with detachable num pad.

I guess it works just the same

06 Mar 2011, 18:54

Do left handed people buy special cell phones with mirrored number pads too?

08 Mar 2011, 16:12

BababooeyHTJ wrote:Do left handed people buy special cell phones with mirrored number pads too?

that's not really a good assumption. With mobile phones you type with your thumb regardless of which key you press, whereas with a keyboard you use different fingers for different keys on the number pad

08 Mar 2011, 18:01

joeqj wrote:I use a Microsoft Sidewinder X6 with detachable num pad.

I guess it works just the same

Until it stops working, that is.

But yes, the detachable numpad is one of the nicer things about this board. Too bad they don't really hold up.

12 Mar 2011, 10:55

Some potos

: Cherry; L001.jpg (222.99 KiB) Viewed 1126 times

: Cherry; L002.jpg (72.25 KiB) Viewed 1126 times

: Alps; L003.jpg (112.9 KiB) Viewed 1126 times

: Alps; L004.jpg (121.78 KiB) Viewed 1126 times

For more information ? --> STRONGMAN, Taiwan !!!

12 Mar 2011, 14:28

Ha, I didn't know such a thing existed.

12 Mar 2011, 15:01

As you can see, the design of board housing is just simply one (dust gathering horizontal slots).
Strongman, Taiwan made it.

Filco DFK-901LF II
http://www.diatec.co.jp/products/det.php?prod_c=38

Filco DFK-901LF
http://www.diatec.co.jp/products/det.php?prod_c=37

and another ones. SeJin, Korea.

SeJin SKM 1040
http://www.kbdmania.net/xe/91641

SeJin SKM 2040
http://www.kbdmania.net/xe/92217

12 Mar 2011, 15:07

lastest one.

: Taiwanese exhibition, last year.; StrongMan_04.jpg (82.68 KiB) Viewed 1094 times

12 Mar 2011, 15:09

Thanks for the links! Do you know of any tenkeyless ones?

12 Mar 2011, 15:13

Sorry, not yet.

Actually, that is not my flavor.

12 Mar 2011, 15:18

take old SUN models and cut it out. ^^.

My keyboard collection · 12 Mar 2011, 16:33

Mirroring the nine keys is just silly in my opinion.
The tenkey arrangement is also found outside the realm of computer keyboards. Lots of left-handed people are used to using calculators with their left hand.

Mirroring the position of the Enter and 0 keys make more sense, though. Those keys were intended to be struck with the pinky and thumb respectively.

12 Mar 2011, 17:08

yes.
Maybe you are right. Or maybe not.
There are many situations and peoples out there.

I, just have my own ways and happy with that. ^^.

12 Mar 2011, 17:30

the other day one asked layout like this... really..

: 8f6157f9.jpg (116.63 KiB) Viewed 1062 times

i guess he is born-again Mozart.

12 Mar 2011, 18:46

amleth wrote:
L001.jpg

L002.jpg

Cool, I didn't know there were "lefty" boards with a mirrored numpad out there - even though as stated, mirroring 1..9 does seem excessive. (Try using MouseKeys with that one!)

So... does anyone make a standalone lefty numpad with -/+/Enter/./0 mirrored? Would seem like a market niche.

13 Mar 2011, 18:49

5 mins to find out correct date.

FILCO DFK-901LF
2002年02月08日
http://ascii.jp/elem/000/000/329/329127/

FILCO DFK-901LF II
2002年04月25日
http://ascii.jp/elem/000/000/330/330707/

KB-8861XPL (104 keys)
2004年09月30日
http://ascii.jp/elem/000/000/344/344516/
(Edit: The topmost poto in this thread model number is KB-8862XPL. Has three different basic casing color/slider color schemes.)

: 02.jpg (26.56 KiB) Viewed 1016 times

: 03.jpg (22.18 KiB) Viewed 1016 times

: 04.jpg (21.56 KiB) Viewed 1016 times

: 01.jpg (25.73 KiB) Viewed 1016 times

13 Mar 2011, 19:09

and some meaningless pieces of history (not worth as one thread).

The very first Realforce, hit Japanese market (see Editing details)
-106 keys.
-says, showed one year earlier in an local exhibition.
2003 Jan. 25
http://ascii.jp/elem/000/000/335/335822/

: RF106.jpg (59.54 KiB) Viewed 1012 times

Edit: added 3 lines and a link
They say, it was July 2001.
Below link is the only one I could find out in the net.
Japanese electronics magazine AKIBA Aug. 11 2001.
http://akiba-pc.watch.impress.co.jp/hot ... _i_in.html

The first 101 keys.
2003 Apr. 24
http://ascii.jp/elem/000/000/337/337458/

: RF101.jpg (55.33 KiB) Viewed 1012 times

13 Mar 2011, 19:11

Wow, that's interesting actually. Do you have any photos of the complete board and/or the home row?

Edit, nevermind, I just clicked your link.

15 Mar 2011, 05:20

Really cool mirrored numpads there!

Findecanor, if you don't mirror the right way, you mirror the wrong way.

15 Mar 2011, 10:18

never know how a topre capacitive switch feels like

15 Mar 2011, 12:27

lucidlts wrote:never know how a topre capacitive switch feels like

Like a rubber dome.

Left handed keyboards

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