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    Island Style Keyboards

    Discussion in 'Asus' started by Dragauss, Jan 4, 2011.

  1. Dragauss

    Dragauss Notebook Geek

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    This is geared toward ASUS owners, as that might be my next purchase.


    Anyways, I'm used to the extended arrows on my G50. It just makes sense and gives me a full keyboard/keypad. Now, all I see in the newer models are the island style types. Just visually, it bugs me that it has to be squeezed into between the keypad. On some it seems integrated and merged with the keypad as well. So what I'm wondering about is:

    • comfort (how it feels)
    • usage (awkward to use?)
    • conflicts (does it mess with anything)

    and just anything in general with it. I haven't extensively used the island style yet and I'm just looking for peoples thoughts on it. Lastly, is there an extended new ASUS laptop I haven't heard of and if not what would be the best one (unless they are all the same).
     
    Dragauss, Jan 4, 2011
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  2. ALLurGroceries

    ALLurGroceries  Vegan Vermin Super Moderator

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    I held off for a while on a new system because I loved my G50 keyboard. The newer layouts bug me, but I like the responsiveness of the chicklet keyboard better after owning a few of them. However, they have more flex, and some (like the stock G73 keyboard) are squishy, which I can't stand. The G51 keyboard is good. The Eee 1015PEM I just got has the best keyboard of any notebook I've ever owned, go figure. The chicklet keyboards can squeak a bit, especially on the backlit models.
     
    ALLurGroceries, Jan 4, 2011
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  3. Dragauss

    Dragauss Notebook Geek

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    Yeah <3 G50 Keyboard. The chiclet is fine with me. Seems easier to clean and the labeling doesn't fade with extreme usage... Is the layout still bugging you? I use my keypad a lot and I would hate to have it "gimped" in anyway.
     
    Dragauss, Jan 4, 2011
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  4. ALLurGroceries

    ALLurGroceries  Vegan Vermin Super Moderator

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    Yes, the two things that bug me still are not being able to locate the downarrow by touch, and the shift key not being aligned with the | \ key, since I use that key constantly in Linux.

    Besides that the only thing that bugs me is the squeak, but it's intermittent and not terribly loud. I don't have any squeaking on my Eee's chicklet keyboard, only on the backlit ones. There are newer models that have the keyboard mounted from the inside of the case (as opposed to the top and held in with tabs) and these seem to have ZERO flex, at the expense of having to disassemble to change a bad keyboard.
     
    ALLurGroceries, Jan 4, 2011
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  5. Dragauss

    Dragauss Notebook Geek

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    Ouch, I dunno if I can handle that sort of change. :O
     
    Dragauss, Jan 4, 2011
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