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    USB keyboard with laptop "Fn" key

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by HTWingNut, Mar 22, 2011.

  1. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    I'm considering using an external keyboard, mouse, and monitor with my laptop, something I've rarely ever done. But one thing that regular desktop keyboard are missing are the "Fn" key. Is there a way to get that work on a regular keyboard? Are there keyboards that offer that key?

    I'd hate to lose functionality of the media keys because I opt for a desktop keyboard.
     
    HTWingNut, Mar 22, 2011
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  2. namaiki

    namaiki "basically rocks" Super Moderator

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    There might be a BIOS option for that. On one of my old laptops I think there was an option for something like Ctrl+Shift = Fn.

    edit: come to think of it, that laptop might have been using a PS/2 keyboard..
     
    namaiki, Mar 22, 2011
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  3. ViciousXUSMC

    ViciousXUSMC Master Viking NBR Reviewer

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    FN key is hardware tied to the machine, so it cant be recreated via an external interface unless like namaiki said the bios has an emulation option.

    Some of the functions the FN key would give you (like volume or media control) can be recreated using autohotkey and creating a key combo that uses the generic windows functions for those options.
     
    ViciousXUSMC, Mar 22, 2011
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  4. AMATX

    AMATX Notebook Consultant

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    +1 ^^ I just bought the above Lenovo USB keyboard for use with my Thinkpads and it works great. Fn works as one would expect, too.
     
    AMATX, Mar 22, 2011
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  5. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    Probably Lenovo specific, and not about to spend $60 to find out!
     
    HTWingNut, Mar 22, 2011
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  6. ssssssssss

    ssssssssss Notebook Evangelist

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    What functionality are you worried about losing?

    It shouldn't be too difficult to do everything you do with an Fn key combination on an external keyboard, you just might have to use a slightly different combination, or the buttons that come built into the external keyboard.
     
    ssssssssss, Mar 22, 2011
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  7. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    I was just looking at that. The most important one is setting maximum fan speed which uses "Fn + 1". Good to use when gaming because drops temps a good 8-10C on CPU and GPU when compared with system managed fan.
     
    HTWingNut, Mar 22, 2011
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