Asus' Eee keyboard out next month - official Asus’ Eee keyboard will finally go on sale in Europe and North America next month, the company has confirmed. Asus_Eee_Keyboard_03 Asus is keeping mum about the Eee keyboard's price, for now Source: Gizmodo The keyboard was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January and has since been linked to a …
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... and then I noticed the windows key.
Why is it that 95% of keyboards have what amounts to microsoft branded key?
With standard mapping, it's sole purpose is to open the start menu.
Does anyone actually use this key?
It's in a terrible position on the keyboard - it's quicker to mouse-over to the start menu.
It *should* have been a function key option from day one.
So, if anyone puts Linux onto this device, they still have a device which is effectively windows branded - how much do manufacturers get paid by microsoft to include this?
So, no suprises what OS it will ship with then - that old chestnut, now nearly 8 years old, windows XP = windows tax.
So glad I switched to Mac (and to Debian years ago)
How many times is this going to be done until somebody gets it through their heads that people don't wan't a keyboard with more than one cable hanging out the back? The Apple Mini and Mini-ITX boards get the concept right. Little box with all the cables in the corner, decent keyboard in front of you. Simple.
Having everything in the "keyboard" (or as we viewed it then, not having the keyboard separate from the computer) is pretty reminiscent of the 8-bit and early 16-bit home computers.
Sounds cute, but the benefit of a big tin box is that you can fit all the peripherals inside it, and there's plenty of room for cooling, etc. Unless there's already a lot integrated into the "keyboard" unit, then you're going to be back to the old 8-bit setup with lots of peripherals plugged in via cables. Possibly moreso, because in those days (aside from the monitor) most people only had a tape deck and possibly a disk drive and/or printer. Plus this restricts how you can move the "keyboard" around.
This might be an acceptable tradeoff for a laptop (particularly if it includes a docking station), but the benefit is less clear for a permanently home/office-based computer.
The integrated screen looks nice, but other than that I'm not convinced that this offers anything beyond an excuse to go "reminds me of a C64/Spectrum/whatever".
What's the point of the 5 inch touch screen? Appart from forcing the price up, that is.
Shirley they would be aiming this sort of thing at a fairly low budget market, so why put something like that in to bump the price up? Unless of course the plan is to sell them with the touch screen to all the gadget addicts, and then (probably just after christmas) release the cheap version once the supply of suckers has dried up.
Oh, I think I've just answered my own question. Forget it.
1) Put a tiny box behind my screen for all the plugs to go into with a clutter free wireless kbd and mouse
2) Get a chiclet keyboard with sockets all along the back for the multiple cables I'll need to plug in with a bonus, cost increasing touch screen placed in an unusable position.
hmmmm, which should I choose?
What I really want is a cheap 5 inch lcd non-touch screen at a reasonable price for plugging into my headless server. Why can't I get one of those easily?
Outside of point of sale consoles and hospitals where the ease of cleaning comes in, what's the point of *any* touch screen!
Honestly, since the iPhone everyone seems to have gone touch screen insane! Sure on a small device with no other pointing device input I can see it has a use, but on a PC with a mouse? I'll pick the mouse every time! Far more accurate, plus of course you're not sticking a huge great digit over exactly what you need to see to press!
"Oh but I can do multitouch image resize, look how cool I am!", okay, fine... Now crop it to exactly 200x200 pixels... I'll race you... I'm just going to make a cup of tea, don't wait for me, I'll catch up...
Until someone invents a transparent finger, to me touch screen will just be a way of selling more finger print removing window cleaner!
I was interested in the idea of the eeeKeyboard when I first heard about it, but now it's just going to price itself out of a useful bracket because it has a pointlessly small touch screen stuck on the side of it... Ditch the damn screen and I might come back.
@Matt 89 - My R52 thinkpad doesn't have one, and it still managed to get a designed for XP sticker... Curious... So no I don't use it, Ctrl-Esc is a perfectly usable alternative. Although it's slightly annoying when I want to do Windows-L to lock the desktop.
@Michael C - That's a VGA port. It has 15 pins in 3 rows. Serial has 9 pins in 2 rows. It also has HDMI... Is that enough external monitor support for you? As for folding... Hmmmm... Well I have a hacksaw?
I think Touchscreens are very nice if they are used in a good user interface concept - like the iPhone.
For the 200x200 Challenge... I will use the keyboard because I will be a lot faster than you trying to to do the same with the mouse... so no real advantage over touchscreen...
If I could use the touchscreen as an additional input device for my pc, it could rock... maybe someone will write some app for this ;-)
Is that the touchscreen to the right where the number pad should be?
I suppose the idea is to use it like a touchpad instead of a mouse but it just doesn't seem practical. Maybe it'd be cheaper to just have a large multitouch touchpad instead. That would be useful and it wouldn't force you to tilt your head to the right and squint all the time.
@ Matt 89 "With standard mapping, it's [the Windows key's] sole purpose is to open the start menu."
You haven't actually used Windows before have you ;)
Now, where in the attic is my SOL - S100-bus-based machine?
Oh, yep. Found it.
http://www.sol20.org/index.html
Now all I need is some 5¼ - inch floppies, and I'm well set. If they're double-sided, natch! (Oh, yeah, mine had the numeric keyboard).
Asus EEE keyboard? Bloody daft idea. Defeats the object of the exercise. So does moving to XP, but my spleen won't take any more venting.
...I can connect to a 'normal' monitor via the wireless link, and can have a wireless mouse too. So for normal use I don't have to have any annoying cables plugged in as that spoils the look.
I for one would like to see creative use of the built-in screen as a 'sidebar' of some kind to supplement the normal screen rather than to replace it.
Imagine games and other apps using it as an additional display. Now imagine people also taking advantage of the fact that it is touch-sensitive too - opens up whole new realms of possibility. Of course developers aren't going to develop such things unless the technology becomes pervasive, and I know that isn't going to happen so for that reason I'm out.
....who'll slag off anything without an Apple logo or with anything remotely hinting Windows support, I think this isn't too bad an idea.
It's a good alternative to a desktop for basic home users (such as kids etc). Stick it on the desk with a monitor and a mouse - away you go. I do question the wisdom of the pointless little touchscreen though - an expensive gimmick thats sitting where a numeric pad and a trackball could go.
To catch on, it'll have to be really cheap. If a basic netbook goes for £200-£350, this will have to drop a hundred to justify the lack of screen and battery. Strangely, I doubt this will be the case.
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