FingerWorks Offers Replacement PowerBook Keyboard 82
JerryKnight writes "FingerWorks, the inventor of TouchStream keyboards such as the LP, is taking pre-orders for a drop-in replacement for the keyboard in a 15" PowerBook G4 that is pretty much the same thing as the LP. Now the beautiful PowerBook can be completely smooth. Words fail to express the enthusiasm felt by me and hopefully anyone else who has used these keyboards. No word on availability. List price: $259." It's called the MacNTouch. Hm.
Looks nice (Score:4, Interesting)
Same for return... umm enter... where is return??? I know quite some apps, where return and enter have different functions... take Fire for example: return sends out, enter makes a new line in the message... I do not think I would want to use additional shift for this. And it IS far too small, leave it at the current size, it was already difficult enough for me to stop hitting back-slash all the time...
Overall:
the whole right part of the keyboard is messed up and will require you to get used to the new layout.
Too much self advertisement... use it for bigger keys instead, although the hand is quite cute.
Can I press command + option with one finger only? I hope so.
NO IBOOK?
What about the heat? I have 1GHz and it gets quite hot already. If you look at the current keyboard, it is designed to provide better air circulation. You think it is not important? Buy the hoover TiBook, wait until the fans go on, lift the keyboard and wait for a while... the fans go off. With the keyboard it takes longer time for the fans to go off, I dunno about MacNTouch with no holes at all.
I do not think I will buy it, maybe I would for my iBook, but it has IMO too many design/usability flaws. I had to try it out first.
weeeee
Power Drain on battery (Score:3, Interesting)
I haven't measured, but the keyboard on my TiBook looks very similar to the one in my iBook... I wonder if it would work in both?
Still, for the money, perhaps it would be better to buy the TouchStream LP and just bring it along with you. It folds up for portability. I know the drop in replacement is slick, but it means it will only ever work on the TiBook... if you are like me and move from machine to machine, I think portability of such an expensive keyboard would outweigh the wow-factor of having it built in to the TiBook.
But then, maybe I am crazy. Or something.
What about the trackpad? (Score:4, Interesting)
Of course, maybe I should be suggesting same to manufacturer, rather than bitching about it to the slashbots?
Re:What about the trackpad? (Score:4, Interesting)
Anyone have any suggestions for improvement to this technique?
Re:What about the trackpad? (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, I guess it's all just a matter of what you're used to.
Not entirely true. I'm used to 3+ buttons, and I constantly hit the wrong button on a windows machine's trackpad. One thing I did like was the way the right hand edge of the tackpad on said machine worked as a scroll wheel (which is something I miss far more than the second button when I use an Apple mouse). Does / can the PowerBook trackpad do this?
Re:What about the trackpad? (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd love to find a piece of software that recognized the physical trackpad button as a control-click, thus simulating a two-button mouse.
Re:What about the trackpad? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What about the trackpad? (Score:3, Interesting)
There might be a bit of timing involved in this solution, however.
Re:Ctrl key still retarded, I see (Score:2, Interesting)
http://www.fingerworks.com/modifiers.html
for Shift, Ctrl, and Alt are much nicer than any pinky control key. And if you're an Emacs user, our Emacs mode automatically generates those crazy C-x C-f