Choosing a Keyboard
In our modern times we all spend a lot of time using a keyboard but
only those people who have something of a passion for computing will
agonise over their choice of keyboard. As an embedded systems
developer and a passionate computer user since I can remember I fall
into that category. I did not realise how important the location of
my keys was until I had to make use of an Apple laptop keyboard for
about 1 year. I did not care so much that the caps had the wrong
glyphs on them (I can re-map that) what was a real problem was the
instances where the keys simply did not exist... the pipe | and
back slash \ characters are very important to a programmer, not to
mention the frustrating half size arrow keys (yes, yes, I should be
using HJKL, sorry).
Half Height Apple Arrow Keys
Cherry MX Pro 6.0
Keyboard on my Laptop
Requirements
So, what do I want in a keyboard?
- Must be a UK layout, not a twisted Macintosh layout
- Must have a pipe backslash character key next to the left shift
- Must have a double height enter key
- Must have full size arrow keys, in the right place
- Were possible, glyphs should match the standard UK keyboard layout
My Laptop (Dell L502x) fits this perfectly... but all the new models do not!
Aliexpress and other Keyboard Nerds
Fortunately, I am not the only person who cares this much about a keyboard. YMDK do PCBs, Switches and Keycaps. The Dell XPS L502x keyboard is a 84 key layout (well, seemingly) and the YMDK company seems to do several 84 Key layouts.
YMD96 YMD75 and GH60 YD60M layout assembly options
Also the keycaps on this keyboard look really nice... unfortunately they are not the UK layout.