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Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.misc Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!metro!physiol.su.OZ.AU!john From: john@physiol.su.OZ.AU (John Mackin) Subject: Re: UNIX-style keyboards Message-ID: <1994Dec21.012416.10868@physiol.su.OZ.AU> Organization: The Land of Summer's Twilight References: <tporczykD0E800.96r@netcom.com> <JUN.94Dec10153400@fox.fax.iwa.fujixerox.co.jp> <3cihio$630@godzilla.zeta.org.au> Date: Wed, 21 Dec 1994 01:24:16 GMT Lines: 63 In article <3cihio$630@godzilla.zeta.org.au>, reilly@zeta.org.au (Andrew Reilly) writes: > I still havn't seen a better "Unix" (for want of a better term) than the > 72-key (or was it 92, I forget) model that NCD ships with some of their > X-terminals. Everything is perfect. If these were available separately, > and weren't too expensive, (and worked with PCs) then there's no contest. > The key action was beautiful too. Andrew almost has it with 72 and 92: permute and combine to get 97. The NCD N-97, informally known as the `Unix keyboard.' What a delight to use. I have some more information and comments about these beasts: firstly, it isn't shipped by NCD `with some of their X terminals,' or at least not by default. It's an optional keyboard which you have to specify when you buy the terminal. NCD has a large range of optional keyboards, mostly for international character sets, but the N-97 is the programmer's choice. One of the best things about it, apart from the excellent layout, is the _small footprint_. Unlike so many of today's keyboards, the N-97 is designed from the idea that you just might want to have something else on your desk as well. Looking at one side-by-side with NCD's N-101 (the standard NCD keyboard modelled after the 101-key IBM keyboard) is a true revelation: the N-101 has only four more keys, but it is _so_ much bigger -- and you can see at once that all that extra space is just wasted. Why is the N-97's layout so good? I can put that in a nutshell for you. It's because it is modelled very closely after the layout of the ultimate all-time classic keybaord, the VT-100. Indeed, if I could have a real DEC VT-100 keyboard, I'd be entirely satisfied. There was the one that had _every_ key in the right place, and it felt _great_. (I'm typing this on an IBM PS/2 keyboard -- nice feel, but the layout sucks big-time, and the footprint is _huge_.) It's true that NCD keyboards have good feel, but they do have one unfortunate feature: the electrical/mechanical key mechanisms are not very robust. With hard use, keys fail mechanically far too quickly, and even if you're very careful with them, they begin to become electrically unreliable (in an ordinary office environment) inside two years. I really have never understood why Hall-effect keyboards haven't achieved total market dominance... As to the interface, I have good news! NCD keyboards use a PS/2 (mini-DIN) connector, and they _are_, at least basically, PC-keyboard compatible. We've experimented here, in the past, with putting an NCD keyboard on a PC -- it worked -- and putting a PC keyboard on an NCD -- it worked, kind of, but I think there were a few funnies (as could be expected). (This was some years back so I don't recall the details that well.) I have no idea as to whether NCD will sell the keyboards separately. I suppose they should. At the very least, someone who has purchased an NCD terminal should be able to say `I want a new keyboard, sell me one please.' It would be interesting to know how much they cost. This really should move to another newsgroup, but I have no idea which one, so I'm leaving it here. Roll on comp.keyboards. -- John Mackin <john@physiol.su.oz.au> Knox's box is a 286. Fox in Socks does hacks and tricks Knox's box is hard to fix. To fix poor Knox's box for kicks.