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Netbooks with full-size keyboards?

M

mm

Flightless Bird
Does anyone know what netbooks have full-size keyboards? (I guess
counting only the keys that make characters on the screen. That is
not counting F-keys and arrows etc.)

Is that the search word I should include in searches "full-size
keyboard".


My friend got an Acer Aspire One netbook.

The distance from the Z-key to the /-key inclusive is 6 5/8".
On my full-size keyboard, it is 7 3/8" or less.

Not a big difference but I think it will make it hard for me.

Thanks.
 
G

Gerard Bok

Flightless Bird
On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:02:03 -0500, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

>Does anyone know what netbooks have full-size keyboards?


My 2 cents: none.
A typical netbook is smaller than a full size keyboard.
On a cellphone you can have sliding extention keyboards but I
doubt if any netbook comes with such an extension.

On the bright side: usually, you can connect any full size (US8)
keyboard to any netbook.

--
met vriendelijke groet,
Gerard Bok
 
M

Mahlon Wagner

Flightless Bird
On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:02:03 -0500, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

>Does anyone know what netbooks have full-size keyboards? (I guess
>counting only the keys that make characters on the screen. That is
>not counting F-keys and arrows etc.)
>

It seems that Lenovo has a netbook (Ideapad?)--S-12 model which claims
to have a full size keyboard.
Mahl
 
M

mm

Flightless Bird
On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:17:25 -0500, Mahlon Wagner
<mwagner2@twcny.rr.com> wrote:

>On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:02:03 -0500, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
>wrote:
>
>>Does anyone know what netbooks have full-size keyboards? (I guess
>>counting only the keys that make characters on the screen. That is
>>not counting F-keys and arrows etc.)
>>

>It seems that Lenovo has a netbook (Ideapad?)--S-12 model which claims
>to have a full size keyboard.
>Mahl


Great. Thanks. I'll go check.

And thanks also Gerald. I would only use this for traveling, so the
extra keyboard I don't think works for me.

Here's something aobut it.
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/notebooks/ideapad/s-series

It's the one on the right.

Reduced from: $449.00*
Sale price: $429.00*
This is a pretty good price on their own webpage. Other sites want as
much as 540 or more, although maybe they include other things. It's
up to 550 on ebay, and that's refurbished! They must use gold
furbishes. "Memory (RAM): 3 GB Hard Drive Capacity: 320 GB"
They say this one is 649 new. I don't know, maybe it's worth another
100 dollars to buy a new one. What do you think? The refurbished one
has a one=year Lenovo warranty. (Well at least it qualifites from
January 13, whatever that means.) (I was going to spend 250 when I
started this. :) )

12" mini multimedia
A larger screen and full-size keyboard yet still very portable with
instant-on access and 3 USB ports. Hi-def models and upgraded wireless
add to its anywhere-anytime appeal.
Intel® Atom™ N270 and VIA Nano™ ULV 2250 processors
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Other editions of Windows available.
NVIDIA ION HD graphics
12.1" hi-def 16:10 LED widescreen
Up to 6 cell battery
Starting at 2.87 lbs.
Dolby® Headphone™ and quality speakers

And I would like it to be a 12 inch screen, but still under 3 pounds.
I wonder what makes it get heavier. Maybe a more-cell battery.

They don't claim the others have full-size keyboards, so I'll bet
they're telling the truth about this one.

Thanks again.



Here are four others:

10" starter mini
Our thinnest and lightest mini. It's super-easy to use and has
everything you need for email, Web, music, video messaging and
everyday computing.
Up to Intel® Atom™ N270 processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Basic
Other editions of Windows available.
10.1" LED 16:9 widescreen
Up to 6 cell battery
Starting at 2.42 lbs.
Near-full size keyboard
Instant-on access
Dolby® Headphone™ and quality speakers

Build your own 10" mini
Our thinnest and lightest with options: choice of processor,
Bluetooth™, wireless card and four colors plus four designer covers.
Up to Intel® Atom™ N280 processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Basic
Other editions of Windows available.
10.1" LED 16:9 widescreen
Up to 6 cell battery
Starting at 2.42 lbs.
Near-full size keyboard
Instant-on access
Dolby® Headphone™ and quality speakers
Integrated hi-speed wireless


10" mini with premium features
3rd generation netbook with many upgrades and options like the ability
to share files, music, photos without logging onto the internet and
hi-speed wireless for easy, on-the-spot connectivity.
Up to Intel® Atom™ N450 processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Basic
Other editions of Windows available.
10.1" LED 16:9 widescreen
Starting at 2.75 lbs./ 1" thin
APS™ impact protection
802.11b/g/n, WWAN, WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth®
Lenovo Direct Share
Dolby® Headphone™ and quality speakers




10" mini touch screen tablet
Take notes, share and present on a mini laptop that converts to a
tablet netbook. Multi-function tablet features a touch-sensitive panel
and a durable steel hinge with a 180 degree rotation.
Up to Intel® Atom™ N470 processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Other editions of Windows available.
Converts to a tablet display
10.1" LED 16:9 touch screen
Starting at 3 lbs./ 1.5"
VeriTouch™ log in feature
Lenovo Direct Share
APS™ impact protection
Dolby® Headphone™ and quality speakers
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
mm wrote on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:35:46 -0500:
> And thanks also Gerald. I would only use this for traveling, so the
> extra keyboard I don't think works for me.


I have and rarely use those Virtually Indestructible Keyboards. I don't
like doing a lot of typing on them, but you might. And the plus side is
that they are full size keyboards that you can roll up into a small
space. They work terrible if you don't have a flat surface to use them
on though. I dunno, just another option to consider.

http://store.grandtec.com/virinkey.html

A few years back, one company had a tiny box that would draw a keyboard
on a flat surface using a laser I believe. And the claim was that you
could type on this imaginary keyboard just like real keyboard. Although
I don't know whatever happened with them. They still might be around or
not. But the idea sounded pretty good to me if it really worked well.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 702G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Xandros Linux (build 2007-10-19 13:03)
 
G

Gerard Bok

Flightless Bird
On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:27:50 -0600, BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom>
wrote:

>mm wrote on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:35:46 -0500:
>> And thanks also Gerald. I would only use this for traveling, so the
>> extra keyboard I don't think works for me.

>
>I have and rarely use those Virtually Indestructible Keyboards. I don't
>like doing a lot of typing on them, but you might. And the plus side is
>that they are full size keyboards that you can roll up into a small
>space. They work terrible if you don't have a flat surface to use them
>on though.


Imho, they take far more adjustment from a user than the smaller
pitch on a netbook's keyboard does.
Really, they are great if you insist on spoiling coffee (or even
cola :) on them. But they are a real menace to type on.
By the way, over here they sell at 6 euro 95 in local groceries
stores; bi-modal, PS/2 and USB ;-)

Practically, it is not the smaller pitch that bothers while
typing on a netbook but the absense of necessairy keys like home,
end, PgUp, PgDn (which are all hidden under Fn functions).
And the fact that their el cheapo touchpads don't support scroll
emulation and corner actions.

--
met vriendelijke groet,
Gerard Bok
 
T

the wharf rat

Flightless Bird
In article <hj9v8a$re7$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:
>
>I have and rarely use those Virtually Indestructible Keyboards. I don't
>like doing a lot of typing on them, but you might. And the plus side is


I keep one in the toolbox for all those sites that haven't heard
the words crash cart. Otherwise they're pretty useless.
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
Gerard Bok wrote on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:49:24 GMT:
> On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:27:50 -0600, BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom>
> wrote:
>
>> mm wrote on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:35:46 -0500:
>>> And thanks also Gerald. I would only use this for traveling, so the
>>> extra keyboard I don't think works for me.

>>
>> I have and rarely use those Virtually Indestructible Keyboards. I don't
>> like doing a lot of typing on them, but you might. And the plus side is
>> that they are full size keyboards that you can roll up into a small
>> space. They work terrible if you don't have a flat surface to use them
>> on though.

>
> Imho, they take far more adjustment from a user than the smaller
> pitch on a netbook's keyboard does.
> Really, they are great if you insist on spoiling coffee (or even
> cola :) on them. But they are a real menace to type on.
> By the way, over here they sell at 6 euro 95 in local groceries
> stores; bi-modal, PS/2 and USB ;-)
>
> Practically, it is not the smaller pitch that bothers while
> typing on a netbook but the absense of necessairy keys like home,
> end, PgUp, PgDn (which are all hidden under Fn functions).
> And the fact that their el cheapo touchpads don't support scroll
> emulation and corner actions.


Here I thought it was just my typing style that has a hard time typing
fast with them. lol I do like them for travel or if you need to hook up
a keyboard quickly and don't plan on typing too much. Also they are dead
silent. And some radio hosts uses them for that reason alone.

Now about those cheapo touchpads... my Asus netbook touchpads uses the
same Synaptics driver as my laptops and has the very same features, etc.
So I don't think all netbook touchpads are limited.

Yes I agree those netbooks having to use the Fn key combo for PageUP,
Down, Home, etc. is a bit of a bother. Although it isn't too different
than the old CP/M and MS-DOS days when we used the control key for
special functions. So it wasn't that hard for me to adjust.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 702G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Xandros Linux (build 2007-10-19 13:03)
 
M

mm

Flightless Bird
On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:35:20 -0600, BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:


Are there more sizes of keyboard than fullsize and what this Acer has?

Or just two?

I think this one is 0.91 of full size.

>Here I thought it was just my typing style that has a hard time typing
>fast with them. lol I do like them for travel or if you need to hook up
>a keyboard quickly and don't plan on typing too much. Also they are dead
>silent. And some radio hosts uses them for that reason alone.
>
>Now about those cheapo touchpads... my Asus netbook touchpads uses the
>same Synaptics driver as my laptops and has the very same features, etc.
>So I don't think all netbook touchpads are limited.


My first and current laptop is a thinkpad, with a little red joystick
between g and h. But I use a real mouse, because it's worth it.

And not a mini-mouse, a travel mouse. They're smaller but not that
doesnt' seem to matter to me. (a full size mouse is still much
smaller and lighter than a keyboard. personal taste.)
>
>Yes I agree those netbooks having to use the Fn key combo for PageUP,
>Down, Home, etc. is a bit of a bother. Although it isn't too different
>than the old CP/M and MS-DOS days when we used the control key for
>special functions. So it wasn't that hard for me to adjust.


This Acer Aspire One that my friend left here has actual keys for
about everything. The Fn key only works for picture off, sound off,
numlk,scrlk, home sound up, sound down, end, I think these two are
screen brighter, screen dimmer, and 6 other Fkeys. I guess you're
right about home which I use all the time, but it does have original
keys for pageUp and down. This is really small, but so far, its
keyboard is too small. Of course I've only typed about 20 words.


>--
>Bill
 
T

the wharf rat

Flightless Bird
In article <9v6hl5thpkcgfhi90qaor8t105vafrrmeu@4ax.com>,
mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote:
>
>Are there more sizes of keyboard than fullsize and what this Acer has?
>


IBM laptops used to have a keyboard that folded out when you opened
the lid...
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
mm wrote on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:33:41 -0500:
> On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:35:20 -0600, BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:
>
>
> Are there more sizes of keyboard than fullsize and what this Acer has?
>
> Or just two?
>
> I think this one is 0.91 of full size.


Yes I believe so. As this 7 inch netbook has the smallest keyboard of
all of them I understand. The larger the netbook, generally the larger
the keyboard.

>> Here I thought it was just my typing style that has a hard time typing
>> fast with them. lol I do like them for travel or if you need to hook up
>> a keyboard quickly and don't plan on typing too much. Also they are dead
>> silent. And some radio hosts uses them for that reason alone.
>>
>> Now about those cheapo touchpads... my Asus netbook touchpads uses the
>> same Synaptics driver as my laptops and has the very same features, etc.
>> So I don't think all netbook touchpads are limited.

>
> My first and current laptop is a thinkpad, with a little red joystick
> between g and h. But I use a real mouse, because it's worth it.
>
> And not a mini-mouse, a travel mouse. They're smaller but not that
> doesnt' seem to matter to me. (a full size mouse is still much
> smaller and lighter than a keyboard. personal taste.)


Yes I still prefer a mouse over anything else. Although I do use a
touchpad and/or a joystick if that is all I have to use.

>> Yes I agree those netbooks having to use the Fn key combo for PageUP,
>> Down, Home, etc. is a bit of a bother. Although it isn't too different
>> than the old CP/M and MS-DOS days when we used the control key for
>> special functions. So it wasn't that hard for me to adjust.

>
> This Acer Aspire One that my friend left here has actual keys for
> about everything. The Fn key only works for picture off, sound off,
> numlk,scrlk, home sound up, sound down, end, I think these two are
> screen brighter, screen dimmer, and 6 other Fkeys. I guess you're
> right about home which I use all the time, but it does have original
> keys for pageUp and down. This is really small, but so far, its
> keyboard is too small. Of course I've only typed about 20 words.


Yes there is no real standard with these keyboards. Probably a good
thing since there more choices for us to chose from.

And back on the external keyboard front, maybe those Virtually
Indestructible Keyboards are not so hot. But there are tons of external
keyboard manufactures. And Palm had a folding keyboard that would fold
down to the size of a wallet. I actually have one and they fold down
really small. And I wouldn't be surprised if somebody makes one for
laptops and netbooks as well. If they don't, they should. ;-)

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 702G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Xandros Linux (build 2007-10-19 13:03)
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
Virtually Indestructible Keyboards [Re: Netbooks with full-size keyboards?]

BillW50 wrote on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:53:05 -0600:
[...]
> And back on the external keyboard front, maybe those Virtually
> Indestructible Keyboards are not so hot...


I am not sure how to explain this. But when I use those Virtually
Indestructible Keyboards. One of two things happens.

Sometimes I can use one for hours and I can get by with them. Or
sometimes they get so frustrating to use, that I want to use anything else.

It might be do to the typing speed. The faster you type, the more errors
occur with the Virtually Indestructible Keyboards. The space key(s) is
probably the worse.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 702G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Xandros Linux (build 2007-10-19 13:03)
 
M

mm

Flightless Bird
On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:53:05 -0600, BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:

>
>And back on the external keyboard front, maybe those Virtually
>Indestructible Keyboards are not so hot. But there are tons of external
>keyboard manufactures. And Palm had a folding keyboard that would fold
>down to the size of a wallet. I actually have one and they fold down
>really small. And I wouldn't be surprised if somebody makes one for
>laptops and netbooks as well. If they don't, they should. ;-)


I found a rollup keyboard at a swapmeet, very cheap, but it also was
less than full-size, no bigger than the small netbook had.

So I will keep my eyes out for a folding one, not maded by VIK if
possible.

Thanks all.

>--
>Bill
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
In news:l6dvm5l4hf28d911556jrd5vaf3taqm7a2@4ax.com,
mm typed on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:54:14 -0500:
> On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:53:05 -0600, BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:
>
>> And back on the external keyboard front, maybe those Virtually
>> Indestructible Keyboards are not so hot. But there are tons of
>> external keyboard manufactures. And Palm had a folding keyboard that
>> would fold down to the size of a wallet. I actually have one and
>> they fold down really small. And I wouldn't be surprised if somebody
>> makes one for laptops and netbooks as well. If they don't, they
>> should. ;-)

>
> I found a rollup keyboard at a swapmeet, very cheap, but it also was
> less than full-size, no bigger than the small netbook had.
>
> So I will keep my eyes out for a folding one, not maded by VIK if
> possible.
>
> Thanks all.


Oh nice! Mine are so huge. I would like a smaller version of one of
them.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 702G8 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Windows XP SP2
 
M

mike

Flightless Bird
mm wrote:
> Does anyone know what netbooks have full-size keyboards? (I guess
> counting only the keys that make characters on the screen. That is
> not counting F-keys and arrows etc.)
>
> Is that the search word I should include in searches "full-size
> keyboard".
>
>
> My friend got an Acer Aspire One netbook.
>
> The distance from the Z-key to the /-key inclusive is 6 5/8".
> On my full-size keyboard, it is 7 3/8" or less.
>
> Not a big difference but I think it will make it hard for me.
>
> Thanks.

Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of a netbook?
It's like asking for a Mini Cooper with a 10 Ton cargo capacity.
Just ain't compatible requirements.

Some years ago, IBM had a tiny thinkpad with a split keyboard that
folded out
bigger than the laptop. It never caught on.
 
M

mm

Flightless Bird
On Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:52:40 -0800, mike <spamme0@go.com> wrote:

>mm wrote:
>> Does anyone know what netbooks have full-size keyboards? (I guess
>> counting only the keys that make characters on the screen. That is
>> not counting F-keys and arrows etc.)
>>
>> Is that the search word I should include in searches "full-size
>> keyboard".
>>
>>
>> My friend got an Acer Aspire One netbook.
>>
>> The distance from the Z-key to the /-key inclusive is 6 5/8".
>> On my full-size keyboard, it is 7 3/8" or less.
>>
>> Not a big difference but I think it will make it hard for me.
>>
>> Thanks.

>Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of a netbook?


No. A netbook with a full-size keyboard is still lighter than other
laptops, and only 10% bigger than other netbooks. It's never been the
size that was a problem, only the weight.

>It's like asking for a Mini Cooper with a 10 Ton cargo capacity.
>Just ain't compatible requirements.
>
>Some years ago, IBM had a tiny thinkpad with a split keyboard that
>folded out
>bigger than the laptop. It never caught on.


I wonder how much it weighed.

Thanks.
 
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