Aaaaahhh - new keyboard Technology

Discussion in 'Off Topic Chat' started by Malka, Jul 4, 2017.

  1. Malka

    Malka Member

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    Aaaaahhh - new keyboard

    I think I have mentioned before that I have a habit of killing keyboards. Well I do not always kill them, they just pack up. So I always get Effie, my computer guy, to get two or three [or four?] new keyboards for me to keep in stock. Just in case.

    I had been using Logitech [cordless] but when I was on the last one he brought me four Microsoft keyboard/mouse/units. So when my last Logitech decided to pack up yesterday morning I fished out one of the new Microsoft ones.

    And the bdooly thing did not work because there was no wotsit to plug into a USB port. And where is Effie? Probably on holiday as he was not answering his telephone.

    PANIC. Actually no, because Hai at the macolet does have keyboards [and other techie stuff], so I buzzed across the road and picked up a new keyboard/mouse set. Conhooked it and great, it works. Nicely. Seems to be a lot faster than the Logitech although maybe that is because it is new.

    Minor problems. It is smaller than the Logitech, not a problem in itself as it gives me more table space, but a few functions are not where I expect them to be, so I find I am having to look at the keyboard to find where they are. No instructions in English, of course, [it is an American keyboard with the usual English letters as main, and the Hebrew letters on the same keys but much smaller]. And no media keys for music and video control, which is not really a problem as I can control those from my monitor.

    Mainly it is the positioning of the various function keys that are confuddling me but I guess I will get used to them.

    In the meantime the four Microsoft keyboard/mouse sets can go back to Effie - when I can get hold of him - and having looked at the boxes it says "Requirements: Windows 8 - Windows RT - Windows 7 and Windows Vista". They obviously are nbg for Windows 10 whereas the box of the new keyboard specifically states "Compatible with Windows 10". And the new one has guaranteed long-lasting batteries, plus on/off little switches on both keyboard and mouse.

    I think the make is Rapoo and it is made in Holland. I bought the last one Hai had and have asked him to get another two for me. Just in case, dontchaknow.

    It is just a matter of getting used to the slightly different layout of some functions but thank crunchie Hai had a keyboard for me!
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  3. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    I have a similar problem. I spend so much time on a tablet these days, (Google keyboard), that I am like a complete learner when I switch back to the laptop.
  4. Malka

    Malka Member

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    I do not have a tablet or a smart phone, and the one time I tried to use a laptop was not a success. :oops:

    My pc sits on a shelf beside the table and my monitor sits in front of me on an upside-down [empty] large ice-cream container to bring it up to a decent height. And that is going to be a problem if I have to have replace it.

    My original monitor was a 17" square one and when it had to be replaced I wanted a 19" square one. Only square monitors were well on the way out and I did not want a wide screen. For a start I do not have the table space for a wide screen monitor, and also I hate them. Which is why I do not watch television these days because it looks like an elephant is sitting on the screen and everything is short and squat.

    So Effie found a 19" square monitor for me, which cost quite a lot more than a 24" wide one, but at least I got what I wanted. Only I do not think square monitors are made these days, just like square televisions were no longer made when I had to replace my old one . Have not been for yonks AFAIK.

    Maybe it is old age [probably is!] but I like things that I can use without having to find a six-year-old to teach me how to use new this new technology.

    Anyhow, I think I have worked out how to find the media keys. There is a key on the bottom row marked Fn and I think that if pressed together with one of the F keys, which seem to be dual purpose, it will bring up what I want.

    Oh how frustrating it can be when one gets old. SIGH
  5. Malka

    Malka Member

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    UPDATE - says me with a very red face. :oops: The Rapoo keyboard packed up in less than two weeks, no fault of mine. So I got down one of my old Logitech sets and lo and behold it decided to work [I tend to keep old keyboards, in their original boxes, on top of one of my cupboards - just in case].

    And then Effie rang and told me exactly where the wotsit that plugs into a USB port on my PC is kept in the new Microsoft keyboards - in the section where the battery is, to make sure it does not get lost. Well how on earth was I supposed to know. And of course it is compatible with Windows 10 because it has a top row which is set up for gaming, and all the F keys have small symbols on them which one day I will find out what they are for. I think the instructions in the box might be in English so I will have a look, although most things are not. Actually with the top row and all its buttons, plus some extra keys on the F key row, it is probably why it is bigger than the Logitech and much bigger than the Rapoo [which Effie says are known as Cr@poos]. It also has a very nice wrist rest.

    So, the Rapoos went back to the macolet, the dead one and the two new ones Hai had gotten for me, which are now sitting on the shelf ready for the next person who wants a keyboard [not the dead one of course, that has gone back to where Hai bought it] and I got my money back.

    In the meantime I am rather pleased with this Microsoft one although the mouse is a wee bit bigger and heavier - I have another three sets sitting on top of another cupboard, and still have the old Logitech ones as extra extra spares. I guess one of these days I will get rid of those.

    Effie, of course, was in hysterics about the whole thing. Well he would be - he still has not forgotten me drowning an eight-day-old keyboard [one of my original ones], or ripping the front and side off my original massive PC which sat on the floor, by my footrest catching on it when I was reversing! Plus of course me having to ask him how to switch the thing on when he first brought it here and set everything up. :oops:

    Well, I had never seen, let alone used a computer before. :rolleyes: But since that monster PC all those he has built for me have been in nice neat boxes which sit on a shelf by the side of this table.

    I think I have come a long way since the first one though.
  6. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    Those F keys are a pain. It is so hard to see the symbols, even harder to see whether the Volume keys, (for example), are plus or minus - especially on a laptop keyboard. Suits me that the tablets have a rocker switch for volume. However, glad you are settled with your MS one now - happy typing.
  7. Malka

    Malka Member

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    I never did find out what most of the F keys do so what these tiny blue symbols on them are supposed to mean...

    All I know is that when I was taught to type, many years ago [I did a condensed shorthand/typing course at Pitmans after my GCE "A" levels and before starting university - no gap years in those days] I was taught on an ancient sit-up-and-beg typewriter - I think it was an Underwood? Anyhow, it had a cover over the keys so it was either learn where the keys were and which finger was for which key/s, or pack in the course.

    Years later when I first used an electric typewriter [a golf ball one] I hated it because it did not feel right, although the electronic ones after that were not so bad. I had to use a word processor at my last job which took a bit of getting used to, but never a computer until Effie built my first one, and the difference between what a computer does compared to a wp is incredible. It was great fun learning what a PC does and I am still learning. Having started on XP Pro, gone on to W7 Ultimate and now W10 - each one is different and the differences have to be learned, but at least it keeps my brain active. And the typing keeps my hands and fingers from locking and I am still a touch-typist, although not as fast as I used to be.

    The rest of my body might be useless but at least my brain is still active and my fingers still work as they should when on the keyboard, and yet I cannot hold or use a knife and fork. Strange that.
  8. GsdSlave

    GsdSlave Member

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    CaroleC likes this.
    My keyboard is doing my head in, merrily typing way then discover its missed half the words/letters out, Its not that old either.

    On top of that Yahoo has somehow HIJACKED MY GOOGLE SEARCH and I am really getting PO'd! :021:
  9. Malka

    Malka Member

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    I have not been near Yahoo in yonks although I think I still have a Yahoo email address. But Google did a nasty on me a while back and I lost all but one of my gmail addresses. Yes, I could have gotten them back because I knew my passwords and the answers to the secret questions I had chosen, but Google wanted my mobile number to send me an SMS message - or something - and my little mobile did not do SMS/texts.

    The one thing about Windows 10, which I have had since it was first offered and which I really like, was the bdooly nuisance that when I received an email [I use Thunderbird] and wanted to open something in it on my browser, it went to Edge. Which I Do Not Like. However a quick Google search told me how to change it so things now open in Firefox, my main browser. I do use Chrome as a secondary browser for a couple of things, but Firefox is the one for me.

    I got rather peeved when Firefox did an update which switched things round, but again a quick Google search told me how to revert to the Classic style.

    But as for keyboards - after the drowning of one, and I have sort of killed a few more somehow, I have always asked Effie to get me another four when I am down to the last one. Originally they were all wired and I still have an unopened one of those, but when Effie changed me to wireless ones he brought me the Logitech ones. I killed one of those somehow [keys coming off and flying across the room] but keyboards and mouses only last so long before they need to be replaced. Or maybe it is just me?

    The only problem with the Logitech ones was the fact that there is no light to show if you are on Caps Lock. Mind you, these fancy Microsoft ones do not have a Caps Lock light either.

    Can't win'em all.
  10. Innocence

    Innocence Member

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    Hello,
    I am in need of a new keyboard as some of the keys have fallen of leaving me inable to complete certain numbers. :mad:
    Jane
    xx
  11. Malka

    Malka Member

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    Innocence likes this.
    Jane, I guess it depends on what brand of keyboard and if it is a keyboard/mouse wireless one that you are used to.

    I still have not discovered what all the extra keys on my new MS keyboard mean, having use the Logitech ones for so long, but I guess that basically all wireless keyboards/mouse/thing what goes into an USB socket are basically the same. And there are some very cheap ones available now [although not here :mad:]

    A lot depends also on how often you use your PC [or do you have a laptop in which case do not ask me as is the keyboard not a part of a laptop?

    I have just remembered one of my original keyboards having been gnawed by mice and left two rows of keys all knibbled. Which is why I keep spare keyboard sets, spare speakers, spare webcams - but then I am someone for whom my PC is my window to the world, and I feel happier when I know that I have spares for this, that, and whatever.

    But there is no way I would leave myself without sets of spare keyboards/mouse etc. Because my PC is so important to me. Probably more so than an AB person.
  12. Chris B

    Chris B Member

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    CaroleC likes this.
    I learned to type on a blank key Underwood too. They made for very strong little fingers :)
  13. Malka

    Malka Member

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    And our tutor at Pitmans college says "once a touch-typist, always a touch typist", and all these years later oh was she correct. That concentrated [and fairly expensive] 12 week course has stuck with me all these years later. Not only the typing but the shorthand, even though I cannot hold a pen to write properly. Shorthand is so much easier!
  14. Chris B

    Chris B Member

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    I loved shorthand and used it in my work for many years. Nowadays, I'd struggle to read it back.
  15. Janet

    Janet Member

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    I used to love shorthand and got up quite a speed. Unfortunately my typing skills didn't match up.

    I might have a go at shorthand again - I wonder how much I can remember!
  16. Malka

    Malka Member

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    I reckon it would take you just a couple of weeks. I had not used it for yonks and yet it came back as soon as I needed it and is easier for me to write, and read back than longhand.
    Probably a lot more than you think. And it is so very useful for quick notes.

    I reckon both of you could read my shorthand, just as I could read yours. Pity we cannot try it here on Breedia!
  17. GsdSlave

    GsdSlave Member

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    Well my new keyboard arrived today started off great ,but sometimes when i press a letter i get Aaaaaaaaaaa a million times if it keeps up it will be going back :(
  18. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    GsdSlave likes this.
    I think you can adjust keystroke sensitivity on a pc running Microsoft. I know I have done it - just can't remember how.
  19. Malka

    Malka Member

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    GsdSlave likes this.
    You might find the answer here:

    https://mcmw.abilitynet.org.uk/category/changing-keyboard-settings/

    I have just had a quick look at it and it seems to deal with all sorts of keyboard functions.
  20. GsdSlave

    GsdSlave Member

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    Thanks ladies didn’t know that existed, have done what it said so ill see how it goes.

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