Keyboards

[mjdemaris]

So, in your opinion, what is a good keyboard for programming?

I like wireless, I like using the F keys without having to press the Fn key, and I think having programmable buttons could be useful. Though I am not sure what I would program them for, yet.

I'm looking at newegg.com atm, but I felt getting the pro's opinions would be the best source of info.

 

[AccessBlaster]

The issue I have with wireless is battery life. You might be coding, modding or playing a game your battery will die at the most unexpected moment.

 

[mjdemaris]

What keyboard manufacturer do you prefer?

 

[fat controller]

If it helps, I have a Logitech K330 wireless keyboard and mouse package, and am very pleased with it.

I bought it purely because I had the same package at work, and was very impressed with it. Battery life has been good, and it has stood up to the rigours of use much better than the Microsoft branded equivalents that others around the business were using.

The keys have a nice action, whilst also being very quiet - in fact, it is probably one of the quietest keyboards I have ever used.

 

[sneuberg]

I have the Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 1000 and Wireless Optical Mouse 2000 and they've worked quite well for me at least so far a battery life and basic functions are concerned. My complaint about it is that you can't assign macros to the numbered keys.

 

[Frothingslosh]

At work, I just use a bog-standard $10 keyboard with no frills (Logitech K120), mainly because that's what they assigned me and I can't make a business case for anything else.

At home, I have a Logitech G-19 programmable gaming keyboard. It comes with twelve G-keys that I can program with some surprisingly adaptable scripts. There's also a display built into the keyboard that I can use to show things ranging from hardware performance to the time to YouTube videos to any specialized data made available from downloadable program profiles. If one doesn't exist for MS Access, I'm sure one could be created.

Of course, it also set me back a few bucks.

Mouse is a Logitech gaming mouse - I forget the exact model, but it's programmable with 3 profiles, each of which can support up to 4 different DPI resolutions, and the buttons include several thumb buttons, DPI up and DPI down, a profile selector, etc. It also has a removable panel on the bottom that allows for metal weights to be added in order to customize the mouse handling characteristics.

Again, not cheap.

I avoid wireless mice and keyboards like the plague for reasons that should be obvious at this point.

 

[Minty]

I have a Logitech K810 Bluetooth Rechargeable Keyboard (not cheap) - I use it with my laptop as I hate the touch pad, it lasts a good month before the red warning light comes on telling me to charge it (via usb). I was recently given a very nice MS Surface Bluetooth mouse with Haptic scroll wheel. Can't make it work with my aging Dell laptop

 

[mjdemaris]

@Frothing: what types of scripts do you have programmed? I like the idea of being able to set custom functions, and I am beginning to take a look into vb scripting as I work on automating some back end tasks.

I am going to try to make a business case for it!

Like many of you, in the past I preferred Logitech over Microsoft, but some of the reviews I've been reading on recent boards have me wondering.

 

[Frothingslosh]

Right now, my access scripts simply drop in a standardized procedure header section (similar to the below, but not filled in) and another that drops in my basic error handler.

[COLOR=#2e8b57]' ************************************************************[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]' Created by       : Frothingslosh[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]' Parameters       : None[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]' Result           : Determines if backend can be reached, and if front end is the current version.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]' Returns          : 0 - Misc Error[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]'                  : 1 - No current version found in Version Manager file[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]'                  : 2 - Front end being run from master location[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]'                  : 3 - Master file path not found in Version Manager file[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]'                  : 999 - Front end current[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]' Date             : 5-30-14[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]' Remarks          : Based on previously-existing code by Bob Larson posted at StackOverflow[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]' Changes          :[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]' ***************[/COLOR][COLOR=seagreen]*********************************************[/COLOR]

I really don't make as much use of them as I probably could. You're able to program a whole BUNCH of different things.

 

[Frothingslosh]

Oh, and I remember now, the mouse is a Logitech g502 Proteus Core gaming mouse. I see they're going for as little as $50 these days.