Mechanical Keyboards

Does anyone know how you get this character - "\" on a Keychron K6? Or indeed this one "|"?

Pipe and backslash.

I keep a text file on my desktop with characters that don't appear on my keyboard that I use frequently (°, ±, ², Ø, etc.) and copy and paste them when I need them. You could do the same with £

Do you have the UK or US layout?

Is there an major advantage to having a mini layout keyboard, other than it making more space on the desk? I can understand tenkeyless, because it gives more space for your mouse, especially for gaming.

But having spent some time when I was younger working as a bank cashier, I can't imagine doing productive work with numbers without a number pad.

Means I don’t have to stretch my shoulder so far to reach my mouse. While I’m working (3D CAD) my hand is always on my mouse so anything I can do to prevent me over reaching is good.

But not having a number pad is a pain in the arse so I think I’m going to get a wireless one to sit on the left hand side of the keyboard.

Left handed numberpad keyboards exist! Though requires some muscle memory training after years of right handed data entry on numberpads and calculators...

i barely work with numbers at all - lots of document drafting etc but rarely sums/figures so my TKL is just right for me. I do find the right shift button on the keychron k2 a littttle small but i think I'll get used to it.

For anyone having trouble getting the symbols they want, I can recommend the AutoHotKey app. (https://www.autohotkey.com/).

I use it every day for macros and to get funky symbols like • and ✓ with a shortcut combo, but it seems like it'd be good for remapping keyboard layouts too.

How do you enter ASCII codes without a numberpad? On windows at least it is Alt + a number from the numberpad, top number row doesn't work.

On Windows I just run "Character Map" to enter non-standard stuff.

If it's just a one-off I use character map. If it's something I'll want to do again and again, like the check mark, I'll remap it with AutoHotKey. ✓ is remapped to Alt+Ctrl+#.

U S

But yes, character map - bit of a PITA if you use the symbols lots tho

My wife is French and both her and my son have accents in their name, so number pad is very helpful!

Requirements:-

• TenKeyLess keyboard (I rarely ever use the numpad but do use the arrows/insert/home/etc)
  
• Bluetooth if possible but I'd take wired at a push
  
• Media keys (mute, play/pause, vol up/down) or spare to be programmed as such would be nice
  
• Backlighting really not necessary
  
• Cherry Red MX Silent would be lovely
  
• Front legend or blank keycaps ideally
  
  

Majestouch 2 Ninja is almost there but it's wired and doesn't have the extra media keys.

Recommendations?

I have a spare Majestouch 2 Ninja with Cherry Red MX as it happens.
But doesn't have bluetooth, or media keys.

Filco Convertible? https://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard/filco-convertible-2-tenkeyless-silent-soft-linear-action-uk-iso-keyboard.asp

Add your own key caps if you don’t like the stock ones.

I was after a Filco convertible full keyboard with MX browns, but non available in Ninja UK layout. The normal version stock is expected Feb 2021.
Was considering using the ninja keyboard that I currently have as a donor...

The most common non custom keyboards with blank keycaps are HHKB, Filco Ninja and Das Keyboard.

Das Keyboard is full size, HHKB is too small, Filco Ninja tenkeyless is difficult to find in stock.
Also no media keys.

I like the Filco ninja keys, as although I touch type pretty fast, when I'm tired I still hunt for the rarer keys like ^|¬

Yep thanks, saw that one, that's the current winner although £££ (they all are to be fair).

I like the Filco ninja keys, as although I touch type pretty fast, when I'm tired I still hunt for the rarer keys like ^|¬

Ninja/blank keys are just to wind up wife/daughter if they try and use it. I never have to look at the keys, even the obscure ones, once I'm used to the keyboard. I'm coding a lot of the time so I do use pretty much every symbol at some point in a day (or in one or two lines if writing perl). Haven't checked typing speed for years but last time I did was somewhere around 140wpm.

I change keyboards regularly to keep my wife and daughter guessing...
my daughter (almost 5) loves the IBM model M.

Does anyone sell Ninja keycaps for Cherry MX switches in the UK?

Ooh: https://uk.banggood.com/104-Key-PBT-OEM-Profile-Thick-Side-Printed-Keycaps-for-Cherry-MX-Switches-Mechanical-Keyboard-p-1158342.html?rmmds=buy&ID=49326&cur_warehouse=CN

Was hoping for mixed black and lime green (for special keys) but that red will do.

Worth a punt on that even though they'll take ages to come from China.

Thats alright price actually, might replace my Filco ones that have tired keycaps.

New keycaps arrived, they said they'd come from China but they were mailed out from somewhere in the UK. This is good as they've arrived much earlier than expected (20th Dec I think).

Not a perfect set/match for the Filco as the Enter key isn't the same size/shape, nor the \ | key, and, there's no replacement for the ~ # key.

I can live with that though and look to get individual replacements for those at some point.

Before:-

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