Tenkeyless keyboards; cheap yet adequate?

[mtbc]

I am left-handed and have no use for a numeric keypad occupying space on the right of my computer keyboard. I find that there do not seem to be many mid-range keypad-less keyboards available in between those that one barely expects to keep working well for months and those aimed at wealthy gamers. An unlit wired keyboard is fine and in an open-plan office I avoid mechanical.

My keyboard at work needs a good cleaning at the least; it is no longer working very well. For the modest cost of a sufficient keyboard and my pickiness over them it is hardly worth everybody's labor hours to operate the university's procurement machinery so, though it is not expected, I figure that it is easiest all round if I just provide a replacement myself.

I had ordered a probably acceptable replacement keyboard from Amazon but when it turned out to be Czech/Slovak rather than the advertised UK layout I opted for refund rather than replacement as I had no faith that the same would not happen again. There is no option for, replacement only if you can get it right this time.

As it happens I think I have a Cherry CyMotion Pro G85-20050 on my desk at work and also one somewhere at home so I can quietly swap them without note and at my leisure try some compressed gas to clean the failing one. I consider myself lucky tonight to have bagged a new BakkerElkhuizen S-board 840 on eBay for £20 so I can keep that in place of what I take into work.

Comments

[wpadmirer]

Being left handed must be a massive pain.

However, I never use the keypad. I always use the numbers above the keyboard. This comes from having learned to type on a typewriter, and never learning to use a 10-key.

[mtbc]

That is a rather good point I hadn't considered: I learned as a small child on my mother's old manual typewriter from the Imperial Typewriter Company and as I grew older and gained access to eight-bit microcomputers they too had no built-in keypad, I was well into my teens before I first used an IBM PC clone and then not much. So maybe it's not solely down to my left-handedness.

Yes, left-handedness has all kinds of implications! The odd thing is that everybody I live with is left-handed (even the cat!) so it looks positively weird to me to see people write with their right hand.

[wpadmirer]

I come from a completely right-handed family, and I fell in love with the way that left-handed people look when they write. It's still a weakness for me!

[aldabra]

Left-handed keyboards are significantly more expensive, presumably?

Keep the old work one in a drawer somewhere in case there's a fuss if you can't produce it when you leave...

[mtbc]

They are indeed; I've never had one. Luckily the keyboard I brought in today turns out to be just about identical to the one it replaces, except for that it is cleaner and is missing the little plastic feet because they didn't withstand the impact of a cat that weighs at least a stone.

I wonder if the forced-air HVAC in the office covers everything in dust at a fair rate. It certainly causes me some windchill: it feels cold but the temperature is not all that low. I should get myself some kind of big poncho to wear as a windbreak.