Cherry Keyboards 'R' Us » Keyboards – General

Onscreen keypad for the iphone – What a nightmare

Fresh Egg — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:36:35 +0000

People across the country have been queing up to get the new iphone 3GS which now supports updated video technology and new messaging system. Of course it lives up to everything that people have said? The obvious answer would naturally be, YES! Of course it is worth it! Although the iphone is the most popular phone on the market I have noticed a few road blocks which tend to be popping up in the forums across the net.

The biggest issue with the current iphone has got to be the onscreen keyboard. Personally, I own a Blackberry and that has a keyboard built into the phone but it is not touch screen. Surely, this has got to be worse? It is far better in my opinion. Although the iPhone does offer an onscreen touchpad it is extremely annoying to use. Unfortunately, for most people their fingers are too big for the touch screen. Becuase the keys are so small you put in one letter and you end up with the wrong one all the time. There are several areas on the iphone which are very hard to use.

Computer keyboards are harder to replicate the smaller they get however having one on screen does seem like the logical choice for a phone like the iphone. Let us hope that educational keyboards dont end up this hard to use as I am struggling to get use to how a wireless keyboard works myself.

This is something that Apple really need to sort out as there has been numerous problems reported on forums everywhere. When it comes to the phone keypad, the Blackberry is far more easy to use rather than the iphone. I have heard numerous issues being raised on the forums about how hard the iphone keypad is to use. It is definitely worth considering when you purchase your next phone. If you are thinking of whether to buy an iphone or Blackberry remember that the touch screen keypad on the iphone is not of the best quality.

Cooling down your laptop.

celeste — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:57:55 +0000

Sitting on a train, plane or even infront of your TV with your laptop resting carefully on your lap, desk or even the coffee table, you can feel the heat starting to escape from it. You need to cool it down but work is far more important at that moment and if it blows..oh well!

There is a solution to this, as I have found.

An auxiliary cooler for laptop computers has been designed to prevent them from overheating, particularly in cramped conditions where there is inadequate natural cooling. The fan assembly also forms an ergonomic stand for the laptop that slants the keyboard at 6º and therefore produces less wrist strain.

These coolers are suitable for all laptops from 10.4 to 15 inches. The cooler is connected to the laptop via a simple adapter and is powered from the laptop USB port. Two fans, which are controlled by a three-way switch providing on/off and a choice of speeds, force air into the cooling ducts of the laptop. Low speed is 2,500 rev/min and provides airflow of 3.26 litres/sec (6.9CFM) while the high-speed mode of 3,400 rev/min provides 4.34 litres/sec (9.2CFM). Power consumption is only 2W and an adaptor is available for mains operation.

At last, a solution to that warm feeling.

Looking for a children’s keyboard?

celeste — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:30:16 +0000

A new keyboard designed for children and those with special needs.

A new keyboard specifically designed to help children, particularly those with special needs, including dyslexia, become familiar and practiced in the use of computer keyboards is now available from www.cherrykeyboardsrus.co.uk.

The Startaboard is the same size as a conventional keyboard but the keys are larger making them much easier to operate. In addition, the imaginative colour coding of purple, green, red, yellow and blue identifying the vowels, consonants, numbers, punctuation and function keys makes them much easier to recognise and assimilate.

Children are also far more comfortable with the lettering that is all lower case.

This wired keyboard, which will prove of great value to children and teachers alike, works straight out of the box and is available with Combo PS/2 USB interface versions and is compatible with all the Windows operating systems including Vista.

My favourite computer keyboards

celeste — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:00:23 +0000

Here is a list of my favourite wireless keyboards out at the moment!

eVolution Control

Wireless multimedia keyboard with 10 programmeable keys and 5 button optical mouse. Supplied with Keym@n software.

eVolution Barracuda

Stylish ultra flat Plug & Play wireless keyboard with 5 button optical mouse.

eVolution Stingray

Ultra flat, wireless multimedia keyboard with 10 programmeable keys and 5 button optical mouse. With Keym@n software.

It is so easy now just to have a wireless keyboard for your computer. It just makes life so much easier! Check out this video i found on youtube which documents the new era of wireless keyboards!!

www.youtube.com

Cherry Keyboard range

celeste — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:36:27 +0000

There are many variants of keyboards from the Cherry range. Here is a run through of them:

G80 / G81 keyboards are normally quite ’standard’ in their appearance – no additional multimedia keys, quite plain to look at – but they do have the possibility in some cases to have magnetic card readers, smartcard readers and now RFID.

G84 keyboards are all small-footprint. The G84-4100, for instance, is the size of a keyboard found in a notebook PC, but is far more robust.

J82 – this is the lowest cost keyboard produced by Cherry – also standard, with no multimedia keys

G83 – Cherry’s tried and tested model. Available as standard type or with smartcard reader and/or fingerprint reader and soon with RFID.

G85 – Multimedia, wired keyboard

M82/M85 – Multimedia wireless keyboard and mouse sets.

Cherry Keyboards – General Information

celeste — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:15:09 +0000

Cherry doesn’t manufacture one type of keyboard and it’s certainly worth running through which keyboards are made from which technology. Each type has it’s own attributes and can be suited more to some applications than others.

The part numbers, although extremely long, can offer some clues as to which technology is used, as well as information about special features, connection types and colour. Although this isn’t a complete rule, for the most part, it can help with detection……

As an example, this is a typical Cherry part number: G83-6105LPQGB-0. This can be broken down into 4 main sections:

G83 – this is the technology used under the keycaps. In this instance, it’s membrane technology – a rubber web directly under the keycaps, squeezes together a 4 layer thin membrane sheet, which is over-printed with a circuit. This is the simplest way of making a keyboard and used in most keyboards from other manufacturers. It’s also the most cost effective.

6105 – in this instance, this has two pieces of information. Firstly, the 6 at the beginning shows that the keyboard has a 6000 series housing (this can be located in the Cherry keyboard catalogue or on the website). This housing is relatively small in footprint, but still ‘full size’ with a numeric pad on the right hand side. The 105 denotes the number of keys -105 means it’s a standard, European layout of some form. If this was 104, it would show that it was some form of US layout.

LPQGB – all of these letters have a meaning:

L = Laser printed keycaps – keycaps are literally burnt with a laser machine to print he legend on the top. This means legends cannot simply wear off.

P = PS/2 – the 6 pin mini-DIN connector found on most PC’s. This can also be a U for USB

Q = This is an internal reference, denoting versions. However, there is a further meaning for the customer. Any letters from M to Z mean that the keyboard has the 3 additional Windows keys, whereas if it was from A to L, it would be the older type without the Windows keys.

GB = the country layout – in this instance, UK English

-0 = the final part, denotes colour. -0 is white, -2 is black.