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

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.

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.

Although based around a ’standard’, tried and tested product - the G83-6105LPQGB-2 (of which the 25 millionth product rolled off the production line in 2006) - the layout is it’s unusual part. The idea was born in the Cherry office here in the UK and started off as a simple marketing exercise. Once a press release was issued on the Internet, interest started to come in for such an unusal product and because forward orders were received, the product had to be put into production. The G83-6105LPNKL-2 is now a standard part within the Cherry product range.

The keyboard carries letters from the Klingon alphabet, sourced from the Internet and there is a Windows font to accompany it. This allows Klingon enthusiasts and those who are fluent in the language, to easily type e-mails and/or IM’s to their fellow Klingon fans. As with any keyboard, the Klingon keyboard can operate as a standard UK layout version when connected to a PC.

Press releases for this product caused quite a stir when a ‘fake quote’ was published, reportedly from a Klingon official - the complaint was raised by the gentleman who bears this name as part of an official Klingon site, but this seems to have done the keyboard’s popularity little harm. Orders and enquiries are still coming in….

Rumours of Romulan, Vulcan and other variants are not without substance - though time will tell…..!

27mhz radio frequency is used in more Cherry products than any other:

Sirius - M82-24700GB, Control - M82-24710GB, Barracuda - M85-25700GB, Stingray - M85-25710GB, Liberty - M-5650

The frequency allows connection distances of up to 2m, but can be a little further, dependent upon the conditions in which the device is used - this can be up to 5 or 6 (as we’ve found from experience!). However, within 27mhz there are some limitations as to the number of devices that can be present in a small location. This can then cause some difficulties with interference between devices, even when the ‘connection procedure’ is followed to attempt attachment to a different channel ID.

The connection procedure for Cherry 27mhz devices is simple. Once the batteries are installed, the receiver should be connected to a free USB port on the PC. When connected, the keyboard and mouse may well automatically function, but in case of any problems, there is a ‘Connect’ button on the receiver, as well as one underneath the keyboard and mouse. The connect button on the receiver should be depressed for a couple of seconds, followed by the one under the mouse, then the one under the keyboard and the devices should be connected.

With 2.4ghz devices, the range is far greater - 10m - as standard, though again, dependent upon conditions, this may increase. 2.4ghz is found in the following devices:

Marlin - M85-25800GB, Mover - M-200S, Ergo Shark R - M-200R, Ergo Shark L - M-200L

These devices are all ‘pre-coded’ with their receivers, making sure that there is no cross interference between devices. The only down-side to this, is that if the receiver, keyboard or mouse fails, the entire set would have to be replaced. However, as these are Cherry devices, this is extremely rare!

A UK Keyboard contains 105 keys - this is the sort of keyboard shipped with most standard PC’s - though recently some manufacturers have taken to including Multimedia products with their systems, which allow the control of packages like Windows Media Player or iTunes. However, although these are additional keys, they do not change the actual layout of the main keyboard.

Occasionally, PC’s are shipped with one of two alternative English layout keyboards - US English or EU. Whilst they are very similar to a UK keyboard, there are some important differences:

1.  A UK Keyboard contains 105 keys. EU or US keyboards have 104 - the key that’s missing is the one between the left-shift and the ‘Z’, that contains the \ and | symbols.
2. US and EU keyboards have a straight Enter key - UK keyboards have an inverted ‘L’ shape enter.
3. There is no £ sign on a US or EU keyboard
4. There is no € symbol on a US keyboard - on a UK keyboard it’s accessed by holding down ALT-GR and 4, on an EU keyboard by holding down ALT-GR and 5.
5. On EU and US keyboards, the # key is on the number 3 - on a UK keyboard this is next to the enter key
6. The number 2 key on US and EU keyboards contains the @ symbol. This is on the key next to the # symbol on a UK keyboard.

If you connect a keyboard to your system that’s different in layout to the one the system is set to, it will continue to operate as the system language. There is no ID within the keyboard to specify the language and Windows determines how the keyboard types.

Each country has it’s own specific layout - some examples are:

GB = UK English, US = US English, EU = European English, ES = Spanish, DE = German, FR = French, AR = US/Arabic, IT = Italian, SF = Swedish/Finnish, DK = Danish, RB = Cyrillic

To explain what’s happened. When Windows is installed, you’re asked to go through a number of screens to set the system up. One of these, while not looking particularly important, asks the user to select the language of the PC required. By default, the lovely people at Microsoft, pre-set this to ‘US-English’ and the majority of users bypass this without even noticing. This needs to be set to ‘UK-English’ for the keyboard’s language to be exactly the same as the one shipped with the PC, or that has been purchased as an add-on.

 Changing this is simple - just a little lengthy in it’s solution! Within XP, follow the following procedure:

1.  Open Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel).
2. Go to the ‘Regional and Language Options’ icon and double-click
3. A new window will open, showing the ‘Regional Options’, with the ‘Standards and Formats’ no doubt set to ‘English - United States’. In the drop-down box at the top, select ‘English - United Kingdom’ and all the attributes will change to pound signs, correct date formats and number settings.
4. Change the ‘Location’ at the bottom of the screen to United Kingdom, if this hasn’t been done already.
5. At the top of the window, there are two tabs. Click the one marked ‘Languages’ and the screen will change once again.
6. Click the ‘Details’ button and the screen will change once more.
7. At the top of this new screen, ensure that the ‘Default Input Language’ is set to ‘English (United Kingdom) - United Kingdom’
8. Under ‘Installed Services’, press the ‘Add’ button to the right and ensure that English (United Kingdom) is the Input Language and the Keyboard layout/IME is also set to English and not US.
9. Press OK to close the ‘Add Input Language’ window.
10. Click once on the ‘English (United States)’ shown in the Installed Services window to highlight it, then press the ‘Remove’ button. Windows may well give an error message at this stage, stating that the language can’t be removed as it’s in use - after a re-start of the system, this will be removed.
11. Lastly, ensure that you press the ‘Apply’ button to exit the Text services and Input languages window.

This should then ensure that the language for the keyboard is now set to UK English, rather than US English.

It’s also worth mentioning that Microsoft Office should be checked to ensure that it’s set to UK English - otherwise spellings will be incorrect.

 

 Having said this with the Ergo Shark Mouse, when the batteries start to deplete in power, the red scroll wheel light comes on - and stays on for periods in excess of a week before completely giving up and have to be charged.

Battery life in both keyboards and mice is solely dependent upon usage though. There is no specific formula for battery life expectancy, other than to say if you’re a heavy computer user, they won’t last as long as with a more infrequent user.