Macbook Pro 'fullsize keyboard' ?

[aakerman]

http://www.theappleblog.com/wp-content/uploads/macbookpro/09.jpg

How can apple call that a full-size keyboard.. half the enter key is missing? I seem to remember typing on such a keyboard once and found it a huge annoyance, never having been used to the necessity of precision in hitting the enter button.

And the worst part is that there is so much room to either side of the keyboard, they could easily have expanded it

 

[AmigaMan]

fans take up the sides. And I find the keys to be just fine considering I have big hands (with the exception of the eject key which I keep hitting). What I can't stand is the external USB keyboard that Apple makes. It's possibly the worst keyboard I've ever used. Keys stick, a small amount of water causes it to short out (somehow mine kept working after I unplugged it and didn't use it for a couple days), and collects dust, hair, and other stuff easily.

 

[fbrdphreak]

That's definitely not full-size. Full-size is generally considered a 7-row keyboard, like this (Thinkpad T60):
http://www.laptoplogic.com/data/reviews/images/112/keyboard_lrg.jpg

Even Lenovo calls the keyboard on their ultraportable Thinkpad X60s a "95% size":
http://www.laptoplogic.com/data/reviews/images/127/keyboard_lrg.jpg

 

[cheesehead]

It's not the original crap-tastical iMac keyboard. (The black one.)

Therefore, I am happy.

BTW, the white iMac keyboard (the bigger one) is an excellent keyboard, and I'd use one if I actually used a desktop on a regular basis.

 

[n0cmonkey]

The return key is about the right size (at least on my powerbook, and I doubt they changed the keyboard that much). It might be a smidge smaller, but definitely no way in hell half the size. Unless you have a keyboard with REALLY BIG keys...

 

[aakerman]

nocmonkey check the pick.. it's half the vertical size of a regular enter key =)

 

[ViperV990]

All keyboards I have used in the past 10 years have the enter key occupying only one row height, with the backslash/pipe key right above it.

 

[AmigaMan]

Originally posted by: ViperV990
All keyboards I have used in the past 10 years have the enter key occupying only one row height, with the backslash/pipe key right above it.

Is that what he's talking about? The L-shaped enter key? That's ancient. Most modern keyboard have the backslash & pipe key above the enter key.

And why did you single out Apple, aakerman? Every other laptop I've used in the past couple years is like that. If that's your only complaint, then it's pretty weak.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: aakerman
nocmonkey check the pick.. it's half the vertical size of a regular enter key =)

Oh, you use one of those keyboards. I break them. They're useless. The "\|" key on them is in a horrid spot for unix work.

 

[aakerman]

OK I don't get this.. are you saying the keyboard norm now is a single-row enter key, not the usual reverse L-shape that occupies two rows?
When on earth did this happen ((

Hmm this definitely sets the macbook pro in 2nd place now behind LG T1, which has the correct "ancient" enter key =)

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: aakerman
nocmonkey check the pick.. it's half the vertical size of a regular enter key =)

No it's not.

 

[aakerman]

Yes it is.

 

[AmigaMan]

Originally posted by: aakerman
Yes it is.

no, it's not. why the hell do you need an enter key that's twice as big vertically than any other key. It just wastes space. People realized this years ago and stopped making keyboards like that. Especially on laptops where you're already confined in space.

 

[n0cmonkey]

I want one of these.

 

[aakerman]

Originally posted by: AmigaMan
no, it's not. why the hell do you need an enter key that's twice as big vertically than any other key. It just wastes space. People realized this years ago and stopped making keyboards like that. Especially on laptops where you're already confined in space.

A regular enter key is two rows high. The enter key on the MBPs is one row high. Thus it is half the vertical size of a regular enter key.

QED.

Saying you're confined in surface space on a 15.4" widescreen laptop is not correct. Look at all that space around the keyboard. The reason apple chose not to utilize this space is not because there are "fans" or whatever underneath (take a look at IBM, it's perfectly possible to fit a nearly full-size keyboard on a subnotebook) - but because they wanted a perfectly rectangular keyboard to align with the design of the notebook.

Form over function... which is not unexpected of an apple product, but my gripe was that they still call it a full-size keyboard

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: aakerman

Originally posted by: AmigaMan
no, it's not. why the hell do you need an enter key that's twice as big vertically than any other key. It just wastes space. People realized this years ago and stopped making keyboards like that. Especially on laptops where you're already confined in space.

A regular enter key is two rows high. The enter key on the MBPs is one row high. Thus it is half the vertical size of a regular enter key.

QED.

Saying you're confined in surface space on a 15.4" widescreen laptop is not correct. Look at all that space around the keyboard. The reason apple chose not to utilize this space is not because there are "fans" or whatever underneath (take a look at IBM, it's perfectly possible to fit a nearly full-size keyboard on a subnotebook) - but because they wanted a perfectly rectangular keyboard to align with the design of the notebook.

Form over function... which is not unexpected of an apple product, but my gripe was that they still call it a full-size keyboard

Your definition and the industry's definition are quite different. "Full size" does not mean a two row enter key. Hell my desktop IBM keyboard doesn't have a two-row enter key, that's just how keyboards are designed today

 

[ViperV990]

I fail to see how this is an apple-specific problem. The only notebooks I see that have the two-row enter key are japanese imports. See for example this page: http://www.dynamism.com/tx92/gallery.shtml

Disclaimer - I have only owned one apple product ever and its the in-ear earbuds.


Edit: Even the LG T1 has a single-height enter key, see this page: http://www.dynamism.com/LGT1/gallery.shtml


Oh SNAP, I found a notebook with a "full-sze" enter key!! Look mom: http://www.dynamism.com/f-light/gallery.shtml

Hahaha

 

[AmigaMan]

Originally posted by: aakerman

Originally posted by: AmigaMan
no, it's not. why the hell do you need an enter key that's twice as big vertically than any other key. It just wastes space. People realized this years ago and stopped making keyboards like that. Especially on laptops where you're already confined in space.

A regular enter key is two rows high. The enter key on the MBPs is one row high. Thus it is half the vertical size of a regular enter key.

QED.

Saying you're confined in surface space on a 15.4" widescreen laptop is not correct. Look at all that space around the keyboard. The reason apple chose not to utilize this space is not because there are "fans" or whatever underneath (take a look at IBM, it's perfectly possible to fit a nearly full-size keyboard on a subnotebook) - but because they wanted a perfectly rectangular keyboard to align with the design of the notebook.

Form over function... which is not unexpected of an apple product, but my gripe was that they still call it a full-size keyboard

A regular sized enter key is not the L-shaped enter key. But whatever man, if you don't want to use a laptop because it has a regular sized enter key and not some oversized monstrocity that wastes space, then that's your perogative.

And it's not form over function in this case, there really are fans on each side which then vent under the LCD. It's a cooling system that's different than others that choose to place the fan on the bottom of the case. IMO, this is a good thing since I use my laptop on the bed or on my lap (and no, I don't get burned). If the vents were on the bottom, airflow would be restricted.

 

[aakerman]

! Breaking news.. I just discovered that the enter key being either single-row or double depends on where you live.

European version: http://www.gwright.org.uk/images/cache/...PowerBook/1024x768/AlBook-Keyboard.jpg
US version: http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/5168.jpg

So for me (a European), an L-shaped enter key IS the regular size. This is where we all go wrong...

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: aakerman

Originally posted by: AmigaMan
no, it's not. why the hell do you need an enter key that's twice as big vertically than any other key. It just wastes space. People realized this years ago and stopped making keyboards like that. Especially on laptops where you're already confined in space.

A regular enter key is two rows high. The enter key on the MBPs is one row high. Thus it is half the vertical size of a regular enter key.

QED.

Saying you're confined in surface space on a 15.4" widescreen laptop is not correct. Look at all that space around the keyboard. The reason apple chose not to utilize this space is not because there are "fans" or whatever underneath (take a look at IBM, it's perfectly possible to fit a nearly full-size keyboard on a subnotebook) - but because they wanted a perfectly rectangular keyboard to align with the design of the notebook.

Form over function... which is not unexpected of an apple product, but my gripe was that they still call it a full-size keyboard

The reason Apple's keyboard is that size is because a bigger keyboard wouldn't fit on the 12" models. At least in the past they wanted to use the SAME keyboard on all of the models, which is nice if you have a couple of them that you switch between (I do).

Also, the sides are where the speakers are. I like having speakers.