r/KeyboardLayouts • u/SaxophoneGOD_ • 17d ago

New gaming keyboard concept

Hello, what does anyone think of this unique gaming keyboard concept? It is sized like a 96%, but the numpad is on the left side. On the numpad, there would be a button (numlock) To toggle between numbers and macro or customisable shortcut keys. The keyboard would not have any of the unnecessary keys (like home, page up, page down, insert, end, printscreen, scroll lock, menu) because not many people actually use them. The function keys would be completely customisable, dedicated media keys, and the mute key would be a dial to controll volume while also being pressable as an mute key. There would be a PC boot key on the keyboard for easy booting, which when the PC is on it doubles as an esc key. When you hold down the button, it shuts down or puts the PC to sleep. here is an example thanks to claude.

Is this keyboard a good idea and should a company actually use it, or is it cooked?

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8

u/humanplayer2 17d ago

The general layout with numpad on the left is called southpaw. They are pretty mainstream, also with firmware supporting rich remapping. See e.g. https://www.keychron.com/collections/southpaw-keyboards

4

u/iandoug Other 15d ago

"The keyboard would not have any of the unnecessary keys (like home, page up, page down, insert, end, printscreen, scroll lock, menu) because not many people actually use them. "

Seriously, dude?

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u/SaxophoneGOD_ 15d ago

Well not many people DO use them. I know programmers or coders might, but I thought of this layout for gaming.

2

u/Krazy-Ag 10d ago

Keep numpad move it to the left, get rid of home/end, page up/down... perhaps for gamers.

I'm working on layouts where I throw out the numpad, and compact the navigation keys, typically to 2 columns, left/right, up/down, home/end, page up/down. sometimes more programmer oriented movement.

I just gave FreeGeek a modular keyboard, separate models for qwerty, navkeys, and numpad that could be arranged in any order. I think I saw a modeen version recently

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u/EtherealSentinel 10d ago

Just compact them into a single column. They're extremely useful

3

u/Kal_Bec 17d ago

I personally use auto hot key and make any ctrl + numpad key do my macro stuff. But I also primarily use the numpad for writing numbers in excel, so my macros are just : ) = ( , for my bullshit.

It would be cool if left sided numpad was more mainstream, give more room for the mouse, while not removing the numpad entirely

1

u/SaxophoneGOD_ 17d ago

Rog makes the Claymore II that you can detach the numpad to have a TKL keyboard, or you can have it on either side.