My XKeys 128 broke

[Ghallo]

Alrighty, I've had my XKeys for a bit less than a year. My usage was minimal, as I hardly multibox much anymore. I had the USB Xkeys and while the power light still comes on ... that's all that happens.

Installed/attempted on multiple machines ... no joy, so it is not a driver issue. The system detects the board, says the board is connected ... but nothing happens when keys are pressed (even in the Macro Works app, it ignores keypresses).


So - anyone out there using an alternative? I loved the "grid" layout and the removable keycaps. What other devices out there offer similar capabilities?

[Drommon]

Try this for keyboard goodness ->

http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/keyboards/POS/SPOS_Rows_Columns/index.htm

[Ghallo]

Actually - that looks really interesting.

I was wondering - anyone buy this:
http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/
?

It has been out for a while now and I was wondering if anyone had broken down and purchased one.

[Ghallo]

So I found it here: http://www.totalbarcode.com/part-number/G8663400EUADAA.html?src=TBPG
for about $ 100 - that makes it 1/3 the price of the XKeys with more keys...

Anyone actually used one of these?

[Drommon]

Try this brief review from here ->

http://www.dual-boxing.com/showthread.php?t=15227&highlight=cherry+keyboard

[Drommon]

Here is another thread on programmable keyboards form this site ->

http://www.dual-boxing.com/showthread.php?t=18833&highlight=cherry+keyboards

[Drommon]

So I found it here: http://www.totalbarcode.com/part-number/G8663400EUADAA.html?src=TBPG
for about $ 100 - that makes it 1/3 the price of the XKeys with more keys...

Anyone actually used one of these?


I am seriously considering buying one myself. I keep putting it off because I am trying to get the most mileage I can with my craptastic keyboard and ISboxer. But if I want ease of independant character movement plus extra utility with using my toons I need more keys.

Either that or more fingers/hand. I can make sub keymaps... but still...

[rocnroll]

Tempting, very tempting... damn, I love and hate this site. :) I learn so much and spend so much (well, not a lot yet...yet...).

[Fursphere]

What I found about the xkeys and other "commercial" type keyboards is that they don't fit your hands like a normal keyboard. They are laid out symetrically, not ergonomically.

So you end up reteaching yourself all your hand / finger movements from scratch depending on how you set the thing up.

The commercial stuff like Cherry and Xkeys is ment for a sales clerk with 1 WPM hunt and peck abilities - not someone would can actually type and knows a standard keyboard.

That said, you can retrain yourself to do anything, but is it worth the hassle? I mean, for WoW, you can rebind *EVERYTHING* in game and make use of a full keyboard. The programmable keyboard will do what for you, besides give you opportunities to breach the EULA/TOS?

1 Keypress - 1 Action. Keep that in mind as you dream up uses for these things.

My X-Keys footpedals - right now the center mouse button is my "left click" ability - so I can hit AoE on my druid, then hit the click and drop the spell (no broadcasted mouse). Sure, I can program the footpedal to do AoE + Left Click (1 Keypress - 2 actions), but I don't, because I know its not permitted in game.

[Katharsis]

I'm still pleased with my Ergodex DX1. http://ergodex.com

Ergodex has not released a driver for Vista or W7 but users have filled the need with their own.

http://www.dual-boxing.com/showthread.php?t=25772&highlight=ergodex

[Ghallo]

removed for below post.

[Ghallo]

What I found about the xkeys and other "commercial" type keyboards is that they don't fit your hands like a normal keyboard. They are laid out symetrically, not ergonomically.

So you end up reteaching yourself all your hand / finger movements from scratch depending on how you set the thing up.

The commercial stuff like Cherry and Xkeys is ment for a sales clerk with 1 WPM hunt and peck abilities - not someone would can actually type and knows a standard keyboard.

That said, you can retrain yourself to do anything, but is it worth the hassle? I mean, for WoW, you can rebind *EVERYTHING* in game and make use of a full keyboard. The programmable keyboard will do what for you, besides give you opportunities to breach the EULA/TOS?

1 Keypress - 1 Action. Keep that in mind as you dream up uses for these things.

My X-Keys footpedals - right now the center mouse button is my "left click" ability - so I can hit AoE on my druid, then hit the click and drop the spell (no broadcasted mouse). Sure, I can program the footpedal to do AoE + Left Click (1 Keypress - 2 actions), but I don't, because I know its not permitted in game.

Why on earth would you immediately go for the negative? Just because you don't use something or don't like it doesn't mean my motives are bad. Otherwise you could ask why anyone would want a G15 "I mean, for WoW, you can rebind *EVERYTHING* in game and make use of a full keyboard." - since a full keyboard can do *EVERYTHING* anyone using/buying a G15 is a cheater at heart, right?

Symetrical = Ergonomic for me, for gaming. Add to that removable keycaps so I can label things so I know what they are at a glance and you have a winning combination. Having movement keys that are all perfectly aligned is great. Also using special definitions/extra keybinds that don't intrude on the WoW default keybinds so that I can play anywhere else without remapping keys is great. I don't have a single key that performs more than a single action. Just like most people on these forums, I would never want to risk getting banned when I have spent so many hours and so much money getting my team setup and ready for play. Check out some of my other posts and you'll see what I use my XKeys128 for - I have 24 keys on the bottom left dedicated to individual movement for each of my slaves. No way to do that efficiently on a regular keyboard. At the same time, I have redundant Shift/Alt/Ctrl keys all over the board to make my life easier.

If someone who played WoW sat down in front of my keyboard, they'd be able to control my team in minutes - because instead of "u" they see an icon with 2 frostbolts and a shadowbolt which let's you know at a glance that it will have my 3 DPSrs shoot their primary damage spell. Want to cast Flash Heal - wow... there's an icon on the keyboard that looks like flash heal and has "Mage1" on it ... bet if I press that it will cast Flash Heal on Mage1.

It's not for everyone - I agree. Heck, I'm not even very good at playing WoW so I wouldn't necessarily recommend my setup to anyone else. Does that make me a potential cheater for wanting to get a keyboard that works for me?:confused: I'm just here asking people in my community for feedback. Not to get attacked/accused for my playstyle.

[Ghallo]

Of course ... there is always this keyboard: http://www.cherrykeyboardsrus.co.uk/Klingon+Language-Details.htm

Heh.

[Oswyn]

I've been doing ok with this keyboard:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41TuOYfwXWL._SS500_.jpg

[Ghallo]

Final note:
XKeys customer support left a lot to be desired. They want to charge $50/hr to fix a keyboard that has had hardly any use and barely lasted over a year (I have a Compaq PS/2 keyboard that is so old it has an orange connector because it was from before the standard and I use it every day and it still works fine).

Total I probably logged 80 hours on the XKeys before it died.

I figured I'd buy the Cherry. At $100 for a new keyboard it seems to beat the Xkeys hands down.

[Drommon]

I am ordering one too. I need those extra keys!

[Bot]

So I found it here: http://www.totalbarcode.com/part-number/G8663400EUADAA.html?src=TBPG
for about $ 100 - that makes it 1/3 the price of the XKeys with more keys...

Anyone actually used one of these?

when i clicked on the link trend micro blocked the website claiming danger. i dont know the validity of its accusation i just thought id throw that out there.

[Drommon]

when i clicked on the link trend micro blocked the website claiming danger. i dont know the validity of its accusation i just thought id throw that out there.

Well I guess I will find out. I ordered a KB from them. I did use a low limit CC though which is my policy for all internet purchases.

[Ghallo]

Well, I ordered the Cherry from them, and I ended up wanting to change my order so I called them. They seemed pretty professional and had multiple people to help me with my different questions.

I am not going to go so far as to vouch for them - because I haven't received my keyboard yet - but over the phone they seemed nice enough.



Epilogue:
Last night I decided that since the Xkeys was broken I might as well have fun tearing it apart. Interesting piece of information: All of the parts had the "Cherry" logo on them!

Talk about ironic.

Turns out that the issue was the "Key Lockout Switch". This keyboard was intended for use with a register and the connector that allowed it to determine which "function" position it was in was somehow (don't ask me how) bent. I did a lot of troubleshooting to figure this out, but eventually I bent it back to the correct shape and I managed to get the Xkeys working again.
Yay.

I'm still upset with PI Engineering. If they had thought about the symptoms I was describing they could have at least narrowed down what the issue was. I've never worked with these before and I was able to do it in an hour.

I guess not everyone is an engineer, regardless of their name. Oh well.

[Drommon]

Well thats very interesting. So the x-keys is just a cherry keyboard with a different look and software. I am interested in what questions you asked if you don't mind sharing.

In particular I am interested in knowing if the keyboard will work in addition to a standard keyboard. I assuming 'yes' for this.

Thanks for any info.

[Drommon]

Well they have shipped my keyboard by fedex today. I guess I will start reading the programming manual. Now I will finally have keys for strokes like cntl+shift+{. I use the default settings on the standard keyboard. I also make use of the numpad. In addition I recently started using my 11 button mouse for heals and damage mitigation. This new keyboard will allow my to 'drive' each toon independantly while playing all 5 of them. Plus there is a lot more functionality. I guess I will give a review later. I will agree that this is more of a boxer luxury item and you can do everything you need with a standard keyboard.

[Drommon]

I got my cherry keyboard. I will give a more full review of it later. But I will say right now that you are better off getting something that has more functionality like a n52te for a g15/g18? type kb.

The main issue is that the keyboard does not have a press and hold state for things like continuous movement. Also the key states are activate on release only.

Just those 2 cons is enough for me to send it back. However I will tinker with it a bit longer.

The biggest thing that it has going for it is that it can run executables and batch files on keypresses. If you knnow powershell you can make some slick functionality with this.

Right now if I had to give a recommendation it would be to get something with more built in functionality. I now realize that it is the software you pay for, not the hardware. Xkeys pro seems to offer best in class software for keyboard functionality. But then again, I am saying that without a full review of Xkeys pro.

[Ghallo]

I got my cherry keyboard. I will give a more full review of it later. But I will say right now that you are better off getting something that has more functionality like a n52te for a g15/g18? type kb.

The main issue is that the keyboard does not have a press and hold state for things like continuous movement. Also the key states are activate on release only.

Just those 2 cons is enough for me to send it back. However I will tinker with it a bit longer.

The biggest thing that it has going for it is that it can run executables and batch files on keypresses. If you knnow powershell you can make some slick functionality with this.

Right now if I had to give a recommendation it would be to get something with more built in functionality. I now realize that it is the software you pay for, not the hardware. Xkeys pro seems to offer best in class software for keyboard functionality. But then again, I am saying that without a full review of Xkeys pro.

I have been playing around with the Cherry for a couple of weeks now and I have to aggree with this. I got my Xkeys fixed, and I certainly am glad - for a boxer the Cherry keyboard is about as useful as a lump of plastic. I would not recommend using it, as Dommon stated it does not send keystate information it only sends a signal when you release a key. The XKeys 128 that I have sends keydown and keyup information which is exactly what is needed.

If someone were to write better drivers for the Cherry then it would be fantastic. The size/etc are much better than the XKeys. But with the software limitations it just can't cut the mustard.