First Impressions of the MCK-142Pro Keyboard

[Jack Shafer jacksh@xxxxxxxx]

Having spent a day with this new keyboard that Jerry Pournelle raved about
in the April Byte (http://www.byte.com/art/9804/sec13/art1.htm), I've got to
testify that the MCK-142Pro ($109 plus shipping from
http://www.monu-cad.com/keyboard.htm) is no Northgate. Actually, the look
and feel of the keyboard -- exclusive of the 24 (count 'em, 24!)
programmable keys at the top of the layout -- reminds me a lot of the Keypro
FK-9000, a discontinued 'board.

The keys don't offer the solid crunch of a Northgate, but the clicky feel is
much better than the 'board that came with my new Dell. The 'board itself is
plasticky and light, not battleship heavy like the Northgate. Call its
construction acceptable.

One set of 12 functions keys are on the left, with F11 and F12 at the top.
Left functions keys, of course, are the only kosher solution to keyboard
design. (A redundant set of function keys live a the top of the layout.)
Call it wonderful.

The cursor pad layout also resembles that of the Keypro, with diagonal keys
filling out a square of nine that includes up, down, left, right, and "Fast
Repeat," which controls key repeat. This design doesn't do much for me. I
much preferred the old Omnikey-Plus layout that placed a redundant set of
END, HOME, PAGE UP, and PAGE DOWN keys in a square with the cursor keys. My
kbd file used these nine keys to call windows. I liked the configuration a
lot. Call this a disappointment.

The Enter key is smaller than a Northgate's because the designers have
placed the key containing \ and | between the single quote key and Enter.
I've never seen this on a keyboard before, and it's damn annoying to reach
over to hit a big Enter key and see "\" on your screen. Call it
unacceptable. Very unacceptable.

I haven't played with the programmable keys yet, but I can't say that they
make my bunnies hop.

Bottom line: I'd rather have my old Northgate Omnikey-Plus and will probably
buy a the ridiculously expensive Avant Stellar http://cvtinc.com/avant.htm
-- $200 when I first priced it -- when I'm feeling extravagant.