Re: Off Topic, Part 2 (Avant Stellar keyboards)

[Fred Powledge fredpowledge@xxxxxxxx]

I checked the Avant Stellar Web page and the picture of their keyboard
looks almost exactly like the "Omnikey ultra" I'm using--with function keys
across top and down side and pretty much everything else except the
dedicated Windows keys on the left (it is greater-than, less-than on mine)
and right.

Can you describe the click more fully? Like compare it to the Omni when it
was young? The click is very important to me--I've abandoned a number of
Keytronics because of mushy keys--and if you say it's great I may just buy
one. My Imni is ancient but keeps on working, especially if I clean the
dust bunnies out of it frequently. But I know it'll die sometime.

Thanks.

--Fred Powledge

At 16:51 3/30/98 EST, you wrote:
>** Reply to note from xywrite@xxxxxxxx Thu, 12 Mar 1998 10:49:21
-0800
> 
>> Has anyone bought and evaluated the Avant Stellar keyboard yet?
> 
>> http://cvtinc.com/avant.htm
>
>I bought it, received it (after a six week wait), installed and remapped the
>keyboard to taste, and like it a lot. It only cost $204, delivered! It is
>identical in every respect (once remapped) to the OmniKey 102 that it
replaces on
>my desk -- except that the Left-side function keys are replicated on top,
and there
>are three additional Win95 keys (all easily programmed to do something
>else). Actually, I'm hoping that it's better built than an Omnikey (it's
heavy as
>hell); for this kind of money, it ought to be. Everything can be adjusted,
using a
>lovely (Win3.x or Win95) program that downloads macros to the kbd, adjusts
repeat
>rates, acceleration, pretty much everything except the tactile clickiness
of the
>keys -- which was frankly surprising, because the click in my five
long-suffering
>in-house OmniKeys has been pretty much erased. Once the PROM in the kbd is
written,
>you can run the Avant Stellar under any OS you choose.
>
>My only serious complaint is that the online help (as distinct from the
booklet)
>was not written by a native speaker of English, and contains many
ambiguous and
>peculiar statements. However, it's plain enough how to program the
>keyboard. (And of course, you don't HAVE to program it at all; it's a
standard
>QWERTY setup, I just didn't like the Caps-Alt-Ctrl positions, and wanted
to use the
>dedicated Win95 keys for other purposes.)
>
>I find myself in an predicament. The price of these Avant Stellars is
>absurd. I fear that they won't survive for long, unless there's a boutique
>market for pricey peripherals. But I also can't face a future without an
Omnikey
>keyboard, and on my desk they only last about 2 years maximum. So... I'm
afraid
>I'm just going to have to skip dinner for a while and buy a bunch of these
>bloody keyboards to keep in the closet! (They really are very good.)
>
>
>
>-----------
>Robert Holmgren
>holmgren@xxxxxxxx
>-----------
>
>
==========================================================================
Fred Powledge                  Writer, Editor, Consultant
http://nasw.org/users/fredpowledge/        fredpowledge@xxxxxxxx
25040 Old Brick Way - Half-Pone Point - Hollywood, Maryland, U.S.A., 20636
Telephone: 1-301-373-5466           Facsimile: 1-301-373-3788