Msg: Unicomp followup

Hi All,

I have not had a chance to follow up on this until now. As the outcome to our recent discussion about this here, I ordered 3 of their 5250 USB buckling spring keyboards. This was mainly to address an immediate replacement need at our office, but I also wanted to set aside one more spare for myself. Now having unboxed two of them and started typing on them, I'm somewhat disappointed -- and left wondering whether I ordered the correct model ?

The keystrike response is not exactly the same as on the Northgate Omni / Avant predecessors, but I would have to say that all things considered it is close enough. Rather, my issues focus on the layout. Instead of the **essential** for XyWrite function keys at the left, I see ScrLK, Printscreen, Help, Record, Play, Pause, SysReq, a Windows key, and one I haven't identified yet. (The workstation that had the dead keyboard that is being replaced is used by someone who was never a touch typist. I tend to doubt this will matter much to him . . . but *I* care.) To my mind, this makes the keyboard almost unacceptable for XyWrite. There go most of my keyboard macros of so many years -- or at least the most convenient, one-handed versions thereof. I also do not like the small Left-Shift key, and the location of certain other keys. (If it helps those of you who may be unfamiliar with this Unicomp keyboard, I will attach a snapshot, or a scan of the "key map" they included in the box.)

Had to go hunting for the ESC key -- not good ! When going for the Left-Shift, I keep accidentally hitting a plain, unmarked key that is immediately adjacent, which happens to be a another "\". Quite annoying ! This keyboard also seems to have no provision for duplicating the original Omni key arrangement for location of Caps Lock | Left CTRL | Left Shift | Left ALT. This was a defining characteristic of the Northgate Omnis and the Avant Stellar, for which they very thoughtfully included alternate keycaps, a dedicated key-popping tool, detailed instructions -- and, in the case of the Avant, some required software that needed to be run when making the change.

I'm thinking there will also be some other issues of concern that I will discover, in due course. Just where this leaves things I remain uncertain. For my home use, I cannot wait to return to the Avant spare that I've been using for the last couple years. And this greatly increases my interest in trying to have the 3 or 4 now defective Northgates that we've accumulated over time repaired. (To be more accurate, I think one of those must be a Maxicomp.) I also can't rule out getting back to keeping an eye on the used market.

Let me know what you think.

Jordan