Laptop (No gap between keys)

[technoob95]

I noticed most laptops have a gap between keys. I am looking for one which does not. It also has to be 64-bit and either Windows 10/8/7 or Mac OS X 10.14 or later.

 

[P4-630]

I noticed most laptops have a gap between keys. I am looking for one which does not. It also has to be 64-bit and either Windows 10/8/7 or Mac OS X 10.14 or later.

Are you spilling a lot of crumbs?

There are solutions for that, this:

Or with vacuum cleaners...

 

[AhokZYashA]

most laptop has chiclet style keys nowadays
even 3rd/4th gen intel equipped laptop already has chiclet style keys

i cannot find modern enough laptop that still has the no gap keyboard

 

[Valantar]

You mean a keyboard with beveled keycaps rather than squared-off, chiclet/island style keys? Yeah, AFAIK there are no laptop makers still using designs like that. Chiclet keyboards let them extend the keyboard deck material between the keys, strengthening the device without requiring the keyboard assembly itself to have a structural function.

Also, as anyone who tried typing on one of Acer's old 11.6" Aspire One laptops will tell you: careful what you ask for.

(The lack of a sufficient gap between the keys made hitting keys accurately essentially impossible on these.)

 

[P4-630]

You mean a keyboard with beveled keycaps rather than squared-off, chiclet/island style keys? Yeah, AFAIK there are no laptop makers still using designs like that. Chiclet keyboards let them extend the keyboard deck material between the keys, strengthening the device without requiring the keyboard assembly itself to have a structural function.

Also, as anyone who tried typing on one of Acer's old 11.6" Aspire One laptops will tell you: careful what you ask for.

(The lack of a sufficient gap between the keys made hitting keys accurately essentially impossible on these.)

Actually I have still one Acer and blue like this netbook somewhere in a box or so.....

I spilled a lemonade drink over that keyboard, about 11 years ago, can still feel it's sticky under the keys....

 

[ThaiTaffy]

How about a anti crumb protection sheet?

 

[Bill_Bright]

There has to be some gap to allow the individual keys to move when pressed and not drag the adjacent keys down with them. Also note that many laptops "breath" or expel heat "up" through the keyboard.

Still, you can buy "skins" to lay over them, but I don't know how they would affect the feel and function (Oop - ThaiTaffy just beat me to that).

There are also Panasonic Toughbook laptops. They are not waterproof, but are very water and spill "resistant".

You might also consider a waterproof external keyboard like this.

 

[Valantar]

I don't think the OP is necessarily concerned about mess/dust/whatever - after all, most chiclet keyboards have solid frame pieces in between the keys, and aren't meaningfully more difficult to clean than non-chiclet keyboards (the main limitation is always the inability to remove the keycaps, which essentially no laptop lets you do easily and non-destructively). I might be wrong, but I'm interpreting this as a matter of taste, whether visual or in keyboard feel.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I don't think the OP is necessarily concerned about mess/dust/whatever... ...I'm interpreting this as a matter of taste, whether visual or in keyboard feel.

Good point. I guess we need some clarification from the OP. Otherwise, we are all just spinning our wheels speculating.

 

[Simpleris]

Are you spilling a lot of crumbs?

View attachment 220437

There are solutions for that, this:
View attachment 220438
Or with vacuum cleaners...

just put keyboard upside down

 

[Valantar]

just put keyboard upside down

It's kind of hard to type on it that way

 

[technoob95]

Good point. I guess we need some clarification from the OP. Otherwise, we are all just spinning our wheels speculating.

It is for faster typing for online exams. One of my exams is using a software which requires a 64-bit laptop/desktop and my (Dad's) current laptop is only 32-bit. Also, last semester, in my last exam, my keyboard (using a desktop) did not work so I want to use a laptop this time.

 

[Jetster]

Remember those silicone keyboard covers? You can still get them

 

[Valantar]

It is for faster typing for online exams. One of my exams is using a software which requires a 64-bit laptop/desktop and my (Dad's) current laptop is only 32-bit. Also, last semester, in my last exam, my keyboard (using a desktop) did not work so I want to use a laptop this time.

I sincerely doubt there's any real link between broad keyboard types like this and typing speed. Of course habit and muscle memory plays into this a lot, so you might type faster on non-chiclet keyboards due to not being used to chiclet keyboards, but a good chiclet keyboard can be fantastic to type on. You just need to find a good one, and avoid the bad ones - and get some practice in. Reviews focusing on keyboard quality and typing experience would be my recommendation. Thinkpads are a pretty safe bet for good keyboards (though the lower end and ultra-thin ones are a bit worse), but there are many excellent ones out there - the Surface laptops are great too, plus various mid-range and upwards models from various brands. Low-end keyboards are almost universally terrible, and have always been so.

Also, a bit off topic, but if your keyboard didn't work during an exam (in a specific application? or at all?) it's quite unlikely that this had anything to do with it being an external keyboard on a desktop - your PC doesn't care either way, they're all human interface devices to Windows. Either that was an outright hardware failure or some really weird software bug.

(Oh, btw, how old is that laptop? CPUs have been universally 64-bit compatible since the Core architecture first arrived in the mid-2000s. Windows 7 AFAIK defaulted to 64-bit installations, and launched in 2009. Is it running Vista?)

 

[technoob95]

I sincerely doubt there's any real link between broad keyboard types like this and typing speed. Of course habit and muscle memory plays into this a lot, so you might type faster on non-chiclet keyboards due to not being used to chiclet keyboards, but a good chiclet keyboard can be fantastic to type on. You just need to find a good one, and avoid the bad ones - and get some practice in. Reviews focusing on keyboard quality and typing experience would be my recommendation. Thinkpads are a pretty safe bet for good keyboards (though the lower end and ultra-thin ones are a bit worse), but there are many excellent ones out there - the Surface laptops are great too, plus various mid-range and upwards models from various brands. Low-end keyboards are almost universally terrible, and have always been so.

Also, a bit off topic, but if your keyboard didn't work during an exam (in a specific application? or at all?) it's quite unlikely that this had anything to do with it being an external keyboard on a desktop - your PC doesn't care either way, they're all human interface devices to Windows. Either that was an outright hardware failure or some really weird software bug.

(Oh, btw, how old is that laptop? CPUs have been universally 64-bit compatible since the Core architecture first arrived in the mid-2000s. Windows 7 AFAIK defaulted to 64-bit installations, and launched in 2009. Is it running Vista?)

Yeah it was probably just a random failure. The laptop is from 2009 and was originally running Vista, although it is currently running Windows 10.

 

[Valantar]

Yeah it was probably just a random failure. The laptop is from 2009 and was originally running Vista, although it is currently running Windows 10.

Ah, so it's been through in-place upgrades since then? Should have done a fresh 64-bit install at some point - it can most likely handle it just fine. Anyhow, as I said, I would look at laptop reviews (in your budget category and preferred type of laptop) and focus on what they say about keyboard quality. LTT's review videos are surprisingly good on this point (as their main reviewer is very focused on keyboard quality), but they're still not the best reviews. Notebookcheck does fantastic reviews, but IMO their coverage of keyboard quality is lacking (they try to focus on measurable data, which leaves them weak on that, chassis feel/rigidity, and other key points of human perception of a laptop). There are tons of review sites out there, so I would look broadly at first and then be more specific as wants/needs/interests become clearer.

 

[Bill_Bright]

The spacing between the keys has nothing to do with the keyboard's code being 32 or 64-bit.

And I cannot speak for anyone else (because it 100%, absolutely is an individual thing) but I know for a fact I can type much faster on a full size keyboard than I can on any laptop keyboard. Even the keyboard of 17" laptops. Why? Because my shoulders are more than 17 inches wide. Therefore with a full size keyboard, I don't have to awkwardly bend my wrists to approach the keys - an action that results in stress, strain, and tired hands and wrists - and even pain after typing for awhile.

 

[Valantar]

The spacing between the keys has nothing to do with the keyboard's code being 32 or 64-bit.

And I cannot speak for anyone else (because it 100%, absolutely is an individual thing) but I know for a fact I can type much faster on a full size keyboard than I can on any laptop keyboard. Even the keyboard of 17" laptops. Why? Because my shoulders are more than 17 inches wide. Therefore with a full size keyboard, I don't have to awkwardly bend my wrists to approach the keys - an action that results in stress, strain, and tired hands and wrists - and even pain after typing for awhile.

I don't think the 32/64-bit part was related to the keyboard, just that they have access to a laptop, but need to be able to run 64-bit software, which theirs doesn't.

As for keyboard width... This is the difference between my mech keyboard and my 13" Dell work laptop. The laptop is narrower, but not by much. The camera's perspective skews the comparison a bit - the left edges of the laptop and keyboard are aligned. The difference in width is less than 5cm/2". There is less than 1mm difference in the key pitch for the alphanumerics between the two (~18.9mm vs ~18.1mm). Also, a 17" laptop is not 17" wide - displays are measured diagonally, after all, and a 17.3" 16:9 display is 15.1"/38.3cm wide. Meanwhile the main alphanumeric+modifier key block on my mech keyboard is 28.5cm wide - and whatever width the arrow keys, ins/del etc cluster and numpad adds is Irrelevant as that's not where your hands go when typing. So unless you've got some sort of split keyboard, chances are that width-wise the main part of your keyboard isn't materially wider than a laptop keyboard.

There are other reasons though: laptops with numpads have uncomfortably offset keyboards leading to a lopsided typing experience; a low screen position leads to a hunched posture and less hand mobility; a smaller screen can lead to squinting and generally more effort to see what is happening on screen, impeding touch typing; what you are attributing to keyboard width is most likely down to posture. Also, a lot of laptops have shitty keyboard switches with poor responsiveness, poor travel, that miss or double inputs, etc. But most of all: habit, conditioning, muscle memory, physical preferences. That's the most important factor. An unfamiliar and different-feeling keyboard will always be slower.

 

[eidairaman1]

How about a anti crumb protection sheet?
View attachment 220471

Membrane cover is the solution