Any recommendation for a decent mechanical number pad? It seems either too expensive or using knock-off keys...

Varmilo VA22M
definitely not a cheap brand, but quality is outstanding

i don't know if they have it on the website, when I need something from them I normally write an email

@irene learning blender and unreal atm. There 3D software use number pad a lot. But I prefer use numberpadless keyboard at work 😖

@thatsnotnice wow... that over hundred NZD... 😐

@irene Yeah, Usually I rather have paper n pencil on my side than number pad, which make a removable number pad even more sensible. Logitech has wireless number pad with buildin calculator. But it feels strange when using membrane and mechanical at same time

If you treat it as a small keyboard, it's easier to explain the price. A good mechanical keyboard can easily cost $100-150 and more. It's not unreasonable for a numpad to cost $50. It's cheaper to make one thing than to make two, that's why a full-size keyboard costs less than a TKL or smaller + a numpad.

@irene left side is a cool idea! How hard to get funding from kick starter? This detachable numberpad, win/Mac compatible mechanical keyboard could be dope! 👌

@kamen under/ around 50usd is reasonable. (30euro maybe?) More than that I just couldn’t afford.

Problem solved

Kind of amusing reading this thread. I refuse to purchase a keyboard that doesn’t have an attached 10-key pad, and also have a Targus USB one for my laptop. I *can* touch-type the top row just fine, but nothing beats the 10-key pad for speed on number/hex intensive data entry tasks.

@CozyPlanes why? And why is the shift so long?😱

@irene Perhaps, but not for me.

...that, and with my preferences being ignored by most the industry with things like keyboard design and phone size, I’ll take what I can get here.

(I seriously don’t know what I’m going to do whdn my 2013 rMBP bites it...or iPhone SE, for that matter.)

@Kaji think about it, cherry brown mechanical keyboard has a detachable number pad can connect left or right, or use separately! 😻 (blue is banned in my office...)

@sunfishcc blue is banned in your office, i have a tenkeyless one with monsterclicky greens at work 😂 and a lot of people with blues anyway

headphones, music and gg

@irene are there many different brown? @thatsnotnice I have 2 blue at home, one full size, one tenkeyless.
I’m assuming finding a manufacturer in China oem some keyboard isn’t hard.

@irene my current favourite is the cooler master masterkey pro S white with brown key. It use the triple key stablizer design instead of spring bar.

After recently getting a 75% keyboard, I can definitely see why people recommend smaller keyboards. I can live without a numpad for now, but if I have to choose, I'd definitely keep the smaller keyboard and get a separate numpad on the right of my mouse. Also, being right-handed, I think a numpad attached to the left of the keyboard is totally pointless (aside from being used as a macro pad); maybe it's targeted towards left-handed people. Can someone else who's not ambidextrous comment on typing on a numpad with their non-dominant hand?

@sunfishcc what do you mean?

@irene far superior than this older design. it’s more stable, since they’re multiple keys (no spring). And it’s easier to remove! Much easier to clean!

@CozyPlanes the right shift key looks longer than standard keyboard, by a lot 🤔

That's corsair, right?

@sunfishcc hmmm never noticed that.
and i just realized i rarely use that shift key ^^

@kamen @irene I think for most of people, if you can only use one hand to type, your left hand is definitely faster than right hand. Which proves attaching number pad to left is a good idea. Moreover, if you can use it separately, for many games, you can just use the number pad.

@ScriptCoded coolermaster masterkey pro S.

@irene right hand also need to control mouse. So left hand end up spend more time on keyboard... 🤔

@irene what about gaming?

@irene Once you learn how to type on a numpad you don't go back.

@sunfishcc is that a standard issue feature thats getting slowly adopted in the industry or is that CM only / extra?

@beggarboy @irene sounds like an assembly pro! 👍

Also out of interest am I the only one that can didn't learn the typical 10 finger typing system but is capable of typing with the left and / or right hand being able to switch mid word on the fly?

@beggarboy nah. I don’t use lil finger either. I’m that kind guy spend time on finalising my code snippets 👌

@irene I can, but I feel that if I have to type on a numpad with my left hand, I wouldn't be much more effective than typing numbers with both hands on the number row. That might change if I get used to it, of course. Still, a separate numpad can also be moved to the left if you want, whereas an integrated one on the left side is still a very niche solution.

@sunfishcc Ah :) Similar contour

@CozyPlanes non-standard home and end keys are more painful than no numpad

@electrineer This is, like most things, up to some training and getting used to. And with a programmable keyboard you don't even need to reach for the original keys all the time. I, for example, have I-J-K-L as arrow keys on the Fn layer (CapsLock acting as Fn) and U & O as Home & End respectively, and use those instead of the dedicated keys maybe 30% of the time.

@kamen can you do ctrl+end with those bindings?

@electrineer Yes, they're transparent in a way and I can mash any modifier together with Fn.

@irene On the rare occasions I have to go to the office, I bring the same keyboard I use at home. Even if I had more than one, I'd probably configure them in a similar way.

@irene What, having more than one keyboard?

@irene once more we disagree on things. My father, an average person, got a tenkeyless keyboard and got mad because it wasnt complete.
I thinks its better to mean these things instead of averaging.
How many people want a numpad?
How many people dont want it?
How mnay people dont care and use it sporadically?

In my opinion a keyboard should be complete* by default. And its so difficult to find a laptop with a good numpad. Everyone is hiding it and I use it so often, there is not a single day going by that I am not using it (im not the average joe, I know)

@jAsE real baller get this!