Greetings One and All!
I am hoping to learn if anyone among us is successfully using the numpad commander on their laptop keyboard, or on any other keyboard whose numeric keypad is imbedded or integrated into the right side of their keyboard, i.e., j is 4, k is 5, l is 6 etc., and we use VoiceOver to change those numbers to be left arrow (previous line), mouse click, and right arrow (next line)?
Bottom line: Is it is just as easy to use the imbedded numpad with the numpad commander ass it is to use the numpad commander on a separate numpad on a full size keyboard. I'm shopping for ergonomic keyboards right now, and not many of them have separate numpads.
Thank you!
Bruce Harrell
Comments
Does anyone use their laptop nupad for numpad commander?
Come on Brian, you and the cat lover always toss in your two cents. Any guesses?
Separate keypad
I don't know the answer to your exact question - I would have thought doing so would reduce some of the convenience you get from a separate keypad.
Another option would be to buy a separate bluetooth keypad and use it alongside your keyboard. I believe you can get them on their own. Steven from Double Tap was talking about that a while ago, and it was in relation to using numpad commander on the Mac I believe. I've not tried it myself either as I just use a full-size keyboard with its own numpad.
@Mr. Grieves
Thank you for your reply. I've thought about using an external numeric keypad, but I didn't know if that would work. Did Steven mention whether he was using his successfully for the numpad commander?
I'd be perfectly happy with a full size keyboard that had its own numpad off to the right, but I'm having trouble finding one that is ergonomic. MY wrists aren't doing that well these days. Too many years at a keyboard. Wry smile. Is your own keyboard ergonomic? If so, do you like it?
Best,
Bruce
@Bruce
By ergonomic do you mean ones that are split in two? I have an Apple Magic keyboard and a Logitech MX Keys, both are fairly standard big keyboards. I like them but I'm reasonably sure that's not what you are asking about.
Steven was talking about the separate numpads a good long while back. My fuzzy memory - for what it is - recalls him saying that he bought one specifically for numpad commander so he could carry it round with him as he had become so attached to numpad commander (as all sensible Mac people should be!)
So yes I can't vouch for it personally but I do believe it should work fine.
I had some exchanges with Steven on Mastodon. Bear in mind this was a year ago and I think he had been talking about the numpad a good couple of years before that. This implies he never bought one but I am sure he had been talking about it prior to that. Anyway for what it's worth here are his comments:
Hey so the one I ordered was a Keychron numpad but it never showed up. Microsoft do a decent one as do Satechi but I wasn't so keen as they were so low profile. I wanted something a bit bigger so went for the Keychron
Also beware the cheaper ones on Amazon - they aren't much good. They are very cheap plastic and often some keys don't work first press.
For what it's worth
In college I used a USB NumPad for my MacBook Pro. And yes it was so I could use NumPad commander. For me, it was a game changer.
Just thought I would share with the class. 👋
Thank you, gentlemen
Dudes! Exactly what I was hoping to hear.
Mr. Grieves, I have an Apple Magic keyboard with touch ID, which I love, except my wrists do not, so yes, I am now hunting for an ergonomic keyboard that will probably end up being split and sloped and angled and sculpted and cushioned and plush and wireless and having a bizarre key layout and no control key on the right etc. but that numpad commander is something I absolutely do not want to live without!
Brian, I thank you for letting me know that you were happily using an external numpad for your Macbook Pro, which I'm sure had its own internal keyboard with an integrated or embedded numpad that didn't allow for successful use of the numpad commander, which is exactly what I suspected.
Encouragingly, since you are doubtless only a year or two out of college, your information can be considered up to date! smile. What a youngster!
Thanks again, gentlemen. Much obliged.
Long live numpad commanders!
Microsoft makes an ergo keyboard.
I'm sure lots of others do too, and specifically for the Mac. But Microsoft's I've actually used. You'd have to remap alt and win to switch them for the Mac, but you should be able to do that with the Mac's own keyboard mapping facility, I'd think.
Good luck! I tried ergonomic keyboards for a while because my forearms were being weird. Turns out flat keyboards like laptop keyboards and MX Keys and such work just fine for me.
Bruce
Actually, I haven't been in college in many years. It's only been a couple years since I last use my MacBook Pro, however. Sadly, my MacBook Pro never had a NumPad built-in, hence purchasing a third-party one.