Am I alone in wanting a keyboard module, that also takes up the numpad slot, with full sized arrow keys?
It could work as a keyboard without any arrow keys, pg up/down, etc and a “numpad” module with these keys.
Do you think this would be available on release, or possibly a fast follow up?
I’m on tenterhooks for the keyboard deep dive, but worry this may be the factor that makes me go elsewhere, or start to learn about 3d printing.
Welcome to the forum.
Would the keyboard module really need to have no arrow keys, though? You could just pair the normal keyboard with a numpad-sized module that has full sized arrow keys.
Also, you know that the normal numpads have arrow keys and pg up, pg down, right? When numlock is off, that’s how the keys function. And on the Framework-16 you’ll be able to remap any keys however you wish. You can make any keys you prefer function as arrow keys. The modules run QMK firmware which offers a ridiculous level of configuration. It’s great. I put QMK on my 15 button mouse even.
Since the numpad already offers those keys, I would guess no.
Hey, I’d also love to see this. My current laptop has the exact same design. The main reason I like the numpad is due to the insert, home, end, pageup, etc. keys which are there in a 3X3 box with full arrow keys below. I’d love to see something similar on the FW16. I hate those tiny arrow keys and when I need the arrow keys I’d prefer the full sized set. This is more compact, doesn’t require numlock, looks nicer in my opinion, and the keys are easier to get to. Though I’d prefer this, I can understand why they are going for the full set on launch. I do hope this style comes available at some point but I doubt it’d be easy to make with just a 3d printer, low skills, and online PCB sites.
For refference, this is what I’m talking about:
You could just get the macro pad input module and reprogram it to have a arrow key layer and a numpad layer. My custom keyboard running qmk I made does pretty much exactly that (the input modules are running qmk).
I ordered the numpad for my Laptop 16 just to get the full-sized arrow keys and home/end/pg-up/pg-down without needing to use key combinations. It works, but it’s overkill (and suffers from there being no indicator LED on the num-lock to verify that the numpad isn’t in numeric mode). What I’d really like is a half-width back-lit mini-keypad (small input module), which would have room for 12 keys: up, down, left, right, pg-up, pg-down, home, end, enter, backspace, delete, and insert (another key that currently needs a combo to use). Or make “enter” a double-height key like on the existing numpad and sacrifice either backspace or delete. This would let the main keyboard be installed centrally, leaving room on the left for a second small module.
I agree. I have never needed to travel with a laptop and if I did I’d try to cram a full sized external keyboard in my bag. I rely heavily on the insert, delete, home, end pgup and pgdown keys. I could use an external USB numeric keypad if I needed it.
Oh, small input module with keys on it would be pretty cool (would be cool if you could use two of them together as a split keyboard or something, not sure where you’d route the connection between them, but maybe there is some room somewhere)
When I finally get around to it, I’m going to modify the macropad firmware to use the RGB lights as a numlock indicator. It’s a pretty big miss on their part for not having an LED for that on the numpad module IMO.