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50

Offset keyboard for 17" laptops

50 points posted to Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Vostro products, Laptops by donut May 16

The new Vostro 1710 looks pretty good, but the keyboard positioning could be improved for the next design refresh. This also applies to other 17" laptops with numeric keypads.

With current models, the keyboard as a whole is centered on the laptop; the borders at the left and right edges are the same width. That means the main part of the keyboard (not the numeric keypad) is offset significantly to the left. The trackpad is also offset to the left. That results in a skewed typing position if the laptop is directly in front of you.

My idea is to have the keyboard mounted as far to the right as possible. The main part would of course still be offset to the left, but a little less so. Obviously the difference won't be huge, but even half an inch would be an improvement. The border to the left would then be wider, perhaps giving enough space for the indicator LEDs? If so, the function keys could then be made full size.

One other thing: The right side of the Caps Lock key could be made recessed/lower, to reduce the likelihood of accidentally pressing it instead of A.

okroger104
May 16		 Good idea, just not aesthetically pleasing. Better to omit the numeric keypad. The old XPS 17" notebooks didn't have a numeric keypad so the keyboard was centered. But they had about 1" or so to the left and right.
winoffice
May 16		 No way, the keyboard and the touchpad must both be in the center.

And no, the Vostro 1710 does not look good. It is very ugly.
cestuila
May 17		 @okroger: many people actually get a 17" laptop to have a num pad. So I wouldn't advise to omit it...
okroger104
May 17		 @cestulia

That's true. I wanted a 17" inch with numeric keypad. That is until I went to see one in person and realized what the OP realized. Typing off center stinks. A full keyboard works best in a 20" like on HP's HDX because then you can cnter it. May even work on a 18" like Acer's gemstone.
donut
May 17		 @winoffice: Currently the touchpad isn't centered relative to the laptop as a whole. It's offset to the left, centered relative to the alphabetic part of the keyboard. My suggestion would result in it being moved closer to the center of the laptop. I think it would be better still if the touchpad were centered as you say, but then I'm right-handed. Left-handed users might find that awkward?
donut
May 17		 There's a picture of the Vostra 1710 showing its keyboard at http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/corporate/imagebank/notebooks/vostro_171...
(Warning: very large picture, but at least it's detailed!)
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