How to Survive Without a Numpad. Alt ♫ Code ☼ Emulation ♥ on Tenkeyless (TKL) and Laptop Keyboards With Autohotkey, the "Unix Way"
I have recently obtained an extremely hard to find retro keyboard I always wanted.
It's one of those models with tactile mechanical switches, but not the deafeningly loud buckling spring ones. It both looks majestic and can actually be used on a modern PC thanks to the USB 1.0 interface.
Take a look. It's glorious!
Typing on it brings back memories of the old-school terminal computers, and the time when I typed my first words on a similar mechanical, solidly built keyboard. Which might explain why I have come to love expressing my thoughts through writing so much =)
Ahem, anyway… There is just one tiny little issue with this keyboard. Coming from the early 2000's it completely lacks n-key rollover. Which makes it entirely unsuitable for gaming or any other applications where you're expected to press and/or hold several non-modifier keys simultaneously.
Think "WASD" 1st person shooter controls. That's not possible on a "retro" keyboard.
BTW, you can test your keyboard's rollover capabilities here.
I don't game much on my main PC, instead usually going for either one of my consoles or a fairly powerful guest-room laptop, which are all connected to a projector. So it's not really an issue. But I would like to have an option to make use of my monstrous RTX 4080 not just for rendering, video editing/encoding and running CUDA-accelerated apps, but for gaming also.
Consequently, I decided to get one of those compact wireless/wired "gaming" mechanical keyboards that are all the rage right now.
My Little Keyboards, My Little Keyboards...
After an extensive research, initial confusion and even shock, I landed on these two cuties. They both look so retro and slick, that I had to get both. Don't you judge me.
And if you look carefully enough, you might notice that they both lack a numpad!