Adesso NUForm Keyboard - by Pete Grubbs

Overview

aybe it was a symptom of things to come, but when I was 13, I asked my mom for a Smith Corona portable typewriter for my birthday. It came with a self-programmed touch typing course (on convenient 45 RPM records! Remember those?) that I plowed through in a week. With beginnings like that, it's easy to see why I gravitated to the computer and word processing, especially since I have a 'neat' personality coupled to the world's worst handwriting.

As a college student, I've spent many long hours tapping away on various computer keyboards, all with slightly different feels but all in the standard QWERTY, 101 key layout. Recently, I decided to replace my aging keyboard with a new ergonomic unit from Adesso, the PCK-303T Nu-Form Keyboard with Touchpad for PC. Even though it's designed for Windows '95, OS/2 users can benefit from its design and features.

Test System

The machine used to rate this product is powered by a Cyrix 100 chip running 32M of RAM. The graphics card is a D24 BitBlaster with 1M of RAM hooked into an AcerView 56 15" monitor. The single hard drive is a Fujitsu 1090M and the operating system is OS/2 Warp 4.0 (sans FixPaks). I also have Stardock's Process Commander and NPS WPS installed.

Installation

The Adesso NUForm includes a touch pad (called "Glidepoint") which replaces the mouse, so installation includes plugging in two cords, one for the keyboard itself and another for the pad. The cord is only 4.5' long which made for a bit of a challenge as I tried to thread it over and through the clutter that lives on my desk. This unit uses a standard 9-pin connector and should be configured as a serial mouse. The keyboard will not work with an XT (but then, how many of those are running any version of Warp?). Adesso also offers this product with a pointing stick or without any pointing device at all.

Up and Running

After rebooting, I was pleased to see that Warp recognized the Glidepoint immediately. Working with this type of pointing device takes a bit of practice. Like many, I started my GUI days with a two-button mouse and the differences between devices are significant. Moving the pointer is as simple as stroking the pad with a fingertip. This pad is velocity sensitive so the faster you stroke it, the further the pointer moves.

While the Glidepoint has two buttons to simulate mouse clicks, these are mounted above one another on its left side. The top button takes the place of the right mouse button, while the bottom stands in for the left. You can also tap the pad to simulate a left mouse click (two taps for a double-click). I was able to fully configure the Glidepoint with the Mouse object in the OS/2 Setup folder as easily as I could my old Acer mouse with one exception (see below).

The Basics

The Adesso's split design is supposed to make typing less strenuous, but I can't say that I've noticed any huge difference in the (admittedly short) time that I've worked with it. What I did notice, immediately, was the difference in having my hands a good two inches apart as they sat on the Home Row. Surprisingly, it took very little time for me to become completely comfortable with this arrangement. (The Adesso manual notes that new users generally become accustomed to ergonomic boards in a few days.)

The keyboard has a split space bar, just long enough for each thumb to comfortably operate it. The keys themselves have a very clean feel. In fact, the whole unit feels very solid. Key response is predictable and pleasant while the keyboard takes up noticeably less space on my desktop than my old one.

The Glidepoint, mounted beneath the space bar, works very comfortably for someone who touch types, and I find myself enjoying the fact that I'm not constantly reaching across my desk to grab a mouse when I'm in the middle of a document. Selecting text with the Glidepoint is a matter of either holding down the bottom (left) button while dragging a finger across the pad's surface or tapping the pad once and then dragging. The latter requires a little practice, but it's not too difficult to master. Drag operations are accomplished in essentially the same way.

Other Goodies

Since I'm running Process Commander, I'm able to use this board's Win95 keys. In fact, after installing PC, I decided to make a point of getting a Win95 keyboard to try out this feature. After less than a week, I can only say that I love it. I have the Windows keys set to switch between tasks (a la Alt-Esc) and the TaskList key to bring up my Window List. (Of course, this functionality is available on any Win95 keyboard provided you're running Process Commander.)

Hmm . . . Is this a bug or a feature?

To date, I've only had one significant problem with this product: There are times when Warp just doesn't seem to know that it's there. I've booted 3 or 4 times and found that I had a mouse, i.e., the Glidepoint worked, but the keyboard itself didn't. Perplexed, I shut down and rebooted only to have the same problem. I finally solved this by unplugging and re-plugging the keyboard while my machine was up and running.

In the many years that I've been a computer user, I've never had a glitch like this one. And I've never had a keyboard cause my machine to whine like a phaser on overload (Star Trek style, not STNG). This has only happened once, and, again, the solution was to simply unplug and re-plug the keyboard. (Since I'm fortunate enough to have space on my desktop for my computer case, this is a very simple job, however, I wouldn't envy anyone who had to crawl about to accomplish the same task and I'd moan to high heaven if I had to do so to make this keyboard work.)

I called Adesso's tech support and discussed the problem with one of their reps. (It's a toll call, but the voice mail menu was easily navigable, the wait on hold was very short, about 20 seconds, and the tech person I talked to was pleasant and helpful.) Apparently this problem has cropped up in a number of older units and Adesso has changed the controller chip in the board. If you purchase one of these units, Adesso will repair or replace it at no charge.

One of the most obvious limitations of this keyboard, though, is the touchpad. For all its convenience, the Glidepoint's small area can make dragging an object the length of the Desktop difficult, particularly if you're not holding down a mouse button. This is, of course, a function of the technology's design. I mention it only to make the reader aware of the fact that certain common mouse movements aren't quite as convenient with the Glidepoint.

And speaking of buttons, I could not remap the Glidepoint mouse button functions under Warp. When I tried to select the left mouse button to drag, nothing happened. I am not certain if this is a problem with the overall design or if it's a function of the defect in my particular unit.

To Buy or Not to Buy

If you spend most of your work day cranking out documents and you're sick of removing a hand from the keys to reach for your mouse, this is the keyboard for you. The Glidepoint's central location on the keyboard makes keyboard-intensive work much easier while keeping the mouse pointer readily available. The keys have an excellent feel and the split configuration is easy to become accustomed to.

For general mousing about, the Glidepoint is adequate, although plan on spending some time with it before it becomes as natural as working with the mouse. You may want to run Process Commander, NPS WPS or another Workplace Shell enhancement to augment Glidepoint. (NPS WPS' ability to move the pointer to focus makes a touch pad much easier to live with.) One word of warning: CAD users and those who do extensive graphics work may find the Glidepoint very frustrating. My own limited experience with CAD and the Glidepoint gives me the sense that I might want to switch back to my mouse before settling in for any serious work.

Being able to map the Windows 95 keys is also a real boon. I've become quite attached to bringing up my task list with a single keystroke. On the whole, I'd recommend this product to those who do tons of typing. Other users may be interested in Adesso's other, less expensive model which doesn't include any form of on-board pointer. After using this unit, I can't imagine going back to my old keyboard -- but I may try to find those old Smith Corona records and check them for backward masking. Just in case.

PCK-303T NUForm Keyboard

by Adesso, Inc.
MSRP: US$59.97 (from MEI Micro)

Pete Grubbs is a self-described OS/2 wonk, a doctoral candidate in English literature at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a part-time faculty member at Penn State and is currently developing a copy editing/creation service, The Document Doctor, which tailors documents for small businesses.

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