V-Board http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451/v-board Posts in the discussion thread "V-Board" - A board for gamers. Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:42:31 +0000 http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451#post-5853 Re: V-Board http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451/v-board#post-5853 Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:10:58 +0000 pieterh 99 Super6,

An amazing keyboard, with lots of good ideas. But sometimes simpler is better.

You get an 'Honorable Mention', and I want to thank you for taking part.

]]> http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451#post-5360 Re: V-Board http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451/v-board#post-5360 Sat, 23 Dec 2006 06:38:27 +0000 super6 3409 I use a G7 and the wheel is pretty easy for me to scroll. The key layout is designed to be in the best spot for gaming, not so much for typing. This probably wouldn't be a board for someone who types a lot but I wouldn't have much trouble writing the occasional essay on it, especially after adapting to the spacing. Yes, this would be a big keyboard, Size-wise I would think that you average keyboard tray can hold it and a mouse or a joystick but not both on smaller trays. After looking at it, the right shift would have to be moved since that location is basically impossible to reach. I know that I use calculators a lot but maybe that's because I'm so competitive, it's great for doing fuel calculations in flight sim, figuring out the averaging rate of score you would need in a game for the next rank, and even every day tasks like figuring our how many shares of a certain stock you can get minus commission and divided by stock price. I think the calculator is a nice function, but even if you don't use it then it allows total moderation of PC temperatures so you can play a game without worrying that your OC is frying your brand new Core 2 Duo. The comment you made about not having controls for games is way out of left-field, the entire inter-changeable center portion of the center is totally dedicated to gaming controls. If you've ever played an FPS you would know that WASD is the standard position of the hand and all the other buttons that I grouped around it are the most commonly used keys like "E" for "Use", etc. I feel that many of you criticisms on size and LCD size and such are very valid to most people and that this is targeted at gamers who probably will have the space and need for the size and LCD, that's why a lot of people from gaming sites voted for it when I showed them the site. However, I thank you for your criticisms and I feel that they are all very valid points and constructive ones, as well.
Thanks,
Super6

]]> http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451#post-5254 Re: V-Board http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451/v-board#post-5254 Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:07:37 +0000 Shai 952 This is an interesting layout, but it's completely unpractical.

The keyboard is way too big to be practical. Just the left part of the keyboard is the size of entire laptop keyboard. The LCD on the bottom left part is not a good idea, because that's where you would place your wrists. The design should be made a bit more symmetrical – on the left part you put an LCD, on the right part you don't. On the left part the letters are near the center part, on the right part the numeric keypad is near the center part, the left part uses a jagged-key keyboard layout, the right part uses a straight-key keyboard layout.

The right shift is very uncomfortable to press. It would be a good idea to move the Windows key from it's current place, because it can interrupt some games if pressed accidentally. The calculator is also a bad idea. It's a feature most gamers wouldn't use, and if pressed accidentally, it would also suddenly stop the numeric keypad from working as expected. Also since it's a gamer keyboard one would expect some kind of gaming controls built-in (e.g. a joystick/gamepad). The LCD might be useful, but looking at it requires taking your eyes off the screen. In most games, if you lose sight of what's happening, you lose. Likewise, since the keyboard is so complex and there are so many keys, you must look at the keyboard to find them.

The little finger is too weak and it isn't accurate enough to operate a scroll wheel. Try scrolling the scroll wheel on your mouse (or use a trackpoint/trackball/etc.) with your little finger–it's very uncomfortable and tiring.

]]> http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451#post-5247 Comment from the Organisers http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451/v-board#post-5247 Thu, 21 Dec 2006 12:17:56 +0000 pieterh 99 The high number of votes for this single entry within a very short time has been noted, and we are treating this as an attempt to manipulate the outcome of the competition. Normally we would consider this "fraudulent" and remove the submission, but we have decided instead to treat this submission purely on its technical merits, and ignore the votes it received. This decision is final.

]]> http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451#post-4500 Re: V-Board http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451/v-board#post-4500 Tue, 12 Dec 2006 01:35:06 +0000 trugangsta 4937 It's a pretty sweet design for gamers, It looks like it might be a bit big though, still a great board and I could see a big sue for those frontside ports at LAN parties.

]]> http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451#post-3027 V-Board http://capsoff.org/forum/t-1451/v-board#post-3027 Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:55:47 +0000 super6 3409
When making this board I tried to take my favorite aspects from a whole host of keyboards and compile them into one super keyboard designed with gamers in mind. I go over the features from the left section first.
1. Media bar- the basic controls for media playback as well as volume, macro to launch your favorite player (the eighth note), and a macro to launch to your favorite game (the bullet button).
2. V-shaped LCD- I got this idea from the Logitech G-15 (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN,CRID=2166,CONTENTID=10717) , it's an LCD with it's own SDK to make various programs show info on it. Some ideas shown in the picture is a clock, round information (kills, death, round count, time left), and a Teamspeak/Vent display to show who's talking and people that leave or join channel, as well as any messages sent on the bottom of TS.
3. 16 macro keys with 4 macro-shifts for 64 total possible macro combinations. With 64 macros, you can do a lot. Teamspeak keybinds are one use but you can also use these to launch programs or do any other function imaginable.
4. To replace the caps lock button, there is a click wheel, this idea is take from Buck's Small Keyboard for gamers (http://capsoff.org/mdkb:buck). It's a wheel similar to what is on your mouse that allows you to scroll through weapons or internet pages easier as well as click, this click can be assigned as a left, right, or middle click, or you can bind it to do something totally different.
5. Large LCD screen - this large LCD can be used for a lot of functions, the one shown in the picture is showing system information like workload, temperature, and fan speeds but this, too, can be programmed to do almost anything. One other thing that is built in is a calculator, a simple 4-function calculator that is operating by hitting a toggle button on the numpad and then typing with the numpad, this way you can do simple math on the fly without minimizing a game or hunting down your calculator on the start menu. You can also use this portion for a timer or timers, these can be useful when waiting for something to spawn in an FPS like Battlefield.

Now for the center portion:
1. The center portion is removable by unclipping the 2 black clips on the bottom edges and new keysets can be bought and clipped on. This idea, along with the name of the board, is taken from the Zboard (a real product: http://www.ideazon.com/us/products/zboardgamingkeyboard.asp) . For the rest of this section I'll describe the features on the keyset shown.
2. Top half features the famous silhouette of Jeremy from Pure Pwnage (www.purepwnage.com) divided into sections, each section is a macro, all of which are programmable. (By default, pushing Jeremy's balls will launch your internet browser and open the Pure Pwnage n00b store)
3. All the keys that games use most. This section has the keys that most FPS's use as well as many other games.

Now, the right-most section.
1. The large gray spot in the image is the extra plastic that allows the right half to swivel to your liking. It is offset so that you can switch from your mouse to your keyboard quickly and without a hassle, hopefully without ever moving your wrist. If you're computer chair has arms then your arms will naturally rest in a 'V' so by angling the board less stress is put on your wrists, thereby reducing risk of things like carporal tunnel syndrome.
2. On the top, you will see the three basic audio ports and 4 USB slots (USB 1 because you can't feed 4 USB 2.0 slots through a single USB 2.0 chord to your computer). This is ideal for LAN parties because you can easily switch from 2.1 speakers to headphones and plug in your mic without ever messing with any wire in the back of your box, greatly reducing set up time. This is even a good feature at home because you can hook up a USB jump drive, phone, PSP, PDA, or any other device without messing with any wires in the back of your PC.
3. On the number pad the addition cal button is there to toggle the large LCD's calculator mode.

Well, that's pretty much it. This board might be a pipe dream but I think it has a lot of features that gamers would like. If you have any suggestions, feel free to post.
PS- I know the keyboard looks pretty suck because the angles make the text a little harder to align, but look at the overall concept.

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