zlacker

>>ekianj+(OP)
Oh my god...is that a 15" laptop without a number pad being crammed onto the side of the keyboard, thus not forcing all my typing to be awkwardly offset and uncomfortable?

>>XorNot+n9
This is my beef with laptops. I bought a huge laptop just so I could have a numberpad.

But I've been amazed at how many programmers don't like to have them. Why?

>>tomrod+Xd
Why would I use numpad?

Even on normal keyboards I don't use it, and they are annoying because they make the mouse position awkwardly more to the right than it should be healthy for the arm (I really envy left handed people, they don't have to deal with this).

And it is next to impossible to get a keyboard without the numpad, fortunately I found two such keyboards and I have one at work and one at home (Logitech K310 and Microsoft Sculpt).

And I haven't seen in live any person that uses numpad, I always thought it is used by accountants only (and those that don't want to use two hands to enter numbers).

>>krzyk+9l
The number pad has:

- It's own tactile identifier

- Easy access to numeric operators

  - plus without shift

- Easy access to navigation

- Diminished use of the pinky finger

- The only actual 'enter' key on the keyboard

I admit that it's subjective. 'Tenkeyless' is a standard mechanical keyboard trope for a reason.

>>Shroud+tx
And all of that is actually bad because it is so ridiculously far from the home row that you have to move your wrist to reach it.

What can you actually do faster on the numpad if the starting position is your right index finger resting on J?

Because that's where it should always be.

>>Tuna-F+JA
Going from qwerty to number pad is a context switch. Once you've paid the price for the switch your middle finger rests above the 5, and you can quickly enter numeric information.

Numbers on the top of qwerty are good for incidental numbers when entering text, but around 5 consecutive digits is enough for me to move.

Are they useful enough to add to a laptop keyboard? Probably not.