I’ve ordered a keyboard, but there are two things I’m wondering about while I wait for it to arrive.
One is a way to completely shut off backlighting. I get that it’s probably not possible to get a keyboard without backlighting, but I want minimal power draw on this, as I’m going to be putting it into a laptop which I am trying to optimize for battery life.
The second is a wish for a smaller keyboard. I used a TRS-80 Model 100 for years, which had a 50% keyboard, but I used it for C programming pretty regularly, as I remembered that meta-something (I might still be able to press the keys, but my brain can’t figure which ones they were after 30 years) gave me { and }. Cutting off the right two/three columns of keys makes a better balancing keyboard, as well as it taking less space.
Regardless, I’ve played the order and will be connecting the keyboard to the other pieces-parts when it arrives. I’ll be sure to post when it’s finally done (hopefully early 2026).
Thanks!