Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ucla-cs!wales@valeria.cs.ucla.edu From: wales@valeria.cs.ucla.edu (Rich Wales) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware Subject: Northgate keyboards do not have N-key rollover Message-ID: <39363@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> Date: 26 Sep 90 18:56:46 GMT Sender: news@CS.UCLA.EDU Organization: UCLA CS Department, Los Angeles Lines: 33 Anyone who can type fast should be aware that Northgate's OmniKey line of keyboards do =not= have N-key rollover. That is, if you type fast enough that you are pressing one key before you have let go of the previous key, a Northgate keyboard will get con- fused and will send out extraneous "key press" indications. I bought a Northgate OmniKey Plus last week and encountered this prob- lem. When I called their tech support line, the person I spoke with readily admitted that none of their keyboards had N-key rollover. He said it would have required extra circuitry on each key, and they con- sidered it too expensive. Of course, Northgate has a 60-day "no questions asked" return policy -- which I am taking advantage of pronto. Given that I've seen "cheapo" clone keyboards (and own one!) that still have N-key rollover, I find it a bit hard to understand why the people at Northgate -- who pride themselves on supposedly having high-quality keyboards -- are unwilling to do the job 100%. I agree that the keys on an OmniKey Plus are well placed and have good mechanical response; but, in my opinion as an experienced touch typist, no amount of good features can make up for the lack of N-key rollover. As long as Northgate's keyboards do not have rollover support, I cannot in good conscience recommend them to anyone. I am sending Northgate's keyboard engineering people -- as well as the staff of Computer Shopper (where I saw Northgate's ad) -- a letter to that effect. -- -- Rich Wales // UCLA Computer Science Department 3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, CA 90024-1596 // +1 (213) 825-5683 "We would all become unpeople, undoing unthings untogether. Fascinating."