Thin, rubbery "tape" I can use on a few keyboard keys?

[Ichinisan]

Ugh. Even though I specifically sought a netbook with a non-truncated right-shift key,* navigating in the dark is an exercise in frustration. No matter how sure you are of how you placed your fingers on the arrow keys w/PU/PD-Home/End, you're going to end up pushing the wrong one, which often leaves you a page or more away from what you are trying to read on a tiny resolution-limited 9-inch screen. I've suffered with it for 1.5 years now and it's not getting any better. With no gap between the F-keys and backspace, it's pretty hard to find also. The touchpad is even worse... Though it is recessed, the freakin' buttons are too! they are flush with the touch area which makes it impossible to feel the button without touching and screwing up your cursor movement.

The fix seems simple: slap some thin rubbery sticker on the backspace, shift, PU/PD (doubles as Home/End) keys and throw a couple strips on the touchpad buttons, but I am finding that it's hard to find a clear rubber sicker or tape that's thin enough (can't touch the display or bezel when shut). A little help? I ordered glowing key stickers also, but it's not really the letters and numbers that I have a problem with (J and F keys are marked as they should be).


*what business do the arrow keys have there?! There is PLENTY of space below the traditional keyboard rectangular area to the right of the touch pad!

 

[corkyg]

Datacal has long been a good source of many types of key cap labels.

http://www.datacal.com/

Have you considered an illuminated keyboard? That's what I use - even in the dark. This is a "shot in the dark."

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Corky-G/logikeyb.jpg

 

[Ichinisan]

I have an illuminated keyboard (G15), but this is discussing a condensed netbook keyboard. I'll check out your link. Thanks!

 

[Aluvus]

Plain old Scotch tape is thin, clear, and would offer a very different texture from that of the keys. Cheap too.

 

[Ika]

Electrical tape was the first thing I thought of, but it might leave a mess unless your netbook is black.

 

[gorobei]

just use a small bit of crazy glue(cyanoacrylate). a dot should be enough to feel. just make sure to keep a good air circulation around the netbook while it dries, or the fumes will bind with the oils of your fingerprints on the netbook. Covering the monitor panel might be a good idea too.

 

[CZroe]

Oops. It looks like my brother's cookie was somehow restored on my phone when I made the OP, so Ichinisan = me.

I just wanted to pop in and say that the "illuminated" stickers from myglowkeys.com are crap. They don't "glow in the dark," they don't reflect your display's light "like a stop sign" (don't stop signs reflect back to the source anyway?), they are glossy fingerprint-magnets, they cover up the tactile bumps on the F and J keys, and they are 100% invisible in zero-light rooms unless you tilt the display so far forward that you can't comfortably use, or see it (considering my LCD's viewing angle). They are functionally useless in the task which they are promoted for. The only reason they are any easier to see at all in low-light situations is because the letters are larger, which is because they cover all the alternate key functions (fn functions). Bah! And I ordered the double-set too.

just use a small bit of crazy glue(cyanoacrylate). a dot should be enough to feel. just make sure to keep a good air circulation around the netbook while it dries, or the fumes will bind with the oils of your fingerprints on the netbook. Covering the monitor panel might be a good idea too.

I already have some in a worse spot!

That would be on my old battery (replaced) and the back glossy shell. I was applying claw-caps to my kitteh when he went berserk and got some on the netbook. Yes; that is a fingerprint. It was the kind that came with the clawcaps, but I looked it up and it was just the medical-grade cyanoacrylate. FYI: Cyanoacrylate was made to suture skin on the battlefield. Use it on your next papercut!

I don't know what Super Glue (same stuff) will do to these glossy plastic-coated key stickers. If I can do it cleanly (not messy-looking), I will.

 

[CZroe]

Electrical tape was the first thing I thought of, but it might leave a mess unless your netbook is black.

As it is, the keys already touch the bezel and leave marks. Any thicker and I would expect it to get on the LCD panel itself! Ah well. I may try it. For some reason I was thiinking that it would have to be clear tape, but of course not (I know the keys, I just can't feel for 'em blindly because they're in a non-standard position and feel identical to those around them). Thanks!