Sanwa Supply USB 10-key/mouse
By Donald Melanson 
posted Jan 18th 2005 9:56AM
posted Jan 18th 2005 9:56AM
It's a mouse! It's a keypad! It's a mouse! It's a keypad! No, friends, it's both. Will the wonders never
cease? We don't know anyone who's been anxiously waiting for such a device, but Sanwa Supply's released one anyway. The
USB 10-Key Mouse is exactly what you expect, a combination mouse and numeric keypad. And, yes, it does have a switch to
turn the keypad on and off, so it's not quite as dumb an idea as it looks. Retail price is ¥6,298 (we'll let you
convert that).
[Via TechJapan]
I actually kind of like this idea - does that make me dumb? - I used to do a lot of financial stuff and laptop 10 keys blow, so I envisioned actually covering it (beetle style, although someone stole that idea for a storage device (yesterday!)) rather than do a 10 key on/off switch.
No, I too can think of uses for this. Might have to pick one up, actually...
Gee, why didn't they just combine a PDA with a mouse and get ride of the keyboard all together!! I can't tell you how many people I've met that have wrist and arm pain from using their mouse for everything.
Ooo how high is the precision on the mouse? Imagine the twich Quaking I could do with that! Ahh never mind, it's probably not optical.
As already stated this could have lots of uses for laptop data entry, spreadsheets, etc. Personally, I can see its use for CAD draftsmen manipulation models and assigning dimensions without having to go back and forth between KB and mouse.
Aside from the insanely poor ergonomics of a mouse that wide and flat there's a functional disconnect between a keypad (which you want to stay anchored in one place while you poke at it) and a mouse (which you want to glide effortlessly over the mousing surface). So, unless this thing puts down landing gear when the keypad is turned on its yet another rhetorical answer to the age old question: "gee, I wonder why nobody has done this before?"
This is obviously built for financial users - note the triple zero key - and as Mark commented, laptop keypads blow if you want to do any sort of serious numeric entry stuff.
Something I'd like to see that's along similar lines as this is a right-handed version of the Belkin Nostromo n52 SpeedPad that replaces the d-pad with a trackball.
Steve Mueller, it does in fact put down landing gear when you turn on the keypad. Tiny little jack stands fold out of the sides and it stands about 1/2" off your desk on hydraulic rubber feet, keeping it entirely stable.
This is all laid out on the manufacturer's product page. Try reading a little bit before you pop off at the mouth next time, smartass.
Is it just me or is that a "BS" key in the upper right hand corner? Is there some function key standard to 10-key numpads that I'm unaware of?
My girlfriend only has one arm, and I have been trying to work out a way to provide this sort of interface hardware for her to use for a while now.
Originally, I was thinking of frankensteining a Nostromo N52 Speedpad to a USB micro optical mouse, but this will do quite well in the meantime.
Does anyone know of simple software to allow chording/one-hand alphanumeric input from a number pad?
#8, Emberline, no that's the B.S. key for when you're entering data and want it to randomly put in numbers. OR it could be a backspace key. The world may never know.
Might be useful for gaming since I map all my functions to the keypad. Hmmm....
It is a very interesting concept for my company. we're having a space issue that prevent to fully computerize the distribution of goods to the worker. Since the distribution process only consist of keying number, a keypad and a mouse is all that is required but then if both devices are into one it's even better I'd say. Well, actually, for what I'm concerned of course. Just my 2 cents..
Does anyone know of a english link to their webpage as I cannot find a suppler page in english. Any english reselers ?
I use numbers a lot. Was looking for something like this at the office supply store, and ended up making my own by taping a wireless mouse and key pad together. Mine doesn't look nearly this nice! It works okay, but i would love to have the mouse buttons mounted at the top of the keypad as they are in this version. To #6 Steve, i left the lower two rubber-mounts on the keypad, so there's little enough drag that the mouse moves easily, and just enough friction to keep the whole thing in place when i'm doing data entry. After testing this concept, i can tell you it works well. Don't think I'll buy Sanwa Supply's fancy version, though, since i like the key pad to be on at all times.