Keyboard types in Europe

Hi all,

My first post on this forum. Really liked all I've been reading here!

I have a quick question to Europeans here: would I be able to find a Aspire One with standard QWERTY keyboard in Europe?

Just to explain, I'm brazilian (and belge, I have double nationality) and I'm going to Europe on vacation in August, passing through several countries:
France (Paris/Nantes)
Belgium (Brussels)
Netherlands (Amsterdam)
UK (London)
Poland (Krakow)
Austria (Wien)
Czech Republic (Prague)
Germany (Munich and Berlin)

My hope is to find something in London (but I think I won't be able to find AA1 yet. I'll be there on August 11th and 12th which coincides with Amazon's initial date for AA1 ).
As far as I can remeber there is a street in London with some electronic shops, but I forgot the name right now and I'm tired to google it .

Ideally it would be better for me to be able to buy it in Brussels. I kind of hope Media Markt (Rue Neuve/City 2) will have it, but I doubt it will be QWERTY...
AZERTY is certainly a no-go for me :mrgreen: . (Off-topic: How can you type on this thing? Really? Despite being AZERTY you have to use Shift to use basic keys!!!)

Unfortunatelly the brazilian market is flooded with overpriced first generation EEEs (7 inch screen). Prices equivalent to US$ 550 or 350 euros.

My guess is that you guys will tell me that the closest to US standard QWERTY keyboard I will find is the UK version, but maybe you can help me.

Well, sorry for the long post.

 

Hi

I bought mine at http://www.laptopshop.be in belgium, they do next day delivery or you can collect it in somewhere in Antwerp.
Mine is azerty (its not so hard really the placement is better for the ductch language :lol: ) but they have qwerty to (I'm pretty sure whether that is US or UK but you could try to ask...)

They have both models, linux and xp, however be sure to reserve it by mail or something so that you don't have to return home empty handed

success

(and I'm very pleased with mine ((linux)) )

what are you going to go for linux or xp?

regards

Stijn

 

you'll only find "qwertz" in munich, so you don't have to look for a media markt there

 

come to Amsterdam and get yourself a qwerty keyboard over here. In the Netherlands, we like to be American, so we use a US keyboard mapping (and I do mean it is a US keyboard mapping, as my wife and I spend some time yesterday getting rid of the horrible Dutch mapping that is provided with the AAO. So, I have the @ above the 2, # above the 3, etc. Come to Holland, you'll like it here

 

Azerty is not better for the Dutch language. That's the reason why this keyboard is not used in The Netherlands, a completely Dutch speaking nation (they use a special flavour of querty). Azerty is a keyboard mapping optimized for the FRENCH language ( é è à ê ç are easy to type). There are historical reasons why the dutch speaking people in Belgium use this keyboard.

July the 21, I've bought a querty version in Maastricht (Mediamarkt). There are different flavours of querty (NL, US, GB...). The provided one on the aa1 I bought was the US flavour. They were selling only this querty version.

 

In Italy is sold with standard QWERTY keyboard and easy to find in market...

...visit Italy!!!

 

There is a way to change the keyboard mapping definitely to the right one provided with your aa1 (US keyboard). These are the steps:
1. press alt+F2 (this will pop-up a RUN requester)
2. type in exactly this command:
sudo mousepad /usr/bin/xkb_plugin_set_xorg.sh
(this will open a script)
3. search in this script for the section nl_NL_UTF-8. There you will find an option "Xkblayout" with the following parameters: "nl,us,gb". Delete nl, and ,gb. The new parameter is: "us" .
Save the file.
4. Reboot and you will find that the keyboard is set in the right way.

 

like I said, we spend some time figuring that one out It's ok now.

 

Thanks for all the replies!

I'm looking at laptopshop.be right now and will definitelly take a look at stores in Amsterdam!
@komodo: Any tip on where should I go to find it? I've never been to Amsterdam (only visited some cities very close to the border with Belgium).

Good to see that there is hope for QWERTY .

@Felinux: unfortunatelly I won't be able to visit Italy this time, but definitelly is on my list for a next vacation .

EDIT: I plan on getting the Linux version... Just not sure if I should go the SSD or HD way... Is SSD speed that bad?

 

There is a Mediamarkt near the football stadium (called the Amsterdam ArenA, you REALLY can't miss it when you're in Amsterdam. Just take the subway to the stadium and all will be well). Media Markt sells the One and it costs € 299,- (at least, at this moment, but prices of these things go down really fast. You pay a penalty for being one of the first, I guess). Any way, Media Markt at the arena is open from 10 am to 9 pm every day, EXCEPT on the weekends, then it is open from 9 am to 6 pm.

The only other store that has the one at this moment is called BCC (sells it at the same price), but I don't know where there is one located in Amsterdam.

 

Thanks for the tips!

And I'll probably be able to do a "détaxe" (Global Refund). Even better .

 

i have an azerty one. Only sold for francophones

 

Just to add that I bought it in Amsterdam (MediaMarkt).

I'm writing on it right now directly from the hotel in Amsterdam . Haven't used it very much, as my priority now is to enjoy my vacation, but I'm really enjoying it. Keyboard is somewhat small, but still usable. Screen is reflective but using it in my hotel room is just fine.

The negatives so far are that the screen could be larger considering the casing (but really not important) and that it didn't come with a carrying bag to protect it... Oh, I couldn't get the color I wanted. White was the only available color...

Off-topic: Amsterdam is really nice...

 

How about Dvorak

I prefer a US Dvorak- can any one help with that?

 

In London it's Tottenham Court Road where the electronics shops are.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en ... =UTF8&z=15