The mechanical keyboard of Chassepot is very big and very stupid

I like a compact keyboard. Once I have a cup of coffee, a glass of water, a mouse, headphones and a notebook open on my desk, I do not want to devote more space to a keyboard bigger than the one I need . But this approach involves compromises. When using a keyboard without a row of functions, for example, you must be used to holding down only a few keys to execute fairly simple commands, and entering a large number of digits can be a chore.

The Chassepot C1000 Keyboard is an attempt to make the most of both worlds. It is still as narrow as a compact keyboard like the Happy Hacking Keyboard, but it includes all normal size Windows keyboard keys, which means there are several keys to access the function line or non-alphabetic keys such as "Home" or "End."

It does this by being about twice as high as any other keyboard I've ever used, avoiding a typical rectangular form factor in favor of a large ridiculous square. While a typical keyboard has about five or six rows of keys, the C1000 Chassepot Keyboard has nine. You will find all your function keys at the top left of the table, your numeric keypad at the top right and a collection of various keys at the top center. Funny enough, there's so much room here that Chassepot even punched a small hole in the middle of the keyboard. I am not quite sure of the value of this project, but I like to imagine that people use it as a small handle when carrying the C1000.

Before I looked too closely at the Chassepot, I imagined that this design would look more or less like a typical keyboard layout in the lower half of the board, while leaving on the top the least used keys, which you will usually use. you need them. I admit now that it was not the right hypothesis to take.

There are two models of the C1000: the Go model, available only with Blue Outmu clicky switches that limit you to white backlighting, and the Pro model, equipped with RGB lighting and can be purchased with a blue click. , brown or linear red tactile switches. The Go costs $ 169 and the Pro is priced at $ 199.

In terms of quality of construction and construction, there is not much to complain about. The keyboard is nice and sturdy when you tap on it, and it even has a small USB Type-A port at the top left of the keyboard if you want to go through a connection from a USB stick or from a computer. mouse. The surface of the included keys may be a bit more sticky than I would normally like, but this is just my personal preference.

With its weird and super big design, Chassepot obviously has no intention of following the usual trends in keyboard design. Yet, the number of ways in which the C1000 deviates from the usual keyboard layouts in a seemingly completely arbitrary way still amazes me.

The worst is that Chassepot decided to place the arrow keys on his keyboard to the left of the layout rather than to the right, like any other keyboard ever released. This has the annoying effect of moving the entire keyboard slightly to the right to compensate, which means that the last row of keys to the left of the board is farther than expected.

The quirk does not stop there. There is no Windows key on the last row of the table; instead, it's to the left of the Tab key. The right Shift key has been shortened to accommodate the "~" key because there is a function key that the "~" key should normally go to. There is also a second backspace key to the right of the spacebar.

I have a hard time understanding why you worry about half of these changes. Most laptops use a fairly compact configuration that is an industry standard that most people know. Why not just use it as a base, then add additional keys above?

I'm sure if I stayed long enough with the C1000, I would eventually relearn where his arrow keys are. I'm sure I might have learned to use keyboard shortcuts again and would not curse myself every time I should have skipped a paragraph of text. But inevitably, I should use a classic keyboard layout, like the one built into my laptop, and I should restart the relearning process.

Beyond the strange layout on the lower half of the keyboard, I'm not even sure double height design is a great idea. The C1000 Chassepot uses its very high height to include virtually any key you find on a full-size keyboard. It even adds some extras, like a shortcut key that automatically opens your task manager and another that opens your calculator application.

For something like Numpad, having these relatively remote keys makes sense. You use the numeric keypad when you need to enter a large number of digits. So you can change the position of your hand to be able to do it.

But for other keys, it does not work as well. Often, when I press a function key, I want to do it in conjunction with a modifier, such as Alt-F4. But having the function row keys as far back makes this more difficult. Retaining these dedicated keys is supposed to save you time and money, but the effect of Chassepot's implementation does nothing.

The layout of the keyboards is perhaps the part of the modern computer that has remained the same for a very long time. It's good to see a company trying to rethink its operation. But Chassepot's approach arbitrarily changes far too many things about the standard keyboard layout. You have to spend a lot of time learning to type again, and even then you will probably have to go back to a standard keyboard layout every time you want to use another keyboard or your laptop.

If you're really in a hurry, there are a number of compact mechanical keyboards with a much more traditional layout. The Leopold FC660C and the Vortex Race 3 are two great options. Of course, you may have to press a combination of keys to access less common keys, but at least you will not have to relearn years of muscle memory or repeatedly lose the location of your Windows key.

Jon Porter / The Verge Photography

Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence the editorial content, although Vox Media can earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics policy.