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Paco500 · Apr 24, 2005, 07:46 PM

I got a new 15" 1.67 a few weeks ago and, while I'm in love, I'm kind of bummed about losing out on the Expose keys. Those of you with the lit KB's- how do you handle this? Use the keys for the KB lighting or Expose- and depending on what you choose, do you assign other keys to these actions, and if so, what?

Thanks.

asodamiac · Apr 24, 2005, 07:50 PM

well i just got my powerbook (specs in sig) a few days ago, and didnt even know how to use expose. i dont really mind pressing down the fn button before pressing f9 or f10, but im sure people without backlit kb's wouldnt like it too much. just adds another step. i wish i could change it so that i could just press f9 and f10 to use expose, and hold fn down to make the backlight on the kb brighter or dimmer. if theres a way, can anyone please let me know? thanks

kertong · Apr 24, 2005, 08:11 PM

I believe there's a setting in system preferences, under keyboard, to let you swap the function key functions (i.e - make exposee keys default, and hold fn-f8 to turn backlight on/off).

I have exposee keys mapped to different keys though.

but the backlit keyboard is *awesome* - I just got the 15" 1.67ghz powerbook with superdrive and 1gb of ram from work. Needless to say, I'm pretty stoked. The backlit keys did nothing though, so I assumed I didn't have it bto. I installed 10.3.9 today, and bam - the backlight suddenly started working. And the trackpad feel is much better. Wow, this powerbook really kicks ass! I've owned titanium powerbooks, pismos, and 12" albooks/ibooks, but.. this one really takes the cake.

analogika · Apr 24, 2005, 08:11 PM

I use screen corners, anyway, and almost never the keys.

tekno_geek911 · Apr 24, 2005, 08:39 PM

Its gonna be even more annoying when Tiger is released since Dashboard uses the F12 key. I use fn,F11 and F12 for Expose.

osxisfun · Apr 24, 2005, 09:26 PM

also,

there is a new version of Sidetrack (trackpad driver replacement) and with it you can define trackpad corners to be expose hot spots.

can't wait!

servo · Apr 24, 2005, 09:53 PM

In System Preferences under Keyboard & Mouse there is a check box to swap out the function of the 'F' keys. I have it checked so Expose does not require the Fn key, but changing volume, display, keyboard lights does.

TailsToo · Apr 24, 2005, 10:59 PM

What will you do with Tiger if F12 is also your eject button??

asodamiac · Apr 24, 2005, 11:45 PM

cant you just use the eject key as your eject button?

tbd · Apr 24, 2005, 11:45 PM

I'm really curious, what is so great about the backlit keyboard? My new powerbook has one, and while its kind of a neat little thing I have already turned it off. I'm really curious what the appeal is because I hear about it all the time when people mention the new powerbooks. I just don't see the use--to me its just 10, 15 or whatever less minutes of battery life if I'm not plugged in.

driven · Apr 25, 2005, 08:53 AM

I don't think you lose THAT much battery life. :-0

It is really great though. I didn't know how useful it was until I got it.
Keep in mind this though: The keyboard layout is very new to me. Prior to my PB I used a Dell. The backlit keyboard is really helping me find where the keys are in the dark. Once I get used to it ... well .... I'm not sure.

asodamiac · Apr 25, 2005, 07:08 PM

its nice when your in a lecture hall or something and the lights are off. its not too bright to bother you but its enough for you to see the keys. i think its useful. it looks so dang cool too.

TailsToo · Apr 25, 2005, 11:57 PM

Originally Posted by asodamiac

cant you just use the eject key as your eject button?

older PowerBooks and iBooks use the F12 key as the eject button. The new Keyboards have their own separate eject button.

asodamiac · Apr 26, 2005, 12:54 AM

i see.. guess you could always drag the cd into the trash.. haha. dashboard is the #1 thing i am looking forward to from tiger. since im new to macs, i doubt i would notice the differences anyways.

kertong · May 28, 2005, 05:50 PM

the backlit keyboard option also dims your screen backlight accordingly. If all the lights go out, it'll dim your LCD display so that the bright whites don't burn out your retinas. So, in fact, it may actually *save* on battery life, if you're in the dark often.

as for the F12/eject issue - I think it'll eject the CD if you just hold down F12 for a couple seconds? I could be wrong.

lilrabbit129 · May 28, 2005, 06:57 PM

If you don't have an eject key, in Tiger if you press f12 dashboard comes up. If you HOLD DOWN f12, your cd will eject.

If you do have an eject key, holding down f12 shows dashboard, and when you release it, it goes away. QUite handy actually.

driven · May 28, 2005, 07:21 PM

lilrabbit,

nice trick .... thanks!!!!

lilrabbit129 · May 28, 2005, 08:04 PM

no problem.

tooki · May 28, 2005, 09:13 PM

On my 15" AlBook, I have F12 set as Expose (all windows), option-F12 as Expose (front app only), and command-F12 as Expose (show desktop).

tooki

ccsccs7 · May 29, 2005, 11:26 PM

Originally Posted by lilrabbit129

…
If you do have an eject key, holding down f12 shows dashboard, and when you release it, it goes away.…

That works the same for Exposé.

wuzup101 · Jun 1, 2005, 01:59 AM

Originally Posted by osxisfun

also,

there is a new version of Sidetrack (trackpad driver replacement) and with it you can define trackpad corners to be expose hot spots.

can't wait!

This is the method I personally have been using. I have one of my corners mapped to expose all windows as it's the only expose function I use a lot. F11 has nothing else mapped to it so I use that when I have to see the desktop. However, I'm not sure about the "new" version of sidetrack. I've been doing this since I started using sidetrack (last summer). It allows you to map the corners to do anything... don't think you need a new version to do it.