POS Keyboards

[c3rt]

I'm currently unable to find much info on point-of-sale keyboards. I assume they would only work with cash registers but I may be wrong. Is it possible to use POS keyboards with a regular PC? I don't think they have plug n play capabilities even if they do connect with USB which removes the hassle of using an adapter/converter. And another problem is the programmed keys.
TLDR: I don't know much about POS keyboards, do they work with regular PC's?

[Blaise170]

Depends completely on the keyboard. A lot of POS boards are standard PS/2 or USB and so will usually work without much hassle on desktop PCs. Some have an odd connector but are relatively easy to convert. A few exist which use a completely proprietary connector and protocol but these are not as common. Also depends on region as a lot of Japanese POS keyboards used a PC98 connector and protocol but even Japanese machines are mostly PS/2 and USB now.

[__red__]

The more modern, the more likely as modern PoS terminals are typically PC compatible (in hardware at least).

Older PoS systems are not compatible:

Spoiler:

[c3rt]

A lot of POS boards are standard PS/2 or USB and so will usually work without much hassle on desktop PCs. Some have an odd connector but are relatively easy to convert.

Alright, thanks for the info!

Older PoS systems are not compatible:

Ha! Gave me a laugh, and I just noticed the Budweiser logo on the upper left edge, holy shit I forgot they were that old

[kbdfr]

I have been using a Tipro POS keyboard as my daily driver for more than six years now (on off-the shelf Windows PCs).

They are freely programmable (meaning you can put anything, including Unicode or macros, on absolutely any key) with Windows (caveat: 32-bit if they have a PS/2 controller, 64-bit if they have a USB controller). The programmed configuration being saved in a non-volatile memory in the keyboard itself, once programmed they can be used with any OS without requiring any software nor installation, as they register as a standard keyboard.

Proudly showing off:

Spoiler:

Note that my keyboard assembly is composed of 3 modules: a staggered unit in the middle and two 64 key matrix units:

Caveat: do not just buy anything Tipro without asking first, as there always are a few tricky things to be considered.

Edit: Tipro keyboards have plate-mounted Cherry MX black switches.

[c3rt]

Edit: Tipro keyboards have plate-mounted Cherry MX black switches.

Actually never heard of Tipro till now. That keyboard is amazing itself but I just can't seem to figure out the layout! Thought it was Colemak at first, probably not Dvorak... well I'm just happy being a QWERTY user

[Blaise170]

Edit: Tipro keyboards have plate-mounted Cherry MX black switches.

Actually never heard of Tipro till now. That keyboard is amazing itself but I just can't seem to figure out the layout! Thought it was Colemak at first, probably not Dvorak... well I'm just happy being a QWERTY user

AZERTY is the most common layout on French keyboards.

[kbdfr]

Yes, it's the (as for now) standard French layout.

Which of course doesn't matter here, because as said you can freely program it the way you like (on 4 levels!).

Spoiler:

You could for example program your spacebar on level 3 to shutdown the computer.
Or add (as I did) the specific German characters. Or cyrillic characters if you like.
Or a key to tell Word to print the current page.
Or a key to write both the opening and closing brackets and then put the cursor between them.
Or assign keys to special functions of a program (I find "reopen closed tab" very useful in Firefox).

[Blaise170]

The Cherry POS keyboards (e.g. G80-8113) also have nice software. Not sure if it's as good as Tipro's, but alas.