2nd biggest disappoint w/ Vostro 1700. Lack of menu key

OK so not having stable, non-beta XP video drivers is the number 1 disappointment but I knew that going into it so I was prepared but the keyboard has no windows menu button!?!?!?! I am coming from an inspiron 9300 and they expand the keyboard to include a stand-alone number pad and they take away the menu key? Talk about a weird decision to make.

I know you can shift-F10 to bring it up but that's such a pain.

Anyway I'm just venting and hopefully if someone else is used to using it for shortcuts and are considering this notebook they'll at least know about this shortcoming going into the decision. Still love the laptop if not the OS.

 

Thats odd... my 1520 has a menu key.

 

my 1500 has one on it??

 

You're talking menu button like for the start menu?

 

No

and, my 1400 has one... next to the right ctrl...

 

The other Vostros have it and not the 1700?!?!?! Oh man that pisses me off even more. I'm talking about the context menu button ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menu_key); it basically does the same thing as right click whatever is selected.

 

Vista doesn't support a right click context menu? I visited a couple of sites that talk about right click and I saw context menu pictures. This was an issue right out of the box?

 

Vista supports the right click context menu. And there are tons of laptops and keyboards that have that button on them but the Vostro 1700 does not have the context menu button on its keyboard.

 

That's too bad. I've never used the button on my 1705, so it wouldn't bother me too much. I wonder if Dell (or the actual manufacturer) did some research and found that most users don't bother using the key, so they decided to remove the key to save a few cents.

 

You probably have the best explination here.

 

OHHHHH, OKAY...that is not the Windows Menu Button, people would think that is the WIN KEY on the left side. No, my 1420 doesn't have that key either...nor have I ever used it or anything on any other computer

 

I would think the win key would refer to the button with the windows logo on it. I definitely think of what I was referring to as the menu key but I do see how lots of people wouldn't be used to using it for anything. Hell I barely use the Windows key.

 

It's funny how computing differs from one person to another. I use the Win key all the time - I'd be completely lost if I lost my keyboard shortcuts. Not being able to open up the Windows explorer with Win-E would nearly cripple my computing!

 

Agreed, I've never used it either. Figured once my mouse is pointing at it, it's much easier to just right-click than to go find and hit a key on the keyboard!

 

yes but you don't have to point your mouse at anything if you're scrolling through notes in outlook or moving through fields in excel or other similar actions. I've gotten very proficient in never touching the mouse when not necessary. It slows you down. It is definitely just different strokes for different folks.

 

I feel I am quite efficient with using only the keyboard if at all possible but I guess I never realized what that key actually did and never tried it. The win-key is pretty pointless to me as well but probably since I use quick launch for all of my frequent programs and have it running along the left side of the screen and hardly ever have to even use the start button. I hardly even need to right-click because of the cut, copy, and paste shortcuts.

 

Remap caps lock to context menu key using SharpKeys or KeyTweak.

 

That is great advice but do you happen to know what the context menu key is called in SharpKeys?

EDIT: figured it out. It's "Special: Application (E0_5D)". You're the man Kasimir.

 

Yeah, when i got my laptop(toshiba M70) i was pretty irritated with where they moved the windows key.
Pic of M70 keyboard
Top right corner... Never seen it there, but i have grown accustomed to it. Now when i get my next laptop(either M1530 or 1520/1525) i'm going to have to re-learn it.

btw:
Windows key + E = explorer
Windows Key + L = log off
2 most useful keyboard shortcuts, after copy/paste, imo.

 

What is the key in the upper right of the number pad on the Vostro 1700 and Inspiron 1720 -- the one that looks like it might change from End to something else if you have numlock on.

Here's the picture of the Inspiron 1720 keyboard, which has the same keyboard layout as the Vostro 1700
http://www.notebookreview.com/picture.asp?f=26046

 

Is it really that much more difficult to press the right click?

I might be a little slow today but I don't understand the importance of it.....

 

chelet@ it launches the calculator if you hold Fn and then press it.

sleey0@ well if your hands are sitting on the keyboard and you're not using the mouse at all, it's a little more difficult to move the mouse to the item and then right click than to just hit a single key. Example: scrolling through emails in Windows Live Mail if you want to mark something unread to take care of it later you hit Context Menu and then N (Ctrl-U doesn't mark unread like it does in Outlook). Obvjously as discussed earlier, people's computing habits can vary widely; for some this is a non-issue, for others like myself it's an annoyance.

 

Okay.... I guess I would rather use the mouse for all of that. Seems easier to me but, like you said, everyones different