Hi all,
just got my PicoCalc, and when I type relatively fast (far from extreme fast) on my Picocal it sometimes skips a key. Updated from 1.2 → 1.4 → back to 1.2, tried different UF2 files, Pico 2W. Still the same.
Anyone else seeing this, or am I am just typing too fast? Would like to hear your experience.
I have experienced missed key presses since i first got my PicoCalc. In my case I don’t think there is anything wrong with it and that I’m just not pressing quite hard enough. It seems the keyboard was just designed in a way that makes it hard to always press keys down far enough to actually register a key press.
all physical issues aside with switches not triggering unless you press them correctly, it also depends on the firmware and how well they poll the keyboard. after fiddling with how i do it in the lua firmware enough (which originally used a driver derived from the luckfox lyra drivers), i can’t say i see much issue with the keyboard at all anymore whereas it used to be quite bad (and am assuming will be quite bad today still if you use the lyra, which i don’t have). i don’t really use other firmwares regularly so i can’t speak for them
the keyboard works by receiving a read command from the pico and returning a single key event (pressed or released), if the firmware does not know to keep polling until the keyboard’s queue is empty, there will be keystroke lag. if it doesn’t poll often enough, there will be keystroke lag. depending on how the pico handles pressed and released events reported by the keyboard, there can be dropped keystrokes.
Thanks everyone for the replies.
If I have to learn how to press the keyboard, then honestly… that’s a bummer.
After watching so many videos where people praise the typing experience, this feels like a let-down. Looks like the design and the “cool factor” were more important than the actual typing.
For me the keyboard was one of the top 3 reasons to buy this device, and right now I can say I really don’t like it so far.
Anyway… thanks again for sharing your experience. Let’s see if future firmware makes things better.
Honestly, I haven’t used a smaller keyboard I’ve liked since the old thumb keyboards on phones. I never owned a Blackberry, but I remember at least one (from HTC, I think?) that was on a PocketPC phone which worked surprisingly well.
The PicoCalc keyboard is much better than the old PocketCHIP, which was awful. And I get the feeling most of the homebrew solutions that have popped up over the years are poor when it comes to usability too. Even with the software working reasonably well, my PicoCalc skips certain keys (“L” is one I notice a lot) unless I am mindful to press them harder than I usually would. Typing fast seems to be a bad idea since it means more mistakes either due to keys that weren’t pressed hard enough to send the signal, or lost keypresses due to software.
I don’t love the PicoCalc keyboard, but it’s usable (with a bit of pain) if necessary. Personally, I think it’s better for entering data rather than actually coding on the device. I’m constantly impressed that people use it to create entire programs, especially large ones. I’ve done that myself a few times for a few smaller things, but it would have gone a LOT faster if I had done it on a proper machine with a real keyboard. I’ve found it’s more practical to edit/tweak code on the device than to write it from scratch there. But you’re also limited by the screen size, which slows things down too.
give a custom firmware a try: Making sure you're not a bot! and the latest Lua firmware: Release PicoCalc Lua 0.5 · Lana-chan/picocalc_lua · GitHub which has a built in editor
if the keyboard feels any better to type after that, your woes are mostly software. i know those improved it a lot to me
I found the trick was to press the keys square in the center, not at the edges or at an angle; once I got this down I found pressing keys to have far fewer missed keypresses. Note that I have done this with zeptoforth with the BIOS firmware 1.2, so I cannot speak of different software on the PicoCalc.
If you want to use an SSH client and need reliable input, this keyboard is a joke.
I don’t get how people say it’s great. With missed keys all the time… come on
I have to say that I don’t have any problem at all with the keyboard. No missed keys.
I do have large basketball hands, but I thought this would be a disadvantage.
The problems I have with the PicoCalc keyboard are the same problems I have with all keyboards designed for thumb typing.
I think your hands actually work in your advantage here 
You probably hit the keys with the right pressure and right spot every time.
Thanks for the feedback!
Thank you. With Lua it feels better, so I still hope this can be improved in software.
Sorry, I was a bit too harsh — cursor keys are totally fine, but typing in an SSH client was really frustrating and still is.
Your other comment is spot on, it’s really about hitting the keys right in the center. Sounds silly, but when you type a bit faster, it gets harder to do.
Ja, auch bei mir sind es einzelne Tasten (t, p) die beim Tippen öfter fehlen. Wenn ich dazu komme, meinen zweiten PixoCalc mal zusammenzubauen, dann melde ich mich mit einem Vergleich.
If that bothers you too much, you could always email Alex about getting a new motherboard for your PicoCalc. I know someone who had one bad key on his PicoCalc, who emailed Alex and got shipped a new motherboard.