Hello Louie and CJ,

I've used the Lenovo 33L3225 USB Numeric keypad with my Mac laptops, and this 
works with Numpad Commander including the modifier key sequences.  If you have 
an iPhone or iPod Touch, it is also possible to use an app called "NumPad - 
Wireless Numeric Keypad" ($3.99) by Edovia.  (According to reviews, this app is 
also being used by ProTools and Sibelius users, but presumably this is not 
necessarily with VoiceOver).  While this app does correctly handle the Numpad 
Commander modifier sequences, (and the "NumberKey" ($1.99) and "NumberKey Free" 
apps by Balmuda Design Ltd only work for Numpad Commander key sequences without 
modifiers, as well as not being updated for iOS 3), I'm not sure that I'd use 
the app as a replacement for an external Numpad with VoiceOver, since some 
recent experiments where I tried to use combinations to report screen cursor 
positions (while trying to give descriptions of how to move to the status bar 
icons that VoiceOver doesn't see) gave me stuttered feedback at times.  (There 
was a lot of updating, and Apple seems to fiddled with screen sensitivity; this 
isn't always/hasn't previously been a problem.)

There are a number of posts you can search for in the secondary Mail Archives 
for this list at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries%40googlegroups.com/ 
For example, try entering a search into the text box with terms like:
from:Esther external numpad

That will pull up posts which also link to the original post I made on the 
Lenovo 33L3225 back in February 2009, when this list moved to Google Groups, 
but just before archiving at the Mail Archive site was turned on. (The 
secondary Mail Archive site is so much easier to search compared to the Google 
Groups archives for this list that I put the Google Groups post link into one 
my later posts, in case I needed to find it again.) The link to Lenovo site 
where I purchased this numpad (at the time, for $17.99, and I had a free 
shipping deal then) still works:

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=38&Code=33L3225

However, in general, Lenovo charges more for shipping, so I would just google 
"Lenovo 33L3225" from other sources.  For example,  if you search on "Amazon 
Lenovo 33L3225" you'll find this listed on Amazon, and you'll be able to get 
this with free shipping if you combine this with another item that takes your 
order over $25 (in the U.S.).  You'll also be able to read other reviews.  At 
the time, I tested that this numeric keypad worked with both my 12" G4 
Powerbook and 2008 MacBook, and that includes NumPad Commander with all 
modifier key combinations. It also worked under Linux (on an IBM -- now Lenovo 
-- ThinkPad) and under Windows XP. (Apparently, from the Amazon reviews, 
someone complained that it didn't work transparently under Windows Vista, but 
I'd be surprised if the driver updates weren't available from the Lenovo 
support site).

This is a conservative choice, since I was going for compatibility/reliability 
of use in all operating systems over smallest size for portability and maximum 
number of keys.  It has 17 keys, and the older desktop style keys with larger 
travel. The Adesso 19-Key Mobile USB Numeric Keypad with Retractable Cable 
(AKP-150 ) is also supposed to be Mac compatible, and have a smaller footprint. 
 Make sure you have enough cable length, if you use a larger size MacBook Pro.  
There are probably other Mac-compatible numpad options, too. 

Also, note that if you have Numpad Commander enabled, pressing the top row 
number keys, along with the hyphen and equal sign keys in that row, in 
combination with holding down an arrow key, will give you the unmodified Numpad 
Commander shortcut as though the same keys were pressed on a Numpad.

HTH. Cheers,

Esther

On May 7, 2011, at 19:54, CJ Daniel wrote:

> Louie,
> 
> I tried one, with my MacBook Pro,, wanting to use the numbpad commander.  
> Unfortunately, the Mac didn't recognize a lot of the commands with the 
> various modifiers.  So, I gave it up for a bad job & went with the Magic 
> Trackpad.  I'd be interested to find out, also, if anyone else has had better 
> results & with what external device.
> 
> Good luck,
> 
> CJ
> 
> 
> On May 7, 2011, at 1:04 PM, louie wrote:
> 
>> Hi all,
>> Anyone use a external number pad with there laptop?
>> 
>> 
>> louie
>> [email protected]
>> 
>> 

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