Benefits of having a numeric keypad

[tobypearce]

My iMac came with the slimline keyboard and didn't have a numeric keypad.

I recently bought the Daskeyboard professional because I wanted clicky keys with a better feel and full-sized travel. The keyboard is as excellent as I hoped it would be (perhaps even more so), but what I didn't appreciate is how great having a numeric keypad would be for Reason.

There are some crucial keyboard shortcuts on the numeric keypad and although you can access them on the main keyboard too, it's not as quick and sometimes requires modifier keys.
I play in loop modes a lot and so ALT+left arrow was great for playing at the start of the loop.

But 1 on the number pad is so much better.
0 -> 1 -> Enter is sublime.

Thoroughly recommended, and honestly so much better value than some kind of dedicated midi controller. I also have one of these but use it far less often.

[HeavyViper]

I see a lot of keyboard snobs dismiss the keypad as unnecessary, but yeah, I'd definitely miss it if I lost it. Using the numpad as an almost one-stop shop for transport controls is a stroke of genius, tbh.

[botnotbot]

I have a keypad but have been ignorant of these capabilities. Will definitely check this out!

[guitfnky]

I won’t even consider a keyboard without a numeric keypad anymore. even made sure my laptop has one.

[motuscott]

Must have numeric pad. Nuff said.

[pushedbutton]

I'm looking to buy an external numpad but I've been doing some research on Amazon and I've found a few of them aren't actually sending the correct ASCII codes.
I had this issue with a canon bluetooth mouse/keypad that I bought a while back and it ended up in the trash.
Can anyone recommend a decent but cheap external numpad?

[reggie1979]

This isn't a thread you'd normally see pop up but I agree, I'd hate life w/o a numeric keypad. Now, sadly, I don't use all the shortcuts enough but it's indispensable for me.