53289 - Inspiron number pad

[Katya]

http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=53289

However, the 1545 does not have a number pad, nor a method to convert regular keys to a number pad by use of the Fn key.

You actually do have another option: I checked with someone I know who has the same model of laptop as you, and they said that there actually is a number pad of sorts, built in to the normal keyboard and accessible using the Fn (Function) key.

I have a 1440, not a 1545, but no, the function key method really doesn't work. (It did on my old Dell Inspiron, though.) And while downloading a foreign-language keyboard seems like a good idea, my assumption is that it would have shortcuts only for the special characters used in that language, which would require memorizing a different keyboard layout for every language one had to type in -- a lot more work than just learning one set of special character shortcuts.

[Laser Jock]

I have a 1440, not a 1545, but no, the function key method really doesn't work. (It did on my old Dell Inspiron, though.)

It really does work--I just had my friend with the 1545 test it out. Press the Alt key first, then the Fn key, and then mjij (0151), making sure not to let up either the Alt or Fn keys until you've keyed in the whole sequence. For her this produced an em dash, as it should. (I don't know about your specific laptop; if you do the above and it doesn't work for you, then I guess not. But on the 1545 it definitely does work.)

And while downloading a foreign-language keyboard seems like a good idea, my assumption is that it would have shortcuts only for the special characters used in that language, which would require memorizing a different keyboard layout for every language one had to type in -- a lot more work than just learning one set of special character shortcuts.

This is mostly true. However, using a foreign keyboard layout allows you to type much, much faster than doing gymnastics with Unicode points. And if you really did habitually mix and match characters from multiple foreign languages (or rather, which don't coexist on a single keyboard layout), it's quite possible to create your own custom keyboard layout and use that instead. When I still used Windows I created one that added em and en dashes to an otherwise normal English layout, since I use them on the Board. (If anyone here is interested in the how, I'm sure I could dig up the instructions I found when I created that layout.)