Take a look at this keyboard. Do you think that this would be better for your hands than the standard type? To me it looks downright painful to use. But maybe it just looks that way. Maybe it will be ultra comfortable. Priced at $300, you and I will never know.
That’s right, $300. That’s a lot of money to pay for no guarantee that it will be a good keyboard. If any of you have a spare $300 to gamble on this thing, let us know how badly your hands are cramping up while you write us.
Looks like torture.
[Dvice]
TAGS:
Advantage, keyboard, Kinesis
Actually, I’m typing this comment on a Kinesis Advantage just like the one you have pictured above. And I type Dvorak on it, no less.
Simply put, this thing has given me back my ability to type. My tendonitis had made it pretty much impossible to type more than a paragraph at a time without significant pain. I can type pages on this thing with no problem.
It’s a combination of two factors:
1) High quality, low-force keyswitches and
2) Super-ergonomic layout.
The switches have tactile feedback that you feel halfway down, so that you can stop pressing and avoid bottoming out (which would hurt your wrists). They’re also good for millions of cycles.
The layout takes a few weeks to get used to, but once you’re used to it, it’s wonderful. The keys are in vertical columns and actually form arches below your fingers. Since your middle finger is longer than your pinky, the column arch for your middle finger is depressed further into the keyboard than the one for your pinky. And the space key is a low-force button that you hit with your right thumb — instead of the usual spacebar that you have to mash. (The Microsoft Natural 4000 is particularly bad in this respect.) The layout isn’t the best for people with tiny hands, but for medium to large, it works well.
Give it a shot before you judge it. Kinesis has a money-back guarantee, and because of this, you can get refurbished boards for significantly cheaper. Just give them a call.
I alternate between this and a Cherry G80-3000, which also has Cherry MX Brown key switches. Even in the standard layout, the switches make a HUGE difference.
http://www.datacal.com/p-1254-cherry-g80-3000-keyboard-with-brown-switches.aspx
Maltron have been making keyboard like this for over 30 years: http://www.maltron.com/ That’s older than the standard IBM Extended keyboard layout that most people are using. (which is circa 1985).
I’ve been using a Kinesis keyboard for over 15 years. I can’t work without it. If you have any pain from typing the Kinesis is definitely worth a try.