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These days, my favorite is the gold touch keyboard from key ovation. It has very good feel and travel (though without the m-series clicks), a highly adjustable, split, ergonomic design, windows meta keys that exist but are placed out of the way in the left corner, and no bulky number pad. I've been typing on one for years now, and I can never go back!

They also missed the Goldtouch adjustable keyboard:

http://www.keyovation.com/pc-65-2-goldtouch-ergonomic-adjustable-keyboard-white.aspx

Been happily using one since 2004 and it's the best investment ever. For some pretty horrible time I thought I was going to have to leave IT in search of some other profession - not particularly comforting as I'd only graduated two years earlier.

It's expensive, but a lot cheaper than learning a new job - particularly when the NHS's attitude was "Oh, your wrists hurt. That's a shame. Spend the rest of your life taking ibuprofen and give us a shout if you develop a stomach ulcer."

you have to use some self discipline to remember to move the mouse from the elbow, and not bend at the wrist, but it's pretty easy to get used to.

after switching to a handshake mouse, you'll really feel the difference when twisting your forearms to type at a natural keyboard. i found it really important to switch to an angled keyboard as well:

http://www.keyovation.com/c-2-ergonomic-keyboards. aspx

i've also got a couple of ergorests to round out the combination heheh:

http://www.ergomart.com/ergonomic_forearm_support/ ErgoRest_Arms.htm

it's an expensive setup, but worth it. i've slowly been winning over my coworkers as well.

seems like ergonomic problems are as unique as peoples' bodies, though, so the setup that's perfect for me hurts the guy that sits next to me and vice versa.

I find that it forces me to place my mouse too far away and I would prefer a more compact keyboard.

But yeah, it is stupid that the standard keyboard contains a numeric keypad. Only useful for people who have to enter a lot of numbers. Which I'm sure there are, but 95% of us don't.

I use a Goldtouch keyboard. Which not only uses less space, but is split down the middle to allow you to position your hands naturally. Right now, I'm using one on a tiny keyboard shelf that would barely have room for a 103 keyboard, but has plenty of room for both a Goldtouch and a mouse.

Not sure which compact keyboards you're complaining about that have unnatural cursor keys. There are some, but most are good enough, including the Goldtouch.

I experienced serious pain from using the scroll wheel.
Why, Microsoft, why? Why did you place such a tempting button halfway down the longest finger, why? The tendons that control the bending motion for that finger extend through over six inches of flesh from the finger tips to the muscles in the upper arm. These tendons saw back and forth across several nerves, blood vessels, and tiny bones when when you use the scroll wheel.
I now swear by the Goldtouch optical mouse. Like the Evoluent VerticalMouse, it sits at a slant to place your hand in a more natural position. However, the scroll wheel has been moved from its middle-finger position to a bi-directional button at the side. The scroll button is operated by the thumb, which evolved large muscles at its base to perform this exact bending motion.
I have one of these mice for home and one for work: http://www.keyovation.com/ergonomics/product/ergon omicmouse.html

Alas, this piece of nonsense isn't in the same ballpark. Blank keycaps are not a bad idea (I actually learned to type on a typewriter with blank keycaps, which I guess makes me pretty ancient), nor is tweaking the springiness of individual keys. But people will not pay $55 extra for two minor improvements!

The high price is not an indication of business skill -- quite the opposite. Somebody decided there was a market for a couple of features and set out to sell them, but didn't bother to do their homework. They went ahead and did a small production run, naively assuming that whatever it cost them to make, they could sell the product for slightly more.

The marketplace doesn't work that way. Consumers don't care how much is spent making something. They just care whether it's worth spending money on. So you need to sit down and figure out how much people are willing to pay for what you want to sell. (Keyboards with a comparable feature set seem to sell for a max of $40.) Then you figure out how many you have to make in order for individual units to cost less than you can sell them for. Which in this case means a big production run. Which probably would have cost more than this "entrepeneur" could raise. Oh well!

It's sad how few geeks understand the economics behind the manufacture of hardware they use every day.

Oops , a hrefs dont work
Ebay link;I suggest buying from Compaq parts(No its not me or anyone i know, i bought mine from him tho and hes cheap.)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&cate gory=51083&item=5113696441&rd=1&ssPageName=WDV W
http://www.keyovation.com/ergonomics/product/usbke yboard.html

If You're using a Microsoft ergo keyboard, I suggest trying out the keyboard I've been using for over a year now; The Goldtouch Ergonomic Keyboard, It's pretty darn adjustable. Heres the website for you that want to check it out( 200$ on there.. 30$ on ebay );

click Me

They recently changed their name from Goldtouch to Key ovation,sooo dunno how that'll work out. :p