Slashdot Mirror
More Ergonomic Keyboards
tve writes "Back when moderators were real moderators, karma whores were real karma whores and small, furry creatures living in the mould deep down in your keyboard were real small, furry creatures living in the mould deep down in your keyboard, Slashdot ran a story about ergonomic keyboards. Popular keyboards back then appeared to be the MS Natural keyboard, the famous prehistoric IBM keyboards and for the lucky few who had their company buy it for them, the Maltron keyboard. However, times have changed, keyboards have decayed and new purchases need to be made. So I submit to the Slashdot community: what is the current holy grail of ergonomic typing pleasure, where can I get it and is it affordable for a student on a budget?" Actually we've done a couple of stories on ergonomic keyboards, but since this is asked so frequently I suppose it won't hurt to do another.
There's no one singular answer for this, you really need to try these things out for yourself until you find something that works. For me, the Kinesis-Ergo has been amazing. Not only can I type like a demon and avoid wrist pain, but the thumb-located Ctrl and Alt keys make (X)Emacs that much easier to work with, not to mention easier on my pinkies :-)
Chris
M-x auto-bs-mode
I have the Kinesis Classic ergo 'board (actually two, one for work and one for home), and it has made a huge difference for me. I can type without having to fear that my wrists are going to start burning.
That said, a keyboard is like a monitor; be sure to try one out in person before you drop $250 on one.
Peace,
(jfb)
To spur "enterprise Linux," Big Bang, the distributed two-phase commit.
Goldtouch has not only several versions of Ergonomic keyboards but also an Ergonomic Mouse and mouse pad.
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
I emphasize the word "real". Cheap, useless knockoffs are the curse of ergonomic products. Not that hard to make something that looks ergonomic. Raise your hand if you've ever tried to use one of those $50 "back chairs" that are guaranteed to destroy your leg muscles. These are imitations of some Swedish item that might actually be pretty good, but nobody sells.
Anyway, here's a plug: I'm profoundly satisfied with the Goldtouch keyboard. What caught my eye was its small footprint. (The theory is that this reduces mouse-related RSI.) To make this work, they put a lot of thought into rearranging the keys. I'm impressed with the result, even though it took me a while to get used to the layout. The design makes it much harder to hit the wrong cursor key, something I used to do a lot.
Other good features I won't go into. But not cheap: $160.
Use a Model M and type like you've got a pair and all of your carpal tunnel troubles will be over.
If it ain't a Model M, it's a piece of crap.
--Mike--
I realise my 17" monitor is kinda dinky by today's standards, but why do the keyboard makers' web sites use such small pictures of the keyboards? That old saying about a picture being worth a thousand words wasn't intended to suggest substituting one thousand words for a "big enough to get a decent look at it" picture.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
I have had mild carpal tunnel for a few years now. I discovered after much trial and error that which keyboard I used made much less difference than what mouse I used. Some of the "ergonomic" keyboards (particularly one of the MS ones) actually made the problem worse and put my hands in wierd and uncomfortable positions. So I use a generic, straight keyboard, but got particular about the mouse. Mice are very try-before-you-buy though, everyone finds something different comfortable. Since I have small hands the Logitech Wheel Mouse (IR) works perfect for me, but it's too small for some people.
What made the biggest difference for me, actually, was learning to mouse with my left hand (suggested by the ergo guy at my last job). That way the mouse is closer to center when you are seated at the keyboard, since it's right next to the keys rather than off past the numberpad. Thus, your arm isn't reaching out so far to mouse. Also, the stresses are better balanced between the left (mousing) and right (writing) hands.
Not exactly an answer to your question, just something to consider.
"This message is composed of 100% recycled electrons."
The typeing injury faq has gobs of information about keyboards. It can be found here
Personnally I use a Twiddler. Some folks don't care for them but I love mine. There is a bit of learning curve and the mouse buttons can be a bit squirlly. It has 16 keys, 4 modifyers, and a track point. You type by makeing cords. The track point moves the mouse and puts the 16 keys into mouse button mode(little squirlly).
They're cheap, too. Look around flea markets for old models. My first was $5 US, the other three $2.50 each. Or if you must have new ones, check Unicomp, and look at the Customizer.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
The best keyboard I have EVER used was on an IBM PS/2 Model P70. (That was a portable PS/2 with an orange-colored gas plasma display. The box had a 386 running at 20 MHz and weighed about 20 pounds!)
The keyboard had an extremely light feel to it, with tactile feedback; it took almost no effort to type and it NEVER, EVER missed a key I typed on it. I could absolutely fly on that keyboard and at the end of the day I had no fatigue at all!
I've been looking over the past several years for a keyboard like it and have had absolutely NO luck. If any /.'ers out there remember this wondeful keyboard, and can suggest a comparable one, I'd be forever grateful!
The nicest keyboards I know of in that line are from Lexmark. Some laptops (e.g. Dell) have keyboards with a very nice feel, and some companies repackage laptop keyboards separately. However, Dell laptop keyboards (which seem have rubber-dome switches) are very, very unreliable.