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Comment by pmiller2 | Hacker News Reader

I know it’s been mentioned already, but my favorite is the MS Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard. I picked it up when I was starting to have RSI issues in my wrist and forearm. Together with some wrist braces, I was able to eliminate all pain in a few weeks.

When I was looking, my criteria were: comfort, usability (bonus points for a standard layout), and PC/Mac interoperability. The Ergo Sculpt met all of those well, although some individual units seem to not work properly with the Mac.

The best thing is, it only cost $65! Not bad for a tool that’s probably the reason I’m still in the industry 2 years later.

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I had a Sculpt keyboard for a month, picking it up for the same reason, but discovered that while it does improve things a bit, the keyboard is still too narrow for me and the keys are still sort of staggered and nondescript.

I eventually settled on a Kinesis Advantage 2 [1] with linear switches and is very happy about that.

[1] - https://kinesis-ergo.com/keyboards/advantage2-keyboard/

I really wanted to love the Sculpt Ergonomic, but even after weeks of using it I found it hard to distinguish all the keys in the "right pinky" area without looking (Return and neighbors). The uniform spacing between keys looks fantastic, but my right hand could never figure out where it was. The F keys suffer from the same problem (no grouping), and are extremely mushy. I'd love to see a redesigned version.

The included mouse feels great, though - at least on Linux, where I could remap the Start button to something useful.

I tried the Kinesis Advantage. There’s a lot to like there, and I really wanted to like it, but the layout got to me. Specifically, keys used in programming like curly braces, etc. didn’t fit my preexisting muscle memory from being a longtime touch typist. I really wanted something I could plug in and just go with, without relearning how to type.

Give it a week or two, I faced the same uphill battle as you but eventually, the layout of the Advantage will payoff.

For me with the Advantage, it was a week before I was mostly back to productive and one month before it completely faded into the background. Love it though. No more pain.

> bonus points for a standard layout...The Ergo Sculpt met all of those well

My main problem with it is that it isn't a standard layout. For that reason, I went with the Surface Ergonomic instead, which, while still not standard, is more standard than the Sculpt.

What do you find nonstandard about it? I was able to start writing code on mine right away, and I’m a touch typist.

The nav keys, right control key, and function keys are all in the wrong place, and IIRC, all the keys are a bit too small, so I was hitting two at a time sometimes. I also prefer a right hand super key so I can lock my workstation with one hand.

I guess I never really noticed about the nav keys and function keys because I don't use them much. I would like to have slightly bigger keys, but it's not enough of a downside to me to use a different keyboard. (Side note: why don't keyboards come in different sizes by default? Hands come in different sizes, so should keyboards.)

I like a lot about the Surface Ergo, but the lack of any kind of a front riser option was a dealbreaker for me.

I have a Sculpt because it's a lot easier to take with me for long travel than the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, but it's a lot less comfortable in my opinion for $30 more.

I had two of the Sculpt keyboards die within about 6 months. Maybe I got a bad batch, but I'm not buying that one again.

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