Product Review: Kinesis Advantage ergonomic keyboard
jseliger.com
jseliger.com
The main disadvantage is that it's incredibly expensive (note that you can find it for as low as $260 if you search the web). I spilled water on my first one and had to buy a second one because I just can't get used to normal keyboards.
It also has some minor bugs:
1. If you hold down = and press certain keys (as programmers often might), you get put into different input modes which may confuse you.
2. Shift and Ctrl get stuck sometimes (not the keys, but the input).
3. The Esc key is tiny and inconvenient, especially since I'm a Vim user. The function keys are also tiny, which is terrible if you use them for gaming. Some games where you have to reach to the right side of the keyboard with your left hand are impractical to play.
If another company makes a keyboard with the same shape, but at a cheaper price, I'd buy it in an instant.
Firstly, it's a pretty fantastic keyboard in general. Second, it's even better if you're a pretty heavy emacs user. Third, the keyboard remapping means that Caps Lock = Control, no matter what program or what OS you're using.
The thumb-locations of page up/down and home/end are brilliant. The keyswitches are satisfying, and overall, the keyboard is far more comfortable than your normal $70 off-the-shelf ergo.
Highly recommended. A hacker's hands are pretty important, and it's not something you want to mess around with. Also, the keyboard is very comfortable and really helps my typing rate -- I'm faster on this thing than on any other keyboard I've ever used -- and the programmability means I don't have to fiddle with keymapping hacks on Windows, Mac OS, or X11.
A colleague of mine uses the Kinesis because of stress and it worked for him. He is a really fast typist. I would guess something in excess of 80 words per minute. He types with it resting in his lap and his arms resting on the chair arms.