Ask HN: Keyboard for Coding? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Keyboard for Coding?

8 pointssdan17 comments

I used my macbook 2016 keyboard for the past 2 years and had a love/hate relation with the small key travel/etc. . Do you guys/gals recommend any external keyboard that you use?

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Any good gaming keyboard with mechanical switches (preferably cherry MX) will do. My personal favorite is a Corsair K65

The oldest Microsoft Natural keyboard model I can purchase new at the time, currently a 4000 model [1], along with the basic Microsoft Optical Mouse [2].

They're both fairly cheap.

1. https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/products/keyboar...

2. https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/mice

There have been lots of good suggestions so far, but one thing you’ll want to consider before getting a split keyboard is whether you type “correctly”, because if you hit the Y key with your left hand, for instance, you’ll have to retrain yourself to use your right hand instead.

As for key switches, you’ll certainly want to try out any mechanical options in person before you buy to see if you like the feel and if you can handle the noise factor—my local Micro Center has a tester keyboard with a bunch of different kinds of Cherry MX switches to see which you like best.

Any keyboard that is two pieces and can easily tent/tilt upwards (like the Ergodox-EZ). You may get genetically lucky, but most of us run into tendon problems eventually. Keyboards that don't contort the angle of our wrists and rotation of our forearm can make life a lot more bearable. I use a Kinesis Freestyle for now, but will change to an Ergodox Infinity once I get around to building it. The 30 degree angle of the keyboard along with being able to spread the halves apart by 6 inches is what lets me type without pain. If I go on a trip with just a laptop, I can feel discomfort come back within a week.

I also use a vertical mouse, the Evoluent. There are cheaper alternatives that are just as good.

I recommend Truly Ergonomic keyboard [1] for coding.

I am using the old model, so I cannot talk about the new CLEAVE model. The old one is compact, has mechanical switches, the function key can be changed; like swap Ctrl with Alt key.

I used to have pain in my wrists. With Truly Ergonomic thankfully it disappeared. Before that, I spent a year and money using different keyboards. So, it can be used to prevent wrist pains.

[1] https://www.trulyergonomic.com/

I'm glad to see they're still in business. They've been sold out of the old model for so long I was getting worried.

I'd recommend taking a look at http://www.reddit.com/r/mechanicalkeyboards

I have a Code Keyboard and a Pok3r keyboard. They are both very good but I prefer the feeling of the Pok3r. Keep in mind that's a 60% keyboard so you need to be good at coding without depending on the arrow keys too much.

I pretty much always recommend the Kinesis Advantage in keyboard threads...

https://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage2/

I find most of the Logitech desktop keyboards with numeric pad and cursor keys far more comfortable than the Apple Bluetooth keyboard.

EZ Ergodox. It's a similar price to the Kinesis advantage with a similar layout, but more customization.

Filco Majestouch 2. Nothing fancy and built like a tank. Just don't go to Geekhack. You are warned.

Check out WASD keyboards. Have had one for a year after trying many and it’s perfect.

Filco Majestouch 2 (Ninja Edition) here! I think it'll probably outlive me...

ThinkPad Compact USB Keyboard with TrackPoint - US English

I love my leopold fc660c

Kinesis Advantage only.

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