Ask HN: Keyboard Recommendations?
Hi all-
I am currently in the market for a new keyboard. I do a fair amount of hacking and am looking for suggestions for comfortable, reasonably priced options.
So, what say you?
I am currently in the market for a new keyboard. I do a fair amount of hacking and am looking for suggestions for comfortable, reasonably priced options.
So, what say you?
There is, for me, one downside. I hate the F-Lock key with a passion. It turns the F keys into stupid M$ buttons when it is toggled on. For me, as a Linux developer, this means that my hotkeys start doing crazy stuff whenever I bump the F-Lock key. I really should get around to popping it off the keyboard.
Other than that, it is a good solid keyboard. I work on this thing for around 10-14 hours a day, and it has been pretty easy on my wrists.
Problems I've faced on it are: 1) Long spacebar with pressing mechanism in the centre. Pushing from the side (where my thumb is) creates a slight resistance in the centre plastic which then causes a louder clack when it gives way. This is noticeable when working in a silent room, and noticeable on my fingers.
2) Too much key travel on all keys - when I went back to typing on my mac after using my 4000 for 6 months, I couldn't believe how much more relaxed my fingers were after not having to press so far down with the keys.
I think the MS Natural 4000 keyboard is designed for people who aren't aware of their fingers but think they're getting ergonomic benefits just from a split keyboard with a faux-leather palm rest. I tried many of these MS 4000 keyboards and they all had the same design that I consider to be a flaw.
I don't see why having to press a key down slightly farther is necessarily a problem. If your forearms and wrists are in a comfortable position, it doesn't much matter how far your fingers have to move. In fact, I tend to think that a bit more movement is actually helpful with circulation.
You're entitled to your opinion of the keyboard, but I think it was just downright rude to say that the keyboard was designed for unaware sheeple like me.
http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/advantage.htm
And given that I spend so much of my life in front of a keyboard, I'd argue that the Kinesis is reasonably priced, for me. But your mileage may vary.
I speak English and German, so while I can transliterate ä, ö, ü, and ß, I don't particularly want to. Instead, I just type AltGr+q, AltGr+p, AltGr+y, and AltGr+s. There are dead keys for other diacritics.
http://www.walyou.com/img/datahand-keyboard.jpg
Actually, I did have a coworker who used this. He typed absurdly fast with it. However, whenever someone else wanted to use his computer, he went on a search for a regular keyboard.
Good things: It's a great design and it's easy to pick up since it's a lot like wrapping the top and bottom qwerty lines up around your fingers - the same fingers for many of the same keys, but no chance of misreaching and mashing two keys. The keys are magnetically held, and you push them out through an optical sensor - so there is a definite feel of breaking the magnetic grip, but you aren't whacking your fingers into a solid stop like a normal keyboard.
Bad things: The one I have is old and emulates a serial mouse, and Microsoft took serial mouse support out of Vista. The mouse emulation is serviceable but not brilliant. It's slightly awkward to extract your hand to reach for a mouse without pressing keys. You can't type one handed and hold a mouse/phone/mug of tea. No numeric keypad.
At work, the need for a mouse and phone made it awkward, at home I don't type enough solid blocks of text on a desktop computer (it's not much good for laptop use either).
I still like it and like the idea, but it's in a box, unused, because it's mildly inconvenient.
You can work around this with a footswitch but it's another point to keep in mind.
Mine suffered a similar fate to yours: in a box, awaiting some future period where I have enough downtime to ride out a month or two of reduced typing speed to train myself.
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices...
My only quest in finding a better kb is to find a relatively good kb that doesn't have the numpad (I dislike extra travel space to the mouse).
I don't think there are any good kb for < $60 that drops the numpad. I had some el cheapos from Fry's that didn't have the numpad, but they aren't as good and the key placements are not the normal settings. The apple kb is no where near as good as the slim type for me, and it doesn't have delete key and it's well over $60. The only ones I know are ones like logitech makes that comes with kb and numpad separated, but they are close to or over $100.
They're about five years old now, and probably due for replacement (they still work fine, but five years worth of heavy use tends to make keyboards kinda gross and key labels fade and such). I looked at the new Apple keyboards when I was at the Apple store with a friend, and for the first time in my life felt a pretty strong desire for an Apple product. They look amazing. I'm not sure I'll actually like it better than the IBM for long term use, though. But I suspect that'll be my next keyboard, at least to give it a try.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&safe=off...
I don't know about those sellers but that is the keyboard that I love.
http://www.daskeyboard.com/daskeyboard_original_professional...
The only downside is the $129 USD price. You'll have to decide if it's "reasonably priced". I got nice discount on a pre-order, but at this point I would gladly pay more. This thing doesn't show any signs of ever dying on me though.
Update: I just checked and it's actually on sale right now for $109 USD.
On the other hand, I detest keyboards that only use a soft rubbery membrane that feels like I'd dip my fingertips into honey (which is basically every keyboard that nowadays is shipped with cheap systems). While it may sound illogical, using those for anything larger than a simple blog-post and my hands begin to hurt. Maybe because the lack of feedback makes me assume a unhealthy hand-posture?
"What is the ultimate keyboard?"
"The answer is out there, d4ft, and it's looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to"
In retrospect, I wish that I would've spent the extra bucks on the longer cable connecting the two pieces together. There're nuts on the underside of the thing that look like they'll accept screws for mounting it to half-assed hardware for attaching it to, e.g., a chair.
They have an external USB version for desktop use: http://lenovoblogs.com/designmatters/?p=2364
It's heavy, sturdy and doesn't move around on the desk when I type.
You'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands if you want it though :)
I have + ~5 keyboards. Using a kinesis contour now.