Hi guys...
My first post here... I know this is the wrong sub-forum for this question, but this is the one of the best threads to ask this given who is posting in it; being that it's about what keyboards you guys are actually "using now".
I noticed that the big majority of you are all using the normal rectangular layout of keys be it 60%, TKL or the full set with what look like normal switch travel and keycap profile. Now I am puzzled as to how you guys get by since I find that I can't type on a normal rectangular key layout unless I:
a. Type on a setup where the keyboard is hip-height or close to it; like one would find on a table with an under-desk pull-out tray. (Which I don't have at the moment)
b. Allow the keyboard to be on the desktop, but then I will have to take quite some care in terms of how I position myself in relation to the keyboard. If I just move the keyboard so much as a few little degrees from the ideal orientation or shift the keyboard just one or two centimeters to the right or left, then I'm going to feel the aches and discomfort about 30 to 40 minutes into the typing session. (This is my current situation.)
Now I'm not even a big or wide guy, so I don't have to scrunch my arms or shoulders to get my fingers on the home row. I'm not old or suffering from past injuries or such either. Still, I get typing discomfort very easily if I don't follow the directions above.
And the big problem is that I need to move my keyboard around my desk a lot because I read on it, do drawings on it and all kinds of things on it that require the keyboard to be shifted everywhere and when I do type on it, I can't move my papers or works aside that easily because they are usually oriented in a particular way around me to maximise productivity.
So for the vast majority of you guys who are using the standard non-split/angled keyboard layout, how do you get by? Does a wrist-rest solve all your issues for you? Do you not move your keyboard about much and thus restrict it to a very specific position on the desk where you don't feel like ergonomics are an issue? If yes to those, then your bodies are like mine me and then I guess I would be doing what you guys are doing and drooling over more rectangular KBs!
But if you are also like me in that you have to move your KB about your desk a lot and often have to type on it at not the ideal location, how do you get by?
Just curious... Not trying to derail this thread or anything, but if just one or two of the more experienced members could tell me how it is that ergonomic keyboards aren't dominating this thread and what most most posters here are doing with their typing setups that allows them to use the normal keyboard layout -that would be extremely helpful...
Me personally, I will have to either get a low-profile keyboard with minimal switch travel (somehow it makes ergonomics much less of an issue for me) or get a split keyboard or something like that.
