Good ergo keyboards?

[demik]

never tried one. and cherry mx5000 looks awesome, but the price and rarity are too much for me.

any other suggestions?

[Djuzuh]

why don't you simply take the kinesis advantage?

I'm on the fence on the MX5K. I've got a decent offer, and don't know if I should bite. It's still a lot of money.

Can't wait for ergodox btw.

[demik]

too big

[pyro]

Wait for the ergodox, straight columns and thumb keys are definitely worth it.
Or get a Truly Ergonomic.

[jwaz]

+1 for Ergo Dox. it iss going to be amazing!

[kurplop]

I'm fascinated by the Ergo Dox keyboard. It seems like an almost perfect keyboard. The cost doesn't bother me. My concern is with reliability, not that it won't be a good product. It has more to do with my being a novice with computers and how the electronics work. Kinda like driving a foreign car in Iowa in the 60's. You better know what you're doing cause theres no one there that knows how to help if things go bad.

[tsangan]

The MX5000 I have to say is quite amazing but i still want to try the uTron, I say we go buy one demik!

Of course I want to try the ergo dox too

[Icarium]

the kinesis is not that big. it's about the size of a normal keyboard with numberblock.

[jwaz]

Woah, I might have to get my buddy in Japan to hook me up with a uTron. Any reviews on them other than Webwits?

The music is so good.

[demik]

Wait for the ergodox, straight columns and thumb keys are definitely worth it.
Or get a Truly Ergonomic.

been waiting for the ergodox!!!!

and yeah i want a utron also. but so expensive >.<

[litster]

I sometimes use a kinesis at work.  It is good if you need to type a lot of text like writing a document.  But if you need to use modifiers like ctrl, alt and other key combos, it is not as fast as a regular layout keyboard for me.  Kinesis' keys are fully remappable, so you can change the layout fairly easily.  But the function keys are rubber keys.  Beware.

M15 and MX 5000 are much closer to the normal layout and therefore easier for me to type on them.  The uTron's layout would also be hard to get used to, for me anyway.  And the V arrangement in their pictures and video seem goofy as it just makes you bend your wrists even more than non ergo keyboards.

[Icarium]

I've tried webwit's uTron at the keyboard party and have to say, it cured me of wanting one. But I only tried it so maybe with a little practice I would feel different.
The problem I had was that the keycaps are much smaller than usual and could really not type on it at all. Considering the astronomical price that was enough for me to not care anymore.

litster: They arrange them as a V because now if you use the right fingers you actually end up with a decent column layout. Check the video again!

[hoggy]

The Kinesis is smaller than a full keyboard. 

My advice - get the kinesis and the mx5000. That way you'll be able to swap between boards and get more benefit than from just one setup.

The mx5000's are hard to get, you could start with that (and sell it if you can't get used to it).

[Lanx]

kinesis, that's really all i would stake any reputation behind, yes yes kinesis is missing many things us kinesis users deem more useful and it's a 20year old design that hasn't evolved and should, but really that's about it.

ergodox looks great, if it came with the option to give it tenting (ala kinesis freestyle) i'd fully stand behind it. (in retrospect a really cheap solution to get cheap tenting is to buy 2 , 1 inch binders place them spine side to side, and place the ergo dox on that, and you'd see the different tenting would give vs. flat)

i cannot stand by the TE, b/c TE just seems too shady, while it truly is not a kinesis owner vs. TE debate, TE is just too shady for me to stand behind a recommendation.

so really kinesis, maltron is too expensive to buy, unless you do like a more customized keyboard.

[pyro]

What do you mean by shady?

[alaricljs]

Well, they introduced a new version of their board and still have yet (to my knowledge) to produce the remapping software they claimed would be available.

[OrangeJewce]

Honestly if you can get by without a mechanical until the ErgoDox comes out I'd suggest going cheap and getting a Microsoft Natural Ergo 4000. Yeah it's membrane and stuff, but you're not going to be using it for that long...and it really is the best rubber dome ergonomic keyboard out there.

As for the reliability, it looks like the hardware will be very, very solid. The teensy is probably the best hobbyist micro-controller out there, the case and plate will be made out of aluminum, and then the switches/caps will be whatever you want. The keys will be fully mappable (as of this writing no macros though. Sorry!), and a UI for you windows guys will be provided on-shipping.

Cheers,

[hoggy]

Well, they introduced a new version of their board and still have yet (to my knowledge) to produce the remapping software they claimed would be available.

Of course, the moment they do bring it out, _they_ won't announce it, some one post wonder will...

[sordna]

a Microsoft Natural Ergo 4000. Yeah it's membrane and stuff, but you're not going to be using it for that long...and it really is the best rubber dome ergonomic keyboard out there.

I've found the Microsoft keyboard keys to bind too much... it's not even really ergo...
The Goldtouch and the Kinesis Freestyle are much better membrane ergo keyboards than the MS4000 in all respects. They are more expensive though.