geekhack Community > Ergonomics
Considering Cherry MX browns? Try a Kinesis contoured.
xsphat:
I am not convinced about it yet, in fact I would prefer to get one off eBay so I can try it and if I like it, I could pick up a new one for home and leave the old one at work. I mean, they cost $300 new and I could end up hating it. Who knows.
Whiskey in the Jar-o:
The 2 key wells are fixed and cannot be adjusted in any way. The keyboard requires to rest one's hands while typing. A big ergonomic no-no. Despite the large wrist rest on MS keyboards, resting your hands is optional. While the thumbs are the strongest fingers, and they seem underused on normal keyboards, they also happen to be the least agile fingers. I've seen reviews where people say that their thumbs end up hurting from overuse on the Kinesis. I've also seen reports of questionable reliability. Too much of a risk, IMO.
xsphat:
Agreed, that's why I want to buy a used one. I've seen them for $60 on eBay, and a full set of browns to f*ck with is worth that much to me.
MarinaM:
I've been using a Kinesis Classic QD (contoured) for about 7 years now. It took me about three months to get back up to my normal typing speed. I thought it might make it hard for me to use other keyboards, but once I've learned a keyboard well, apparently my fingers never forget, so I haven't lost any versatility using it. That would probably be true for any touch typist.
It helped with the problems I was having tremendously, which mainly had to do with my little fingers being overworked.
I need to replace it now, since I have worn some of the function keys out, and I am definitely thinking of buying the same keyboard again. I am also considering the Maltron keyboard instead, which predates the Kinesis keyboard by many years and which sounds good. Though it is hugely expensive and Kinesis is having a holiday sale this year (2008) of 10% off.
Chloe:
You might be able to repair the function key membranes by painting the contacts with a thin layer of conductive silver paint.
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