Hello all,
I have been lurking the forum for the past month or so and I thought to introduce myself.
I am currently a PhD student in AI/robotics, which means that I do a huge amount of typing, both for coding and LaTeX.
At the same time, I have serious issues with RSI, that has resulted in carpal tunnel syndrome for both my hands. Which means that ergonomics matter a lot to me.
While by no means a keyboard expert, I do know what I like/dislike:
- I absolutely hate and cannot stand flexing. This is the main reason the only laptops I buy and use are Macbooks and Thinkpads.
- Despite being a heavy vim user and using vim key bindings wherever I can (e.g. bash, mutt, tmux), if a keyboard has arrow keys, my hand is using them. When I am using keyboards with no arrow keys, I have no trouble adjusting though.
- I always exchange Ctrl and Caps. I also always put escape left to the "1" key.
- I prefer small keyboards for the smaller distance of my right hand from the mouse/trackball
- And not a big deal probably, but I do get annoyed by shiny keycaps!
So, the above summarize my keyboard-related profile. With all this in mind, and also other factors such as price and availability, I settled for a KBT Poker 2 (MX Blue, no backlight, PBT caps). I got it with a UK ISO layout, mostly because I am used to it but also the lack of availability of an ANSI layout for the Poker 2 in european shops.
I am not into customizations, but I do intend to replace some keycaps. I know that the ISO layout will limit my options but on the other hand, I dont want anything crazy. In any case, I will start a thread about any questions on the appropriate section of the forums.
See you around!
