I'm a new mechanical keyboard convert. I favored the soft mushy buttons of my default wired Apple aluminium keyboard for almost a decade now. I was content with it's flatness and the easy to press keys. But things have changed….
Sadly, I gained some RSI which stayed with me for the last 5 years. Since the reasons and bad habits leading to this injury might vary, I started looking into creating a more ergonomic work environment for myself.
The first thing I tried out was finding a replacement for my mouse. I started using Apple's touchpad (which is great by the way) as my main input device. After some time the pain started shifting and at some point grew even stronger. I switched to a Trackball, which didn't work out too well since the pain only wandered to another location; I used the Logitech one which is heavy on the thumb. Now, I arrived at a state of bliss with the Evoluent Vertical Mouse; I'm a happy camper with this one. Though, I might try the Kinesis trackball – not as a replacement, but more as an addition.
On my ergonomic journey I invested in some other gadgets like a
Haider Bioswing chair which has some unique features that absolutely convinced me. It balances out each and every move of your body (even your breath) and by doing that keep your body healhty without hindering bloodflow, etc. I tried many chairs, but this one is magic and the best purchase I've made.
Although my keyboard being pretty flat, the Handy Max wrist rest was also a welcoming addition to my setup.
Closely after the chair, IKEA released their
affordable sit-and-stand desk. It's not the most stable thing in the world, but well worth it's price. Espcially combined with my next purchase – an
Ergotron desk mount – there's a bit of wibble-wobble going on, when I put pressure on the desk. The Ergotron was also a blessing. I wouldn' hesitate to crown it purchase of the year. I'd never have imagined that it makes such a difference to being able to easy adjust the position and angle of your display. Our body like changes and this is literally a game-changer.
With this being a keyboard forum you might have already guessed what the last stop of my journey is. Right. It's a more ergonomic keyboard.
I have my own typing system using 8 to 10 fingers. It's probably the main cause of my RSI, although I'm not entirely sure about it. On average, I type at a speed of 56 WPM. Most times I prefer thinking about the words I put down, rather than getting my thoughts out as quickly as possible. When I need to get things done fast, I can reach 72 WPM, but not more. Doing this is a real effort for me and it's kind of exhausting. So, I'm a chill 56 WPM typist – currently this is a relaxing tempo for me.
I recently started to teach myself touch typing. I'm nowhere as fast as I was, but to my surprise my own system isn't that different at all. So, I'm positive that I end up with a good speed and having a healther wrist-hand-relationship soon.
When my RSI started I already did some research and settled on the Kinesis Advantage. At that time I couldn't afford the $400 keyboard and all the other options like the
Kinsesis Freestyle, the
Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic, the [ur=http://matias.ca/ergopro/pc/l]Matias Ergo Pro[/url], the
Teck, etc. didn't really appeal to me.
Only recently I wanted to commit myself to a new ergonomic keyboard. The main goal was to get rid of the NumBlock… which I used to love for assigning all kinds of shortcuts to, but it also makes reaching for the mouse a major pain. It's ought to be an ergonomic nightmare… and I believe this theory is correct.
So, I was about to order the Advantage. Due to a happy coincidence I tried to order it from a reseller shop. This didn't work out since I only wanted one unit and not 100. The next morning I discovered a sneak preview of the
Kinesis Advantage 2 on YouTube with better function keys… my plans to purchase came to a sudden halt as I read that the V2 is going to be released in late Q1 2016.
By that time I was already neck-deep in my research about the different kind of switches, key cap profiles, material, printing, shapes and all the good stuff. Needless to say that after spending a week reading on Reddit, DT and GH, I was absolutely hooked on the idea of finally making the switch to a mechanical keyboard as soon as possible.
I remembered a friend of mine talking about the 40%
Planck and it's ergonomic features. I wasn't fully convinced since the shoulders are a tap more cramped together than with a split keyboard. On the other hand I just learned about the
ErgoDox which also turned out to be a great health-supporting keyboard (though some say that you need to have large hands to benefit from it).
In short, the Planck and the Ergodox were my favorite alternatives to the Advantage.
I decided to buy the
ErgoDox EZ for it's fast shipping and build quality. At least I was thinking that it will ship as soon as I put down my order. It was my first time with Indiegogo (and the campaign already ended). I knew how Kickstarter worked, but somehow imagined that Indiegogo was a tad different after one of the EZ team members told me on Twitter that it's more of a shop in that you can always order one. The truth is it will probably ship around the end of May. So I went on the hunt again.
The 60% Pok3r seemed like an interesting choice. I wasn't in my ergo-centered line-up, but at this point I was just to curious. I ordered one from
Corus since they seemed to have a fresh stock in their European warehouse. After waiting for two weeks I canceled the order.
Instead of the Pok3r I managed to snag a Planck from another German. It arrived a couple days ago, but I haven't had the time to set it up and play with it. I tested it by writing few paragraphs; I'm already positively surprised by the ortholinear layout and the feel of the Cherry MX clears is great – I ordered Gateron browns for the ErgoDox, so I should be good.
The main switch to it should happen at the end of this week. So there's enough time to get used to it until the ErgoDox arrives. In the meantime I'm being patient, waiting for new SA sets (like everyone else it seems).
PS: I also can't wait for the verification to post on GeekHack vanishes. Captcha's are hell on earth.
