[RP] Re: [OT] Keyboard preferences

[Justis Peters]

Hi Nikolai,

Here is what I know:

The kinesis is very comfortable and doesn't take too long to learn.  Yes, the 
bowl shape for the hands is very comfortable.  It seems to naturally fit the 
difference in length of your fingers, so that your pinky and index fingers do 
not have to reach as far.  I agree with you that the escape key is in an 
inconvenient location, particularly since I use 'vim' for just about everything 
(including this email).  Perhaps there is an appropriate place on one of the 
thumb keys or a combination that could be mapped using setxkbmap and xmodmap.

The other keyboard with which I have experience is the DataHand.  It's pretty 
amazing and extremely comfortable.  Everything I have read (including many 
independent reviews) says that it is hands down (no pun intended) the best 
keyboard for people who suffer from repetitive stress injuries.  Now for the 
downside:  I bought one and I haven't used it very much.  The main reason for 
this is that it takes weeks of practice to learn to use it efficiently.  They 
say that once you learn it, some people even see a 10% *increase* in typing 
speeds, since so little motion is needed to use it.  I found that, for the few 
letters I had learned, this was quite true.  I ended up not using mine much, 
though, because it arrived right when I had some heavy deadlines at work and 
(seeing that I type java code 10 hours a day) there was no time to learn a new 
keyboard.

Perhaps I will pick it up and learn to use it sometime.  It's *really* 
comfortable on the hands.  My only big complaint is that some of the symbol 
keys are a little tough to figure out, which is what slowed me down on coding.

Alternately, if someone on this list wants to make an offer on my used DataHand 
(it was used when I bought it), I might consider taking it out of the closet 
and shipping it on.

I shopped around for a long time before buying the DataHand.  I think that the 
DataHand stands above them all (as does the price, which is insane).  In the 
class below that (somewhat traditional keyboards, with semi-standard layouts), 
there are a whole bunch of competitors.  I think that the Kinesis wins out at 
the top of that class, with a decent margin.

Best of luck in your decision.

Sincerely,
Justis Peters

Nikolai Weibull address@hidden wrote:
> * John Meacham <address@hidden> [Nov, 21 2003 15:10]:
> > I have mentioned it before, but the fingerworks touchstream
> > (http://fingerworks.com/) works beautifully with ratpoison and some
> > custom gestures.
> looks interesting.  too bad it's so expensive.
> anyway, it says it's zero force - is this nice, or do you get a lot of
> accidental keypresses?  how nice is the gesture functionality really?
> do you ever reach for the mouse?
> is it ergonomical to use it?  i really need a new keyboard and this may
> actually be interesting.  damn, i want to nail it down and now i just
> got another keyboard to consider.  so far, my list is
>       Kinesis Advantage
>               + good use of thumbs
>               + bowls for hands (is this actually good?)
>               + dvorak easily enabled
>               + mapping (is this really that necessary?)
>               + looks kind of cool
>               - expensive
>               - kind of thick
>               - bad escape key placement (?)
>       TypeMatrix EZ-Reach
>               + cheapest of the three
>               + often used keys in middle
>               + small
>               + very thin
>               + flat keys - membrane (is this a plus?)
>               + look cool
>               - no usb support
>               - rather new
>               - smallish escape key
>       TouchStream ST
>               + no force typing (is this a plus?)
>               + good use fo thumbs (it seems)
>               + good escape key (for vim)
>               + foldable (not really a plus, but useful perhaps)
>               + gestures (is this a plus?)
>               - least cool looking of the three
>               - very expensive
>               - the keys look weird (probably just a feeling)
> has anyone given any of these an extensive tryout, preferably someone
> with RSI (sorry for your physical problem, but it would be great to know
> if any of these actually work to alleviate it).  So far it seems that
> Kinesis has the most backing and is the most well known and trusted one.
> This doesn't mean it's the best one though.  I love my Happy Hacking
> Keyboard, but I really need another keyboard soon.
>       nikolai
> 
> --
> ::: name: Nikolai Weibull    :: aliases: pcp / lone-star / aka :::
> ::: born: Chicago, IL USA    :: loc atm: Gothenburg, Sweden    :::
> ::: page: www.pcppopper.org  :: fun atm: gf,lps,ruby,lisp,war3 :::
> main(){printf(&linux["\021%six\012\0"],(linux)["have"]+"fun"-97);}
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> This SF.net email is sponsored by: SF.net Giveback Program.
> Does SourceForge.net help you be more productive?  Does it
> help you create better code?  SHARE THE LOVE, and help us help
> YOU!  Click Here: http://sourceforge.net/donate/
> _______________________________________________
> Ratpoison-devel mailing list
> address@hidden
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ratpoison-devel