A french/american blog with some hungarian spices…
Status after one month with the kinesis advantage keyboard
For the last 3 years, I was using a “happy hacking” keyboard. This keyboard is really small and looks
like a laptop keyboard. I really liked it and was able type really fast with it. Unfortunately, after spending too
much time behind a keyboard I started to feel wrist pain. This keyboard is comfortable, but on the long run I realized that I was typing with my left hand turned to the outside.
I finally decided to try the kinesis advantage keyboard. I’m now using it for a month and here is my first feelings about it.
- I’m using the qwerty mapping
- I found it really hard to use at the beginning. I switched to it in one week, and as recommended in the guide, I didn’t use any other keyboard the first week. The hardest is the frustration of not being able to type as fast as before…
- I started to do the exercises given with the keyboard but quickly stopped the second day… I used http://www.goodtyping.com/which was really really useful
- The default mapping was not optimal for me, I had to remap some of the keys.
- The arrows are at a very bad location… but I’m started to get used to it.
- The {, }, [ and ] are really are to type… which can be a problem when coding.
- I’m still slower than with my previous keyboard
- I really found this keyboard comfortable, and it’s true that it’s hard to get back to a classic keyboard once you are used to this one.
- Since I’m using it, I don’t have pain anymore
Next status in one month… hopefully I will get back to my full typing speed
Some links:
You’ll get use to the {} and []. You basically have problems with them because you need to use your last two fingers (and most people are not used to do that, unless you play the piano
). Don’t move your hand, just close your hand as a “punch position”.
For the arrow, you’ll get use to it too, but yes, at first it’s really really weird.
On my keyboard, I remap’d the insert key to the same key but as a normal key not a numlock key.
One very important thing is to force yourself to alternate hands for combo keys. For example to type “A” you should use your right pinky finger to press the Shift and the left one to press the “A”. Don’t use the left hand to press both the shift and A key. That’s bad habit
(and yes it means that sometimes you sart using one hand to press the shift key and switch to the other hand to continue pressing it if you have multiple keys to press while having the shift key on – or you could use a foot key for that :p . Same apply while using shift keys and arrows for selections)
Under (X)Emacs, it’s amazing how simple it is to press C-x C-s and stuff like that (right thumb for the Ctrl, left hand for the x/s).
And btw, did you also have difficulties with the backspace and space key at first? I remember it was really frustrating to keep deleting what I just (painfully) wrote instead of pressing the space key
But otherwise, this keyboard was a blast ; after only 2 weeks I was faster than before (then I switched to dvorak)! :p
Enjoy