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I know -- from a rabid Macintosh enthusiast, that's a strange admission. But you see, I needed to replace my keyboard. I had been using an Adesso ergonomic keyboard, the type with the split keyboard and a big 'hump' in the middle to put the hands in a better position. I went to ergonomic keyboards years ago because typing on normal keyboards (when that's what I do most of the day) was beginning to hurt my hands. Apple's keyboards are OK (but just that), but they don't make an ergonomic model.
I bought the Adesso maybe three or four years ago. It had served well and faithfully, but my fingers had worn away the lettering on many of the keys (not a big problem, since my fingers know where the keys are -- as long as I don't think about it, I can type just fine without the keys being labeled). But a few of the keys were starting to act a bit temperamental, so I started looking online for a new keyboard of the same type.
Yes, I would have bought another Adesso -- but Adesso has stopped making a Mac version of their keyboard. Ergonomic keyboards tend to be rarer beasts anyway, and searching on Apple's site and a few other places for Mac versions of them wasn't turning up useful stuff at all, and what was available was rather expensive. I was beginning to think that I was going to have to just deal with the Adesso for as long as I could.
Then I came across a review of the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic keyboard, which noted that it was "Mac-compatible." So I went to Staples today and played with their demo for a bit... and ended up taking one home.
I like it -- I like the touch, which is the most important thing to me about a keyboard. The keys have good positive feedback, and the pressure required to activate the key is just about right for me. I took off and discarded the attached plate on the bottom that gives a reverse tilt to the keyboard -- that would be fine for keeping the wrists level if I used a keyboard drawer, but the keyboard sits on top of my desk so that reverse tilt actually causes more wrist flexing.
It comes with Mac-centric software which re-maps the keys to the standard Mac keyboard. The ALT key becomes the "Apple" key, the START and WINDOWS keys become OPTION. The fact that they're still labeled as if this were a Windows machine isn't a problem -- again, my fingers know where the keys are supposed to be. The F1 through F12 keys are handled by the Mac OS and act as expected (though again the Windows-centric labels atop them are useless). And most of the 'special' keys Microsoft added to the layout do what they're labeled to do, only within the Mac system.
And it's cheap -- with the $20 rebate, less than $50... Heck, I should buy two or three just to keep for when this one wears out.
Damn. I'm using something by Microsoft and liking it. I feel like such a traitor! :-)
I bought the Adesso maybe three or four years ago. It had served well and faithfully, but my fingers had worn away the lettering on many of the keys (not a big problem, since my fingers know where the keys are -- as long as I don't think about it, I can type just fine without the keys being labeled). But a few of the keys were starting to act a bit temperamental, so I started looking online for a new keyboard of the same type.
Yes, I would have bought another Adesso -- but Adesso has stopped making a Mac version of their keyboard. Ergonomic keyboards tend to be rarer beasts anyway, and searching on Apple's site and a few other places for Mac versions of them wasn't turning up useful stuff at all, and what was available was rather expensive. I was beginning to think that I was going to have to just deal with the Adesso for as long as I could.
Then I came across a review of the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic keyboard, which noted that it was "Mac-compatible." So I went to Staples today and played with their demo for a bit... and ended up taking one home.
I like it -- I like the touch, which is the most important thing to me about a keyboard. The keys have good positive feedback, and the pressure required to activate the key is just about right for me. I took off and discarded the attached plate on the bottom that gives a reverse tilt to the keyboard -- that would be fine for keeping the wrists level if I used a keyboard drawer, but the keyboard sits on top of my desk so that reverse tilt actually causes more wrist flexing.
It comes with Mac-centric software which re-maps the keys to the standard Mac keyboard. The ALT key becomes the "Apple" key, the START and WINDOWS keys become OPTION. The fact that they're still labeled as if this were a Windows machine isn't a problem -- again, my fingers know where the keys are supposed to be. The F1 through F12 keys are handled by the Mac OS and act as expected (though again the Windows-centric labels atop them are useless). And most of the 'special' keys Microsoft added to the layout do what they're labeled to do, only within the Mac system.
And it's cheap -- with the $20 rebate, less than $50... Heck, I should buy two or three just to keep for when this one wears out.
Damn. I'm using something by Microsoft and liking it. I feel like such a traitor! :-)
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Congrats on finding something compatible that works!
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Still, the more I'm using this keyboard, the more I'm liking the feel of it.
I used to love the touch of my Selectric -- does the model M have that "clicky" precise feel?
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Ergonomic keyboards work if you know how to do some variation of touch typing -- I've never been taught touch-typing and probably don't use the right fingers for the right keys, but I type with all my fingers and don't cross over from one side of the keyboard to the other. If someone's a hunt-and-peck typist, I think they'd have trouble with the 'broken-in-half' keyboard.
I also switched from using a mouse to using a trackball -- lots less hand movement. I also use it left-handed, because for some reason it feels much better on the left side.
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I also use a left hand mouse, because (now that I think about it), years ago my right hand got sore from typing and strumming guitar. So I switched mouse hands since I certainly wasn't becoming a left-handed guitar player :-)
I think that switching to an ergonomic keyboard would be a good thing. I also suspect that I'll do it slowly, to avoid affecting my productivity. I'll get one during the next couple of months and slowly get used to it (i.e. switch back and forth from my, fairly worn out, standard keyboard) until I am comfortably typing like my normal speedy self.
Thanks for making me think about it . .
Andrea
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"I'm using something by Microsoft and liking it."
<g> Yeah, I know what you mean. But you can console yourself with the fact that it's just hardware and therefore probably isn't really Microsoft—I'll bet somebody else manufactures it and then the Evil Octopus just slap their name on it.
Actually, and truth to tell, yeah, the ergo keyboard I use at work is an older one-of-those and it ain't half bad. [I know it's older not just because of discoloration but also because it needs an adapter to plug into the USB port of the new (aaak, foo) Dell machine they make me use]. Over on the other side of the floor, the graphics guys get to use real computers and the folks doing the complex layout pubs in Quark get to use real computers. Do we get to use real computers? Do we get to use computers with a sane and stable operating system and good software? Nooooooooo. We are forced to use Word and IE and others of their ilk running on stinky Dell computers under icky Windows XP (except when we're setting stuff with the DataLogics software which we're slowly migrating away from—for that we open a terminal emulation into another set of real computers: VAXs).
Um. Oops. Sorry. </rant>
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Well, the bottom plate says it's 'designed' in Redmond, but made in China. Heck, everything's made in China these days.
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I love my Adesso keyboard. When it dies, or when I upgrade my desktop and can't use ADB any more, I will be heartbroken. It has the touchpointy thing in the middle. Have I mentioned that I love that keyboard? The bastards stopped making it.
The MS ergo keyboards are very nice. I joke about how much I dislike MS, but I try to keep aware of what's a joke and what's real.
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Ditto. That's one reason for the post -- just to acknowledge that yes, sometimes Microsoft does things right. And I'll also acknowledge that sometimes Apple does things wrong (anyone remember the awful 'hockey puck' mouse? Or the horrible pricing mentioned above.
Wow. ADB... :-)
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See: licensing, "embrace, extend, extinguish," Kerberos, security, etc.
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Glad you found a keyboard you like. I've gone to mini-keyboards so I don't have to reach over a function-key or number-key pad to get to the mouse. The one I'm currently using has a nice feel (and is quieter than my last one, a relief to my office mate). It's a BTC USB keyboard (http://www.btc.com.tw/english/2-7-07keyboard.htm#6100) that works with the Mac or a PC.
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Yes, you're right -- the elbow angle is also important. And part of the reason that I have the trackball on the left is because I use full keyboards, which means that if the trackball/mouse is on the right, I have to reach way to get to it.
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Ah, ADB. That brings back memories! :-)