Sunday, August 2, 2009

Kinesis contour

This is one of the first ergonomic keyboards I purchased and has many strong points. The curved keywells take some getting used to but I do find them to be superior to a traditional keyboard layout. The two main benefits I see: having the keys laid out in straight rows and slightly reduced reach due to the keys being at heights suited for each finger. The fact that the left and right hand are separated does slightly help if you have somewhat wider shoulders ( I do and this keyboard is still not quite wide enough). The separation also provides a somewhat convenient flat area to affix a touchpad ( if you can tolerate the amount of forearm pronation and elevation this would require).

I tend to work on multiple computers using different operating systems. In this context, the keyboard's support for key-remapping in hardware is quite useful since you'd otherwise have to restore your customizations at every computer you use.

In short I like a lot of things about this keyboard- but since I have issues with excess forearm pronation+elevation, I'd have to say it's simply too tall and narrow for frequent use.

I'm currently addressing both these issues by building a custom keyboard which I'll post up here soon.

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