I've decided to upgrade to a real, serious keyboard. I'm not talking about anything you can get at Best Buy or such. I want an ergonomically designed keyboard for programmers, and I do expect to pay for it. I know this might turn into one of those religious debates like the "Which language is better" threads, but I'm hoping not. So, what do the hard-core people who've been doing this a long time prefer? (If you've made an investment to protect your wrists, I'm even more interested in hearing from you). Thanks, James
I believe that, ergonomically speaking, a good work area may be more important than odd shaped keyboards with wrist rests. From my observation, the location and height of the keyboard and the location and height of the monitor play a bigger roles in fatigue, wrist and back soreness than anything else. Interestingly, there is a strong correlation between the willingness of workman's compensation to accept sore wrists as a workplace injury and the percentage of people who suffer carpal tunnel syndrome. In country's where such problems are not recognized, they do not occur. The same is true of whiplash.
Hmm... I checked out those keyboards. Frankly, I wouldn't be comfortable using those keyboards. I have problems even if I shift from my Logitech keyboard to a Microsoft keyboard. They use different positioning for the 'Insert', 'Home' 'Pg Up','Pg Dn' etc. I am not accustomed to that. When I looked at the one from ThinkGeek.com.... lets just say that I will keep hitting the wrong keys . You have to understand that I am so accustomed to my keyboard that I can type without one (on a table that is... just for fun ) . It will be very difficult to change a layout so firmly imprinted in my mind. Thomas
I'm sure you're right. Still, the keyboard must be a factor. I can tell a difference just using a "split key" layout, as opposed to the "standard" one. That's an interesting observation. I know that RSI happens. Long-term permanent damage...I don't have any experience with that (and most decidedly do not want to, which is why I'm shopping for a good keyboard). Am I considering investing in a placebo for something fake?
Thanks! I had a friend, years back, with one of those, and I'd forgotten about it. That's probably the sort of thing I'm looking for.
I'd suggest going to a few computer stores and trying out their keyboards. Go to their keyboard section and try typing on it (ask their sales people if you can open the box if there aren't any display models ). The best way to find one is to see what's comfortable for you. Once you find a few, go home and do some searches on the model numbers and check to make sure that they are ergonomically designed and tested - not just curvy keyboards that just look ergonomically designed.
I dont have any problems with my wrist or anything as the height of of my table and chair is just perfect for me. I sit in front of PC for long hours almost every day. . The only problem I usually get is a numb a** and numb legs. It gets okay after I stretch a bit. Thomas
Good for you! I've torn my wrists up working on assembly lines, and a serious (say, 20 hours with breaks for coffee and pizza) coding/typing session can leave me hurting for a week or so. That's serious, in-the-zone, deadline constant coding. In my day job, I sit in front of a computer all day long, but I doubt I do more than 2 hours typing. The rest is handling email BS or looking for answers. (On that job, my keyboard placement and chair are awful, but I never get anything more than a sore back from it). My brother had a job for a week or so, ripping open packages, that left his grip so weak he couldn't open a beer bottle for almost a year. I have a friend who worked on a [different] assembly line who has trouble lifting a pint to his mouth. I'm just trying to do everything I can to avoid any long-term/permanent damage.
I'd do that, if there were any decent computer stores within about 200 miles. Around here, the microsoft ergonomic curvy nonsense is pretty much top of the line. Salesmen have heard of PCI-e, but they can't imagine why anyone would ever want such a thing. 64-bit processors? Forget it; they're totally useless unless you're running a big server farm. It sucks to live in the boonies.
I would love to havge a 64-bit processor.... Think of all the games I could play... My poor PIII 850MHz would have simply blown up if I ran those games. Thomas
Well, on that one (IMO) the local salesmen sort of have a point. There's just not a lot of software out yet that uses/takes advantage of 64-bit. I imagine Vista will change that. (Historically, Windows has driven people/software to 'new' processor architectures and models). I finally upgraded my PIII 500 to a Pentium D. But my motherboard BIOS (and drivers in general) is so flaky that I haven't even considered going 64-bit. Then again...has anyone tried (for example) switching the same processor between 32 and 64 bit OS's? Did you notice any performance difference for things like games? I imagine hard-core things like video editing and rendering would be impacted. Everything I've read says it probably won't make much difference in things like games. But I'm sure we all know there's a world of difference between theory and practice.
whats better than the old QWERTY keyboard ?? its multi function to type all computer language and its used by most people. just my 2 cent.