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Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

nickjanetakis.com

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Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#111

Post by ulkesh »

pmiller2 wrote: post #93

I know it’s been mentioned already, but my favorite is the MS Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard. I picked it up when I was starting to have RSI issues in my wrist and forearm. Together with some wrist braces, I was able to eliminate all pain in a few weeks. When I was looking, my criteria were: comfort, usability (bonus points for a standard layout), and PC/Mac interoperability. The Ergo Sculpt met all of those well, althoug…

I had two of the Sculpt keyboards die within about 6 months. Maybe I got a bad batch, but I'm not buying that one again.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#112

Post by pwg »

equalunique wrote: post #63
daguil68367 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On fullsize keyboards, Num Lock is less useful than Scroll Lock.

Numlock would make a lot more sense if fullsize keyboards both didn't have arrow keys at all and also split the 0 numpad key into numlock & 0, so that way it's easier/simpler/ergonomic to toggle. We could also do away with Page Up, Page Down, Home, End, Delete, and Insert, since they're already integrated into the numlock key.

The numlock key exists today because of the keyboard layout of the original IBM PC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IBM_Model_F_XT.png).

That original keyboard did not have separate arrow and pgup/pgdown (cursor control) keys, and numlock was how one toggled between the calculator keypad being 'numbers' vs. cursor controls (see the image above). The current 'separated' cursor controls and number pad layout arrived sometime during the IBM AT era, and at that point the 'numlock' key started to make less sense. It was kept around for backwards compatibility with old software that used the state of the numlock key to change its behavior (and/or that relied on the exact scan codes output by the number keypad in combination with the state of the numlock bit).

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#113

Post by bluedino »

Somewhere around 2009 or so, our Mac users wanted 'real' keyboards, and they almost universally started using the Dell OEM keyboard of the time.

It wasn't anything fancy, but it worked. They were dirt cheap, like $7 on eBay, and we had piles of them from buying new PC's for teh rest of the office.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#114

Post by busyant »

freetonik wrote: post #77

I've tried many mechanical and on-mechanical keyboards, but always come back to Apple's magic keyboard, simply because it's the thinnest of all. It's virtually flush with the desk, and I can't for the love of god get used to anything else. Mechanical keyboards are often quite thick. Palm pads don't help, I'd still feel my hands are uncomfortably elevated.

> can't for the love of god get used to anything else. Mechanical keyboards are often quite thick. Palm pads don't help, I'd still feel my hands are uncomfortably elevated.

I've had a similar problem (although I'm using Windows). I bought a surface keyboard for its thinness, but my wrists were still at a semi-painful angle when typing.

I looked at many wrist pads, but they're all "mushy" and not "wide" enough to support my forearms.

So, to deal with the wrist issue, I "built" this (https://imgur.com/a/cYBksBO) from my kids' Legos. YMMV, but it has worked tremendously well for my wrists and forearms.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#116

Post by bluedino »

>> Robust Wire / USB Cable

This is one cost-cutting area that drives me nuts. As the PC price wars raged on, keyboards got cheaper and cheaper. Wires got thinner, and shorter. HP/Dell give you something like a 3 foot cable these days. You can't keep your PC on the floor or route around monitors anmymore.

I liked the old days, where you got a 6+ feet long cord on your keyboard.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#117

Post by nickjj »

banachtarski wrote: post #108
nickjj wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. I had another 4,000+ word post about monitors from a few years ago. After 250ish posts it's hard to keep track of everything but I think you are right. That monitor and this keyboard post is the only time I ever specifically wrote about a product. I write about what I happen to be learning about and using at the moment. Sometimes it's Flask, sometimes it's Vim, sometimes it's finding a useful product or servi…

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftc... FYI.

Thanks. I'm working on addressing that now.

I'm currently at 1,800 words to explain the use of my affiliate links for an upcoming post. Then I will modify my static site generator to auto-insert a 1 line sentence into any post with an affiliate link.

It will be a couple of hours or even a day for all of that to materialize since I need to balance that into a full day's work but I do want to get it out asap, so maybe tonight I'll be going to bed late. :D

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#118

Post by [deleted] »

SwetDrems wrote: post #62
pyronite wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you believe the author of this article, who from what I can tell is a long-term active HN user, is advertising for Amazon? Skepticism is good, but you should also be skeptical of the first conclusion it leads you to.

>Skepticism is good, but you should also be skeptical of the first conclusion it leads you to. As someone who is naturally skeptical, I will keep in this mind more. Thanks. It feels easy to be skeptical of others, yet much harder to be skeptical of one's own thoughts - for me anyways.

[deleted]

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#119

Post by MaconBacon »

freetonik wrote: post #77

I've tried many mechanical and on-mechanical keyboards, but always come back to Apple's magic keyboard, simply because it's the thinnest of all. It's virtually flush with the desk, and I can't for the love of god get used to anything else. Mechanical keyboards are often quite thick. Palm pads don't help, I'd still feel my hands are uncomfortably elevated.

I love the full sized apple magic keyboard. Seems especially silly then how terrible their newfangled MacBook keyboards are.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#120

Post by castlecrasher2 »

whitehouse3 wrote: post #82
notus wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most engineers with jobs aren't making compromises on the price when their goal is comfort and usability.

You're right. I bought a $250 Leopold FC660C to combat repetitive strain injury, because my doctor said to minimize the distance between the home row and my mouse pad. But most less-expensive 60% ("ten key-less") boards either lack arrow keys or have obnoxious, loud switches. These weren't feasible because I use arrow keys all the time for Visual Studio and I work in open-office hell. The Leopold has quiet Topre swit…

I don't mean to intrude or otherwise question you but have you looked into weightlifting as a solution? I used to get RSI pretty bad, and had back problems until about four years ago when I did heavy (two-hours a day, six days a week) weightlifting for a few months. Haven't had it since.
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