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Best Desktop Keyboards

lifehacker.com

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Re: Best Desktop Keyboards

#51

Post by barrkel »

eta_carinae wrote: post #41
barrkel wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been typing on keyboards for the past 20 years, no pains at all. I credit it to Dvorak, myself.

Some people seem to be immune to it, you might be one of the lucky few. Make no mistake, though: Dvorak is an aggravating factor in carpal tunnel syndrome. The faster you type by moving your fingers only and not your hands, the more likely you are to start feeling the onset of CTS. Ironically, the best way to make sure you won't suffer from CTS is by typing with just two fingers.

All the anecdotes I've read on Dvorak switchers indicate relief from CTS compared with Qwerty. For the same speed of typing, Dvorak users move their fingers less than Qwerty users.

It would be nice to have some hard data.

Re: Best Desktop Keyboards

#52

Post by Posibyte »

BasDirks wrote: post #24

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Hacking_Keyboard That list is a joke btw.

Our entire CS Department runs on these. We're a primarily Linux-based department that emphasizes Linux/UNIX development with C. With these keyboards and the support of the department, I don't think we've ever graduated a student that didn't at least have a basic understanding of how to use vi.

They are very decent keyboards in my opinion; small and pleasing to type on.

Re: Best Desktop Keyboards

#53

Post by mattacular »

rimantas wrote: post #46
mattacular wrote: post #26

What a lame article... I don't know why I expected more from Lifehacker. Anyone who does a lot of typing at work is not going to like Apple keyboards. Those things ruin your fingers because the keys have no give. It is kind of similar to what running on concrete will do to your knees.

What? You know, they work even without bangint on keys like crazy. Just lightly tapping them.

Why would I want to alter my entire typing style for no reason other than to use YET-ANOTHER-APPLE-PRODUCT(TM) ? I have a Macbook, and the keyboard is fine for most situations. But whenever I try to do a lot of writing or programming on it, my fingers end up hurting really badly.

Re: Best Desktop Keyboards

#54

Post by alanhenry »

mattacular wrote: post #26

What a lame article... I don't know why I expected more from Lifehacker. Anyone who does a lot of typing at work is not going to like Apple keyboards. Those things ruin your fingers because the keys have no give. It is kind of similar to what running on concrete will do to your knees.

To be fair, the article is based on reader nominations. If you don't like the ones that made it into the list, stop by for the nomination round and make your choices known!

Re: Best Desktop Keyboards

#55

Post by alanhenry »

wyclif wrote: post #29
mattacular wrote: post #26

What a lame article... I don't know why I expected more from Lifehacker. Anyone who does a lot of typing at work is not going to like Apple keyboards. Those things ruin your fingers because the keys have no give. It is kind of similar to what running on concrete will do to your knees.

Yes, it's pretty poor and not Lifehacker's best effort. There shouldn't be any cheap foam membrane peripherals on this list.

The list is based on reader nominations - unfortunately, our community has different tastes than you do, but next time, stop by and nominate your favorite - the cut for the top five was pretty close.

Re: Best Desktop Keyboards

#56

Post by alanhenry »

BasDirks wrote: post #24

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Hacking_Keyboard That list is a joke btw.

I would have loved to include the Happy Hacking Keyboard on the list. It's one of my faves - but that said, the list is based on nominations and votes. It may be a joke, but it's a joke based on hundreds of nominations from readers, so there's that.

Re: Best Desktop Keyboards

#57

Post by alanhenry »

kmfrk wrote: post #12

A lot of really weird suggestions. This needs a lot more mechanical keyboards in it. I don't even know if you would ever want a Logitech keyboard. Check out /r/keyboards for some more interesting suggestions.

I agree - I would have loved more mechs on the list. They just don't seem to have caught on with the general public just yet though. We had a half-dozen in the nominations list, but all told they got fewer votes collected than some of the others that made the top five.

Re: Best Desktop Keyboards

#58

Post by alanhenry »

ibotty wrote: post #13

somehow all the better ergonomic ones are missing: typematrix (i own one of those), kinesis, etc. that's kind of lame for an article titled "best desktop keyboards"

If you look closely, you'll notice they're the best as voted on by our community. It looks like their tastes and yours differ somewhat.

Re: Best Desktop Keyboards

#59

Post by alanhenry »

fsckin wrote: post #5

Best keyboards? Four out of five of the reccomended keyboards are membrane and scissor switches, which are designed for cost and space savings, not ergonomics. If you type more than a few hours per day, check out a mechanical or hybrid (Topre) keyboard. Your wrists will thank you. geekhack.org is a good resource.

I think it's because those are the criteria that our readers - who nominated the keyboards that made the top five - prefer over mechanical keys. Their preferred feature set just differs from yours, and from most developers, I think.

That said, there were plenty of mechs in the nominees, they just didn't get enough votes to make the top five. Personally, I love them, but majority rules.

Re: Best Desktop Keyboards

#60

Post by BasDirks »

alanhenry wrote: post #56
BasDirks wrote: post #24

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Hacking_Keyboard That list is a joke btw.

I would have loved to include the Happy Hacking Keyboard on the list. It's one of my faves - but that said, the list is based on nominations and votes. It may be a joke, but it's a joke based on hundreds of nominations from readers, so there's that.

A well-researched article/list would have produced a valuable resource. This is true for all high-end electronics. Apple makes beautiful garbage when it comes to keyboards (and mice). They make this fundamental mistake of applying to human interfaces an aesthetic perfect only for storage and other static equipment.
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