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Kinesis Advantage 360

kinesis-ergo.com

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Re: Kinesis Advantage 360

#141

Post by sulam »

db65edfc7996 wrote: post #30

Sadly, no dedicated F-row. I would even settle for a subset of keys that aligned with the columns. I do not consider layers an adequate replacement. Happy to see they are moving away from their own software configuration. Not a fan of the software interface on the Freestyle Pro. More than once I have gotten myself into a loop where I am unsure which function mode is activated and how to switch back to what I want. I…

If you haven’t, you really should check out the Moonlander that’s referred to elsewhere in this thread. I switched to it from a Kinesis Advantage 2 and couldn’t be happier.

Re: Kinesis Advantage 360

#142

Post by archarios »

cma wrote: post #138
rangersanger wrote: post #69

I picked up a Kinesis a few month ago and it's been a life changer. I've struggled with shoulder pain since as far back as I can remember. I'd done PT, dry needling, massage, etc etc. I'd even sprung for a personal ergonomic assessment. I'm a cyclist and and keyboard jockey, so most of my waking life is spent in positions that seemed to make it worse. At times it prevented me from sleeping, doing things I enjoyed, et…

Where are you positioning your mouse, even farther out, or in-between the split?

I put mine further out

Re: Kinesis Advantage 360

#143

Post by badlucklottery »

karmajunkie wrote: post #95
astuyvenberg wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 I really do like my new Moonlander, which I purchased in November. However, as a former Kinesis Advantage user, I miss the contoured shape, I think it helped a lot with carpal pain. That said, I'm not sure I can justify another keyboard.

ok, could you expand on your experiences with both? i’m a longtime kinesis user (like, LONG time—i got rid of one with an AT connector a few years ago) and i’ve been really toying with the idea of switching. what are the pros and cons you’ve experienced?

Not OP but the issue for me moving from a scooped keyboard (Kinesis) to a flat one (Ergodox) was reaching the top/bottom row comfortably.

On a flat keyboard, hitting that top row (especially edge keys like the 5 and 6) required either moving my entire hand or doing some weird reaching motion. And I wear a 4XL glove so I don't even know how other people deal with the top row at all. Being able to not move your hands as much doesn't sound like a big thing but it helped a lot with my wrist issues because I can find a comfortable position when I get started and never leave it until I stand up.

I'm currently on a scooped and fully split KB from bastardkb.com which is kind of the best of both worlds (scooped for reach, split for my shoulders, and custom firmware so I can use less keys overall). But if Kinesis offers that out-of-the-box it's a pretty easy choice for my next keyboard.

Re: Kinesis Advantage 360

#144

Post by foxfluff »

dr_kiszonka wrote: post #123
vladvasiliu wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would imagine you can add an F key layer pretty easily so this shouldn't be a big deal That may be the case, but the issue I have with this is that I need, often enough, to press random F keys while not actively using the keyboard. Like for example refresh HN while eating an apple (F5). It's a pain to have to press multiple keys.

They also sell pedals, which, I guess, you could use to switch layers. I am thinking about using pedals to switch to the arrow keys layer. I wonder what other uses the pedals have?

IME the pedal is even more clumsy than pressing two keys to switch layers (I've had an advantage pro for ~15 years and am now using a planck and also building my own split keyboard to replace the planck with something more ergonomic).

Re: Kinesis Advantage 360

#145

Post by jagger27 »

gorbachev wrote: post #112
jagger27 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems unlikely, and it's not really how Drop usually works. They collect pre-order payments before manufacturing. This is probably an unlimited group buy. Pre-oders on Drop.com usually stay open for a month or longer.

There are only 360 units on sale, total.

Oh, that's a bummer.

Re: Kinesis Advantage 360

#146

Post by alasdair_ »

db65edfc7996 wrote: post #30

Sadly, no dedicated F-row. I would even settle for a subset of keys that aligned with the columns. I do not consider layers an adequate replacement. Happy to see they are moving away from their own software configuration. Not a fan of the software interface on the Freestyle Pro. More than once I have gotten myself into a loop where I am unsure which function mode is activated and how to switch back to what I want. I…

>Sadly, no dedicated F-row. I would even settle for a subset of keys that aligned with the columns. I do not consider layers an adequate replacement.

Damn, I missed that part. The original Advantage has a set of small rubber F keys along the top which works surprisingly well given the amount that I use them (i.e. rarely).

Looking a bit more, I see that there are an extra set of keys on the "inside" of each half (to the right of G and left of H) - it's plausible that remapping these to key function keys would be enough for most use cases.

Re: Kinesis Advantage 360

#147

Post by CardenB »

ninkendo wrote: post #106

What does the keyboard layout look like? Every single picture of the keyboard on this site shows either a tiny section of the keyboard where you only see like 4 keys, or there's one picture that shows the whole thing, but it's super tiny and you can't read the keys. Does it have a decent mac layout? Is cmd+tab easy to type? Is copy/paste ergonomic? I have no idea because the pictures don't show it, and scrolling arou…

I’m guessing this mimics the kinesis advantage 2, which is an already well known keyboard layout from the same company.

Re: Kinesis Advantage 360

#148

Post by [deleted] »

jerlam wrote: post #85
FullyFunctional wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You find ABS (soft and light plastic that wears down with even moderate usage) to be superior to PBT which is heavier and FAR more durable?

I'll be the first to admit I know nothing about keycaps, it always seemed like worrying about the paint on a car and ignoring the engine. I'm guessing they had to use the worse keycaps on the "Pro" for backlighting?

[deleted]

Re: Kinesis Advantage 360

#149

Post by foxfluff »

tcoff91 wrote: post #18
MrPowers wrote: post #15

Kinesis Advantage 2 is great, but it's massive and hard to travel with. Looks like the 360 might be a bit easier to travel with. The Kinesis Advantage 2 fits a Magic Trackpad perfectly right in the middle of the keyboard. This lets you perform mouse actions with you right and left hands. Emacs keybindings never made sense to me till I tried them with the Kinesis. I feel like Emacs sucks on a standard Mac keyboard and…

I bet the kinesis foot pedals would take emacs to the next level too. I use spacemacs in evil mode so I never bothered having to learn all those key chording things for emacs.

I have a kinesis advantage pro with foot pedal but the pedal just sucks to use. Foot is way too big and clumsy to keep pace with fingers, plus it forces you to sit in fixed position or fiddle with the pedal all the time to try and keep it in a comfortable position (trying to use the pedal shows how much I shift around in the chair during the day, nevermind when using a balance chair on wheels).

Re: Kinesis Advantage 360

#150

Post by alasdair_ »

ninkendo wrote: post #106

What does the keyboard layout look like? Every single picture of the keyboard on this site shows either a tiny section of the keyboard where you only see like 4 keys, or there's one picture that shows the whole thing, but it's super tiny and you can't read the keys. Does it have a decent mac layout? Is cmd+tab easy to type? Is copy/paste ergonomic? I have no idea because the pictures don't show it, and scrolling arou…

>Does it have a decent mac layout?

So the Advantage comes with extra keycaps for mac that let you replace the windows keys with option keys, not sure if the 360 will have that.

On the regular Advantage, the option keys are controlled by the thumb. You can, of course, remap anything you want to remap.

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