Ergonomic Keyboards Gallery

Xah Lee, 2010-11-22, …, 2011-11-23

This page is a gallery of several ergonomic keyboards, from simpler ones to radical ones, with review.

Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard 4000

This is a much more improved design. This one i used for 3 years, from 2007 to 2010. The stiff spacebar finally drove me crazy. Full review at Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000.

Datadesk Tech Smartboard Keyboard

I would consider this the best key layout, ever.

I think the design is better than Kinesis Contoured Keyboard and “Truly Ergonomic Keyboard”. On par with Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000.

The questions is whether this keyboard is well-built, and whether the company is reliable. See one review here: SmartBoard USB5000 Review 2006-12-05 By Christopher Turner. @ Source www.atpm.com. According to reviewers at Amazon, the company Datadesk Tech seems to be around as early as 1990s, and the company seems to be one-man running in basement. Not sure if it is still available.

TypeMatrix

This is another interesting design, but i think it's pretty bad.

• First, the keys are laptop type of shallow flat keys. This is not good for prolonged heavy typing (e.g. data entry clerk).
• The function keys F1 to F12 are in one continuous row instead of 3 blocks of 4 keys. It is harder to hit the correct key without looking. (For detail about the continuous function key problem, see: Increase Productivity Using Function Keys.)
• Some special functions now need a combo key. For example, to increase sound volume, you need to press 【Fn+Backspace】 instead of one single button. This is annoying. (For detail of the efficiency of single button vs key combo, see: Keyboard Shortcut Design: Dedicated keys, Special Buttons, Extra Keys.)
• The Ctrl key is hard to use. One small one on the left buried with other keys. One larger one but far away on the right, also buried among other keys. This is bad for Emacs users.

It sells for $110. Its home page is typematrix.com.

“Truly Ergonomic” Keyboard

Full analysis at the Truly Ergonomic keyboard.

Kinesis Contoured Keyboard

Full review at Kinesis Contoured Keyboard Review and RSI

Maltron keyboard

The Maltron seems to be as ergonomic as the Kinesis. However, its the most expensive and ugly. Full review at: Maltron Keyboard Review.

Xah's Recommendations

I think the “Microsoft natural 4000” ($40) , or “Truly Ergonomic” ($200), or the “Kinesis Contoured” (≈$270) are all really great.

Taking their price into consideration, the Microsoft 4000 is the most easy buy. It is a mass produced product and made to appeal to the mass population. Quite superb design by its various curves and tilts. However, because it's made for mass appeal, it does not use expensive mechanical key-switch that provides good tactile feedback. (it uses rubber dome) It uses cheap key label technology, so the key labels wear off (On my keyboard, the labels “M” and “<” are COMPLETELY gone. (because fingernails often hit them)).

The key mechanism is Very Bad (in comparison to other Cherry MX as used in Kinesis, “Truly Ergonomic”, and many others keyboards that sell above $80). The Spacebar is stiff (one of its most commont complaints). It's somewhat loud, makes ugly “clunk”, “thud”, “sqeak” sounds.

The “Truly Ergonomic” has best design that is simple and elegant. It is also with highest quality build.

The Kinesis Contoured is also great, but on the most expensive side, with radical design that doesn't make the keyboard good for sometimes casual peck of a few keys.

Size Comparison

Note that sizes from photos can be deceiving. The Kinesis looks huge, but is actually ≈5cm less wide than the Microsoft 4000, and the TrulyErgonomic is even smaller, because it doesn't have the number pad. (the TrulyErgonomic has a Num Lock key that turns the right hand side keys into a number pad. Similarly for the Kinesis)

Exotic Ergonomic Keyboards

For many more, see: Exotic Ergonomic Keyboards.

Thanks to “meow cat” for showing me the “trulyergonomic Keyboard”.