
Ask HN: What ergonomic keyboard/mouse do you recommend? - songzme
After a few years of typing and coding on my macbook, I've recently discovered a slight discomfort in my wrist. Now I'm starting to realize the importance of ergonomic keyboard/mouse.<p>So, what makes a good ergonomic keyboard or mouse? What should one be looking for? Also, are there any ergonomic keyboards for mac? Most of them seem to be made by microsoft.
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drothlis
The microsoft keyboards work well enough on Macs:
<http://david.rothlis.net/keyboards/microsoft_natural_osx/>

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rpwilcox
The Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 is just an awesome keyboard.

I bought my first copy of this keyboard when my wrists started hurting about 5
years ago. It was the only keyboard in the store where my wrists didn't hurt
just looking at the thing.

(I solved my wrist problem by going to the physical therapist - they
recommended stretches for my particular injury. I also took the arms off my
office chair, as my particular injury was caused by resting my elbows too long
on the armrest. AND I switched to the MS 4000 AND I switched to Dvorak.)

I _thought_ the trick to many ergo keyboards was the split keyboard, so you
can keep your wrists parallel to your forearms instead of having to bend your
wrists out to get your fingers parallel to each other. But not sure how much
of that is fact and how much of it is folklore.

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songzme
Nice! I'm going to go with this keyboard based on your recommendation, because
I also just switched to Dvorak and it's great to know that this keyboard
worked for someone typing on Dvorak layout. Thank you!

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gregsq
Definitely good. Have one myself. Just one issue seems to occur quite often,
and that's that the space bar can either or both loud and sticky. And if your
on the short keyboard welcome back to the number pad.

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abraham_s
<http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/contoured.htm>

I personally know 2 people who had their wrist pains go away after they
started using this keyboard.

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songzme
I did some research, and I think at this point I'm going to go with this:
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. :D

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abraham_s
I would recommend switching to Dvorak layout,if you have the time and energy
to do that. I switched to Dvorak a year ago and the amount of wrist/finger
movement is much less than that with Qwerty(I did it to increase my typing
speed, not because of RSI).

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slidetrip
I have been a programmer for 22 years. I started having that problem. Don't
rest your wrist on anything for very long. Stretch your wrist by bending your
hand in a few directions. And for sure, get up often. I didn't get up enough,
and it ruined my legs and hips. Had to get both hips replaced. A little DMSO
might bring down the swelling in your wrists. Google, "DMSO" and see how to
use it. Wash before putting it on your skin.

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songzme
wow! Thanks for sharing your experience. I will make sure I get up often.

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ScottWhigham
I have the wired Microsoft keyboard and it is fabulous. I switched to the
wireless Logitech keyboard and it is terrible for productivity. It's like
those Dell/HP keyboards where the keys are smaller and crammed closer
together. It also doesn't have much of a curve to it. I would not buy it again
nor would I recommend it, but the Microsoft keyboard is a definite winner.

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codemonkeymike
Das keyboard, nothing beats that 80's IBM style and mechanical push distance,
so light on the fingers you barley even have to push down.

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eli
Both wrists or just the dominant one?

I gave up on a mouse entirely and switched to a Wacom tablet full time.
There's a learning curve for sure, but it basically cured my wrist discomfort.
Plus you can have lots of fun in Photoshop. It did end my first person shooter
hobby though.

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songzme
haha first person shooter on a Wacom? Must be a sight to see, can you make a
vine? :D

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meerita
I would recommend you a mechanical keyboard or a capacitative one. They cost a
lot, but they endure for years and typing in a mechanical keyboard just kick
ass all other ergonomic keyboards imho.

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PonyGumbo
Funny - I switched to an Apple keyboard a few years ago because I found it
much more comfortable to have a keyboard with shorter key travel.

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songzme
But I did hear that Apple keyboard is horrible for your wrists. I've been
using the apple keyboard with my iMac for a few years and then recently I
started noticing wrist pains. Correlation is not causation, but just to be on
the safe side I'm going to get a more ergonomic keyboard.

