Review: Kinesis Contoured Ergonomic Keyboard

This is how Kinesis describe them selves
"Incorporated in 1991, Kinesis develops, manufactures, and markets computer input devices and accessories which increase the comfort and productivity of serious computer users"
I start with this because it tells you a lot about their product, a company that can survive solely by making keyboards must be doing something right.

I've been using the Contoured Ergonomic keyboard for about three years now and would never use anything else. The keyboard isn't just a benefit for people that suffer from RSI but anyone that spends a large amount of their day, every day, typing.

I give this keyboard a pretty good rap, and no, I'm not affiliated with Kinesis, I don't think they know this article has even been written. You don't come across really good products very often but this is one of them. I've bought Kinesis keyboards for everyone that works here at Anchor because I honestly believe it will pay dividends in productivity.

The design

This is the biggest problem with this keyboard, every time someone new comes into your domain you'll spend 10 minutes explaining to them that no, someone didn't drop a bowling ball on my keyboard, and yes, it is supposed to be like that, and no it's not hard to use it's actually very comfortable, it goes on...

The keyboard chassis is quite substantial, whilst it doesn't include a separate keypad it is still about the same length as a normal keyboard but is much deeper.

The keys are split into two separate groups, one for the left hand and one for the right hand. The two key groups are depressed in the centre raising up on the outer rows of keys. This does two things, one your arms remain straighter as the hand positions are closer to being a should width apart and secondly it stops you from two finger typing. You are simply forced to learn to touch type with all fingers the minute you start using this keyboard.

The keys

The keyboard construction is very high quality. All key caps are removable and a special tools is provided to remove keys for cleaning. The key travel on all keys is quite long.

The really smart thing about this keyboard is that every key uses a switch that that triggers an internal speaker in the keyboard when the key is depressed half way through the stroke. A subtle clicking noise is made much like the noise you get when the key hits the bottom of the stroke. This tells your brain that the key has been depressed and you can stop pushing now without physically hitting the bump stop at the bottom. What results is a much gentler typing action and a far more comfortable experience.

Key positioning

All of the alpha numeric characters remain in the standard locations along with the most commonly used punctuation marks.

The bottom row of keys on this keyboard is very different to the standard QWERTY layout. The keys that normally sit of to the right hand side have been placed into this bottom row and those that would traditionally occupy the bottom row of the keyboard have been moved onto the thumbs.

Keys on thumbs

Your traditionally qwerty layout puts the thumb to good use, the space bar, in fact you get two fingers to use the same key. The Kinesis approach is to say that the thumb is the strongest digit on your hand so lets put it to more use.

Both thumbs get ctrl and alt keys whilst the left thumb gets backspace and delete, the right thumb gets space and enter.

Function keys

The top row of keys are basically the same as the standard keyboard layout with the addition of some extras for the programmable functions. The big difference is that they are very small and made from a rubber material that moves laterally when you push them. I don't really like it but then again the only frequently used key up there is 'esc' (it drives you nuts at first if you're a vim user).

Keypad

With the absence of a numerical keypad off to the side this has been incorporated by toggling the keyboard into keypad mode which re-assigns the buttons on the right hand to numbers. They are clearly labeled on the front face of the button.

I've never had to do enough data entry to make use of them and toggling in and out is a bit fiddly. The foot pedal makes this easier though.

The foot pedal

No that's not a typo, these keyboards come with optional foot pedals in 2 or 3 button variations. By default they're assigned to the shift and keypad buttons but can be reassigned to anything on the programmable versions of the keyboard.

I've got the keypad and used it for a while to begin with and eventually gave up. For me it was the fact that I was forced to sit straight at my desk with my feet on the floor all the time that killed it. Those un-ergonomic postures (feet on desk, feet on computer case, sitting on feet on chair, sitting sideways at desk) are just so much more comfortable.

Programmable

The keyboards come in a number of different versions each with different levels of programmability. What you get just depends on how deep your pockets are.

The keyboard I have allows me to program short macros, remap keys and change the repeat rates.

The macros can be quite useful especially for some of the more complex sequences in editors such as vim (insert key can be remapped to 'shift + insert' turning it into a paste button). You can put standard salutations in a macro for emails and letters.

As some of the key locations are very different you're not locked down, the awkward 'esc' button for example can be moved the seldom used caps lock button.

The learning curve

The product manual that comes with the keyboard tells you all about the adaption periods. They quote 80% of full speed with the first few hours and full speed or greater being typically achieved within 3-5 days. This was exactly my experience.

I spent about one hour in the morning of each day on the typing tutor that is included with the keyboard, for me this was primarily because I wasn't touch typing correctly before I started using the keyboard.

Speed and comfort

Even if you don't suffer from RSI this keyboard is worthy investment. My typing speed and accuracy is substantially higher than on a normal keyboard. I find going back to the keyboard on my iBook to be very frustrating these days.

More information

If you want to know more, the users manual is available online as a PDF, or visit their website at www.kinesis-ergo.com.

Ordering

Getting your hands on these keyboards is a little bit of fun. They are only sold direct from the manufacturer who is in the states. They seem very wary of taking credit card due to fraud problems (yes even on ordering the 7th keyboard for the office on the same credit card they kicked up a fuss). That said the keyboards I've ordered generally arrive within a week and shipping is often thrown in for free or at substantially reduced cost.

Cost

This is the nasty part. The keyboards sell for $USD300 as a base model going up to $USD418 with a foot switch. It's a lot of money for a keyboard, for most programmers you're going to be in front of a computer for the next 20 years or more and I'd definitely make the investment. This keyboard is also substantially cheaper than comparable alternatives such as Maltron and Data hand.

The next problem is that once you've bought the first one for your computer at work that standard keyboard at home wont be the same any more and you'll soon be ordering a second keyboard, trust me.

Related Links:

• Kinesis Ergo
• Data Hand
• Maltron