pro & cons of 3rd party keyboards?

edX

edX

mac shaman
i'm about ready to need a new keyboard for my imac. I've spilled too much coffee on this one. anybody have any recomendations about which one to buy? Endorsements & horror stories wanted. :confused:

or is thing easier to clean than i imagine?
 
My fat fingers do not fit those petite iMac keyboards, so very soon after getting my iMac last summer, I added an Ortek ergonomic ("split") keyboard. Love it! Plenty of room for my fat fingers, and its layout helps prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Oh yeah, the keyboard runs about $60. Worth every penny!
:D
 
i keep looking at the 'ergonomics' and trying to decide if i could really adjust to the different positions. How hard was it to learn to hold one's body and hands in a different posture? I am afraid i am a terrible creature of habit and might be rather uncomfortable thru the adjstment period. my fingers are still pretty skinny. it's my middle that is most likely to compete with the keyboard's physical spaace next:D

you sound pretty sold though. sell me some more if you would.:)
 
The period of adjustment to the new split keyboard layout is very brief, a couple of days for me and about a week for my wife. It feels natural to me now, and I do believe it significantly increased my typing speed and accuracy.
I use a regular keyboard at work, and find it annoying and uncomfortable. The ergonomic keyboard is actually quite relaxing to use.
See if you can find one set up for demonstrations at a computer or office supplies store in your area, and take it for a "test type."
:)
 
I still have Apple's "split" keyboard in a box in the garage. It was nice cause it would adjust from no split (standard keyboard) to about as wide as you want it. Pretty slick. Its ADB though. :( I could buy an adapter... BUT... I like my keyboard I have now.

Admin
 
I got used to my Kinesis ergonomic KB in a couple of days, and within two weeks my typing was a lot faster than before. This is probably the oddest KB layout I've seen, (aside from the same model in Dvorak).

The price was outrageous, but it was well worth it - my wrists don't hurt anymore, I can type for hours. And if I can stave off the family arthritis for a few years, it will have been worth fifty times the price.
 

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scruffy, that is by far the strangest ergonomic i've seen. How big is it? looks like it is huge with all that space between pads? I can see how this would be more comfortable, which is something i don't with a lot of other ergonomics.

btw, you guys have got me seriously considering one of these, which i wasn't before. I really was just looking for things like durability, functionality, connectivity and value. I'm glad i wasn't more specific to start with.:)

of course i still would like to find one that might be easy to clean as i am not going to stop drinking my coffee:p and i doubt i will get less clumsy:D
 
It's not really all that big. About an inch wider than the little early iMac KB. There's a fair amount of room between the wells, but the keys are spaced fairly close together, so reduce how far you have to reach. It sits comfortably in my lap, there would even be room over for a cat if mine weren't so fat... Pretty tall though - sits a bit more than two inches high at the highest point, so you can't easily pop it in a briefcase (the KB, not the cat - that would be a dreadful fight, and I'd probably lose...)

It's built like a brick alright, had better be at the price. Can't say I recommend pouring coffee in it, there is a lot of space for things to drain into. It looks like it would be fairly easy to get apart if you needed to. I've just been lucky, I guess; I drink tea at the computer pretty often.

Oh yeah - if you want to get info on this one: www.kinesis-ergo.com
 
wow, when you said pricey, i had no idea !! does it come with a sub processor or something? and you have to buy a usb converter on top of that !! if it were usb, i might at least try to find one locally and test drive it. but i will never buy anything again that requires an adapter. the belkin scsi to usb adapter i got when i bought my imac soured me on that. the mac-chine crashed everytime i attempted to transfer files. Belkin said that as long as an icon showed up then their product was doing its job and blamed apple for the rest. they've never even updated their drivers for it!! BEWARE BELKIN PRODUCTS!!!!

don't usually pour coffee into the keyboard, it's more like occasional drips. i also get some occasional cat drool if one of our 4 mischeif makers gets into my office. the one that likes to sit on my lap while i work is the worst about this as her purr reflex and saliva glands seem to be directly connected.

my cats would probably like being stuffed into the briefcase. they have a thing for boxes - fit themselves into smaller spaces than i would ever imagine:D

thanks again for the replies.:)
 
For what it's worth, the adapter is 100 percent problem free for me. Going from OS 9 to X, it didn't even say anything - there is no driver, it just looks like a regular KB as far as the computer is concerned.

Only one hitch - holding down keys during boot has no effect, so I have to keep the regular USB KB around as well, in case I need to boot off CD or something. I actually keep both plugged in, since my mom can't use my KB, and occasionally uses my computer.
 
well i went to Fry's today and bought an ergonomic Adesso Intellimedia pro for $49.95. it is a split keyboard design. it actually closely resembles the microsoft ergonomic keybaord but is made for mac. it feels very comfortable using it in the store. I even bought my girlfriend one since she has been getting joint pains lately.

so has anyone at all used one of these. can anyone reccomend i keep it or tell me i should return it before i open it? other than the fact it came from fry's, it appears to be nice. i'm planning to check their website to see how it works or doesn't work with osx but firsthand, secondhand or even hearsay knowledge would be appreciated.

and even though i didn't buy one just like anybody's here (yet) i did go the ergonimic route because of your unanimous adice to do so. so thank you each and every one!!!:)
 
eh he he, I was thinking of replacing the mouse and keyboard that will come with my iMac with microsoft ones.... i have NO idea why! I hate everything to do with Microsoft...


Actually, to tell you the truth, the Optical Intellimouse I'm using is pretty nice, but I think the optical apple mouse is better :S

:D
 
well the new keyboard works with osx as just a keyboard. tthe special function keys like mail aand volume, etc do not work yet but their website promises an update is coming eventually. so i guess i 'm keeping it as it feels real nice. touch typing really is easier, i'm amazed!!

thanks again for steering me in this direction.:)

scruffy - maybe someday when i'm not a starving student i will give your keyboard a second look. I can imagine the advantages of it. give the cat a few pets for me. that purring sound you hear then is much like the sound i am making with my new ergonomic keyboard.:D
 
just a postscript to this thread - touch typing is actually a lot easier now!!! I am even getting the hang of finding the delete key, something i never did manange on the apple keyboard. actually the biggest problem is that my fingers get moving faster than my brain!!:p

thanks again to all who posted:)

btw - here's a pic of my keyboard
 
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