#Matias Ergo Pro Keyboard

[lifestylebuz]

Best Ergonomic Keyboard: Ultimate Buyers Guide

In today’s fast-paced digital world, the keyboard has become an essential tool for work and play. However, typing for long hours can take a toll on our hands, wrists, and arms, causing discomfort and even injury. That’s where ergonomic keyboards come in. In this ultimate buyer’s guide, we’ll take a look at the best ergonomic keyboards available on the market today. Table of Contents 1.      …

[yournewkeyboard]

do you have any good keyboards for an artist with a bad wrist please my current setup is killing me

Yeah! Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m going to assume you want something that doesn’t require any assembly.

There’s the Matias Ergo Pro, Kinesis Freestyle2 / Freestyle Edge, and the Goldtouch V2 that are all split and tented to help reduce wrist strain (some require additional kits for tenting though). The Mistel Barocco and the Dygma Raise are also split but I don’t believe they were designed to be tented. I’ve seen people angle their keyboards with cardboard, wood, and legos so it’s not like you can’t make it work.

If you want to get a little funkier there’s the Ergodox EZ and the Kinesis Advantage 2. Both were designed specifically with ergonomics in mind but are a little pricier and have a bit of a learning curve.

Also switch to a vertical or trackball mouse! I have this vertical mouse and this trackball (though I regret not getting this trackball).

Something else that could help you as an artist is a gaming keypad like this. You can program the buttons to perform various shortcuts with 1 click to minimize the repetitive motions your hand would otherwise make on a full size keyboard

Junji Ito used one that he modified ->

If you don’t need something that extreme, macropads perform the same function without the mouse parts. They’re not quite ergonomic but can still help minimize repetitive movements.

[naklangkeyboard]

-++- Matias Ergo Pro Keyboard for PC Brand New in Box https://ift.tt/3chN4ji

[yournewkeyboard]

What split keyboard would you suggest to someone who needs it for typing but is very used to the qwerty setup?

I'm going to assume you want a ready to use keyboard, but if you're comfortable building one yourself let me know and I'll add some more recs. For now here's what I got:

For inexpensive (~$100) there's the Goldtouch Go!2. Drawbacks are it's not fully split and kinda cheap feeling, but I use one for work. The Kinesis Freestyle2 is also about the same price, non-mechanical, but fully split and has an optional tenting kit (to slightly tilt the keyboard so it's high in the center like a tent /\ rather than flat).

For the medium price range of $125-200, there's the Koolertron split keyboard, the Mistel Barocco, the Kinesis Freestyle Pro (also has a tenting kit), and the Matias Ergo Pro (can be tented slightly or angled forward).

Most expensive are going to be the the Kinesis Edge (again, optional tenting kit), the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard (has cool optional modules for a trackpoint, thumb cluster, or touchpad), the Dygma Raise.

Each has different key switches, slightly different layouts, and various ways for your wrists to rest so I recommend looking at pics each one to determine what makes the most sense for your needs. Also, if you want to tent any of the keyboards without an optional kit I've seen plenty of people make their own keyboards stands with legos, cardboard, or wood. Putting a wedge under a keyboard isn't too difficult of a task ahaha

[yournewkeyboard]

Question: Is there a way to get a mechanical split ergonomic kb without building it from a kit? Checked r/mechanicalkeyboards but didn't find much outside of kits.

keeb.io offers an assembly service for the Iris but that's the only shop I see that offers both split keyboards and an assembly service (if anyone knows of another website please reply!)

splitkb.com sells assembled Kyria keyboards and gboards.ca sells assembled Gergo keyboards but those are both fairly small, 40 and 50 keys respectively.

if you only really need the split for ergonomics there are the Matias Ergo Pro, Kinesis Freestyle Pro, and Kinesis Freestyle Edge RGB.

If none of those suit you there are some individuals who can assemble any keyboard you choose so long as you provide or pay them for the parts. check out r/mechmarket and search for "service". Be aware you can't make new threads requesting services though, only threads offering services are allowed.

I hope this helps!

[yournewkeyboard]

i love this blog! i love that you're so enthusiastic about keyboards, and it's really interesting to see all the different unique layouts. i wanted to ask though, how exactly do people get into this? I'm really interested in trying a new layout, since my keyboard makes my wrists hurt, but i also don't want to spend a bunch of money on a new keyboard without knowing if it'll help or not...

thank you so much!!

finding the right keyboard is a struggle. I personally got into ergonomic keyboards due to several wrist problems I developed and I desperately needed a better mouse and keyboard just to be able to do my job. with all the medical bills I had a fancy keyboard seemed beyond my reach but I found a used Goldtouch Go!2 on eBay for ~$30. Going for a used board is a good way to try one out without spending $100+. I often see this keyboard as well as the Kinesis Freestyle and Matias Ergo Pro used on eBay. Shopgoodwill.com will sometimes get ergo boards too.

Once I had one of these it was easier for me to see what I liked about it and what I wanted in a keyboard. I use the Goldtouch keyboard at work because it's not too crazy (bless my IT dept for putting up with it...) but ideally I wanted a board that was completely split. So I grabbed a Kinesis Freestyle on ebay and played around with that. Unfortunately I didn't have the tenting kit and tenting was something I needed for comfort.

At this point I wanted a mechanical board and held out a while so I could buy a Gergo. It's a little crazier than the typical keyboard but cheaper than alternatives like the Ergodox. I didn't have thr ability to build my own keyboard at the time and the Gergo could be purchased completed so it seemed like a good fit.

but if you're very hard up on cash you can start with wrist rests (can get them for like $5 on Amazon or eBay, ot even use a rolled up towel), try out a cheap vertical mouse (Amazon has plenty for ~$20), then if you feel you need to do more check out used boards.

If your pain is preventing you from doing everyday activities, I beg you to see a doctor. If I had gotten diagnosed with my issues earlier I probably would have had a significantly easier path to recovery. I have a wrist pain PDF I can share if anyone is interested or worried about pain they're having. It's written from personal experience with several issues but the #1 thing it says is you gotta see a doctor.

oh one last thing, for nearly free you can change your keyboard layout to Dvorak or Colemak! I know Windows has the option to change your input to Dvorak in language input settings. you can buy stickers on Amazon or tape paper with the new layout to your keycaps. these layouts are designed to lessen wrist strain when typing.

[yournewkeyboard]

Everything that gets posted here is like $500 and it makes me furious, all I want is a comfortable, ergonomic mechanical that isn't going to set me back a couple hundred bucks.

Sorry it’s taken so long for me to get to this! I’ve had some issues with typing but we good now.

If you want an ergonomic keyboard but can deal with membrane keys, Goldtouch and Kinesis have options(though Goldtouch’s keyboards are connected with a hinge so you can’t get a ton of distance between the halves). I’ve picked up 2 goldtouch keyboards on ebay for $30 and $38 each, and later got a kinesis freestyle for $37.

Your best bet for an ergonomic mechanical keyboard that isn’t extremely expensive is to get one used. Check eBay and Amazon for pre-owned keyboards. Every so often there will be a Kinesis Advantage or Matias Ergo Pro for sale under $200. If you’re lucky one will pop up for about $100. As of right now I see a Matias on eBay with a buy it now for $119, and there’s a used Ergodox for $163.50 I’ve been watching lmao. I’m not getting it so if you want that one, go ahead.

If you really want a new keyboard for under $200, Amazon also has a mistel barocco for $154.99 (but the price may change in the future, Amazon be like that). There are a couple Koolertron split keyboards for $145 and $170. Either of those could pop up on ebay for less too if you keep an eye out.

Those are some options if you need something right now but if you’re willing to wait and watch listings you can potentially get a better price.

[yournewkeyboard]

Matias Ergo Pro Low Force Keyboard

[yournewkeyboard]

Matias Ergo Pro keyboard

[yournewkeyboard]

My old rec post was a little outdated so here’s an update with additional options!

If you aren’t comfortable building a keyboard yourself, you can take a look at these:

For inexpensive (~$100) there’s the Goldtouch Go!2. Drawbacks are it’s not fully split and kinda cheap feeling, but I use one for work. The Kinesis Freestyle2 is also about the same price, non-mechanical, but fully split and has an optional tenting kit (to slightly tilt the keyboard so it’s high in the center like a tent /\ rather than flat).

For the medium price range of $125-200, there’s the Koolertron split keyboard, the Mistel Barocco, the Kinesis Freestyle Pro (also has a tenting kit), and the Matias Ergo Pro (can be tented slightly or angled forward).

Most expensive are going to be the the Kinesis Edge (again, optional tenting kit), the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard (has cool optional modules for a trackpoint, thumb cluster, or touchpad), the Dygma Raise. If you’re comfortable with a wilder layout, there are the Moonlander and the Ergodox EZ. These two add ergonomic key layouts to the split format.

If you are comfortable building a keyboard yourself, there are some even wilder options. Price is going to vary a lot more depending on the switches, keycaps, and cases you choose so I can’t do a cost breakdown. Instead I’ll go from smallest to greatest deviation from the standard keyboard idea of a keyboard.

The first I would recommend is the Iris. It’s split and has an ergonomic layout but also has a fair number of keys and shouldn’t be too difficult to get used to.

Going a little father is the Lily58. It has 2 extra thumb cluster keys compared to the Iris but it’s a little more compact in design. I have one of these and it’s a fun keyboard to build and use.

Reduce the number of keys and you get the crkbd or “corne” keyboard. It’s very popular and kits can be purchased from a number of sites. There are always new cases available for this one too. Remember that despite having fewer keys you can still access any “missing” keys through the use of layers.

Throw in a couple more keys and you have the Gergo. It’s a fairly priced smaller split keyboard. I believe you can purchase this one prebuilt as well.

The Kyria is another smaller split keyboard but a little curvier than the above keyboards. The curve of the thumb cluster seems to be a nice match for the reach of your thumb.

Up next is the Dactyl. It’s similar to an Ergodox or an Iris but the surface is curved to reduce the distance your fingers must travel to reach the keys.

Building on the Dactyl is the Dactyl Manuform. It has a curved surface but then also curves its thumb clusters down to match the natural range of your thumb’s reach.

That’s about it for the more popular keyboards!

Honorable mention that doesn’t fit in either the above categories goes to the Kinesis Advantage. It’s one piece but has a curved keyboard surface and thumb clusters. From what I’ve heard from people who own these, typing on them is a dream. They’re a little bulky though.

I’ll make a blog page with all this info so it’s easier to find in the future!

actually yeah please DO recommend some nice split keyboards, i've been thinking abt getting one and you sound like a competent person to ask

Sadly they’re usually requesting a regular full or TKL keyboard so it would be rude to jump in with stuff they didn’t ask about. But if anyone doesn’t specify they better watch out 👀

edit: Wait hold up let me link you to a post I made with split keyboard info. Looking for it now.