The issue with kinesis and all those nice small symmetrical keyboards is that not every alphabet is as short as English.
Russian, for example, has 33 letters.
So if you’re someone like that, you really want that ordinary macbook-like number of keys = larger non-symmetrical right half.
—
As for the ortholinear keyboards, I spent a few months with the latest kinesis but sold it eventually: not that comfortable.
Just clench your fist and you will see that not all your fingers are moving in straight parallel lines. I don’t buy the ortho logic at all. I would argue that left half of the ordinary keyboard is even more ergonomic in this sense.
—
Also don’t bother with dvorak, qwerty is 80/20 pareto stuff. Just isn’t worth it compared to returns.
—
Tdlr; split, traditional layout https://uhk.io/ is my best purchase: use it for almost 5(?) years. Modded it for swappable switches, lubed, what have you.
Don’t waste money for uhk riser, not worth it. Small plastic built-in legs are more than enough.
Wooden palm rest is a must though.
—
Previously was a big fan of microsoft split ergonomics (2nd gen and sculpt later)
—
BTW if you use multiple OS, map the ctrl key on windows/linux to the same place where command is on mac. Shortcuts will be the same physical keys, also it is much more comfortable to have this pressed with a thumb instead of a pinky.
Though you would want to buy a rounded key cap (like a spacebar) of you use a mechanical keyboard — it is painful to press the keycap corner with a thumb if it is not rounded.
> The issue with kinesis and all those nice small symmetrical keyboards is that not every alphabet is as short as English.
> Russian, for example, has 33 letters.
Ironically, the biggest enthusiast of these splits I know in real life (he owns a kinesis) is a slavic guy, speaks both Ukranian and Russian, but I suppose he's typing in English for most of the day at his job, however I know he uses layering for the cyrillic.
Yeah, it’s two or three(?) letters that got cut out, one of them is kinda rare.
You can get used to it, but why suffer. Especially if one also uses a laptop.
Other thing that I don’t like in all these small custom keyboards is that most rely on a single spacebar on one half. I learned to use either thumb depending on which next key is: press space with left thumb if next key is on the right half and vice-versa.
—
Also I would urge you to buy a keyboard with arrows keys and extra stuff like home/end
I use uhk 40 and it is fine most of the time since I use vim-motions in my IDEs. But sometimes I just wish they were there.
For example alt-right on mac is to expand all folders recursively in the Finders list view. Just becomes an effing piano if you need to add caps-l to have an arrow in addition to all the alts and shifts.
You can mitigate this with stuff like caps + ; for alt + right arrow (ctrl + right arrow for win), but again, when you need to add shift or not only left/right it gets cumbersome once you are not in the vim-like environment (chats, word, what have you).
tldr; buy uhk 80 nowadays. And an external bluetooth numpad for those days when you need to enter a lot of numbers. Why external? Shorter distance between a keyboard and a mouse — more comfortable and takes less space.
I've been inputting Devanagari with a 30% ortho keyboard lately using QMK. ऐसे अति मुश्किल नहीं है । I have an extra layer for nicher inputs just as I do with my usual Roman text. I'm not aware of any writing systems that normally require multiple layers. The most complex I can think of is Hangul, and they all should translate pretty directly to a smaller keyboard.
I have both a ZSA Moonlander and Voyager. I've used the former for five years or so, and the latter as a travel keyboard for about a year. I'm super happy with them (obviously happy enough to buy a travel version).
I switched to Dvorak at the same time that I switched from row staggered keyboards (so five years ago), and I must say, if you're thinking about switching layouts like that, there is no better time than when switching to a wildly different keyboard. My Dvorak muscle memory is entirely tied to typing on a split, columnar keyboard, and my QWERTY muscle memory is entirely tied to row staggered keyboards. I have never used Dvorak on a row staggered keyboard, and I have never used QWERTY on my Moonlander or Voyager. I think that's helped with maintaining my ability to use standard QWERTY keyboards after not using them regularly for years.
I resent the idea of an absolute standard of ergonomics or typing technique. I often use my left thumb to key z/x/c/v/b. I often reach with my left index finger to key y/h/b. During certain chords, my hands often cross over the split.
I tried multiple split keyboards over the period of 2 years and never grew out of these habits. I always wished, at the least, that some of the middle keys were duplicated between the two halves.
Eventually I received some permission to accept my personal "kinetic signature" (so to speak). Then the chronic wrist pain that led me to try split keyboards in the first place vanished. So I went back to using a normal tenkeyless. This led me to believe that split keyboards were ideal for some people, but that other people (like myself) are predisposed to a sort of perfectionism that entails physical guarding and chronic pain.
I still wish I had a wireless split keyboard for times when I'm supine and need to type, though.
My two cents: The Keychron Q11 is a decent choice for a split keyboard which also has a traditional layout and therefore doesn't require any learning. If you don't like the distance, you _can_ push the pieces back together and they'll just resemble a traditional keyboard. And it's definitely the highest build quality of any keyboard I've used this far in my life.
It seems to have this issue (or maybe Macbooks do? I don't know..) where, waking my computer from sleep, the right side of the keyboard doesn't work. It's quickly fixed by unplugging and replugging the right side of the keyboard into the left, or unplugging and replugging the entire keyboard into the computer.. it's a shame that I have to do that sometimes, though.
This is a summary of Reddit discussions and maker hacks, not of the actual market for ergonomic keyboards. Because the goal of those discussions and hacks is to be distinctive, the summary picture is fascinating but over-complicated.
Kinesis Advantage keyboards have been popular for decades and proven ergonomic benefit - mainly because the cup avoids wrist movement and the high-traffic keys are moved to the stronger thumb. Some users prefer the newer split Professional to avoid constraining arm position. These keyboards stopped my RSI cycle decades ago, and improved my speed by roughly half. (Also a US company, with fantastic support.)
No mention of the Kinesis Advantage 360? I was lucky and scored two of them for free, one from the ergo center at my employer, and one from a generous coworker who didn't vibe with his.
There are a lot of keyboards I'd like to try, but I'm pretty happy with these.
Personally I prefer a keyboard with a gentle curve rather than an actual split - the old Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 was my favourite for many years, but mine have all failed with membrane issues now.
I'm probably going to end up building a custom board with the features I want (gentle curve, ISO layout, nice switches) since what I want doesn't seem to be available off-the-peg. (The X-Bows keyboards are quite nice, but ANSI-only - I've done enough programming to have learned that I'm not prepared to compromise on the position of "\"!)
My kingdom for a split keyboard with a traditional layout. I have no interest in chording, layers, or having fewer keys. No numpad if you must cut something. I just want to spread my arms without any additional novelty. No shortage of “vertical” desk space, give me that F-row
Almost. I own a Mistel MD770 which does a very similar arrangement. I strongly dislike the non standard home/end/pgup/pgdown positioning.
Had you asked me how often I use those keys, I would have said hardly ever. Now that I have to suffer that layout, I have realized they are crucial for my typing/usage patterns.
The F-lock nonsense isn't too awful, you get all of the keys, the layout is pretty standard, you can buy ANSI layout ones in the UK, and there's a full set of meta keys that are usefully symmetrical enough. Also: connects to PC with a wire. No batteries required. (The wonders of modern technology!)
Haven't tried the brown switches.
The red switches are quite light touch with a nice positive action. Very nice to type on for text, where my fingers can get into a good rhythm, but it's a bit too easy to hit the wrong key if I'm going for an arbitrary keyboard shortcut.
The blue switches go click, which feels great to type on, and I've found it does help a bit with the problem of hitting the wrong key (something about the more obvious multimodal feedback gets my subconscious on the job I suppose) - but I never quite got on with the slightly heavier key action.
I used to use the MS Ergo 4000, and I've found this a good replacement. The keyboard layout is very similar, as is the reverse tilt angle, and the palm rest is fine, even if it's IMO inferior to the MS 4000. (But: the MS 4000's reverse tilt stand, a single piece of solid plastic, is significantly more solid than the Perixx's little fold out things. Worth bearing in mind if you're in the habit of resting your elbows on the palm rest when in thought.)
I have multiple of the MSFT Sculpt keyboards. It's wireless. Comes with separate wireless number pad. Now produced by Incase. It has Windows key, but it's easy to remap.
Official name now : Incase Designed By Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Wireless TKL Keyboard
Learning the new layout can be vastly accelerated by doing typing practice slowly, instead of trying to do 100wpm and crashing out. Doing it slowly makes the same brain connections, and you can exponentially ramp the speed up once you get slow reps in.
Same principle as slow practice for music instruments.
I built one of these and I really wanted to love it, but in the end gave up because I just couldn't get comfortable with 3+ layers. On the lookout for a reasonably aesthetic TKL split - at least until I give in and make my own.
I was looking into split ergos a while ago but was bummed by the audiophile-ness of the userbase when doing research. I don't have time or interest to learn new layouts or keymaps or whatever.
Any suggestions of simple split mechanical keyboards with standard (row staggered) layouts that aren't a small fortune?
Probably not a great suggestion these days. Back when I first got carpal tunnel / RSI (1995), I was using an IBM model M - which I loved the feel of. I had a dream of cutting a keyboard in two and hanging two halves off my chair so I could drop my arms to my sides and type that way.
Anyway, after trying a couple of things, Microsoft Natural (the original with backtilt) saved my programming career. I still have "weak" wrists/fingers/forearms, but it's rarely painful enough for me to have to stop working. Adding in some stretches generally makes it so I can survive.
I can type on a normal keyboard for maybe 15 minutes and maybe an hour on a laptop before I just can't anymore. I can generally go most of the day on my Microsoft Natural. Retraining from a regular keyboard layout (took typing in high school - yes, I'm ancient) wasn't hard at all - it's basically the same.
Sure, it's technically not a "split" keyboard - it's still one thing. These days, I buy used examples off ebay, usually 3 at a time, and on some, the typing action is horrible - but I still have a couple of examples that are usable. And I had to find the right ps2->usb adapters for my work setup. If I ever totally run out, my professional coding days are probably done.
Crazy suggestion, just connect two normal keyboards. Particularly if the left one is numpad-less you’ll get much of the idea for sure.
They might be a smidgeon further apart than might be ideal, there’s some ugly duplication… which happens to enforce a minimum distance… just get that shoulder opened up and start evaluating. It’s certainly likely to be more optimal than the status quo.
Might need Karabiner on macOS to keep shortcuts working.
So after almost 50 years of hacking, I'm starting to feel it in my hands. But I don't have any wrist problems -- no carpal tunnel. What I have is tendonitis in my fingers, primarily in my middle fingers and my right pinky (from slamming Enter several million times).
I've had steroid injections into the tendon sheaths of my fingers a couple of times, which hurts like a bugger when it's done but definitely improves things after a few days. It isn't a cure, though, and my hand doctor thinks I'm going to need surgery eventually.
I have to assume that a split keyboard won't help this. Is there anything that might, short of a voice interface?
A split keyboard might still bring you some relief. Modifiers/enter/backspace/etc are usually moved away from your weakest fingers (pinkies) to your strongest (thumbs). I have Ctrl, Alt, backspace, delete, space, enter and shift all on my thumb clusters.
The rabbit hole goes very deep. Another option is home row mods: https://precondition.github.io/home-row-mods. A combination of thumb clusters and home row mods can reduce your finger strain a lot.
Also the type of the key matters for tendonitis. Some have tactile feedback after the key is pressed but well above the bottom so you learn not to bottom out with force.
Lead times are long, and Kinesis products are expensive. It gets a little more bearable if you take into account that you're using this tool 8 hours a day for years and years, but still. Cheaper options exist.
I can't second Kinesis enough. I have been using them for 20 years now. I was starting to have issues and I haven't have a single issue with my hands or wrists since changing over. Also a good vertical mouse will help if you use a mouse much. I use trackballs or vertical mice interchangably.
Ok, fellow old hacker here. I have a similar problem and I found that a lot of the hand pain was from mouse/trackpad usage. My hands have been a lot happier since going to a trackball because I don't do nearly as much gripping and pressing.
I got the Kinesis Gaming split 5 years ago and honestly it has been a game changer. My wrist pain went away, takes about a week to get used to it but it has been a welcome change. I also feel like I can type faster on it.
My shoulders are pretty wide for my frame. When using most laptop keyboards and many standard keyboards, I have to tuck my shoulders in and twist my wrists. This was causing some serious pain and tension in my neck, shoulders, and wrists, likely leading toward carpal tunnel.
I made two different changes in succession that helped greatly (and I don't remember the order now):
1. With a split keyboard, the halves could be placed so my wrists are straight and my arms hold at shoulder-width, and this rapidly reduced the amount of tension I was experiencing and gradually eased my wrist issues. Tenting the keyboard and getting a vertical mouse helped as well, but I'd rate those as minor improvements, especially since I aim not to drive with the mouse as much.
2. With Colemak layout, I was able to gradually transition from QWERTY (there's a series of AHK scripts I found at the time that basically rotated triples of keys). This helped reduce wrist strain at the hand level.
completely anecdotally (sample size of one!) but I found big improvement in comfort and posture when i moved to the kinesis ergo (split, but joined) about 15 years ago.
Eventually I moved to a full split, positioned quite some distance apart (~25cm) and found that even more comfortable.
Always hard to know with stuff like this if you are just imagining it, but for various reasons, I'm pretty convinced it was an improvement for me.
One thing I internalised when speaking with a physiotherapist is that part of avoiding serious issues is making sure you don't stay in the _same_ position for too long. One good ergonomic position is an excellent start, but changing your position several times throughout the work day is even better. This apparently helps avoid building up strain and inflammation in pinch points, balancing out the fatiguing action more.
I have found that my Ergodox allows me to juggle my keyboard halves around the desk at different angles and spaced apart at different widths, and I can put my trackball either to the right of everything or between the halves. It's a single anecdote, obviously, but I have been able to make my ulnar and carpal entrapment issues mostly go away by finding better positions while working and by not staying stuck in one posture or position for too long at a time.
Take a look at ZSAs oryx configurator for Voyager (52 keys) - you'll see some general configs and development ones etc.
In general, for my moonlander I would have the first layer with all the normal alpha numerics and a few symbols like <>?
But the second layer would contain most symbols, arranged/grouped in a manner which was natural for programming - e.g. grouping keys together like (), [], {},
The issue with kinesis and all those nice small symmetrical keyboards is that not every alphabet is as short as English.
Russian, for example, has 33 letters.
So if you’re someone like that, you really want that ordinary macbook-like number of keys = larger non-symmetrical right half.
—
As for the ortholinear keyboards, I spent a few months with the latest kinesis but sold it eventually: not that comfortable.
Just clench your fist and you will see that not all your fingers are moving in straight parallel lines. I don’t buy the ortho logic at all. I would argue that left half of the ordinary keyboard is even more ergonomic in this sense.
—
Also don’t bother with dvorak, qwerty is 80/20 pareto stuff. Just isn’t worth it compared to returns.
—
Tdlr; split, traditional layout https://uhk.io/ is my best purchase: use it for almost 5(?) years. Modded it for swappable switches, lubed, what have you.
Don’t waste money for uhk riser, not worth it. Small plastic built-in legs are more than enough.
Wooden palm rest is a must though.
—
Previously was a big fan of microsoft split ergonomics (2nd gen and sculpt later)
—
BTW if you use multiple OS, map the ctrl key on windows/linux to the same place where command is on mac. Shortcuts will be the same physical keys, also it is much more comfortable to have this pressed with a thumb instead of a pinky.
Though you would want to buy a rounded key cap (like a spacebar) of you use a mechanical keyboard — it is painful to press the keycap corner with a thumb if it is not rounded.
> The issue with kinesis and all those nice small symmetrical keyboards is that not every alphabet is as short as English.
> Russian, for example, has 33 letters.
Ironically, the biggest enthusiast of these splits I know in real life (he owns a kinesis) is a slavic guy, speaks both Ukranian and Russian, but I suppose he's typing in English for most of the day at his job, however I know he uses layering for the cyrillic.
Yeah, it’s two or three(?) letters that got cut out, one of them is kinda rare.
You can get used to it, but why suffer. Especially if one also uses a laptop.
Other thing that I don’t like in all these small custom keyboards is that most rely on a single spacebar on one half. I learned to use either thumb depending on which next key is: press space with left thumb if next key is on the right half and vice-versa.
—
Also I would urge you to buy a keyboard with arrows keys and extra stuff like home/end
I use uhk 40 and it is fine most of the time since I use vim-motions in my IDEs. But sometimes I just wish they were there.
For example alt-right on mac is to expand all folders recursively in the Finders list view. Just becomes an effing piano if you need to add caps-l to have an arrow in addition to all the alts and shifts.
You can mitigate this with stuff like caps + ; for alt + right arrow (ctrl + right arrow for win), but again, when you need to add shift or not only left/right it gets cumbersome once you are not in the vim-like environment (chats, word, what have you).
tldr; buy uhk 80 nowadays. And an external bluetooth numpad for those days when you need to enter a lot of numbers. Why external? Shorter distance between a keyboard and a mouse — more comfortable and takes less space.
I've been inputting Devanagari with a 30% ortho keyboard lately using QMK. ऐसे अति मुश्किल नहीं है । I have an extra layer for nicher inputs just as I do with my usual Roman text. I'm not aware of any writing systems that normally require multiple layers. The most complex I can think of is Hangul, and they all should translate pretty directly to a smaller keyboard.
Any language that has more than 30-35(?) letters needs layers.
Even french and german need layers (shift or right alt) for all the stuff like ß or adding accents like é è ê ë
I love my uhk, I really wish the 60v2 had bluetooth. I really don't wanna fork over the money for a 80v2. :(
I have wired v1 and I really appreciate its wired way.
Every time I used wireless keyboards (microsoft sculpt, latest kinesis advantage), I had issues from time to time.
Come to think of it, only apple magic keyboard never failed me. Though I don’t have many hours with it.
I have both a ZSA Moonlander and Voyager. I've used the former for five years or so, and the latter as a travel keyboard for about a year. I'm super happy with them (obviously happy enough to buy a travel version).
I switched to Dvorak at the same time that I switched from row staggered keyboards (so five years ago), and I must say, if you're thinking about switching layouts like that, there is no better time than when switching to a wildly different keyboard. My Dvorak muscle memory is entirely tied to typing on a split, columnar keyboard, and my QWERTY muscle memory is entirely tied to row staggered keyboards. I have never used Dvorak on a row staggered keyboard, and I have never used QWERTY on my Moonlander or Voyager. I think that's helped with maintaining my ability to use standard QWERTY keyboards after not using them regularly for years.
I resent the idea of an absolute standard of ergonomics or typing technique. I often use my left thumb to key z/x/c/v/b. I often reach with my left index finger to key y/h/b. During certain chords, my hands often cross over the split.
I tried multiple split keyboards over the period of 2 years and never grew out of these habits. I always wished, at the least, that some of the middle keys were duplicated between the two halves.
Eventually I received some permission to accept my personal "kinetic signature" (so to speak). Then the chronic wrist pain that led me to try split keyboards in the first place vanished. So I went back to using a normal tenkeyless. This led me to believe that split keyboards were ideal for some people, but that other people (like myself) are predisposed to a sort of perfectionism that entails physical guarding and chronic pain.
I still wish I had a wireless split keyboard for times when I'm supine and need to type, though.
Curious if there are any split keyboards with "overlap", eg, the center of the keyboard is duplicated on both sides
My two cents: The Keychron Q11 is a decent choice for a split keyboard which also has a traditional layout and therefore doesn't require any learning. If you don't like the distance, you _can_ push the pieces back together and they'll just resemble a traditional keyboard. And it's definitely the highest build quality of any keyboard I've used this far in my life.
It seems to have this issue (or maybe Macbooks do? I don't know..) where, waking my computer from sleep, the right side of the keyboard doesn't work. It's quickly fixed by unplugging and replugging the right side of the keyboard into the left, or unplugging and replugging the entire keyboard into the computer.. it's a shame that I have to do that sometimes, though.
This is a summary of Reddit discussions and maker hacks, not of the actual market for ergonomic keyboards. Because the goal of those discussions and hacks is to be distinctive, the summary picture is fascinating but over-complicated.
Kinesis Advantage keyboards have been popular for decades and proven ergonomic benefit - mainly because the cup avoids wrist movement and the high-traffic keys are moved to the stronger thumb. Some users prefer the newer split Professional to avoid constraining arm position. These keyboards stopped my RSI cycle decades ago, and improved my speed by roughly half. (Also a US company, with fantastic support.)
No mention of the Kinesis Advantage 360? I was lucky and scored two of them for free, one from the ergo center at my employer, and one from a generous coworker who didn't vibe with his.
There are a lot of keyboards I'd like to try, but I'm pretty happy with these.
Personally I prefer a keyboard with a gentle curve rather than an actual split - the old Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 was my favourite for many years, but mine have all failed with membrane issues now.
I'm probably going to end up building a custom board with the features I want (gentle curve, ISO layout, nice switches) since what I want doesn't seem to be available off-the-peg. (The X-Bows keyboards are quite nice, but ANSI-only - I've done enough programming to have learned that I'm not prepared to compromise on the position of "\"!)
The split keyboards with more traditional 92+ keys including 0-9 and F keys are underrepresented in the guide
My kingdom for a split keyboard with a traditional layout. I have no interest in chording, layers, or having fewer keys. No numpad if you must cut something. I just want to spread my arms without any additional novelty. No shortage of “vertical” desk space, give me that F-row
If you're a Mac user, I have a Keychron that fits this description, the Q11. It's basically a split mechanical MacBook keyboard.
Almost. I own a Mistel MD770 which does a very similar arrangement. I strongly dislike the non standard home/end/pgup/pgdown positioning.
Had you asked me how often I use those keys, I would have said hardly ever. Now that I have to suffer that layout, I have realized they are crucial for my typing/usage patterns.
I like these: https://eu.perixx.com/products/periboard-535
The F-lock nonsense isn't too awful, you get all of the keys, the layout is pretty standard, you can buy ANSI layout ones in the UK, and there's a full set of meta keys that are usefully symmetrical enough. Also: connects to PC with a wire. No batteries required. (The wonders of modern technology!)
Haven't tried the brown switches.
The red switches are quite light touch with a nice positive action. Very nice to type on for text, where my fingers can get into a good rhythm, but it's a bit too easy to hit the wrong key if I'm going for an arbitrary keyboard shortcut.
The blue switches go click, which feels great to type on, and I've found it does help a bit with the problem of hitting the wrong key (something about the more obvious multimodal feedback gets my subconscious on the job I suppose) - but I never quite got on with the slightly heavier key action.
I used to use the MS Ergo 4000, and I've found this a good replacement. The keyboard layout is very similar, as is the reverse tilt angle, and the palm rest is fine, even if it's IMO inferior to the MS 4000. (But: the MS 4000's reverse tilt stand, a single piece of solid plastic, is significantly more solid than the Perixx's little fold out things. Worth bearing in mind if you're in the habit of resting your elbows on the palm rest when in thought.)
I have multiple of the MSFT Sculpt keyboards. It's wireless. Comes with separate wireless number pad. Now produced by Incase. It has Windows key, but it's easy to remap.
Official name now : Incase Designed By Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Wireless TKL Keyboard
https://www.incase.com/products/sculpt-ergonomic-keyboard
(In Canada, only available at Bestbuy)
Learning the new layout can be vastly accelerated by doing typing practice slowly, instead of trying to do 100wpm and crashing out. Doing it slowly makes the same brain connections, and you can exponentially ramp the speed up once you get slow reps in.
Same principle as slow practice for music instruments.
I built one of these and I really wanted to love it, but in the end gave up because I just couldn't get comfortable with 3+ layers. On the lookout for a reasonably aesthetic TKL split - at least until I give in and make my own.
I was looking into split ergos a while ago but was bummed by the audiophile-ness of the userbase when doing research. I don't have time or interest to learn new layouts or keymaps or whatever.
Any suggestions of simple split mechanical keyboards with standard (row staggered) layouts that aren't a small fortune?
Probably not a great suggestion these days. Back when I first got carpal tunnel / RSI (1995), I was using an IBM model M - which I loved the feel of. I had a dream of cutting a keyboard in two and hanging two halves off my chair so I could drop my arms to my sides and type that way.
Anyway, after trying a couple of things, Microsoft Natural (the original with backtilt) saved my programming career. I still have "weak" wrists/fingers/forearms, but it's rarely painful enough for me to have to stop working. Adding in some stretches generally makes it so I can survive.
I can type on a normal keyboard for maybe 15 minutes and maybe an hour on a laptop before I just can't anymore. I can generally go most of the day on my Microsoft Natural. Retraining from a regular keyboard layout (took typing in high school - yes, I'm ancient) wasn't hard at all - it's basically the same.
Sure, it's technically not a "split" keyboard - it's still one thing. These days, I buy used examples off ebay, usually 3 at a time, and on some, the typing action is horrible - but I still have a couple of examples that are usable. And I had to find the right ps2->usb adapters for my work setup. If I ever totally run out, my professional coding days are probably done.
Crazy suggestion, just connect two normal keyboards. Particularly if the left one is numpad-less you’ll get much of the idea for sure.
They might be a smidgeon further apart than might be ideal, there’s some ugly duplication… which happens to enforce a minimum distance… just get that shoulder opened up and start evaluating. It’s certainly likely to be more optimal than the status quo.
Might need Karabiner on macOS to keep shortcuts working.
So after almost 50 years of hacking, I'm starting to feel it in my hands. But I don't have any wrist problems -- no carpal tunnel. What I have is tendonitis in my fingers, primarily in my middle fingers and my right pinky (from slamming Enter several million times).
I've had steroid injections into the tendon sheaths of my fingers a couple of times, which hurts like a bugger when it's done but definitely improves things after a few days. It isn't a cure, though, and my hand doctor thinks I'm going to need surgery eventually.
I have to assume that a split keyboard won't help this. Is there anything that might, short of a voice interface?
A split keyboard might still bring you some relief. Modifiers/enter/backspace/etc are usually moved away from your weakest fingers (pinkies) to your strongest (thumbs). I have Ctrl, Alt, backspace, delete, space, enter and shift all on my thumb clusters.
Here's an example of what that might look like: https://kinesis-ergo.com/wp-content/uploads/KB360-GBR_FRONT-... (though in the default configuration, shift is still on your pinky; you can customize this on most keyboards, or on OS level).
The rabbit hole goes very deep. Another option is home row mods: https://precondition.github.io/home-row-mods. A combination of thumb clusters and home row mods can reduce your finger strain a lot.
Also the type of the key matters for tendonitis. Some have tactile feedback after the key is pressed but well above the bottom so you learn not to bottom out with force.
https://kinesis-ergo.com/products/#keyboards
(They used to have low-force options; perhaps all are low-force now?)
Kinesis also offers custom switch options through Upgrade Keyboards: https://upgradekeyboards.com/collections/kinesis-advantage36...
Lead times are long, and Kinesis products are expensive. It gets a little more bearable if you take into account that you're using this tool 8 hours a day for years and years, but still. Cheaper options exist.
I can't second Kinesis enough. I have been using them for 20 years now. I was starting to have issues and I haven't have a single issue with my hands or wrists since changing over. Also a good vertical mouse will help if you use a mouse much. I use trackballs or vertical mice interchangably.
Ok, fellow old hacker here. I have a similar problem and I found that a lot of the hand pain was from mouse/trackpad usage. My hands have been a lot happier since going to a trackball because I don't do nearly as much gripping and pressing.
Also, a vertical mouse works wonders for similar mouse-related tendon issues.
The angle / position your wrist is when your fingers need to do these lateral movements could be more or less taxing depending.
My dream is to use this kind of keyboard with my MacBook on my lap. Has anyone tried this?
I got the Kinesis Gaming split 5 years ago and honestly it has been a game changer. My wrist pain went away, takes about a week to get used to it but it has been a welcome change. I also feel like I can type faster on it.
What about when you’re on the go? Or can we presume split-keyboard users never leave the house
I travel with my Ferris Sweep, 2.5" drive travel case is a perfect fit.
https://github.com/davidphilipbarr/Sweep
https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Waterproof-5-5x3-5x1-0inch-Acce...
I suffer with my MBP keyboard on the go. When I get home my UHK is like a breath of fresh air.
The main question should be: are split keyboards any better than normal keyboard?
When I gave it a look, the studies were on the side of split keyboards being the hardware equivalent of snake oil.
But whatever.
And maybe then: are keyboards the best input device in 2026?
I can speak anecdotally, at least.
My shoulders are pretty wide for my frame. When using most laptop keyboards and many standard keyboards, I have to tuck my shoulders in and twist my wrists. This was causing some serious pain and tension in my neck, shoulders, and wrists, likely leading toward carpal tunnel.
I made two different changes in succession that helped greatly (and I don't remember the order now):
1. With a split keyboard, the halves could be placed so my wrists are straight and my arms hold at shoulder-width, and this rapidly reduced the amount of tension I was experiencing and gradually eased my wrist issues. Tenting the keyboard and getting a vertical mouse helped as well, but I'd rate those as minor improvements, especially since I aim not to drive with the mouse as much.
2. With Colemak layout, I was able to gradually transition from QWERTY (there's a series of AHK scripts I found at the time that basically rotated triples of keys). This helped reduce wrist strain at the hand level.
Another shoulder anecdote... I also really appreciated being able to open up my shoulders.
I was once amused by a friend that had never seen a split keyboard before - they were mostly delighted with having a place to put their coffee...
for me its the outside angle between my wrist and my forearm. When I any of my splits it removes the angle entirely, and the pain for me is gone.
completely anecdotally (sample size of one!) but I found big improvement in comfort and posture when i moved to the kinesis ergo (split, but joined) about 15 years ago.
Eventually I moved to a full split, positioned quite some distance apart (~25cm) and found that even more comfortable.
Always hard to know with stuff like this if you are just imagining it, but for various reasons, I'm pretty convinced it was an improvement for me.
Maybe it depends on your individual anatomy, and the sensitivity of it to stresses?
Anyway, the fact alone that you have less bend in the joints of your hands, if used right, seems to avoid all sorts of carpal-tunnel syndrome?
One thing I internalised when speaking with a physiotherapist is that part of avoiding serious issues is making sure you don't stay in the _same_ position for too long. One good ergonomic position is an excellent start, but changing your position several times throughout the work day is even better. This apparently helps avoid building up strain and inflammation in pinch points, balancing out the fatiguing action more.
I have found that my Ergodox allows me to juggle my keyboard halves around the desk at different angles and spaced apart at different widths, and I can put my trackball either to the right of everything or between the halves. It's a single anecdote, obviously, but I have been able to make my ulnar and carpal entrapment issues mostly go away by finding better positions while working and by not staying stuck in one posture or position for too long at a time.
Can somebody recommend a layout for a programmer for a 54 key kyeboard?
Take a look at ZSAs oryx configurator for Voyager (52 keys) - you'll see some general configs and development ones etc.
In general, for my moonlander I would have the first layer with all the normal alpha numerics and a few symbols like <>?
But the second layer would contain most symbols, arranged/grouped in a manner which was natural for programming - e.g. grouping keys together like (), [], {},
Analog desktop synthesisers localise signal to noise ratio as 1:1.
A 2KH sin wave sampling at 1000 Hz reconstructs to 1000 Hz.
Prepare your wallets....