Have you used the Kinesis advantage (pro) or the Goldtouch

Question

Has anyone actually used either the Kinesis advantage keyboard (pro or not) or the Goldtouch?

I'm looking for feed back on how easy you found it to adapt to using either of them and how you feel they helped (or not) when it came to coding?

I've read the questions about "which is the best keyboard for coding" etc and both of these keyboards get mentions but no one really explained why they were reccomending these ones?

The Kinesis looks very interesting but is far to expensive for me to just buy it and try it without some feedback from an actual user. Much of what I've found online is around 5 years old.

Answer 1

I have used both.

I used a GoldTouch for a year and a half or so which my employer bought for me, but then went to a new job and requested a Kinesis Advantage and they got it for me. I have since purchased two Advantages for myself (so I provided my own at a subsequent new job). In fact, I think I also own a GoldTouch but now that I'm thinking about it I can't remember where it is. Maybe my partner took it to her job to use (she also has another for her Mac, which has a slightly different key layout).

The Advantage is amazing. I remap a couple of the keys to work better for me (for instance, I always pressed the wrong arrow when moving up and down, so I just swapped them. I also remap CapsLock to Escape as I'm a Vim user). However, it is expensive. The footswitch(es) that you can get are also pretty cool but I've never really used them much. I really like the fact that the key columns are straight up and down; one of the things that really started bugging me about "normal" keyboards (incl. the GoldTouch) was that my left hand always felt like it had to move at a severe angle to go from the home row to the top row of keys.

The GoldTouch is also great and much less expensive. I always wished that it could be spread more but as it was it did a great job of alleviating the RSI strain. I really liked that they put they put some "action" keys (home, end, pgup, pgdn maybe?) on the left of the keyboard.

Both of these suffer from a lack of a number pad. That's rarely a problem but annoying when it comes up. Both have a built-in number pad but using it is less than stellar. At least, I think the GoldTouch has a built in one. Maybe I'm misremembering.

I use(d) both of these as Dvorak keyboards, but I don't spring the extra dough for the legends since I never look at anything but the shifted numbers.

I also got some ErgoRest arm rests. Those, too, are great, but some desks are hostile to them.

Answer 2

Neither

Honestly the IBM Model "M" keyboard was about as good as it gets. The ergonomic or split keyboards are only good if you only use that one and have perfect typing technique. Especially when programming the perfect technique will often go out the into in favor of speed and being able to eat while type with three fingers of one hand.

Not to mention the fact the if you end up ever using someone else keyboard you will have a hard time, just like if someone tried to use your ergonomic monster.

Answer 3

I use a Goldtouch at work and home, and I find it simply amazing. I have severe arthritis in my hands, and it's been a great relief for the stress of typing on a normal keyboard. It's not a perfect setup (I'd prefer to try something more vertical), but the general position is much more comfortable than standard ergonomic keyboards.

It took me a little while to get used to the lack of number-pad, but it hasn't really hampered my programming.

I also don't have much problem going from a Goldtouch to a standard keyboard. I use a laptop regularly (much to my aching hands' chagrin :), so going and forth isn't terribly difficult. If you have occasional exposure to a standard keyboard, I don't think you'll become fully dependent on it.

Answer 4

I've got the Kinesis Advantage, one at work and one at home. I got it because the "natural" style keyboards just didn't cut it ergonomically for me anymore and I easily got pain in my wrists. I do touch-type and it took me a couple of days to adjust to the new key positions, especially that of the space key. I often pressed backspace (left thumb) instead of space (right thumb) in the beginning.

In addition to changing keyboard, I also changed my keyboard layout to a Swedish version of Dvorak, with most special (programming) characters as combinations of Alt and letter keys, which made them easier to reach. I reprogrammed the keyboard to have Alt as the End (left thumb) and Page Down (right thumb) keys to make it easily reachable. To be honest, I don't think changing the keyboard layout gives as much of an advantage on the Kinesis keyboard since all keys are more easily reachable anyway.

I can't really say that the Advantage has helped my actual programming all that much, except for the fact that I can actually work with it all day now.

Answer 5

This i a late response that I'm typing on my kinesis advantage. I've uses these keyboards for several years. I have three of them and would use non other. I used to have RSI issues while using a regular keyboard and mouse. Hence, I use a Cirque touch pad (ergonomictouchpad.com) mounted in the center of the keyboard. This proves to be a great arrangement. It took me a couple of days to a week to get used to the keyboard. It is easy to get accustomed to it. Once you get used to it you would never go back to a regular keyboard. The macro feature is fantastic. I program several macro's to perform repetitive typing.

This keyboard saved my career. I'm a professional software engineer/architect. Although these keyboard cost a couple of hundred dollars, the cost is nothing compared to the earnings of an entire career and saving your career.

Answer 6

Goldtouch for me. Before that I had a series of Logitech ergonomic keyboards (still use one of those at home).

What's so great about the Goldtouch is that you can change the splay of the two halves, so if you find your wrists getting 'tired', you can fiddle around for something different.

Typing here at my desk, I have my elbows resting on the armrests, and keys typing 'freely' on the keys - the Goldtouch is too high for me to rest my wrists anywhere (which is a good thing).

Now the only RSI-type pain I have is when I over do it with the mouse (and in that case I just swap hands for a day or two...)

Answer 7

Kinesis Advantage:

Feeling is great on the high quality mechanical keys. The contour design does make typing more comfortable after I got used to the layout -- which was quite a long time.

Adaptation period was not negligible. It took me about 2 - 3 weeks of casual typing (i.e. switching back to flat keyboards when the need arose) to get back to normal typing speed.

One big thing about the Advantage is the placement of the Ctrl key -- using the thumb to press Ctrl alleviates a significant amount of pinky pain I have as a Vim user.

Here is my blog post summarized above.