Hand in glove: how to put it on

The Ion comes in three pieces: A stretchy half-glove, a tiny wireless receiver, and a mini USB cable for charging the built-in battery.  A Velcro wrist strap secures the glove on your hand.  Your index finger slips through two other straps which form a sort of tube or sleeve on the end of a curly cable.  These straps only need to be adjusted once – presuming you don’t share the device with someone who has differently-sized fingers.

How to move the pointer, without falling in the floor

And now the question everyone is asking: How in the world do you move a mouse pointer in any meaningful way using hand signals?  As crazy as it sounds, using the Ion is as simple as waving your hand in the air and watching the mouse pointer follow your movements.  Physical up is up and down is down, no matter what way you cock the unit, so you can operate from any position that you find comfortable.

As you might expect with a device like this, precise movement is an issue.  To get satisfactory accuracy, it’s necessary to turn down the mouse pointer speed in your control panel.  Even then, learning to maneuver accurately takes patience and practice.

There is also a tendency for your arm to “drift” while using the Ion.  This is similar to  ”running out of mouse pad,” with a regular mouse and having to reset your position.  As you use the Air mouse, you may find your hand climbing or sinking steadily to the point where it gets quite uncomfortable, and finally you have to reset by pushing the pointer against the edge of the screen.

While there is no real fix for the problem of drift, there is an easier way to deal with it than doing the upper-body twist.  The red-rimmed button on the Ion pauses all operations – an indispensable feature, as we will see later.  This is one situation where it comes in handy.  Instead of cornering the pointer while you haul your arm back to earth, you can simply put the Ion on pause and then move your hand to wherever you want it.

How to c-c-c-lick

Clicking with the Air mouse is easy; it’s clicking on what you’re aiming at that presents a challenge!  The Ion’s click buttons – tiny plastic things not resembling any standard mouse button – are positioned on the outside of the index finger sleeve.  You click, right-click, and pause by squeezing the appropriate button between your pointer and thumb.

Clicking the buttons requires some force – not enough to be difficult, but just enough to jar your hand at a very inopportune moment. It’s like someone tapping your shoulder while you’re shooting skeet, throwing you off just enough to let the clay pigeon get away.  To make matters worse, you’re likely as not to end up shooting the wrong pigeon - such as clicking the X to close a window when you only meant to minimize it.

Left click, right click, and pause buttons are actuated with the thumb

Once again, the solution to this problem is mostly practice – and turning down that mouse pointer speed in the control panel.  I’ve also found that it helps to rest your thumb on the desired button while moving the mouse.  This reduces the shake factor by eliminating the need to close your whole hand while hovering.

As a last resort, you can try pausing the mouse before coming down with the click button.  Since the pause itself is just like a click, this won’t help much with accuracy, but it will at least help prevent clicking on the wrong thing.

Comfort level

Since the Ion Wireless Air Mouse is a nice soft glove, I would like to say that it is lavishly comfortable to wear.  Unfortunately, it just isn’t – at least for me.  After five minutes with the thing on my hand, I have only one thought: When can I take this off?  The problem for me is mainly in the seam between the first and middle fingers, which is quite large and irritates the skin in that area.  This also makes typing uncomfortable.  I should note, however, that my hands are more sensitive than most – so as always, your mileage may vary.

Ergonomics

Bellco Ventures, exclusive distributors of the Ion Wireless Air mouse, make no claim (as far as I can tell) that the device is ergonomically beneficial.  Most reviewers, however, seem to automatically refer to it as an “ergonomic” device.  There may indeed be some benefit in simply getting your hand away from a traditional mouse and manipulating your computer with unusual motions.  Personally, however, I don’t find that the Ion makes my arm more comfortable.  If anything, I tense up while using it due to the accuracy issue.

Useful applications

If the Ion is unhelpful for ergonomics in most standard situations, what is it good for?  Quite a bit, actually.

Presentations with full control

With an effective range of up to 35 feet, the Ion is ideal for remotely controlling a computer while giving a presentation, either on screen or through a projector.  Unlike a standard presentation remote, the Ion acts a full-featured mouse, which gives you greater control over the program than the previous-slide and next-slide provided by most presentation remotes.

Games

While I myself am not a computer gamer, those who are may appreciate the Ion Wireless Air mouse.  By unchaining the user from the mouse and therefore the desk, the Ion makes it easy to play simple games (golf and cards in the example videos) from the comfort of your favorite chair, without a dedicated game controller.

Couch computing

Who says you can’t be productive while slouching on the couch?  Okay, realistically, you probably can’t be all that productive for long-term work.  But, armed with an Ion Wireless Air mouse, you can at least back away from your big-screen computer or TV for short, simple tasks like Internet browsing.

Tech support

If you’re a computer tech, or work in any context where you provide on-site help to users, you know how difficult it can be when you need to point something out and have to reach around the client to grab the mouse.  Equipped with an Ion, you can easily step in and take control without having to crawl across a desk or practice your arm hyper-extension skills.

Don’t throw away your mouse just yet

The Ion Wireless Air mouse is suitable for what it says on the tin: Presentations and other big-screen, short-term applications – situations where mobility is a must and precise accuracy is not so important.  For an ergonomic mouse replacement, I would stick with something more conventional such as the Evoluent or the Handshoe.  Leave the Ion in the conference center and the game room, where its mobility and flexibility are hard to beat.

Disclosure: This review was made with a complimentary sample from Bellco Ventures.

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Big trackball, big benefits

The first prototypical trackball, invented in far-off 1952, used an actual regulation bowling ball for its business end.  In a smaller scale of the same sporting tradition, the ball of the Expert Mouse is identical in size to one used for billiards – literally identical; on the old mechanical Expert model  you could actually substitute a billiard ball and it would still work.  This jumbo sized ball is a large part of what makes the Expert Mouse worth its considerable price tag.

The Kensington Expert Mouse trackball used in this review.

Generally speaking, input devices are considered more ergonomic when they can be driven with big motions of large muscle groups, and less ergonomic when they must be manipulated with minute movements of weaker muscles.  To illustrate this, imagine trying to do CAD with a tiny, thumb-operated trackball or finger joystick such as the ones featured on early laptops.  I don’t know about you, but just thinking about it makes my finger hurt.  In contrast, the large ball of the Expert can easily be driven with three fingers, your whole hand, or even your whole arm.  These motions are not only expansive and easy to do, they’re also easy to change up while you work – helping to undermine the “repetitive” in Repetitive Strain Injury.

If you have a large monitor, you’ll appreciate the ability of the Expert Mouse to cover ground with just a slight push of its large ball.  If you have several large monitors, the ability of a trackball to spin infinitely – where a mouse would hit the edge of the pad and have to be reset – is nearly indispensable.

Most importantly for the Photoshopper set, the size of the Expert Mouse increases its potential for precision.  Trackballs in general are not very accurate, but the Expert is precise enough that many people have reported being able to do pixel-perfect work with the thing.  This is, of course, very much YMMV.  Personally, I’m keeping my Wacom tablet handy for the fine details.

Padded wrist rest

The wrist rest attachment plate, shown here already pegged onto the trackball body, holds the wrist rest with two plastic posts.

The Kensington Expert Mouse doesn’t have a hand-conforming shape, and thus gives no clue as to where your hand should park while using it.  By default your wrist is likely to end up on the desk, which is bad – and bent back due to the slope of the trackball, which is worse.

Enter the padded wrist rest provided with the Expert – big enough to accommodate any choice of operating position, and thick enough to reduce back-bending on the wrist.  It’s spongy soft compared to many wrist rests, and covered with a smooth leatherette-type surface similar to that of the Microsoft Natural 4000 keyboard.

The downside, if there is one, is less than consequential.  The wrist rest – which looks like it should nest tightly over the front of the trackball but doesn’t – is attached by a thin plastic plate.  With its four short posts sticking up, this plate reminds me very much of the display stands used with small action figures.  It also feels like that grade of quality.  Provided you don’t pop the wrist pad off  on a daily basis, though, you should be fine.  There are no inherent stresses of use on this component that I can see.

Merrily we scroll along

Or not so merrily.  There’s good news and bad news about the Expert’s scroll wheel.  The good news is, it has one.  Most trackballs don’t, instead using the ball itself for scrolling when a special combination of buttons is pressed.  As I mentioned in my review of another wheel-less device, the 3M ergonomic mouse, I think scroll wheels are pretty important.  That’s one reason I love the Kensington Orbit - a smaller, less-expensive cousin of the Expert Mouse that features a slick scroll ring around its ball.  Having used this device, I was disappointed and puzzled by the wheel on the twice-more-costly Expert Mouse.  The bad news, you see, is that the wheel on this trackball grinds, with a sound and feel that many users describe as sand in the bearings.  Worse, it seems to skip, stick, and pause for breath during use – leaving me with a profound lack of confidence that it will actually work when required.

The best I can say about this scroll wheel is, it’s better than nothing.  I’ll probably never understand why Kensington could not simply enlarge the wheel from the Orbit and mate it to the Expert for an incomparable trackball experience.

Programmable buttons

Where many trackballs skimp on the number of buttons available due to their shape and size, the Expert Mouse features a respectable four buttons.  Better yet, it’s compatible with the latest upgraded version of Kensington’s free TrackballWorks software.  Running in the background of your Windows or Apple computer, this program enables you not only to adjust things like the pointer speed and acceleration, but also to reprogram the four buttons any way you like.  I, for example, set the top-right button to primary click so I could hit it with my strong middle finger and avoid wearing out my thumb on the default bottom-left click setting.

You can remap and reassign buttons on the Expert Mouse with the free Kensington TrackballWorks software. Shown here are the settings I created.

Combinations of buttons are also supported through TrackballWorks.  I created a behavior to register double-click when the top two buttons are pressed at once, and found it worked quite well.  You can also map these combinations to different system actions and commands, such as starting a frequently-used program or minimizing all windows.  In case you’re wondering, you don’t have to press both buttons in the same nanosecond; the software is quite smart about distinguishing concurrent clicks.  I do wish that Kensington would expand the combinations available, allowing custom actions for both right buttons, both left buttons, and even diagonal mixups.  Currently you’re limited to the top and bottom pairs only.

No go for on the go

Portability is not a strong point of the cumbersome Expert Mouse, particularly if you use the wrist rest with its flimsy attachment plate.  Even if you don’t, there’s still the problem of the ball.  Unlike any other trackball I know of, the Expert holds its ball in by gravity alone.  Turn over the body and out comes the ball, ready for a game of billiards – or more likely hide and seek, as the surprised user hunts for it under the desk.  While this “easy” removal is great for the occasional cleaning all trackballs require, it makes the Expert Mouse a two-piece carry – one piece of which will always be trying to roll away.

If mobile work is your thing, do yourself a favor and get a Kensington Orbit Scroll, that smaller cousin we talked about earlier.  With its low profile and tight construction, the Orbit is perfect for portable situations (and not half bad for primary desktop use, by the way).

My takeaway

People switch to trackballs for a lot of reasons.  Reduced wrist motion, easy movement over multiple screens, and desk space economy are some of the most common.  In all of these areas, the Kensington Expert Mouse hits it out of the park.  The scroll wheel issue is a drawback, but in my opinion not necessarily a deal-killer.  The Expert is comfortable to use, very cool, and even a little bit fun.  If there’s a trackball in your future, it’s definitely worth considering the Kensington Expert Mouse.

Disclosure: This review was made with a complimentary sample from Kensington, which I gave to another person after finishing the review.

Read reviews and shop for the Kensington Expert Mouse on Amazon >>

The angle of attack

It may not be obvious at first glance, but the Goldtouch is what might be termed a semi-vertical mouse.  Vertical mouse designs address the problem of hand-flattening, the wrist-twisting posture induced by most conventional mice.  Ergonomists generally agree that palm-down mousing is bad, but disagree on the best alternative.  The most obvious approach, and the one adopted by outright vertical mice such as the Evoluent, is to pull the user’s hand up into a “handshake” position, 90 degrees from the work surface.  While this design untwists the wrist nicely, it can result in greater required “pinch” force to move and click the mouse.  Additionally, you lose the benefit of gravity when pressing mouse buttons sideways, subtly increasing the force required for an action repeated hundreds of times a day.

A 24 degree horizontal slope helps to keep the user's wrist and hand in a more natural position.

A different and possibly more sophisticated approach is to compromise between totally flat and vertical.  Research indicates that an angle of about 20-30 degrees untwists the wrist acceptably without running into the drawbacks of the vertical design.  The Goldtouch, like the Contour mouse, uses this alternate approach.  The angle is so subtle that many users may never notice it, but they will likely notice the increased comfort and the more “natural” feel of the Goldtouch mouse.

Familiar design

If you’ve used an ordinary mouse – and who reading this hasn’t? – you should have no significant trouble adjusting to the Goldtouch.  While its design encourages the “optimal” practice of mousing from the elbow rather than from the wrist, it doesn’t force any particular approach on the user.  For this reason, there really shouldn’t be much of an adjustment period, for most users, with the Goldtouch mouse.

Comfort coated

Cold plastic just isn’t very inviting.  A design may be shaped perfectly, but if its surface isn’t pleasant to touch, it will cause discomfort and be bad for ergonomics.  I’m not sure what they call the particular material used on the top and thumb side of the Goldtouch.  It’s a smooth, slightly tacky black rubber texture that I find very comfortable for the fingers.

Aesthetically pleasing

This really is one nice looking mouse

While the looks of a device have absolutely nothing to do with ergonomics – unless the user is outrageously suggestive – the Goldtouch is not afflicted with the ungainliness of certain other ergonomic mice.  It’s not wide like the Handshoe, long like the AirO2bic, or joysticky like the 3M ergonomic mouse.  There’s no “what-is-THAT-on-your-desk” effect with a Goldtouch mouse.  Rather, it’s an extraordinarily good-looking device, with nice contours and a black on silver finish to complement your existing setup.

A thumb nook

In my opinion, a integrated thumb rest should be a no-brainer for mouse designers.  There is just no reason I can think of why the thumb needs to tough it out hanging in midair when it might just as easily be parked in a safe, comfortable nook along the side of the mouse.  The Goldtouch mouse excels in thumb comfort by providing such a resting spot, lined with the same rubberized material that covers the top of the unit.

A word of caution for small handers

Some people have complained that the Goldtouch mouse is too big for them.  There is nothing anybody can do about this, unfortunately, because Goldtouch doesn’t offer a size selection.  The mouse either fits you or it doesn’t – unless, of course, you have some way to change the size of your hand.  My hands are fairly large, and I find the Goldtouch a good fit.  Ladies, or people with small hands, might want to look at a mouse with multiple size choices, such as the Contour Design Perfit mouse.

Overall, another great Goldtouch product

Coming from the same company that brought us the famous Goldtouch keyboard, the Goldtouch mouse doesn’t disappoint.  Well-designed on sound ergonomic principles, it presents a normal look and an easy adjustment for any user.  It’s also more affordable than major competitors, at less than $60 as of this writing.  Highly recommended.

Disclosure: This review was made using a complimentary sample from Goldtouch, which I gave to another person after finishing the review.

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The problem of QWERTY

Even a cursory glance at any ordinary computer keyboard reveals one obvious fact about the QWERTY layout: It makes no sense whatsoever.  The most commonly used letters are scattered around a seemingly randomized field of keys, making the layout difficult to learn and difficult to use.

Contrary to a popular notion, the ancient QWERTY layout was not specifically designed to be awkward and slow for typists.  (If it had been, E would be where P is, and Z would replace F under the index finger.)  Rather, this awkward layout was necessary to prevent keys from jamming in the early 1870′s typewriters.  Key jamming hasn’t been a concern since the development of electric typewriters, but QWERTY shows no signs of going away any time soon.  It’s the ultimate self-perpetuating monopoly: Everybody knows QWERTY, so virtually all keyboards are made that way, so everybody learns QWERTY to use the existing keyboards, so everybody knows QWERTY, and so on.

Various insurgent movements have attempted to replace QWERTY with something easier to learn and use.  To date, these efforts have made about the same impact on typing that Esperanto has made on language – that is, almost no impact at all, compared to the vast number of users in the mainstream.  The first and most famous such alternative system is called Dvorak for the professor who introduced it in the 1930′s.  Backed by significant research and testing, Dvorak claimed to increase efficiency and make typing easier to learn.  If QWERTY ever was to be conquered, this would have been the time.  Dvorak typists demonstrated the layout’s superiority by winning a series of typing speed contests, but the QWERTY-entrenched world barely noticed (except to ban Dvorak from competition, a grossly unfair move that was soon rescinded).

With the advent of computers, it has become possible – even trivial – for individual users to declare Layout Independence and chuck QWERTY for a high-efficiency option such as Dvorak.  Many have done just that, including well-known tech figures such as Apple patriarch Steve Wozniak and WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg.

My experience with Dvorak

After thinking about it carefully, I decided a few weeks ago to try Dvorak.  I did this not so much because of the purported ergonomic benefits, but because of the increased speed potential.  At a peak 80 words per minute or so, I am a relatively fast typist, but my speediest work is pathetic compared to that of accomplished Dvorak users.  The Guinness World Record holder for typing speed – a Dvorak typist, naturally – was clocked at a peak two hundred and twelve words in one minute, and could sustain a blistering 150 words per minute.  (Needless to say, she was much in demand as a secretary.)

The Dvorak keyboard layout. Image courtesy Wikipedia.

The idea of being able to type at even 100 WPM, plus the ergonomic advantage, made me willing to at least kick the tires on Dvorak.  I installed the layout, which is included with Windows, and ran through some training.

My experience with Dvorak was, in a word, short.  Although I pick up new things fairly easily, I had forgotten how many years of concentrated effort were required to achieve my current speed on QWERTY.  Getting up to – let alone past – that level with Dvorak would have taken, optimistically, 40 otherwise unproductive hours – perhaps much more.  Then there is also the problem of keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl-X and Ctrl-C, which were designed for QWERTY and are not easy to do one-handed on Dvorak.

On to Colemak

After the short Dvorak experiment, I went back with relief to awkward old QWERTY and continued as before until a commenter on this blog put a bug in my ear about Colemak.  I had always assumed that Colemak was just another funky Dvorak lookalike.  Upon closer examination, I liked what I saw.  Where Dvorak moves nearly everything on the keyboard and makes no allowance for standard Ctrl shortcuts, Colemak is designed to be easily adopted by QWERTY typists and accommodates the most common keyboard shortcuts.  Only 17 keys are moved from the standard layout – sixteen letters and Semicolon.  The resulting arrangement is impressively ergonomic-looking, with a litany of the most common letters occupying the home row.

Colemak keyboard layout. Image courtesy Wikipedia.

After a brief trial which convinced me that Colemak would be much easier to pick up than Dvorak, I swapped out 17 keycaps on my Kinesis Freestyle keyboard and went cold turkey.  (Some people recommend against switching all at once, but personally I don’t think I could ever develop the reflexes for a new layout while continuing to type on QWERTY at the same time.)  The adjustment period started out approximately like I expected.  By the end of the day, as I mentioned above, I was heavily fatigued – extending to back and wrist pain from the tension of trying to rework so many brain wires at once.  But I could tell I was making progress.  Common key sequences like T-I-O-N and I-N-G were starting to coalesce in my mind, gradually nudging aside the long-ingrained QWERTY reflexes.

So, why am I writing this on QWERTY?

Today I’m back on the standard layout.  While I can’t predict the future, I don’t foresee ever toying with alternate systems again.  This was not brought on by the adjustment period, which I am confident that I could handle.  It was brought on by something I never thought of until I actually started using Colemak, something that has to do with a basic principle of high efficiency keyboard layouts.

Among other things, Dvorak and Colemak postulate that the most commonly struck keys should be placed on the home row.  I always accepted this logical-sounding notion at face value, until I tried it and found that I actually don’t like it.  You see, I don’t keep my fingers on the normal home positions while typing.  Prompted by an ergonomic trick I read about years ago, I let them stay where they naturally fall when uncurled.  This means that my left middle finger, for instance, parks on E instead of D most of the time, and my right ring finger resides on O instead of L.  As I grew accustomed to Colemak, I began to realize that my longer fingers were feeling cramped.  The layout was doing its job of keeping my fingers on the home row, but the constant curling was doing a job on my fingers.

So here I am, happily pecking away on my 1870′s QWERTY layout, in yet another illustration of the fact that ergonomics is not about following the latest trends.  It’s not about doing what some book told you was the best idea.  It’s about finding what works for you, personally, for the long term.

In my case, QWERTY works.

The Goldtouch V2 keyboard in a typical operating position.

Some keyboard history

As keyboards go, the Goldtouch has an interesting story.  Its original version was developed in 1992 by a manufacturing trio that included Lexmark and IBM.  It was marketed as the Lexmark Ease M15 .   In an era when boring beige keyboards ruled the land, the M15 sported an innovative ergonomic split design similar to the Goldtouch of today, only with a round adjustment knob in the center instead of a handle on the side.  That round knob seems to have been the keyboard’s Achilles’ heel.  The few that didn’t break are collector’s items today, regularly fetching over $600 on eBay – one pristine unit actually brought more than twice that – for a keyboard that cost less than $200 brand new.

After the M15 was discontinued in 1997, Goldtouch brought its own version to market – with a much-improved pivot locking mechanism, thankfully.  Goldtouch reached another milestone this year in the second major version of the keyboard design, the newer, cooler V2.  It was this second-generation board that I received when I contacted Goldtouch for a review sample.

It’s all about the Right Position

“If it isn’t adjustable, it isn’t ergonomic.”  The Goldtouch motto sums up the point of the keyboard.  No one operating position is right for all users, or even for most users.  In addition to obvious physical differences of body size and shape, people have varying preferences and perceptions.  The setup I find ideal, for example, doesn’t work for my brother, and his “perfect” position, in turn, does nothing for me.

On most ergonomic keyboards, the biggest adjustment you can make is to snap out the tilt feet.  Beyond that, you’re stuck with a fixed position that’s supposed to help reduce the risk of RSI for the Average User.

Goldtouch has never heard of the Average User.  Their keyboard is designed so that you can put it in a theoretically infinite number of positions – and have it stay there.  The two halves of the keyboard are connected by a locking ball joint.  You release the ball joint using the large handle on the left, then lock the keyboard into a new position by cinching down that same handle.

Rather than trying to do the whole adjustment process at once, Goldtouch recommends that you start out by using the keyboard in the straight position for a while, to get the feel of the keys and layout.  From there you can move on to splay when you’re ready, keeping the keyboard flat but creating an angle between the halves.  Once you’re comfortable with that, it’s time to experiment with tenting, raising the middle of the keyboard higher than the two sides.  At the end of this adjustment process, you should find that your keyboard is in the ideal position for your particular body type and requirements.

The Goldtouch keyboard can be set in an infinite number of positions using a locking-lever ball joint.

You won’t need a juggler, but you might need a friend

The Goldtouch ball-joint system looks somewhat difficult to adjust, a fact on which competitor Kinesis effectively played in the third scene of this very funny video.  Marketing mirth aside, I find the Goldtouch keyboard easy enough to adjust, with an asterisk: The locking handle does require reasonable hand strength to manipulate.  Some people will want to use the buddy system – one to hold the keyboard in position and one to work the handle.  This shouldn’t be too much of a problem since the keyboard only needs to be adjusted once.  You do need to watch your fingers when snapping back the handle.  Even a minor pinch from that much force can hurt.

Smooth key action

The keycaps on the V2 are more deeply "cupped" or indented, resulting in reportedly greater comfort for some users.

The Goldtouch keyboard uses membrane, or rubber dome keyswitches, putting it in a separate class from the more expensive mechanical keyboards such as the Kinesis Advantage.  Not all rubber dome keyswitches are created equal, and the ones used on the Goldtouch are better than most.  Where garden-variety membrane keys are often mushy and hard to press, the Goldtouch keys are light, soft, and springy.  Making no effort to imitate the clicky feel of mechanical switches, they instead play to the advantages of membranes, with a gentle feel that makes pressing each key seem less like work.

Some external keypad trouble

A few external numeric keypads, such the Tevion model sitting on my desk, won’t work in conjunction with the Goldtouch because they require Num Lock to be engaged.  If you turn on Num Lock while using a Goldtouch keyboard, you will activate not only the external keypad, but also the embedded numeric keypad, which will make normal typing impossible.  According to Keyovation, only the Tevion and Loglink brand keypads have this issue – so be sure to get another type, such as the keypad offered by Goldtouch itself, in order to avoid problems.

Media control keys

With the ultra space economy of serious ergonomic keyboards, media control keys don’t usually make the cut.  The Goldtouch V2 shows its trendiness by including all the standard media control keys, plus the less-useful Email, Calculator, etc. as options on the F1-F12 row.  You have to hold down Fn at the bottom left to access these alternate keys, but it still beats diving for the volume knob or the Windows system tray.

As a completely inconsequential side note, I’m almost sure the “Email” icon on the F8 key is upside down – unless it’s supposed to be showing an open envelope with the flap ripped off.  Always interesting to see the peccadilloes that make it through quality control.

On the left is the Goldtouch email icon on the F8 key, compared to the same icon on a Logitech keyboard. Notice how there's something odd-looking about the Goldtouch?

Negative tilt, sort of

When I used my first computer keyboard in 1997, it was months before I noticed that there were these interesting fold-out “feet” along the back.  If you listen to ergonomists, I would have done better never to have noticed them at all.  Rear keyboard feet are the pet abomination of most ergonomic professionals, because they make our wrists bend backward, which position tends to produce injury rather than prevent it.  In recent years, conventional ergonomic wisdom has gone a step further, indicating that the keyboard shouldn’t even be dead-level – it should actually be tilted away from the user, with the front higher than the back.  Goldtouch pays homage to this new wisdom with a pair of fold-out front feet.  Extended on a flat surface, these feet will raise the front of the keyboard somewhat less than an inch, producing a moderate negative tilt.

If used properly, negative tilt can result in a more natural wrist position. The Goldtouch implementation, however, leaves something to be desired.

Negative tilt is great, but a couple things about the Goldtouch implementation puzzle me.  The feet lack the rubber friction pads found elsewhere on the unit, which means that this keyboard can go slip-sliding away right in the middle of whatever you’re doing.  You can address this problem with a couple of rubber bands laid flat, but really?  A brand new design and no friction feet?   Also, the tilt feet are very near the middle of the keyboard.  Maybe this is necessary because of the splay feature, but it makes the outer edges wobbly to type on.  I may be wrong, but the whole negative tilt feature feels to me like an afterthought.

One keyboard for PC and Mac

Up to now, Goldtouch has offered two versions of their keyboard, one for PC users and one for Mac.  But what if your Mac croaks and you buy a PC, or vice versa?  What if you’re ordering 200 keyboards for an office with a constantly shifting mix of Apple and Windows?  The answer is the GTN-0088, a soon-to-be-released version of the new V2 keyboard.  This new model will cost $10 more than the plain V2, and will be able to change between Mac and PC with the flip of a switch.  Plus, the GTN-0088 will have additional feet on the bottom for elevating the entire keyboard to level with certain palm rests.  Not bad for a $10 upgrade.

In conclusion

I like the Goldtouch.  It’s an incredibly adaptable keyboard with creamy key action, narrow footprint, and a smart layout.  The one thing it lacks is the ability to separate the two halves completely.  If that isn’t a feature you care about, by all means – go for the Goldtouch.

Disclosure: This review was made using a complimentary sample from Goldtouch, which I gave to another person after finishing the review.

Shop for the Goldtouch keyboard on Amazon >>

The wireless K350 is easy on the hands - and easy on the wallet

The Wave design

One of the biggest problems of ergonomics is the varying length of fingers on the same hand. My middle finger, for instance, is almost two inches longer than the pinkie. When you think about it this way, the rows of a keyboard shouldn’t be straight; they should be curved to match the fingers, K, for instance, pushed further out where the middle finger wants to be.  Staggered-layout keyboards such as the Truly Ergonomic do just that – but these meet with resistance from touch typists who don’t want to learn anything new.

The Wave addresses the problem in an interesting way.  Instead of being staggered in the horizontal plane, its keys are staggered in the vertical plane.  K, for instance, is where your middle finger expects to find it, but lives at the bottom of a “valley.”  L and J are higher, and Semicolon and H higher still.  This shape, mirrored by each half of the keyboard, gives your longer digits room to unwind, while allowing the shorter fingers to reach their keys more easily.

Flat and smooth

The low profile of the K350 makes it easier to get the keyboard down where you need it.

For an ergonomic keyboard, the K350 cuts a remarkably low profile.  This thin form factor makes it easier to get the keyboard down to elbow level, which is an ergonomic plus.  Another plus is the palm rest – invitingly smooth and soft but not squishy, giving you a place to park your hands while not typing.  That’s right, while not typing.  Locking your palms down on a wrist rest while actually typing is a shortcut to Painville.  There’s nothing wrong with a palm rest, but use it like a park bench – not a crutch.

Familiar non-split layout

While not a split keyboard, the K350 helps your arms angle inward, keeping your wrists straighter than a standard keyboard.

Split-layout keyboards like the Microsoft Natural 4000 have around for years, claiming to reduce the risk of RSI by straightening out our wrists.  Most people feel one of two ways about this split design: They love it and can’t live without it, or they hate it and can’t live with it.  The K350 sneaks up on this second group by resembling an ordinary keyboard, while providing some benefits of the more radical split design.  If you look at your arms while using the keyboard, you’ll find them angled slightly inward – not enough to mess up your typing, but enough to ease the twisting pressure on your wrists.

Key action

I’ll say at least one thing for the key action on the K350: Compared to the Microsoft Natural 4000, it’s a bag of feathers. The Logitech’s spacebar, particularly, puts the aforementioned Redmond creation to shame. It’s not only easy to press, it’s also incorporated seamlessly into the whole Wave design, so that the thumbs rest naturally in its curves.  The K350 won’t give you the snappy action of a Das Keyboard or even a Kinesis Freestyle, but it’s quiet, nice-feeling, and as good as any keyboard in this price range that I’ve tried.

Customizable extra keys

Like most consumer keyboards, the K350 has lots of special buttons.  Its media control keys give you the usual play, stop, previous, next, and volume, as well as the handy mute for when the phone rings.  With the exception of these, the K350′s special keys can be customized to do almost anything you want.

Custom actions are assigned using the included Logitech Setpoint software.  You can use these actions to open a folder, start a program, or input certain keystrokes.  You can even define a custom menu to come up when you press a particular key, which is getting into some some pretty advanced stuff.

As an ergonomics enthusiast, I like macros and shortcut keys.  By automating certain tasks, they cut down on repeated physical motion.  Even if a macro only saves three keystrokes twice an hour during your work week, at the end of the year you’ll have saved over 12,000 strokes – or about twice the text of this article.  The reduced wear on your fingers adds up, particularly if you’re automating something you do many times a day.

Wireless convenience

The wireless receiver is so small you can just barely see it peeking out the side of a laptop.

When I bought my first wireless Logitech keyboard in the mid-2000′s, the receiver was a shocking thing of awkwardness that rivaled my mouse in size.  The technology has come a long way from this early era.  The latest Logitech receiver is about the size of your thumbnail – so small that you can leave it plugged into a laptop and barely notice it’s there.  Better yet, you no longer need different receivers for your keyboard and mouse.  As long as they’re both compatible Logitech devices, a neat technology called Unity enables them to use the same tiny receiver.

Battery life on the K350 is reputedly outstanding, as in two years or more from the same set of included AA batteries.  Wireless reception is a slightly dicier proposition, with certain reviewers on Amazon insisting that it’s totally flaky.  In the few hours I used the keyboard, I did not notice any wireless issues.  Your mileage may vary.

Bigger isn’t better, unfortunately

There is one area of ergonomics in which almost all consumer keyboards fail, and the K350 is no exception.  I refer to its 19 inch width, which, while fairly standard for a multimedia keyboard, can be a major ergonomic problem.  Most users are right-handed, or at least have learned to work on a computer that way.  For this reason, the numeric keypad, a three-inch-wide section that many ordinary users never touch, was long ago placed on the right side of the keyboard.  The trouble is, the mouse is also over there, and should ideally be occupying the very footprint allocated to the ten-key area.  Since that’s impossible, most users simply move the mouse further to the right, then wonder why their right elbow starts acting up.  If this sounds scary to you, you should probably consider buying a narrower-than-standard keyboard such as the miniscule TypeMatrix 2030, or the highly configurable Kinesis Freestyle.

Are you tired of hitting CAPS LOCK by accident?

All touch typists have done it at one time or another.  We try to type “Clark Kent,” but end up with “CLARK kENT” instead – illustrating the fact that Caps Lock is close to, and easily confused with, Shift on most standard keyboards.  In an apparent attempt to combat this common error, the K350 expands on an idea already in use by other keyboards.  Like the medieval dukes who protected their castles with impassable moats, the Wave isolates its Caps Lock key with a deep indentation running around two sides of the key.  In case that measure fails to stop big-fingered typists, the included driver software flashes an unignorable green notice across the screen whenever Caps is engaged.  Nice touch, Logitech.

Wrapping it up

With the K350, Logitech created a nice wireless multimedia keyboard with moderate ergonomic benefits.  The width and fixed position are obstacles to true ergonomic bliss, but the Wave design is comfortable and requires little adjustment for ordinary typists.  If you’re using a plain old keyboard like the one that comes with most computers, the Logitech K350 is a nice, affordable step up.

Disclosure: This review was made using a complimentary sample from Logitech, which I gave to another person after finishing the review.

The vertical mouse principle

The 3M vertical mouse keeps your hand in the natural "handshake" position.

The main problem with an ordinary mouse like this one isn’t so much its lack of “ergonomic” curves, as the position into which it forces your hand.  The palm-down posture required by such a mouse causes the wrist to twist.  This, in turn, puts strain on the delicate tendons that control the fingers – tendons which run through a passage called the carpal tunnel.  Multiplied by thousands of tiny wrist flicks over hundreds of hours a year, this problem can put you on a collision course with RSI.

The vertical mouse attempts to alleviate the situation by putting your hand back in the more natural “handshake” position.  Judging by the volume of positive Amazon reviews on the 3M version, the concept works really well for a lot of people.

A unique implementation of the vertical concept

Most vertical mouse designs, such as the Evoluent and the AirO2bic mouse, simply take something that looks very much like an ordinary mouse and turn it on its side.  The 3M ergonomic mouse, by contrast, departs almost entirely from the traditional mouse shape, with a design that looks more like a joystick.  Your fingers are meant to wrap loosely around the joystick part while your thumb perches on top.  The base plate provides a surface on which to completely rest your hand, which means that little grip is required in order to operate the mouse.

Small or large size available

3M offers something its main vertical competitors don’t – namely, a size selection.  There are only two different sizes available, large and small – which is somewhat limiting, but still beats one-size-fits-all.  I found the large model a bit too large for my sizable hand, but I’m sure the small would have been wrong for me in the other extreme.  I think 3M could improve in this area by following the example of the Handshoe and offering more than just two sizes.

Thumbthing to think about

Unlike most other mice – but like most trackballs – the primary clicking button on the 3M ergonomic mouse is actuated by the thumb.  I’m not a big fan of thumb-operated input devices in general, mostly because of problems with my own thumbs that make me unable to use one for any length of time.  The 3M was no exception to this rule; after a little while of testing it, my thumb started acting up.  Other users have also reported thumb problems after trying the 3M, so this is something to consider carefully.  On the upside, clicking with the thumb eliminates the gripping action required by the Evoluent vertical mouse, which uses finger clicks.

Remapping the middle button

With the default settings, your thumb does most of the clicking.

There is one button on the 3M ergonomic mouse that I find both easy and comfortable to use.  It is a long piece on the handle, which rests right below your fingertips while you’re using the mouse.  By default this very nice button is assigned to center-click.  There is no software included with the mouse to change this behavior, but I found a fairly easy way to do it with a free program called AutoHotKey.  AutoHotKey is a macro system mainly intended for tweaking your keyboard, but it can also change the way your mouse works.  We don’t have space here for a complete tutorial, so I’ll give you a quick look at the three lines of AHK script that make it happen:

MButton::LButton ; Map center-click to left-click
LButton::RButton ; Map left-click to right-click
RButton::MButton ; Map right-click to center-click

The result of this script is that the handle button becomes your primary clicker, and the thumb button serves for right- and center-click, an arrangement which I, for one, find much more comfortable and convenient than the default.  The downside to using AutoHotKey – apart from the fact that it’s too technical for many people to bother with – is that AHK must be installed and running on every computer where you plan to use the mouse.  If it’s not, the mouse will still work but you’ll be back to the uncomfortable and now-unfamiliar defaults.

Note: I’m not completely sure that the above remapping scheme will work consistently under all circumstances, as I didn’t have time to test it thoroughly.  Your mileage may vary.

Living without a scroll wheel

While it is a 3-button mouse, the 3M vertical lacks a scroll wheel, on top or anywhere else.

The 3M ergonomic mouse has no scroll wheel.  Instead, you’re supposed to make do with center-click and scroll.  I have never found this on-screen-scroll thing to be satisfactory.  It distracts me from what I’m reading, it’s always either too fast or too slow, and stopping at the right place is difficult.  Now personally, I use a second input device for my scroll wheel, a Wacom graphics tablet nestled neatly between the halves of my Kinesis Freestyle keyboard.  Such a dual setup is most convenient – but I digress.

This lack of a scroll wheel is, in my view, a big obstacle for the 3M ergonomic mouse.  The lowly scroll wheel is one of those things you don’t know you’ve got till it’s gone.

Tracking accuracy

This mouse has been hit a lot in Amazon reviews for tracking inaccurately – making it difficult to put the pointer where you want it on the screen.  I think the source of some of this bad feedback could be users who are accustomed to mousing from the wrist.  The 3M design encourages you to manipulate the mouse from your elbow, keeping your wrist straight.  While this technique is great ergonomically, it does compromise accuracy somewhat due to decreased motor control.

If you find the 3M ergonomic mouse – or any elbow-operated mouse – difficult to track accurately, the thing to do is to turn down your pointer speed in the control panel.  After awhile, as you gain facility with the device, this reduced speed should start to seem slow and you can gradually turn it back up without ruining accuracy.

Final thoughts

In any category of ergonomic devices, I think the user benefits by having lots of choices, including the unlikely or unusual ones.  The 3M ergonomic mouse might be just what some folks need for their particular physical structure and situation.  Others may find the Evoluent or the AirO2bic, or something completely different, to be the one for them.  One size doesn’t fit all.

Shop for the 3M vertical mouse on Amazon >>

That was my first thought when I unpacked my review sample Das Keyboard – and in a way, those two words sum up the best things about it.  If you’re a keyboard geek, it’s hard to do better than glossy black finish, blue lights, and, best of all, mechanical keyswitches that feel just like the venerated IBM Model M – great to type on and loud!  If you’re not a keyboard geek, the Das Keyboard still has plenty to offer.  And don’t worry – there’s a quieter version available.

The Das Keyboard Professional used in this review

Ergonomics

Obviously, good looks and a big “cool” factor will do nothing to help your RSI.  The Das is shaped like an ordinary keyboard, and its layout is the same as an ordinary keyboard, so what makes it different?

First, let me say that if you’re already in serious RSI straits, I don’t recommend the Das Keyboard.  Instead, you might want to consider purchasing a Kinesis Freestyle, which you can use to experiment with different working positions.

In addition to light key action, the Das Keyboard has deeper keycap indentations for more accurate typing.

The Das does have one important ergonomic advantage that could help you if you’re suffering from mild pain or fatigue: Light-touch action with tactile feedback.  With standard keyboards, we simply get used to hammering the keys quite hard in order to make them register.  A single keypress doesn’t seem like much effort, but when you do millions each year, it really adds up.

You don’t have to hammer the Das in order to make sure your keystroke is registered; instead, there’s a little click you can feel and hear which tells you that the key has been actuated.  This click occurs, not at end-of-travel, but about halfway down the stroke.  This means you can type on a Das Keyboard without ever pressing any key all the way down, avoiding both excessive force and those sudden stops as each key bottoms out.

Not-so-ergonomics

Like any keyboard with a standard layout, the Das suffers from the presence of its numeric keypad on the right.  That numeric keypad forces the mouse too far away, which can result in painful elbow problems.  If you want a small keyboard that will leave plenty of room for your mouse, don’t get a Das – get a TypeMatrix 2030 instead.  (Don’t worry, the TypeMatrix also has plenty of “cool.”)

The Das Keyboard also has no degree of wrist separation, splay, tenting, or any of the other things that make most ergonomic keyboards “ergonomic.”  That said, some people absolutely hate anything other than a standard straight keyboard like they’re used to.  These folks can at least benefit from the improved key action on the Das Keyboard.

Build quality

The Das Keyboard is no lightweight.  At over two-and-a-half pounds, the unit itself is as heavy as some small laptops, and has the feel of a truly well-built product.  The gold-plated Cherry-brand mechanical keyswitches are rated to last fifty million strokes each – far longer than standard rubber-dome switches, and probably better than a lifetime of typing for most people.

I have never used any input device which impressed me so much with the sheer quality of its construction.

The Das Keyboard is sleek, but it's also built like a tank

Wake the neighbors

Some people like keyboard noise.  To them it is beautiful music, particularly when the keyboard is being pushed to the limit by a skilled typist.  If you are not a fan of this particular musical genre, you’re going to have a problem with the Das Keyboard – indeed, with any keyboard that uses mechanical keyswitches.  To find anything louder than a Das Keyboard, you’d probably have to go back to an electric typewriter.

Das offers a “silent” version of the Professional model; however, that term is misleading.  The “silent” keyboard still uses mechanical keyswitches, only they’re Cherry Browns instead of Cherry Blues.  And yes, we’re still talking about keyboards here, not football – the Cherry Company color-codes their keyswitches for reference.  All you need to understand about this is that Blues are noisier than Browns, but Browns are still plenty noisy.

You can hear both the Das Keyboard Professional and the Silent model compared in this Youtube video.  The reviewer who made the video felt compelled to jazz it up with a bunch of thumping music, but you can still clearly hear the difference between the two keyboards.

Integrated USB hub

Having extra USB ports on the side of your keyboard is nice and convenient, to be sure.  The Das Keyboard has two such ports on the right side.  Personally, I don’t think they should be on the right side of the keyboard, because that’s where the mouse generally lives.  This might not be a problem if you use a trackball or a small type of mouse, but users of a large model such as the Handshoe may find a conflict of cables going on.  In my opinion, those USB ports should be on the left.  If they must be on the right half, I say put them on the back of the keyboard, just under the the Das logo behind the numeric keypad.

Real typists don’t need labels

Though the Das Professional is cool, there is a model that’s cooler still.  The Das Keyboard Ultimate, which sells for about the same price as the Professional, is identical to the other model in all respects except one: Its keys aren’t labeled.  This is both an exceedingly cool touch and a cure for the incorrigible hunt-and-pecker – you might as well learn to the find the key by feel, because you’ll never locate it by sight anyway!  Some typists, including Das Keyboard inventor Daniel Guermeur, have found their typing vastly improved by using an unlabeled keyboard.

Personally, I would probably not want a keyboard without labels.  Though I’m an accomplished touch typist, I really like glancing down every now and then, just to be looking at something other than the monitor.  I think it might be disconcerting to get a blank stare from the keyboard in return.

To sum up…

The Das Keyboard is sleek, cool, and quality.  Though it retails around 120 bucks, that’s actually not bad for a keyboard that uses Cherry mechanical switches.  The blank version will undoubtedly help you become a more accomplished touch typist, if that’s what you want.  Ergonomically speaking, the light action of the Cherry mechanical keyswitches could be helpful, provided you take advantage of it by not unnecessarily pounding every key all the way to end-of-travel.

Daniel Guermeur calls his keyboard “uncompromising,” and it is – from the two-pound chassis to the gold-plated keyswitches.  Das Keyboard is simply German for The Keyboard.  To its fans, there isn’t any other.

Shop for the Das Keyboard on Amazon >>

Those domes don’t rotate; they slide

Visually, there’s not much of anything to which you could compare the orbiTouch.  It doesn’t look like like a keyboard.  It doesn’t look like a mouse.  It doesn’t even look like something you might use to play a video game.  The one visual clue it does give turns out to be misleading.  Those domes, those giant mouse tops on disks, look like they should rotate, but they don’t.  Instead, they slide – up, down, side-to-side, and diagonally.  The eight possible positions on the left dome correspond to six color codes – red, yellow, green , orange, blue, and black – plus two specific actions (more on those in a bit).

The orbiTouch is operated by sliding two domes to make different combinations.

Each of the eight positions on the right dome can do one of six different things, depending on which color code is selected on the left.  For instance, to type the letter E, you would slide the left dome to three o’clock – the Blue position, and then slide the right dome to nine o’clock, which is the key group containing E with the blue color code.  To make a space, you slide the left dome to Black at six o’clock and the right to three o’clock, where you’ll find Space on the black color code.  While this sounds a little complicated when described, it’s really very intuitive.

It’s a mouse as well as a keyboard

It’s a little difficult to envision how the orbiTouch could serve the function of a mouse, when the domes don’t rotate and have a very limited range of motion.  Instead of trying to replicate the motion of a mouse or trackball, the orbiTouch works more like the little finger-joystick on a Thinkpad.  When it’s in mouse mode, a nudge to the right dome sends the pointer traveling in whatever direction you push it.  It will continue to travel that way until you release the dome, or until it hits the edge of the screen.  The left dome is used for left-click and right-click.

Mouse mode, like a few other special functions, is activated by double-sliding the left dome – in this case, to six o’clock.  A double-slide on seven-thirty gives you Caps Lock, and you can hold down four-thirty for Num Lock.

The orbiTouch rocks – literally

The motion of using an orbiTouch puts me oddly in mind of a weaver shuttling an old-fashioned hand loom - big back-and-forth motions of the forearms, with little wrist or finger movement.  Now, this design has great ergonomic advantages, but it also has one drawback: You’ll need a sturdy desk.  Mine, which is somewhat less than rock-solid, feels like it might fall apart during a run of enthusiastic orbiTouch-ing.

The desk-rocking effect is largely dependent on the resistance level of the dome movement.   There are two levels of tension available, 4N and 8N.  Don’t ask me exactly what those numbers signify because I have no idea, but 4 means lower resistance and 8 means higher.  Why would you want higher resistance?  According to Dr. Peter McAlindon, the inventor of the orbiTouch, higher resistance makes it easier for beginners – or those with severely limited dexterity – to hit the correct quadrant when sliding the orbs.  Even on the 8N model I received, it’s quite easy to accidentally activate Blue instead of Orange, or Yellow instead of Green.

Unfortunately, the current orbiTouch has its spring tension set at the factory, so you have to order a different one depending on the resistance level you want.  According to Dr. McAlindon, a model is under testing which will allow the user to adjust the required force on the slider springs, so action can be lightened as skill increases.  I think this will be a big improvement.

How fast will it go?

Obviously, the orbiTouch is designed for usability, not speed.  Dr. McAlindon says that the theoretical WPM limit for typing on an orbiTouch is somewhere in the mid 30′s.  This may sound low when compared to the 60′s or 70′s most people can hit with a standard board, but it’s pretty high indeed when you compare it to the speed limit faced by certain disabled people, which is often 0 WPM.

While I found the orbiTouch very easy to use, I didn’t persist with it long enough to achieve any measurable speed.  Another reviewer, more patient than I, reported reaching 15 words per minute in about 6 hours.  Blue Orb itself mentions 40 hours as a typical time to achieve proficiency on the device.

orbiTouch, improving lives

Blue Orb has a strong focus on helping to improve the lives of those with disabilities.  People with cerebral palsy, for instance, usually possess ordinary or even above-average intelligence, but have difficulty communicating because of their handicap.  They have trouble not only talking and writing, but also using that basic accessory of the information age, the computer keyboard.  By removing this frustrating obstacle, the orbiTouch allows people with various debilitating conditions to communicate effectively, and even to have gainful employment which would otherwise be beyond their reach.

I was particularly glad to hear that orbiTouch units are getting into the hands of disabled American veterans.  There is no other two-handed input device I can think of that would allow someone to type and mouse using a prosthetic arm or hand, and there are surely many veterans doing just that thanks to Blue Orb.

Summary

If you are just starting to experience a little discomfort while typing, the orbiTouch is probably not the device for you, as it costs $400 and will likely cut your productivity in half.  If, on the other hand, you are severely disabled and desperate for a way to use your computer, the orbiTouch may be the only answer.  In many cases, that weird-looking device with two plastic domes can make all the difference in the world.

A modern keyboard layout

The TypeMatrix 2030 layout - click to zoom

The flagship feature of the TypeMatrix 2030 is the improved layout of its keys.  Look down at your keyboard.  Notice something odd about the way the key rows are staggered?  Neither do most people.  We just expect that C, for instance, doesn’t line up exactly with D, and U doesn’t line up exactly with J.  While this might seem like some kind of ergonomic innovation, it turns out that there’s nothing innovative about it.  Like QWERTY itself, the staggered layout is a holdover from the days of manual typewriters, when the keys had to be staggered to leave room for their mechanical arms.  Unlike QWERTY, this ancient holdover can be changed without too much inconvenience for the user.

The TypeMatrix design straightens out the staggered keys, giving the keyboard a simple grid layout.  But that’s not all.  To further transfer some typing load away from the weaker pinkie fingers, TypeMatrix also moved some important keys.  Enter, Backspace, and Delete are now in a straight column down the center of the keyboard.  Personally I think this is a good idea, but it takes some getting used to – as do numerous other tweaks to the positions of keys like Ctrl, Alt, and Backslant.

Some people have reported typing clumsily for weeks after switching to the TypeMatrix.  I was able to go fairly fast on it right away, though I had to look at my hands for accuracy.  The biggest problem I experienced was with the right Shift key, which is further away than I’m used to.  When I tried to type, for instance, the word “TypeMatrix,” I ended up with “\typeMatrix” instead – Backslant being where my pinkie expected to find Shift.

A better numeric keypad

Narrow keyboards usually try to implement ten-key the same way it’s done on a laptop: They make the numeric keypad an alternate overlay on the right side of the board.  There’s just one problem with this.  Because of the staggered layout we discussed earlier, the numbers don’t line up with each other like a good ten-keyer expects.  This makes it challenging to use and a poor substitute for a real numeric keypad.

The TypeMatrix grid layout changes all that.  The numeric keypad characters now line up exactly as they do on a standard keyboard.  Just hit Num at the top right and you’ll be right at home.  The 2030 even has one useful numeric key that isn’t found on most boards, a dedicated double-zero – great for entering dollar amounts.

Small footprint, low profile

The TypeMatrix 2030 used in this review

The TypeMatrix 2030 is only 12.75″ wide, making it one of the smallest keyboards available.  The resulting increase in desk space can really help to bring everything within reach – particularly your mouse.  Standard keyboards are usually 15″-20″ wide, leaving you the choice of either pushing your mouse too far away or off-centering the keyboard.  Both choices are bad and can result in various problems with your elbow and wrist.  This is one of the biggest problems that can be solved with a small keyboard like the TypeMatrix.

Having a low profile keyboard is usually good for ergonomics too.  The 1/2″-thin profile of the 2030 makes it that much easier to get your keyboard down to elbow height or below, particularly if you are stuck with a less-than-ideal desk setup.  One word of warning though: Don’t try to use a standard palm rest with the TypeMatrix; it will almost certainly be too thick.

Ultra portable

One thing I really don’t like about my Kinesis Freestyle is its lack of portability.  Two separate keying modules with elaborate foot assemblies are awkward to scoot across the desk, much less stuff into a laptop bag.  The TypeMatrix has no such drawback.  It’s both small and sturdy, and would easily fit into the most modest briefcase, bag, or backpack.  This could be important if you work on several different computers.

A keyboard with a raincoat

The 2030 with a clear rubber skin

Those of us who eat at our desks have a dilemma.  Food is unappealing without something to drink, but computer keyboards don’t like to get wet.  Some of them really don’t like it.  I discovered this the hard way a few years ago, when I tipped a bottle of cold tea into my Microsoft Natural Elite.  As I recall now, I did everything you’re supposed to do.  I unplugged the keyboard at once, inverted it, disassembled it, and got the inside completely dry before hooking it up again.  Despite all these efforts, several letters were gone forever; my keyboard had abruptly reached the end of its useful life.  You can get a Microsoft Elite for about $20 off eBay, so this wasn’t a particularly expensive accident.  In the case of a higher-end keyboard, though, such a mishap could be very expensive.

In what I think is a pretty cool touch, TypeMatrix offers various rubber “skins” for the 2030.  Made of thoroughly waterproof and washable silicone, they’re perfect for protecting the keyboard from dust, wear, and ham-handed coffee drinkers.  I can also see a place for this in laboratories, industrial facilities, art studios, restaurants – the list goes on.  Sure, you can buy a roll-up rubber keyboard for a lot less money, but the mushy action on those things is a joke.  The rubber coating on the TypeMatrix 2030 can actually improve an already-good typing experience – more on that later.

Low typing noise

Many typing enthusiasts consider keyboard noise a thing of beauty.  Some even love it so much that they go out and buy a Das Keyboard, which is specifically marketed as one of the planet’s noisiest.  Coworkers, and others who have to listen to this “beautiful” sound, tend to share a different view – just as extreme, but in the other direction.

If you want to maintain popularity among those within earshot of your typing, the TypeMatrix is your friend.  To start with, the keyboard itself is reasonably quiet, with about the noise level of a laptop.  But when you add a rubber skin, even that small amount of noise is almost eliminated.  A TypeMatrix with a rubber cover is probably the closest thing you’ll find to a silent keyboard – short of a touch device like the iPad.

Typing action

If you’ve typed on a typical good-quality laptop, you’ve experienced pretty much the same thing as a TypeMatrix.  The keys are a bit softer and springier than those on my HP notebook.  Add a rubber cover, and those keys become softer still – but in a good way.  If you find the action of other keyboards jarring, the gentle presses of a TypeMatrix 2030 may be just what you need.

Alternative keyboard layouts

High efficiency QWERTY alternatives like Dvorak aren’t for everybody, but they do have their fans – particularly among those whose living depends on their typing speed.  Normally Dvorak users have to customize every computer they use, and change it back again if it’s a shared system.  The TypeMatrix 2030 makes things much easier, because it doesn’t rely on the computer’s OS for Dvorak capability.  Instead, there’s a smart chip on the board itself that toggles between QWERTY and Dvorak when you press Fn-F1.

Additionally, you don’t have commit to an alternate layout by buying a special version of the keyboard, or worry about changing keycaps.  Instead, you can order a rubber keyboard skin reflecting the layout you want.  You can even order a completely blank skin for an unlettered keyboard, just like the ones they used in old time typing classes.

The ouch dots

Most keyboards feature some kind of plastic “bump” on the index finger home keys, to help touch typists find their starting positions without looking.  The TypeMatrix has such bumps not only on the J and F, but also on Numeric 5, Numeric 00, and the Delete key.  This is fine in concept, but there’s a problem with those dots – they’re sharp.  Sitting here typing on a brand-new 2030, my index fingers are getting quite uncomfortable from sliding over the little pinpoints.

The good news is, a rubber skin softens up the dots considerably.  If you want to use the keyboard without a cover, and you have sensitive hands like mine, you may have to put up with some discomfort until natural wear rounds off the dots.  You could also put a tiny piece of tape on each one, or sand them down with a Dremel tool (though I’m pretty sure the latter would void your warranty).

Summary

In my opinion, every keyboard that comes with an ordinary computer should be more like the Typematrix 2030.  Its ergonomic features – straight grid layout, small size, and reduced pinkie use – are all basic but helpful.  Most importantly, the keyboard is not some weird-looking device that will scare users with a steep learning curve.  Though small and deceptively simple-looking, the TypeMatrix 2030 is really quite an innovation.

Disclosure: This review was made using a complimentary sample from TypeMatrix, which I gave to another person after finishing the review.