Well, it's taken me 3 months, but i finally cleaned the stuck key in my #Kinesis Advantage Pro 360. I must admit that I was so annoyed with the experience up to that point that I dragged my feet.
In the meantime I've been typing on the MoErgo #Glove80. It's a very decent keyboard with a dramatically superior software experience, when it comes to customizing the layout.
There is zero doubt in my mind that the Kinesis is superior from a hardware quality perspective. The Kinesis' on/off switches are absolutely terrible, and the impossible to see reset hole sucks. BUT, the actually keyboard, and the "shell" around everything, and the way it angles up? All much better.
I personally find the typing experience on the Kinesis superior. I think my wife would disagree. The soft wrist pads on the Kinesis are very nice.
Since the Kinesis wrist pads are only held up with magnets we wondered if we couldn't use them on the MoErgo if we added some magnets, but no. They're just not the right shape / size for that. 🤔Maybe if you felt like 3D Printing a replacement wrist rest that specifically fit them...
For a while the MoErgo had a major quality of life advantage over the the Kinesis. I would take the laptop away, and use it on the couch. I'd bring it back closed, plug it in, and go to bed. When I opened the lid in the morning the MoErgo automatically reconnected and "just worked" just like my mouse had been doing for years. Kinesis claimed they couldn't do this because of some limitation of Apple's. So, you had to toggle bluetooth off and on for the Kinesis to work.
Alas, the MoErgo eventually started behaving like the Kinesis. Every morning, I have to turn off bluetooth and turn it back on for it to reconnect.
So, now I have both working, and both having the same annoying "toggle the bluetooth to start using" every morning. So which to use going forward?
I've typed this out on the Kinesis and it's more comfortable (for me), and ultimately that's why these stupid $$$ keyboards are worth the money. Physical protection of your hands and wrists.
I'm confident wifey would disagree about which is more comfortable, and that just goes to show that there's no one "right" ergonomic device for anyone. We each have different bodies.
At the same time, the Kinesis has no media / F-keys which sucks. I use those a lot. It wouldn't be terrible if i made a layer that I could switch to with those overlayed on the number keys, but that would mean interacting with their annoying layout editing process.
Glove80 problems:
I WANTED to love the LEDs on the Glove80. I absolutely adored them on the Keyboardio Model 100. Unfortunately MoErgo didn't spend the time or $ on making them look beautiful.They look kinda janky AND if you dare to leave them on all the time (or even just while using) it kills the battery life. Like over 1wk becomes over 1day. I guess i could plug it in all the time but then more wires on the desk which already has too much crap.
We got a keycap tester for those low profile keys the Glove80 uses and they felt really good. IRL they also feel really good, unless you have a long history of whacking keys forcefully like I do. I bottom out too quickly on them. With more traditional keys my fingers are slowed down by the spring a bit more before I hit the bottom. That's good.
On the up side: the Glove80 makes it trivially easy to tell how much battery is left.
The Kinesis gives you no clue how much power is left in each half (always different) so one half dies occasionally. I seem to recall both halves occasionally not working until plugged in even if they we being charged all of the prior day.
Honestly, there's NO good answer to which you should buy. The layout editing process for the Kinesis is so ridiculously geeky that you should definitely NOT get it unless you're a programmer.
OMG I forgot the #Kinesis Advantage 360 didn't have a place for the !@#$!$@ escape key. putting it on the Capslock is 100% NOT a valid alternative in my book. In addition to killing my ability to use capslock it also absolutely screws me over every time I try and code on the laptop keyboard.
ARRGH. Why does it have to FEEL so good. Mother effing !@$#
WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST GIVE ME THE DAMN FUNCTION KEY ROW KINESIS⁉️
Does any geek out there who doesn't use Vim want to buy a #Kinesis Advantage 360 Pro? (not kidding)
I am NOT going back to a world where I am screwed every time I try and type on my laptop keyboard because of having to remap Escape to some stupid place on the Kinesis.
Ebay says > $400. How about $380 shipping included (in the US)?
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