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- Verified Buyer
I bought my first Kinensis over 5 years ago after many long painful bouts with Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSI)from working intensely as a programmer for many years. My then physical therapist helped me find this keyboard so that I could work both ergonomically and using less strike force to type. The result, 5 years of an injury free life where I was able to regain much mobility, range or motion and strength in my hands and arms.Recently, while moving to another office building the movers broke my beloved original Kinesis. While I searched for a new one I used a popular "ergonomic" keyboard supplied by my firm. By the evening of the 2nd day of using it I began to have symptoms of RSI. That evening I ordered my new Kinesis which was delivered within a few days. LIke my previous keyboard, set up and installation took less than a minute and has worked flawlessly for the past 3 weeks. Given the quality of the material and manufacturing of the product, I expect to have this keyboard for many years to come.One note about the design, though it is a querty keyboard, some of the hot keys keys, such as home, end and delete have a slightly different placing than most cheap keyboards. However, if you've ever owned a high end keyboard or used a Toshiba or Acer laptop, you know that sometimes the hot keys are lined up along the far right or positioned slightly different at the top. Such is the case with this keyboard.There are 4 things that I LOVE about this keyboard. The first is that it requires the lightest key strike force to type than any other keyboard on the market [Yes, I did the analysis]. I am most grateful for this engineering feat alone. Second, there are 2 delete buttons on the keyboard: one to the left of cap locks next to other hot keys (which I strike with my left pinky finger); the other is on the upper right of the keyboard (which I strike with my left pinky finger). The third is the fact that it can come completely apart and separate into 2 sections. I currently have the sections over 2 inches apart from each other (this too took some getting used to but its much more comfortable placement than any keyboard I've ever had. The 4th thing I love is how customizable it is. I currently don't have any accessories attached because my keyboard tray has an adjustable and cushiony wristpad along with a base that can tilt a number of different ways to provide varying degrees of tilt. without all the accessories it's the same size as the Dell keyboard that came with my new pc.So far I am very happy with my Kinesis Freestyle 2 keyboard and have no complaints. As with anything new I took the time to read about the product and to get used to the slightly new layout. My hands and forearms are finally feeling better from just the 4 days I was forced to use a regular keyboard. Kinesis, I am very, very happy and grateful that I'm able to work at what I love thanks to your great products (I use the vertical mouse which I also absolutely love). Please thank the engineers that took extra care at calibrating and measuring the keystroke impact so that it would be the lightest on the market. For more spec details and better pictures go to the manufacturer's website.Good job Kinesis staff! If you guys were here I'd hug you all!If one views the pictures of this split keyboard, it shows 'legs' for each half of the keyboard that support the center sections. Fortunately I have a old version of this keyboard, so I was able to use those.No instructions for connecting the two halves. There is a locking/unlocking feature that is not immediately obvious that I had to figure out on my old keyboard.I have used this keyboard for about a year and I really like it, most importantly I can use it for hours without pain. I have it set up on a small desk in the corner with a large trackball in between the two pieces (user pic on product page.) Not included in the pic, I also added pads under the front of the keyboards to give it a reverse slant, and more pads on top of those to elevate my arms and pad my elbows.I bought mine from Amazon seller ErgoWareHouse. I received it promptly, the price was the lowest I could find, and as a bonus they included a small poster with stretches for computer users. It's not that big of a deal, but it was a nice surprise. After unpacking the keyboard, I could hear a rattling noise in the left keyboard, so I took out the 4 screws holding on the back cover and discovered a screw rattling around inside. So far as I can tell it didn't come loose from anywhere, it must have fallen in during production. I don't think it would have hurt anything but I took it out anyhow.The keyboard itself is easy to set up. Plug it in to a USB port, done. No software or drivers to mess with. As I mentioned earlier, you must set up your work space properly to see any benefit, and there is more to that than just a keyboard. The split design is as comfortable as it can be with RSI. I really like being able to space the sides out to fit my shoulder width, and turn them at angles to match my arms. As I mentioned earlier, it was more comfortable for me to prop the front up so it leans away from me.It takes some time getting used to the layout. For the first couple days I kept reaching for keys with the wrong hand and finding that they are not there. I still find myself doing it once in a while. I don't even notice it, except when my wife turns out the light, I find myself searching for a key. I would prefer a page up/page down on the left side, so I could spare my right hand the movement while browsing, but I can always remap the keys if need be. The feel of the keys is very nice. They move silky smooth with little effort (and minimal strain on my RSI.) On more of a personal note, I hate the noise the keys made when I first got it. The noise when pressing a key is like an annoying person eating salad and dragging their teeth on the fork. After owning it for a year, the noise either went away, or I don't notice it anymore.The bottom line is I would recommend this keyboard to anyone who is going to be spending a lot of time at the computer. I have not seen anything that I think would work better. I would also recommend trying out a trackball, touchpad, and/or a vertical mouse.
