Some folks are eagerly awaiting the day when we can do all computer input by simply talking to our computers. I’m not so enthusiastic. I can see where voice input would be handy in certain circumstances (for example, for hands-free computing while driving) but for everyday tasks, I don’t see it being workable. For one thing, the world would be an even noiser place than it already is, if we were all talking to our computers all the time. Whenever I fly, I look around and see half the people in the plane quietly tap, tap, tapping on their laptop keyboards. Can you imagine what a nightmare it would be if they were all talking to their systems? And how do I keep my computer from responding to the voice commands that the guy seated next to me is giving to his computer?

Besides, I like keyboards. I like the feel of the keys under my fingers. I like the different sounds made by different ones, from near silence to hearty clacking. I like to “think with my fingers” – content that I compose by dictation isn’t nearly as good. It helps that I’m a fast touch typist – around 90 wpm – so I don’t have to think about the typing itself; I can just let the words flow.

But I am always in search of the perfect keyboard. I remember when I got my first ergonomic keyboard back in 1995. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. The wrist and thumb pains I’d been experiencing went away, and I found that after a few days of practice, I could type faster on the “funny looking” keyboard than on a conventional straight one. I’ve been using ergo keyboards ever since.

Back in January of this year, I blogged about my latest keyboard find, the Microsoft Laser 6000 wireless.

I’ve been using it on my Dell XPS and I like it a lot, although it has since been superseded by the Laser 7000. As far as I can tell, the main selling point for the latter is the 2.4 GHz frequency with a 30 foot range.

I had a nice little inexpensive Microsoft USB keyboard that I was using on the new Core i7. A Comfort Curve 2000, it only cost $20 and has a similar low profile and a good feel, but it had a problem: the colon/semicolon key didn’t work. That was an annoyance (especially when I wanted to send a smiley) but I could live with it. Then the “r” key stopped working. Okay, I might be able to live without a : but not without an r. It was time to order a new keyboard. I thought about getting a new Cpmfort Curve, but was afraid that the old “you get what you pay for” adage would mean that keys would stop working on that one shortly, too. I also thought about getting another Laser 6000, but I wanted to check out some other options.

I’ve always wanted one of those completely split keyboards, the kind that allow you to arrange the two sides at whatever angle you want. I’d never bought one because they usually cost around $200 or more. On Amazon, though, I found a Kinesis Freestyle that got good reviews and was only $89. I decided to give it a try, and it arrived a few days ago.

It’s far funnier looking than that first ergo keyboard, but so far, I like it pretty well. It’s nice to be able to adjust the angle of one hand differently from that of the other. It’s larger than I expected, and the keys are a little “clackier” than I prefer but overall it’s a good fit. It took a couple of days of getting used to. At first I kept hitting the Function key instead of the CTRL key, which then changed the UIOJKLM keys into number keys. This is a handy setting because, like a laptop, it doesn’t have a separate number pad. At first I wasn’t sure if that would be a problem, but I’m beginning to miss having the real number pad. Luckily, there are dozens out there for laptops, so I plan to buy a separate USB number pad to go with it.

I also somewhat miss a few of the special keys on the Microsoft keyboards that let me open my email program or browser from the keyboard. However, that’s not a big deal. There is a nice little “right click” key that lets you bring up the context menu without using the mouse, as well as Cut, Copy and Paste keys and a Search key that brings up the Windows search box. There are a few browser specific keys, too: Home, Back and Forward. And of course it has the usual Home, End, Page Up, Page Down and arrow keys. Something I like a lot is that there are two Delete keys, one on each side of the keyboard.

Which do I like better, then: the Laser 6000 or the Kinesis? That’s hard to say. Since the Kinesis is USB, I don’t have to worry about batteries, and I like that. On the other hand, I can take the Laser 6000 off the desk and put it on my lap, if I want, unconstrained by wires. They’re both good keyboards – but neither one is perfect. So I’ll still be on the lookout for that Perfect Keyboard … and when I do find it, you can be sure I’ll be blogging about it.

deb@shinder.net    www.debshinder.com