Your experience of chiclet keyboards

D

dpandey

Forerunner
Hi Everyone,

aging programmer here.

My finger joints have been giving me some trouble for the past few months. I am currently using two keyboards, both mechanical. One with red keys from logitech and another cheap chinese one.

I was wondering if switching to a chiclet keyboards will help lessen the RSI.

Could someone also suggest a good model.

Thanks
Dinesh.
 
Hate chiclet, not good for fingers as we bottom out very easily. Used it on my laptop years ago and still remember having fingers pressing the keys occasionally with too much force.
Maybe better models exist or someone with good technique might use them better dunno. My current laptop has those too but i don't really type much on it.

I have been using entry level Redgear mech keyboard with brown keys for few years now, and they are great for typing/gaming. They have certainly helped my fingers vs before.
Blue should be good too perhaps more inclined towards typing ( guessing - not an expert).

Part of the reason fingers hurt i think is that we hit key bottom to register the key and that is harder on the fingers.
Ideally we need to get used to pressing the key just enough so that it registers without bottoming out.

Other part might be posture / breaks etc.
 
Tracer_Bullet said:
Part of the reason fingers hurt i think is that we hit key bottom to register the key and that is harder on the fingers.
Ideally we need to get used to pressing the key just enough so that it registers without bottoming out.
Click to expand...
This is my problem. I tend to press the key till it hits the bottom. Trying to cure myself of this habit has been hard.
Rednekol said:
Nuphy makes some good quality low profile boards, or if you need something more ergonomic , you could try a Sofle or a Corne style board with Choc Switches
Click to expand...
Is it possible to get them in India? Sofle does look interesting. But it seems like a big diy project.

cablesutra.shop

Keyboards

CableSutra, where artisan craftsmanship meets your passion for precision.
cablesutra.shop cablesutra.shop
 
dpandey said:
This is my problem. I tend to press the key till it hits the bottom. Trying to cure myself of this habit has been hard.
Click to expand...
I am not an expert and have never used red keys before, but i think red keys are maybe your problem.

From what i understand red keys dont have any resistance/feedback and go straight down.
Blue and brown have feedback within the key travel, a point where you can feel that the key has registered and resistance increases.
We can learn to mostly avoid bottoming out. Atleast that is what seemed to have happened to me, even though it takes more pressure to keep keys pressed when gaming ( wasd), still overall my fingers are much happier.
Please do your own research on this too. Mine is just one example.
 
dpandey said:
This is my problem. I tend to press the key till it hits the bottom. Trying to cure myself of this habit has been hard.

Is it possible to get them in India? Sofle does look interesting. But it seems like a big diy project.

cablesutra.shop

Keyboards

CableSutra, where artisan craftsmanship meets your passion for precision.
cablesutra.shop cablesutra.shop
Click to expand...
Yeah , it's a fairly significant project but very worth it in my opinion, that said Sofle(s) and Corne(s) can be found frequently for sale in the IMKC Discord
Also I can't vouch for CableSutra since I haven't used them personally
 
Why not try a normal DELL Keyboard KB 216. You do get for 500-600 approx, should be useful to you.
Do try Ergonomic Keyboards from Logitech/Dell too.
 
Love good quality chicklet. This one has the same feel, depth, dimensions of a laptop keyboard.
This is quite thin so the angle at my wrist is almost straight as compared to bent when i have used any other keyboard. Even though I dont have RSI, this feels more comfortable.
I touch type while programming. Often on laptop and often on this keyb - helps keep my experience consistent.
I have tried a few expensive low profile mechanical keyboards but always came back to this.
Sorry but I feel mechanical keybs are overrated :eek:- maybe I needed more time to get used.
Jetech kb + Razer Orochi v2.jpeg
 
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I too am an ageing writer, and I really feel what you are going through!

I use both tablets and desktops and most of my go to keyboards are mechanical ones. While I do appreciate a good chiclet keyboard, it is only a matter of time before the experience starts to deteriorate. @Tracer_Bullet might have a point. I use blues, browns and reds, and I personally feel the reds are quieter and over time have come to enjoy them the most.

That said, for your use case, I would suggest you to try the low-profile red keyboards. I am typing on one, and if you do not like reds, there are Kailh Chocs with 20g actuating force that you might love. If you already have mech-keyboards with hot-swappable switches, trying a few switch variants will be your best bet.
 
soulweaver said:
That said, for your use case, I would suggest you to try the low-profile red keyboards. I am typing on one, and if you do not like reds, there are Kailh Chocs with 20g actuating force that you might love. If you already have mech-keyboards with hot-swappable switches, trying a few switch variants will be your best bet.
Click to expand...
Thanks @soulweaver . Could you tell me model and where you bought it from.
 
Keychron K5 se is one of the keyboards I use. Since I don't have a laptop and work at four different locations, I have four different keyboards. :grin: Apart from the ones I use for my tablets.
 
After spending a bunch of money on mechanical keyboards i realised they were not for me. I was too used to laptop keyboards
I was happy with the 400/500 rs dell /HP keyboards, but badly wanted backlit as i work at night with lights off to let the kids sleep

Got the mx keys but too scared to use them because I'm pretty messy and keyboards don't last more than a year or so.
Got the fingers moonlit and they're kind of ok. Not as low profile or nice action but works for me
 
Not knowing my sony vaio has keyboard that is called a chicklet keyboard... it has short key travel and takes very less effort to type on it... i was using it for all my gaming, programming and learning activities... built design was very minimal with numeric keypad... which was blending nicely with slim design of my vaio laptop... the overall typing experience with chicklet keyboard was delicate as compared to keyboard with larger keys... now a days this slim design of keyboard is very common...
 
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