Kinesis Keyboard Unboxing Gallery

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .
Kinesis
plain brown box.
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peekaboo.
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You get: ① keyboard. ② a sheet of quick start guide. ③ wrist pads. ④ 4 extra keys and a key puller.
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The keyboard. Model Advantage2 QD, where the keys are labeled with both QWERTY and Dvorak. Kinesis Advantage2 Keyboard
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Right side. Look at the dual labels.
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Right side thumb keys. All keys can be remapped on-the-fly.
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Left side thumb keys.
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Left side.
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Right side functional keys. They are mechanical keys. Suppose you want to make Caps Lock do Ctrl. ① Hold progm then press F12. Release both. ② Press Ctrl, release, press Caps Lock, release. ③ Press progm again to stop. That's it. Do this to remap any key.
Kinesis left f keys
Left side functional keys. Cherry ML mechanical switch with plastic keycap.
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The 4 extra keys, for the Mac. And the key puller.
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The back side. The telephone cable is for the foot-switch. 〔►see Kinesis Savant Elite2 Foot Pedal〕

The keyboard is extremely light! I like it light! In comparison, the Truly Ergonomic Keyboard is about 2 to 3 times as heavy.

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Side view, atop kitchen sink.
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Full Regalia.
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desk, with Truly Ergonomic Keyboard. The trakballs are: The mouses are:
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Sculpted thumb keys.
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The smaller/farther keys are higher for easier reach.
  1. The Backspace is where my thumb rests on.
  2. Next easy key is the ⌦ Delete, require moving my thumb to hit.
  3. Next, the Ctrl and End are somewhat a tie for me. To hit Ctrl, i kinda move my whole hand up a bit. To hit End, i stretch my thumb.
  4. Next, that Home position is next easy key.
  5. The most hard-to-reach position is the Alt.
I'm ordering position by ease becausae it's important when you want to map the most frequently used command to the most easy key spots.

the keyboard is fantastic. I adopted right away, no learning time. This review, gallery, is typed on this keyboard. (got the keyboard 6 hours ago.)

i had 3 years typing on the Truly Ergonomic Keyboard (TEK), but have never used bowl-shaped before.

compared to the TEK, immediately, the thumb keys are a BIG plus. Now you have lots of keys at your remapping disposal.

also, the bowl shaped keys, are indeed more comfortable. I was afraid somehow i might not like the bowl shape. It worked out well.

the SmartSet key on-the-fly macro engine of the Advantage2 is fantastic. I've already remapped several keys as i adjust it for Emacs: Xah Fly Keys.

i'm using this on linux. Plug and play. No driver/software needed.

This is the first-day review.

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Kinesis Advantage2 Keyboard