I've been doing a lot of typing lately on my shitty old Compaq keyboard (it has a good build quality, but keys require relatively much force to be pressed) and I experience some discomfort in my fingers.
Would anybody suggest any specific keyboard or keyboard type that would help me ease the strain? I know absolutely nothing about keyboards lol!
I have a feeling that keyboard compression gloves would be helpful to you.
A lot of finger pain and strain comes from over usage of the carpal tunnel and wrist muscles, so you could eliminate a lot of pain by using keyboard gloves and taking 1-2 minute breaks to relax your hands every 20-30 minutes.
In addition to hardware recommendations that others make, if you aren’t using Dvorak it may help. The evidence is entirely anecdotal but it did help me.
If you want to consider switching layouts I would look into Colemak, it is basically qwerty changed, so you get most of the benefits of Dvorak but much easier to learn.
It took me about a month of effort in my final year of engineering school so I was getting a ton of practice. I also have a weird brain thing so I can’t code switch great so unlike most people I did drastically reduce QWERTY ability when touch typing. But my wrists don’t hurt as easily anymore
Charachorder did respond to the video saying they fixed most of the issues, but if the device still has closed source firmware, that would be a dealbreaker for me, especially since you cannot remap keys at the firmware level.
I saw his other messages regarding these issues. I wasn't sure what he would think about what I mentioned, but I hope the other resources I've given are helpful to him or anyone else.
I'd go for something slimline. I don't know how people use chunky mechanical keyboards.. That said, there needs to be some clearance. I used a macbook with the butterfly keys and that was attricious.
I used a Cherry ultra thin usb keyboard and it wasn't too bad. It's not ergonomic, it's just thin like a laptop keyboard so there's not much distance to press down.
Have you considered that it might not just be your keyboard? Four things that made a real difference for me:
An upright mouse.
Dictation software. It takes a while to get used to and putting on a rhotic accent can help if you don't already speak with one. The one built in to OSX is better than the one built into Word, but it may depend on what you're writing about. Expect copious editing – which is where the upright mouse comes in handy.
A lumbar support cushion. This will help your posture so there's less strain on your neck, shoulders, elbows, and wrists. Mine is cylindrical. It attaches to my office chair. You don't have to get a cylindrical one but don't get one of those cheap mesh things as they don't provide any support. You could try wedging a rolled up towel between your chair and lumbar spine to see if it helps before forking out.
Set up your office chair so your feet are flat in the floor with your knees bent at roughly 90°. Sat upright, your shoulders should be relaxed and your elbows should be open at roughly 90–100° and your wrists resting on either a dedicated support sponge thing or a rolled up towel. I had to cut an inch from the desk legs to achieve this; otherwise either my knees were too low below my hips, my wrists too high above my elbows, or my traps were tensed up. When you're sat upright, put an arm straight out; you should just be able to touch your screen. Make sure the screen is titled upwards and the top of the screen is below your eye level.
Hope this helps. It makes typing much more comfortable.
10000% behind the ergonomic/upright mouse. Saved my wrist. I will never use a regular mouse for anything other than some occasional games.
Edit:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BIFNTMC
This one is the one I use now and it has lasted longer than any other I have had yet. (I've gone through 3 others) It's only down side is battery power but a pair of good batteries lasts a good long while.
So I have mostly been a laptop person my whole life using trackpads (And the occasional trackpoint here and their) my whole life, I find them egonomic, my new job has me using a mouse and keyboard, and boy does my wrist start to hurt, and I wish I had an upright mouse or a trackpad
Maybe something specifically designated as ergonomic? I don't know too much either, but I feel like when my wrists and elbows are in awkward positions my hands and fingers tire out faster.
Kinesis advantage if you just want to buy it and be good or something like a dactyl manuform if you're interested in a more diy route (although lots of folks sell them prebuilt too)
And switch to a better layout like colemak dh mod or something (basically anything is better than qwerty, past that you get into diminishing returns)
I use ErgoDox EZ, and it really helped me with pain. Although my issues were in wrists and elbows, so not really sure if it will help you. But if you are getting a new keyboard anyway, I would highly recommend something with split design like this, it is much better.
Yeah, it is crazy expensive. Still think it is worth it, but understand it is a big investment. If you are brave you can build it yourself, it is completely open source.
ColemakDH is my main rec since it has a lot of learning material online. If I had more time and could do it again, I'd probably go with Canary.
For a rec for keyboard, look into a Lily58 or Sofie for something if you are willing to build you own. You can find shops online that will build for you though.
Split column stagger has been a real game changer for me. I personally use a smaller board than what I me ruined but when you go smaller it gets weird and probably isn't for everyone.
I kind of like Cloudnine's ergoeomic keyboards. They're fairly inexpensive for a split mechanical keyboard, but I like most things about them. There's a full size (huge) and a TKL (merely large).
The configuration software is Windows-only, and also not very good, but you don't have to use it for anything.
You're right, these are not that expensive for split keyboards. Too bad that they are not sold in my country, so I would need to consider additional transport costs.
I wonder if macro keys would be recognized by Linux? The configuration software would be unnecessary if I could use basic configuration files for my window manager and define behavior by providing key codes.
I shelled out for a ZSA Moonlander and I can't recommend it under any circumstances. It seems like it was designed by a tech bro, not someone with an understanding of anatomy. I unloaded it on eBay after a few months of worsening wrist pain.
That's interesting. I've been recommended Ergodox EZ from that company - I wonder if it's any better. This one is one of the most expensive options, so it sucks that you had bad experience with it. Thanks for the warning.