Customer Reviews

Evoluent Mouse Friendly Keyboard

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this because of arm and neck strain from many hours of intensive keyboarding and mousing during magazine production.
This keyboard does allow a far more natural working position with the mouse and its nice and low so you don't have to lift the wrists much.
One thing that drove me crazy was the unwanted 'feature' of the extra delete key right between the spacebar and the alt(pc)/command(mac) key. Its way to easy to delete work if you are used to using keyboard commands in say photoshop or indesign. This cost me a lot of work till I pulled the key off with a screwdriver and put in a blank piece of rubber.
I've now gone for an apple wireless keyboard with no numeric keypad as it sits even lower. Apart from the extra delete key the Evoluent keyboard is a fine product though, I really cant understand why everyone puts up with the standard keyboards.

I bought the purple version of this keyboard elsewhere. I use a Mac at work and the standard Mac keyboard is quite wide. I was having problems with my wrist and shoulder because I'd have to reach out so far to the right to keep my mouse from hitting the keyboard. I ended up having to move the keyboard to the left, mouse a little, then move the keyboard back to the right and type. It was ridiculously un-ergonomic.

I started looking for a left-handed keyboard but the ones I found on most ergonomic sites were more than $100 and just as wide and clunky as the one I wanted to replace. When I found this keyboard, I ordered it at once and I've been enjoying it since I got it.

First, the keyboard uses a standard USB port, so it can be used on both PC and Mac computers. The keyboard is optimized for Windows and features special keys at the top of the keyboard for e-mail and media player functions. It also has the standard key with the Windows flag to bring up the Start menu. On the Mac, most of these functions do nothing. You have to go into the Mac OS System Preferences to have it read the keyboard, but that works just fine. The only thing I've noticed is that the NumLock LED doesn't light up, but I don't know if that is a Mac thing or something with the keyboard -- but the NumLock key does work.

Second, the keyboard is small and light-weight. It is flatter than the Mac keyboard, and that's been a plus for me. I find that the flatter surface means my wrists are not bent so much, and that has relieved some of the issues I was having with carpal tunnel syndrome.

Third, the keys seem more like those on a laptop computer than a regular keyboard. At first I thought this was cheapness, but after a couple of hours I really fell in love with the feel of this keyboard. It takes a fairly soft touch and it does click, but it isn't as loud as my old keyboard.

The only caveat I can think of is that it takes a bit of time to get used to using the keypad on the left. But that's actually a good thing because I don't have to take my right hand off the mouse to use it. After all, when you have two hands, doesn't it make sense to use both of them?

Take home message:
This keyboard's design makes it a bad purchase for anyone who (a) is a touch-typist who relies on the F-keys and the Home / End / PgUp / PgDn being where they typically or (b) has EVER needed to clean a keyboard (e.g., will eat anywhere near their keyboard or has small children).

Explanation:
I own this keyboard and the Kensington SlimBlade Media Keyboard, so I've had time to try out two designs that move your mouse hand closer to the keyboard. I love the idea of a detachable or left-sided numberpad, but this keyboard's layout is based on a nonstandard "mini" keyboard layout. The Home / End / PgUp / PgDn keys are rearranged, and it's hard to distinguish between the F-key row and top number row without looking down. The nonstandard layout differs from that of my laptop and work computer and I use these keys frequently, so the layout is utterly frustrating.

This keyboard is very slim and feels like typing on laptop keys. It's the laptop-style key mechanism that ruins both this and the Kensington keyboard for me. I'm not a hardware expert, but the keyboard appears to use a scissor-switch key mechanism. That is, if you pry up a key, you'll see that it's attached with a pair of prong-y clips that must be angled together: there are 4 small tabs that fit into the back of each key, with 4 more that stick into recesses in the keyboard and a sponge-y rubber dome that sits in the middle of the tabs.

It is a nightmare to clean because of several related design bugs...I mean "features". Here's why I gave up on this keyboard after a few weeks of frustration:

1. The spacing between the keys is wider than is typical of laptops, so it QUICKLY accumulates crumbs and detritus

2. The "slim" (not very tall) keyboard design means that even the smallest of crumbs will block the keys from descending all the way or springing back up (I have an ongoing problem with the shift key sticking for multiple keys when I try to capitalize something).

3. The keys are hard to pry off, and the scissor-switch tabs are difficult to fit back together and into the many crevices that hold the tabs in place. Should you be foolish enough to spray compressed air between the keys, every single crumb will appear to wedge itself tightly into one of those crevices.

Rather than spending (a Ulysses S. Grant) on this wired keyboard, I'd recommend trying a basic "mini" keyboard whose layout corresponds to any other keyboards you use. Mini keyboards typically drop (or require a function key to use) the numberpad, but this keyboard's numberpad isn't easily accessible anyway. If you want a left-handed keyboard, then the Ergoguys wired left-handed keyboard is cheaper. As for me, the next keyboard I try will be the A4 Tech GKS-2570 media keyboard which is wireless, looks to have a more standard key layout, and is currently cheaper than this Evoluent keyboard.

In the past I made my own left hand keyboard layout by using a laptop USB number pad on left side of my keyboard. This keyboard has a nice touch and takes up less space. I do CAD work and operate the keyboard with my left hand and the mouse with the right.

I bought this keyboard especially for Silent Hunter 4 where you use the + and - keys for time compression and the other keys on the numpad for view shots. I use the right hand for the mouse and the left hand for the numpad keys. It works great with this game. It also has a web button and an email button which work great! The soft touch butttons are nice. However, people with big hands might find this keyboard alittle cramped for their fingers.

I have been using Evoluent keyboard about 3 weeks for now (mostly win, autocad, sketchup, adobe cs). Few things that I think of this product:

- the keyboard is small. Smaller than I expected. It is about the size of an 15.4" or 17" laptop keyboard. Because of that, it is not the best suited keyboard for everyday work.

- if you get used to it, or if your work consists of inserting a lot of numerical values (CAD, or other) it can be quite OK. Inserting numbers with left hand and simultaniusly using mouse can improve your work speed and comfort.

- the quality is good and the appearance quite nice. Although it could be better (design). The keyboard is thin, buttons feel not too solid but work very nicely. Smooth maybe would be the best description.

- I like the "my computer", "e-mail" etc buttons (the highest row, instead of F1, F2..), but when using CAD it can be frustrating when instead of hitting esc you are pressing the "back" button all the time :)

- I really dont see the described benefit, of moving the mouse to a "anatomically better postion".

- Right "enter" button is too small. Spacebar is too small, left hand "Del" button is very easy to get used to and good improvement.

- If I had to buy today something similar, I would probably get something with just a separate numpad with bigger buttons (enter, space, shift) and more space between the buttons.

I ordered this product as a replacement for my full-size standard keyboard; I needed to have my right-handed mouse closer to the keyboard to avoid pronation pain in my shoulder and elbow.

The keyboard is well made and designed nicely, but I must have not caught the fact that it is in a compact format. The rearrangement of keys may not be a problem for users who want this keyboard as a left-handed replacement for a laptop-style portable keyboard, but if you would like a left-handed full-size keyboard you should check out the DSI Inc version sold by [...]. It simply moves the number pad to the left side of the keyboard and it has that nice old-fashioned click response.

I bought this keyboard for editing long documents on my laptop - when using it for hours on end I found I had to elevate the screen to avoid neck strain, and use a separate keyboard. I tried two other keyboards before this one: the Logitech Ultra Flat keyboard, which had tappy-sounding, slippery keys, and the Logitech Illuminated keyboard, which had lovely quiet keys but a relatively loud spacebar, which was irritating. It was also too wide, making me put my mouse arm way out to the side, which quickly resulted in a sore arm - being used to a laptop keyboard, I found myself wishing I could put the mouse on the numerical keypad.

This keyboard is wonderful - it feels and sounds just like the keyboard on my old Toshiba laptop: it's quiet, the keys have a lovely feel, they are low profile, not at all wobbly or slippery, and have good-sized letters (the Ultra Flat keyboard letters were small and faint, which made them difficult to see in low light). Best of all, my mouse arm is back next to my body as it used to be with the laptop's keyboard, and it's much more comfortable. I'm looking forward to editing my next document having extra page up/down, Enter and delete keys to use with my left hand. It's also a very flat keyboard, again just like a laptop.

I would recommend this keyboard to anyone who loves laptop keyboards - it has the same feel, you can put your mouse arm where you want it, and as a bonus you have a numerical keypad and extra keys on the left side.

This is awesome - low profile - very responsive keys (like a laptop feel) - and makes for a very comfortable mouse location given the number pad is on the left. The only complaint is if you need to do a lot of numerical entry (for me it's very rare)...
Combined with their mouse - it's a very comfortable setup!

There's nothing fancy here, but if you need a lefthanded number keypad, I haven't found anything even close to this price. I wanted to reduce the reach to my mouse and this product does that. Good tactile feel and no misskeys so far. It's compact, but has a standard spread between keys.