TypeMatrix EZ-Reach 2030 + Kinesis Contoured Keyboard Review

I found a review over at BusinessWeek.com that covers the TypeMatrix EZ-Reach 2030 Keyboard and the Kinesis Contoured Keyboard.  It's not very long, but the writer describes his experiences with both keyboards including descriptions of the feel of each.  Having used the Kinesis, I found myself agreeing with most of the comments (although for me, it's been harder getting used to the arrow keys being split between hands than the Enter, Space, Delete, etc under the thumbs).  I wasn't at all familiar with the EZ-Reach keyboard, so I visited the TypeMatrix home page to eyeball the pictures.  Looks interesting, but I don't think I'd choose it over my Kinesis, despite the lower price.

Here's the original review:

Ergonomic Keyboards Easy Strain (Review)

Comments

[me]

link to review broken

[Tyler Zesiger]

I'm using my Typematrix keyboard now, and let me tell you, this keyboard is such high quality, I'm amazed. I also have Kinesis's Advantage Pro contoured keyboard - it's their top-of-the-line. I love the Kinesis, but I use the Typmatrix more. They're both switchable dvorak and qwerty layouts, and they're both awesome for everything. The reason I rave about the Typematrix is because it's perfect. The Kinesis cost almost 4 times as much, and there's lots of little things that ought to work better in a keyboard that costs more than my computer! Sure, it does what it's supposed to do, but nothing more. The best thing about the Typematrix, next to it's fine refinement, is the fact that it fits so neatly in a laptop bag. What good is an altenative keyboard just for me, if it's not with me when I need it?

[Zach Kramer]

This really expensive keyboard is a treat once you teach yourself to type on it, which isn't quite hard but isn't quite easy either. It only took me a few days of a little trying to get it sorted out and now I can type fine.

However, my keyboard has had a major failure twice in two years. The first time the firmware went bad and they sent me another (via ground shipping). The second time, the right keywell went bad (all the keys on the right side) and they sent me parts so that I could do a complete internal circuitry swap. That fixed it, but was time consuming and if you're not good with tools you ought not try it. I could have sent it in, but I wanted to minimize the downtime.

Kinesis was so skimpy and resistant to helping me the second time (despite my being in the warranty period) that I remain amazed. They should have just sent me a new keyboard. Instead they nickel and dimed my support request by refusing, until I complained and complained, to even overnight me the parts. They then claimed that that's where their responsibility ends and that they were providing good support.

Today I had a third problem which they know about but do not advise you about in the documentation. Sometimes the modifier keys (shift, alt, control) get stuck and to get them unstuck you have to press them both at the same time. Great to know, but I've been having this problem since the day the keyboard arrived and it was only today that I was angry enough to call. So this is a third problem that I've had with my keyboard, which Kinesis will not replace.

LL Bean will replace a kayak that's ten years old and not even broken but cheapskate Kinesis won't replace a keyboard that's broken three times during the warranty period!

DO NOT BUY THIS KEYBOARD IF YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO HAVE AN UNRELIABLE INPUT DEVICE!!! That's my warning. The typing experience is very pleasant but in retrospect I'm not sure it's worth having to fix the damn thing.

I also forgot to mention that when the circuit board went out (the second problem) it blew out the USB board in my Apple Studio Display. If I could prove it was Kinesis that did it, I'd try to get them to pay.