I search for the perfect keyboard. - Really. I have looked for years and I have not found a truly great keyboard yet. I want a keyboard that fits my hands and has the key-travel sensitivity that I want. It seems that most keyboard manufacturers give you a ‘one-size-fits-all’ product with loads of extra buttons and features that are not essential. At least, they are not essential to me.

I think I can be really fast on the keyboard but it is difficult to say. My hands do not fit any of the keyboards that I have tried. As a result, my hands are not in a natural position and, after a while, I notice that my speed at the keyboard starts to drop. For a laptop, I have a ThinkPad and its keyboard has received excellent reviews. However, I don’t use it. I carry a keyboard in my backpack so that I don’t have to switch to a different spacing configuration and touch sensitivity. - Yes, it does make a difference. - And how I can measure that empirically is by the number of ‘typo’ errors I make, if I have to switch keyboards. That being the case, I tend to be an ‘oddball‘ and carry a keyboard for my laptop. - I know that defeats the whole concept of portability.

I have been on this keyboard quest for ages now. A few years ago, Mike Healan, the former editor at Spywareinfo, thought that the solution was a gel roll up keyboard. Mike thought that it would be easier to carry about a rolled up keyboard, instead of a normal size one. He was kind enough to send me one. That keyboard drove me to the edge of madness in one afternoon (perhaps less than a full afternoon). The keystoke did not record unless the key strike was precisely in the center and there was a bit of a lag. It was like typing on ‘jello’. - It.Drove.Me.Crazy!

That was the extreme. So I keep looking. Some people have sent me literature and sites of non traditional keyboards. I am working my way through the list. Feel free to add a suggestion. I will report back if I find something that allows me to test the speed limit.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/

[tags]keyboard, fit, sensitivity, thinkpad, gel, speed, catherine forsythe[/tags]