ErgoDox Review, an Ergonomic Mechanical Keyboard via Massdrop
by Jarred Walton on August 27, 2013 12:00 AM ESTClosing Thoughts: Some Assembly Required (Maybe)
Reviewing unorthodox keyboards can be a rather difficult business, and clearly it has taken me longer than originally anticipated to complete just these three reviews. However, the time taken has hopefully been of use to some of our readers, and I’ve certainly learned a thing or two. One important thing is that to get the most out of any of these products, you need to be willing to invest some time. You won’t make a switch from a standard 101-key layout to any of these without at least a few days of consternation, and on top of that the ErgoDox will require you to put the whole kit together before typing even a single word! Or will it? The original Massdrop for the ErgoDox required full assembly and programming by the purchaser, but for this round Massdrop has added a couple new options.
First, let’s also clarify something: you don’t actually get everything you’ll need for the current price of $199; you actually have to pay a bit more for the blank key caps that go over the Cherry MX switches – $37 to be precise – and if you want laser etched keys I'm not even sure where you'd buy them. So the minimum cost is $236 if you want key caps, which most people will need, unless you have a bunch of extras just lying around your home/office. There are a couple other options as well that you can check, like getting an anodized aluminum top plate instead of the clear acrylic for an extra $25, or you can have the whole keyboard in a gold plated case for just $5000 (awesome). As for assembly, if you don’t want to roll your own, Massdrop has two options: one is to have all the basic soldering done (steps 1-9 in the assembly process), and then you just need to solder the Cherry MX switches into place; this will cost $19.99. The other option is the easiest: Massdrop will assemble the whole kit for you, for a $49.99 fee.
That means when we talk about pricing, $236 gets you the parts and you put it together, or if you want a similar experience to buying a TECK or a Kinesis Advantage, you’re looking at $285.99 for a fully assembled ErgoDox. By comparison, the TECK will currently set you back $248 if purchased directly from TrulyErgonomic, plus $19 for ground shipping, so it’s only slightly less expensive (but you’d get it within the next week or so). Kinesis Advantage has an MSRP of $299, but it’s also far more widely available, so you can actually snag one off of Newegg.com for $268 + $15.99 shipping, or TigerDirect has it for $271.69 + shipping, which for me is $280.33. Looking at all three prices, then, it’s close enough that what it will really come down to is which one you think is the best/most comfortable/coolest looking keyboard.
.jpg)
I can’t answer the question of which is best for every person, but I do have my own personal preference. All three keyboards have their advantages as well as some potential disadvantages. I think the TECK is good for anyone looking for a compact ergonomic keyboard, and as I mentioned in the Kinesis review I found the TECK to be better than the other ergonomic keyboards if you want to play games. The Kinesis ends up being my favorite of the three keyboards I’ve looked at, with the large, raised palm rests and curved key wells being the most comfortable for prolonged typing in my experience; I also like that it includes a USB hub, and the macro functionality is basically a free extra. The ErgoDox meanwhile is going to be best suited for people with larger hands in my opinion, and the ability to move the two halves wherever you want (within reason) could prove beneficial for some users – plus it’s the keyboard best suited to modders and tweakers. If you want to dabble in alternative layouts, the Massdrop Configurator is practically impossible to match with any other keyboard.
As far as ordering options go on the ErgoDox, my recommendation in hindsight would be to get the full hand casing, and having now spent plenty of time with the Cherry MX Blue, Brown, and Clear switches, I would personally get the ErgoDox with Cherry MX Blue – though I can’t say from personal experience how the Blacks and Reds compare. Just note that Blue switches are very clicky, so if you’re in an office space with a lot of coworkers, you’ll probably need to get one of the “quiet” switches instead. I do feel the Clear switches require a bit more force than I like, so I imagine Reds would be my next choice for the ErgoDox. It’s too bad you can’t get the ErgoDox with Brown switches – you could always order your own, but most places sell the MX Brown switches for $2.50 each – that’s $190 just for the switches if you were to buy 76 for an ErgoDox, which illustrates quite well the power of the Massdrop group buys.
If you’re interested in giving the ErgoDox a try, now is a great time as the latest Massdrop group buy is nearly finished. Join before the end of the week and you should get your order within a few weeks; the next round of ErgoDox group buy isn’t likely to happen for another six weeks or longer, so for the impatient among you, time is of the essence.
And if you’re curious about what I’ll be typing on next, I’m going to be switching to a more traditional staggered key layout for a bit, the Goldtouch Go!2 Mobile, as I’m a glutton for the punishment of regularly switching keyboards apparently. I’m also going to be focusing on Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12.5 for the next month or two; I know for a fact that I can dictate faster than I type, at least for straight text, but unusual words, punctuation, and acronyms can be a bit of a pain. I’ll see if things have improved since my last serious Dragon review and render a verdict on typing vs. speech recognition sometime in the next couple of months. In the meantime, if there’s some other crazy keyboard you’d like me to test, leave a note in the comments.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
50 Comments
View All Comments
Findecanor - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
Actually, the ErgoDox was designed to be titled. The point of having the keyboard split in two separate halves was so that you can customize the tilt, angle and distance to fit YOU. The Microsoft Natural Keyboard is locked in one position that can not be changed, and is (at least the older models, before the MS 4000) also flat on each half.The Massdrop "distribution" of the ErgoDox (it is an open design) does not contain any hardware for tilting, but an earlier case design (on ErgoDox.org) had different bottoms with different tilts for different users. Massdrop chose the layered design because it was less expensive to make.
echtogammut - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
Great series of reviews. After my last MS ergo keyboard died, I am now using a Razer Lycosa that I won in some contest or tournament and god my wrists hurt. I have a Kinesis circa 2000 sitting in one of my many parts bins, but I seem to recall the key actuation being too heavy. This review brought me back to an idea I had a while back, which was to make my own keyboard. It appears you can get backlit cherry keys for Ducky keyboards for $41-51 and I have the advantage of having my own, photoresist pcb lab, cnc machine and pick and place (assuming I decide to build a bunch). Looks like I will be figuring out my ideal layout, once I get back from vacation. :) Like you my hands seem to be a bit smaller that what manufactures seem think is the norm (the worst case of this was the Razer Nostromo... I think you needed hands like Chopin for that thing).WeaselITB - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
Thanks for the review, Jarred. This seems closest so far, but I'm still looking for something curved like an MS Natural, but with mechanical keys. Why does a product like that seem more elusive than a genie riding a unicorn? I can't believe I'm the only person out there who would pay (and pay a goodly sum) for a nice high-quality keyboard like that, but mechanical keyboards are either the traditional straight-line affairs, or the really unique ones like this.First world problems, I guess.
-Weasel
JarredWalton - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
I suspect part of the problem is that the companies who invest the time and resources into creating an ergonomic keyboard with mechanical switches want to make sure that they create the best keyboard possible – in their opinion, naturally, but also backed up by some studies and research. I would assume that Kinesis and Truly Ergonomic (and Maltron, etc.) have looked at a variety of designs and concluded that their current solutions are the "best".woogitboogity - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
When the company Cherry (the Cherry MX switches) was cited this keyboard earned quite a bit of respect from me.I am a programmer and student physics researcher who has done not just personal hacking but work designing systems of sensors and switches for use controlling experiments at DOE National Labs. While drooling over the Datahand keyboard (the $1200 super keyboard for the rich and those who have carpel tunnel that have to bite the bullet) I once went on a quest to find the lightest activation force switch I could find. This was of course a lever limit switch (long level means longer travel distance but less force) but I also searched for practical switches of the type that get ordered en masse for human input devices. I knew when I started looking up model numbers and started coming up with hits to logitech and similar companies I was in the right area.
Cherry was the company that consistently came up when it came to the lightest activation force switches from the big companies like Digi-key and Newark, whether they were limit switches or button switches.
Exirtis - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
@Jarred:I'd love to read a review of the Datahand Professional II, particularly since most of the reviews I've come across are rather old, lacking in comparisons to other ergonomic keyboards, or were evaluated over too short of a term to be useful.
That's where a review from you would be great, since you're in a position to offer a much more definitive & useful review than is currently available—important, as the price is rather extreme in comparison to other keyboards (it's currently listed at $995). And so on a typical budget, a person would have to be out of their mind to buy one without high confidence as to whether it might be worth it for them.
So, do you think a review is possible? Or is the Datahand too out there even for you guys?
JarredWalton - Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - link
I'm more than willing to try one, if they'll send a review unit. I'm not in a position to spend $1000 on a keyboard/input device, but I've sent them an email so we'll see. Honestly, I haven't seen or heard much of the DataHand since about 2002/2003, other than some community discussions, and they apparently went off the market for a while (a supply issue I guess).I have to say that their website isn't encouraging, with some errors on pages cropping up and a general lack of recent information. It also looks like the hardware hasn't been updated in quite some time, given that they have PS/2 adapters for the mouse and keyboard, with a $20 USB converter required for most modern systems. But like I said, I've sent a request so I'll be interested to see if they respond.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - link
So both of my email messages bounced from their servers. It appears DataHand is now defunct. Wikipedia has this to say (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datahand):"DataHand Systems, Inc. announced in early 2008 that it was ceasing to market and sell its keyboards. The company web site states that due to supplier issues, the company will not sell the DataHand keyboard 'until a new manufacturer can be identified.' However, the company plans a final, limited production run to satisfy existing customers. In January 2009, the company's website started taking orders for a 'limited number of new DataHand Pro II units'."
Given the cost and the apparent inability to support new customers, I unfortunately have to conclude that the DataHand is a dead end.
Exirtis - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
Too bad. It always looked interesting.You know, I've always gotten the feeling that the company was more run by researchers who didn't really know how to run a business that well – or get manufacturing costs worked out, apparently – and this leads me to believe that this feeling was correct. Sad days.
Exirtis - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
And thank you for responding, by the way.