[hackersword]

As someone who uses a computer professionally and for fun, upwards of 12+ hrs a day for 20+ years, investing in good quality tools of your trade are worth it.

Mechanical Keyboards are nice obviously for the tactile difference and impact on typing speed and sensitivity, but for me the game changer was switching to a split keyboard for the ergonomics. I have always had shoulder pain, and tightness in my triceps. No matter how much I worked on ergonomics .. mouse position, height, etc. I have very broad shoulders/chest, so putting my hands on the keyboard always bowed my chest in and rotated both shoulders slightly forward.

I use the UltimateHackingKeyboard (UHK) now for over a year, and my shoulder and arm pain have all but disappeared. The UHK comes with a relatively short 3-4 inch cable to connect the two halves, and I found that was even to close together. I've since replace with a 12 inch cable and each half of the keyboard sits directly in front of the corresponding shoulder. This lets my arms, pecs,triceps, and back muscles all be in a relaxed position.

[mech422]

Split keyboards are awesome! I'm trying to work up a custom DM 'tracktyl' set with a right hand trackball for the thumb cluster.