PERIBOARD-335RD Wired Ergonomic Mechanical Compact Keyboard - Low-Profile Red Linear Switches - Programmable Feature with Macro Keys - Compatible with Windows and Mac OS X - US English

EDIT: The left side of the keyboard didn't actually fail. Rather there was some odd interaction between the keyboard and the software the encrypts my hard drive sprang up out of nowhere. When starting my computer after it has been shut down and before the operating system even starts to load I have to enter a pin number that along with the chip in my badge will unlock the hard drive. For reasons I don't understand this particular software and this keyboard after about a week of working together fine, just decided to not play nice with each other. As a result I had to use the laptop's own keyboard to enter the pin. However, once unlocked and the computer fully booted up this keyboard worked just fine, including typing in exactly the same pin number to log into my account. Still it was a hassle to open the lid of my laptop every time I needed to unlock my computer, so I did return it. However, this is entirely this keyboards fault and because other than one weird thing the keyboard worked great I am increasing my rating from 3 to 5 stars. ORIGINAL: I bought this to replace the latest of several Microsoft Sculpt ergonomic keyboards that I have owned. I love the ergonomics of the MS Sculpt, but the membrane keys just aren't very durable, so a Sculpt only last me a couple of years before keys start fail. Also the membrane keys lacked the nice travel and feedback of a mechanical keys. This keyboard seemed like an ideal replacement, even though I don't like wired keyboards. And it lived up to my hopes for it, at least while it still worked. The feedback of the mechanical keys are great and they take me back to the original Microsoft Natural keyboard that was my first ergonomic keyboard way back in 1995. I also really like that it comes in 60% tenkeyless layout like the Sculpt but with a better navigation section. I can't use full sized keyboards with a ten key section (even though having a ten key really helps my efficiency when entering a lot of numbers) because the additional width pushes my mouse too far to the right resulting in a very un-ergonomic position of my shoulder which causes impingement of the tendons in my shoulder. This results in my shoulder being quite painful by the late afternoon. Eventually constant irritation caused me to develop tendinitis. So everything was going great until after just a week the left hand portion of the keyboard simply stopped working. So I am having to send it back. It is only for this unreliability that am I giving this keyboard 3 stars. There being nothing wrong with ergonomics, value for the money or comfort, I am still giving it 5 stars in each of those categories. No manufacturing process is perfect and it could be that I just got unlucky to get one of the very few that failed early. So with all of the good features and Amazons easy return policy it probably is still worth giving this keyboard a try.

5 stars at $80, 4 stars for what I wanted. I've been using ergonomic split keyboards for twenty years or so. When my most recent keyboard started to fail, I tried out the mechanical keyboards that my partner would not be without. I tried out something like 4 different keyboards and finally settled on this one. I sit with my keyboard in my lap and my mouse next to it on my desk. I need something narrower than a full keyboard to keep from reaching. My requirements: - Keys angled for each hand - Narrower than 17" - Sturdy enough for my lap - Mechanical keys - Arrow buttons, Page up/down buttons, home/end buttons Nice to haves: - Wireless - RGB Lights - Swappable keys I tried 4 different keyboards (and researched dozens more.) Here are the ones I've tried and rejected: Cloud nine Ergo TKL $169 - Kept falling apart in my lap, so rejected. Pros: Nice bright lights with pretty good controls. The key presses were quite satisfactory. Cons: Not wireless; the cables looked similar to USB, but there were warnings not to use USB. They also have Home, End, and Delete in the wrong places... I was able to switch it with the software, but it was really weird to have to do so. KeyChron Q10 Alice keyboard $235 - Keys were not split enough so my wrists started hurting. Pros: Wireless! Really awesome lighting options. My favorite was each key press was like a rain droplet in water, lighting up the other keys. There's tons of customizability with the keys. The switches felt good, but even if I decided I wanted to change them, the hot-swap ability made it so I *could*. The same is true of the key color combination, which I personally disliked. Cons - Expensive and made my wrists hurt, and WEIGHED 6 POUNDS! High-quality but heavy aluminum base instead of plastic. Good for self-defense. Perixx PERIBOARD-835BR $179 - This was wider than my requirements, but it was otherwise really good, so I gave it a try. Sadly, I found I got referral pain in my shoulders that led to killer migraines when I used it. So, it had to go back. Pros: Wireless. RGB colors (but basic controls compared to KeyChron), pretty good key presses. Cons: The windows button only works if you enable that with another button. The wristrest was too deep/thick for me. And of course there was the migraine thing. Perixx PERIBOARD-335RD $89 - This was both the first one I tried and the one I ended up selecting. It covers my dealbreakers, although I really wish it were wireless and had backlighting. Pros: Layout is good, and the key presses are decent (not great.) They're not too loud over my headset for people to hear me banging away. Super cheap for a split mechanical keyboard. Cons: No lights, a (good) braided cable I trip over, and I worry that it'll die quickly (like the Perixx split keyboard I'm replacing after only 7 months. ) I use this keyboard for at least 8 hours every day. I'm willing to pay more for something that will make me more productive, happier, or healthier. After looking at the marketplace, this keyboard comes closest to filling my needs, even if I pay twice as much. My alternative would be to pay someone to build me something custom ($400+,) but I'm not quite ready to say I need a custom-built keyboard.

This compact ergo keyboard is a great replacement for the Microsoft ergonomic 4000. I'm using it with a MacBookPro and it works perfectly. It has a much smaller footprint that the Microsoft 4000. It is very high quality and heavier than it looks. There are 4 rubber feet on the bottom about 2 inches long and 3/16 inch wide each. With that, and the weight of the keyboard itself, it has a solid feel and does not slip around while typing. The Microsoft keyboard has narrow contact points so it slips around while typing. I got the 'wired linear' version and the typing feel is excellent. It is better than the Microsoft 4000 and far better than any cheap/squishy membrane based keyboard. The transition from the Microsoft keyboard has not been a problem. I got the version without the numeric keypad because I didn't need it. One advantage of not having the keypad is there is a smaller distance to move one's hand from the keyboard to the mouse. The angle the keyboard on a desktop is about right for me as I have not needed to use the folding risers on the front to change the angle. The folding risers also have rubber feet similar to the base of the keyboard but smaller. I thought I would miss the volume buttons on the Microsoft keyboard, but I have not since the F11 and F12 function keys do the same thing. The wrist rest is hard-plastic as others have mentioned but I haven't found it to be uncomfortable.

Great, as soon as I get rid of the box the thing just goes blank. No lights, no response on my computer. Have tried connecting it many different ways, no luck. AVOID, landfill fodder and WASTE OF MONEY Best designed ergonomic keyboard I've come across in a long time. My Microsoft split keyboard finally gave up the ghost-- I've tried a few other recent ones but this is the only one I've found even remotely close to what I want: * flat front edge (i don't understand why they all bulge out in the middle where you never put your wrists. * keys are comfortable and have a decent feel. pretty clacky for what I thought was supposed to be not clacky but that doesn't bother me * compact, no needless (for me) number pad * works well with a macbook with editing the modifier keys * wired is great for my desk, don't need to swap batteries * fits large hands / long fingers (i'm 6'2") reasonably well Will report back if any unforeseen issues. The build quality doesn't feel super strong, wonder if keys will break. Also, curious if the hard wrist rest hurts after long use (may get some pads to add on.) Keys could be angled even further imo-- I like my arms to be close to perpendicular

I purchased over 7 wired keyboards from Perixx before finding this one. Then I stocked up on this one. This is by far my favorite from Perixx. And because everything is wireless now for the most part, this might be the last awesome wired keyboard in the entire material world? Unclear. But it is a joy to use. It definitely hits the "feels like your favorite pen" mark they shoot for. I tried the tactile keys before the linear keys, and the linear keys feel best. The tactile keys are passable, but do not have that same gratifying feeling. It looks awesome also, which goes great with video content with it just sitting there looking ready for anything, like a Ferrari in your drive-way, all shined up and prepped. Anyone have a pack of show-offs needing to be raced for pink slips? I use a num pad ( separate purchase ) on the left rather than the right because the mouse is on the right already ( duh ) and so the size of this keyboard feels perfect also, between the mouse on the right and the numpad on the left. The color and textures are excellent. Again, it has that feeling of "WOW" all over it. Only thing I would change is the LED colors to Orange or set-your-own rather than Blue, but that is not anywhere near dinging even a fraction of a star for. In the future it might be nice to have backlight but again, not worth dinging it. For what it is, it is still the best keyboard on the physical plane.

In general, I love the keyboard. I find the layout great, the key response very precise and stable. A few things keep it from 5 stars: The wrist rest is just a little small for larger hands. I find my palms resting on the edge, which is not soft. If the rest had been soft material, I might not have even noticed, but it is not soft, it is hard plastic. Not a big deal, but an odd choice on their part. Wish the keys were a bit quieter, but that may be impossible with these mechanical keyboards? It is quieter than some I have used in the past. In comparison, I really liked the keys on the Logi Wave, but found the layout too small and cramped for my larger hands. A scroll wheel on the keyboard would have been a nice touch - my old keyboard had this and I liked it quite a bit.

The keyboard is a good replacement for a Microsoft sculpt, it has a similar split angle and tenting. The wrist rest is a bit small. Because the keyboard is very thin and light some keys have a hollow sound (the large ones) and others have a ping probably from the springs. It would help if the manufacturer would add some foam inside for dampening it

I've been an ardent fan of the split design Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard 3000. The one I have in my home office died, and expensing well over 100$ for old stock felt ridiculous. I got this keyboard as a replacement. I like it more than the MS one - it feels much higher quality, takes up less space on my desk, and has convenience features for remapping between Mac key setup and Windows key setup. The other hotkeys are mostly useless (command + tab app switcher button, brightness, show desktop, command + space spotlight button, useful expose button, useful volume up/down buttons) though ignorable. The mechanical / actuated keys also feel much nicer to type on.

Possibly the best keyboard I have owned. Previous boards incl. Microsoft, Dell and Logitech. I mean, all budget tech gear is a compromise to cater for as many users as possible. Some just do it a bit better, or the compromise just happens to suit oneself better than it would others. This is particularly so when it comes to ergonomics. I live in the humid subtropics, so the wrist rest on this is good. It hasn't deteriorated in what, three years. All the keys still click like new. I think this keyboard, and possibly all Perixx boards, are made with better quality than others that are similar. I sometimes wish I had waited for the backlit model. It would have proved useful as at night I only have the screen to illuminate the keys used less often.

This is the best and the worst keyboard at the same time. The red switches are amazing, super light, no-strain, easy typing, just wow. Build quality- solid, very good bent shape both horizontally and vertically, high quality materials. But the wrist rest is horrible and even painful - if you place your hands on the keyboard in an ergonomoc, wrist-straight position, the palm of your left hand stands exactly on the sharp edge of the plastic. If you want both of your palms to rest on the wrist rest, you must bend your wrists inwards as you would on a regular keyboard, which defeats the purpose. The only sustainable way to use this keyboard is to find a very thin and flexible keyboard wrist rest and lay it over the edge of the keyboard’s own plastic wrist rest. If they improve the wrist rest, this would be the perfect keyboard for a variety of activities ranging from gaming to office work to coding

Will never use a normal keyboard again. So much more comfortable to type with.

So far I like this keyboard a fair bit. The form factor is good for ergnomics - not having a dedicated numpad is great and I like the feel of the keys. I would prefer the palm rest was slightly larger. My hands aren;t big but my palms still tend to sit at the edge of it. I haven't played aroudn with the macros yet but I think that will be a nice benefit. I would prefer to see a larger palm rest. Otherwise, I am happy with this. the wireless version looks nice but the extra cost doesn't justify it

I've been using this keyboard for about 1.5 months. It's very comfortable and the key-switches feel decent (reds). For the price I'd 100% recommend this board. The only downside is that the key-caps aren't very durable and are already getting shiny on the home row. Since it's not a standard layout there's not much hope of replacing them down the road. If you want an inexpensive ergo mechanical keyboard this is a great option.