Help me find a quiet replacement ergonomic keyboard

October 25, 2018 11:49 AM

I type a lot everyday all day. I'm sure I must be annoying my coworkers with my loud clackity keyboard, which is an old Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro. Any suggestions for a new keyboard with the following requirements, below the fold?

- USB
- Very quiet
- Full size keys
- Ergonomic arranged keys, similar to the MS Natural Keyboard pro
- Arrow keys and insert/home/delete/end/page-up/page-down keys with the exact same layout. E.g. arrow keys have left, down, right in one row, and up directly above the down, and are full size
- Number pad or extra dedicated "media" keys not at all needed.
- QUERTY USA

Thanks!

posted by Pig Tail Orchestra to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Best answer: The Sculpt? It's not ultra-quiet, but it's definitely less clackity. (Marco Arment's review.)
posted by holgate at 12:14 PM on October 25, 2018

Best answer: Kinesis Advantage2. It has an audible keystroke indicator that you can turn off. It can also easily switch between Windows, Linux and Mac computers. The keyboard is QWERTY USA. If people want to buy a separate "number' pad, they can.

Downsides: the enter/home/delete/end/pageup/pagedown keys may be in a different layout to the MS Natural Pro. (I haven't ever used that keyboard, so don't know what its layout is like.) Those other keys are under your thumbs. The keys are all fullsize. The arrow keys are up with the other "typewriter" keys, so there may be a slight learning curve. It's also not cheap...but once I started using it (over 20 years ago), I found that it eliminated tension in my neck, back, and shoulders that I didn't realize I had.
posted by Tailkinker to-Ennien at 12:30 PM on October 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have both an Advantage2 and a Sculpt - the Advantage2 is mechanical and a lot louder. I don't know if putting O-rings on the switches would make that much of a difference but I'm not sure you should spend the $300 or so along with the ramp-up time.

You might want to look into the Matias Ergo Pro which is specifically advertised to be quiet (and mechanical). They have a noise comparison page where they compare their switches to Cherry Blues (which is what the Advantage2 has). However Marco Ament does say they are still louder than the Sculpt in his review.
posted by meowzilla at 3:18 PM on October 25, 2018

Best answer: I use a MS Natural Ergonomic Keyboard Pro 4000 and I've not found the keyboard to be particularly louder than other membrane keyboards (which it is). IME, mechanical-switch keyboards tend to be louder than membrane keyboards, but there are ways to make mechanical keyboards quieter.
posted by Aleyn at 3:00 PM on October 29, 2018

Best answer: I had the MS Natural 4000 and it was plenty quiet.
posted by a halcyon day at 10:51 AM on October 30, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks all, I just ordered an MS Natural Ergonomic Keyboard Pro 4000. I don't need it to be zero noise, I just need it to be a lot less than this clanky thing. Hopefully this one will work fine.
posted by Pig Tail Orchestra at 5:58 PM on October 31, 2018

Response by poster: Well, the MS Pro 4000 is definitely quieter, and I would love to keep it, but the space bar is as loud, or louder, than my current one!
posted by Pig Tail Orchestra at 4:35 AM on November 5, 2018