Kinesis Advantage2 Keyboard, KB600 , Black

TL:DR the Kinesis Advantage 2 LF (KB600LFQ) is a phenomenal keyboard for anyone spending significant time typing. It's a solid investment in your work comfort and overall hand health. If you're on the fence about purchasing, I highly recommend giving it a go.As someone sat at a keyboard all day writing and programming I have tried many different keyboards with both standard and ergonomic layouts. The Kinesis Advantage 2 LFQ (Low-Force, Quiet) keyboard is the best so far.The biggest selling point for this keyboard is its ergonomics. The Kinesis Advantage 2 LF features a key well design that comfortably accommodates your hands and fingers in their natural resting position, which drastically reduces the strain typically associated with long periods of typing. The key wells are split and angled for a more natural position for your arms, wrists and hands. Additionally, the keys are highly responsive and don't require much force to activate, leading to reduced hand fatigue and a more enjoyable typing experience.One feature this keyboard has that the newer 360 models lack is a piezo speaker. This speaker creates a key click sound on key actuation so you can hear when the key is activated. It's a small detail but helps to avoid "bottoming out" the keys which is a common cause of pain in your fingers from typing.I bought this keyboard because I suffer from RSI, it's not a cheap keyboard but for me the keyboard enables me to keep working pain free. If you are suffering from RSI do seek expert advice though, RSI is a catch all name for a variety of different symptoms with different causes, what works for some may not work for others.The keycap profiles on the Advantage 2 is fantastic with the home row being a different shape so your fingers can quickly recognise where they are on the keyboard without looking. Sadly these keys are made of ABS plastic, giving them a sticky feel. They are pretty thin and wear out quickly getting a very smooth and shiny texture. You can buy replacement PBT keycaps direct from Kinesis, they aren't quite the same profile as the originals but they do feel nicer to type on and should not wear out.The keyboard sounds very hollow which is a real shame, I feel kinesis could have improved on this and with the Cherry Red silent switches it could have been a very quiet keyboard. There are various discussions online on how best to reduce the sound on these keyboards, I personally haven't tried any of them yet though.The Advantage 2 also has powerful programmability with Kinesis own Smart Set system, offering the ability to customise every key to suit your specific needs. It's possible to program it from the keyboard itself switching key positions and recording macros which is useful if your IT department limit the control you have over your PC, but you can also mount the keyboard as a USB device by using a key combination where you can create more powerful customisations such as "mod tap" keys where if you tap the key it performs one action and if you hold the key it performs another. For example, on my keyboard I have the Caps Lock key mapped to Ctrl when it's held down and Esc when tapped. The keyboard has two layers per layout, but supports many custom layouts which you can activate using a keyboard shortcut.It takes a little while to adjust to having come from using a regular keyboard but I was back up to typing at around 90 wpm within a week. The instruction manual that comes with the keyboard provides some useful guidance. If you buy this keyboard, do make sure you read the instructions.This is by no means a cheap keyboard, but given it's programability, and potential to prevent repetitive strain injuries, I believe it's a worthwhile investment.The Kinesis Advantage 2 LF (KB600LFQ) is a phenomenal keyboard for anyone spending significant time typing. It's a solid investment in your work comfort and overall hand health. If you're on the fence about purchasing, I highly recommend giving it a go.

I have bought the Kinesis Advantage 2 Quiet LF and I also own a Kinesis Advantage Pro with brown keys.The linear switches are in my opinion better suited for this keyboard.I am a heavy CAD user, AutoCAD, Microstation, C3D, OpenRoads, scripting, programming, etc. I am also suffering from RSI and I noticed a vast improvement since using this keyboard.Since I've got it, I switched to a modified Dvorak layout and found it more comfortable.This keyboard is a tool, and like any tool it requires time to adapt and configure, there is a learning curve and some frustration involved, but once getting used to it one can work longer and less stressful.I highly recommend getting a foot pedal, I have a hacked version as Amazon does not have the Kinesis one in stock and importing one to the UK is prohibitive. The foot pedal allows access to a modified layout on the fly.There are enough detailed reviews of this keyboard on the internet so I won't repeat that here.One overlooked feature is the included speaker, I was a hard hitter and always bottomed out, since turning it on helped me to be a "softer" typist.Use the ASCII files to configure the keyboard and have them saved somewhere safe.In CAD the use is limited without proper configuration, this keyboard is great for typing but in CAD we have one hand on the keyboard and one on the mouse, the split layout of this keyboard is less CAD friendly unless tuned for application. Read the manual, it is mandatory to be able to get the maximum of this tool.What I do not like is the function row keys, they could use normal switches since getting there requires a bit of move, in CAD and programming we use these extensively and the small ones are hard to hit. Use of a pedal allows re-mapping to the number keys, but on some occasions it requires the use of the dedicated ones.It is big and hollow and sometimes has echo, especially when working from home in a quiet room.I cannot use it with my Contour Rollermouse, due to size of both, i have to hack something together to get them to play together.Expensive, but any mechanical keyboard is nowadays, if it is ergonomic add some extra. Kinesis has a great customer support, always happy to help.Going back to a laptop keyboard while travelling is annoying at least.If you care about you hands and need them on a keyboard get one and get used to it.

The main point of the advantage2 is also the biggest benifit. Its layout is fantastic.The thumb cluster is common to a lot of ergo keyboards so all there really is to say on that is its good. Your thumb naturally rests on space and backspace and the four main keys here are easy to hit. The corner two keys on each side (alt and super) aren't as comfortable to use but should be needed less.Most other ergo boards come in two pieces which can be good but I specifically wanted a connected board for a more consistent feel and so I could use it on my lap sat on the couch. And the advantage2 is surprisingly comfy on both a desk and your lap.The body of the keyboard is a light plastic which means its really easy to move around but doesn't feel high quality. This is however a minor gripe as I've yet to hear of one breaking.The keycaps suffor from the same issue, they're ABS plastic and you can definitely feel that. I highly recommend if getting this board to get a set of ABs keycaps. Or two if you're not getting a specially made set as one full set will leave you one key short on two sizesThe switches on mine are the Cherry MX brown and the first thing you'll find when you Google these are how hated they are. I completely agreed at first, but actually once you replace the keycaps these switches work really well. They're not the best if you're all about sound and feel but they're exectly what you need for an ergonomic board.All of these points are entirely subjective and your milage may vary, but overall I think this is a great choice