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| |  | Ergonomic | Home » » » Kinesis Ergonomic Keyboard, Freestyle solo USB, Black by DS International | | | | | | | Description: | | Perfect for individuals requiring greater separation than what is provided by other ergonomic keyboards. The Freestyle Solo is compatible with all Windows, Sun and Linux systems that have an available USB port. | | | Features: | |
• Sleek low profile: minimal height, effectively creates negative slope and reduces extension.
• Narrow foot print for comfortable mousing and keying.
• Separate and adjustable left/right keying modules.
• Low-force key switches. Embedded 10-key.
• Familiar key layout provides for minimal adaptation time.
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 15.4 inches | | Product Width:
| 7.25 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.4 inches | | Product Weight:
| 2.19 pounds | | Package Length:
| 16.1 inches | | Package Width:
| 9.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.5 inches | | Package Weight:
| 2.3 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 17 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 A transcriber's dream!Jun 18, 2010
I've been a transcriber for many years now. I've long been experiencing pain in my fingers, wrists and elbows caused by repetitive strain, carpal tunnel and "tennis elbow". Each day I work leaves me feeling like I want to cut off my arms rather than type another letter.
In an effort to extend my career and continue to support my family, I decided to make an investment in the Freestyle keyboard. It's like typing on a cloud! It has taken a little to get used to, both the soft touch and the different (ergonomic) angle, but this keyboard has now found a permanent place on my desk. I was a bit leery about spending so much on a keyboard but it's worth every single penny. Very high quality, very comfortable feel, coupled with the VIP accessory you just cant go wrong.
bye bye tunnelMay 09, 2010
bought this from amazon with the accesory pack, within 2 weeks, my wife's beginning carpal tunnel syndrome disappeared. great buy.
Comfy, Adjustable, and (!) Makes mousing easierApr 08, 2010
I work in product design, and most of the workspaces I see are set up one of two ways: With the mouse dead center (or off a little to the right) and the keyboard above it OR with the keyboard dead center and the mouse way off to the right. Both are compromises.
Most keyboards have the cursors and the number pad in the most advantageous position possible for solo use of the right hand. Sadly, that leaves the mouse out of the picture. With a standard keyboard, suddenly the mouse (which you use all the time) is way off to the right. By foregoing the number pad, your mouse hand will be happier. If you're an accountant or a number cruncher, put a separate number pad in a prominent position. If you're someone who works in a graphic discipline, put the pad out of the way, not the mouse. And if you're like 90% of the population who doesn't know how to use a ten-key by touch, don't even use the number pad.
For those reasons I'd suggest this keyboard over Kinesis's more expensive Contour keyboard (which has a huge learning curve, and is hard for big handed people like me). For the Freestyle, because you can adjust the angle, it's comfortable for me with my wrists back on the pads, or for small users who've sat at my desk closer together. And it can be pushed together to mimic a normal keyboard for traditionalists. The accessory kit makes the keyboard however. I would not recommend it as a standalone.
The construction is sturdy except for the pin that connects the two parts, which fatigues when the accessory kit is used. Keytouch is light, so people are correct that it doesn't respond with a clackity clack. For that, get the DAS keyboard. Your co-workers or spouse will want to kill you, but you'll get the feel of an old IBM selectric.
I've tried at least 15 different keyboards and maybe the same number of mouses/trackballs. This is the only keyboard that had the right balance of ergonomics with traditional layout such that a 20 year touch typist like me didn't need to relearn too much, but that my wrist and shoulder pain quieted. I bought another for work on my own dime. It's that helpful.
ADDENDUM: This keyboard is extremely water sensitive. It's awesome, but even if just a little bit of water is spilled on a counter where it comes into contact with the bottom of the keyboard, the whole keyboard will fail permanently. Not for messy surfaces.
0 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 JunkMar 25, 2010
Terrible product - good idea. Not a workable solution. Apple needs to produce its own ergonomic keyboard instead of suggesting this type of stuff.
Shoulder pain gone, now replaced with left hand painMar 04, 2010
I had very high hopes for this keyboard, but I'm not sure it's going to meet my requirements. I'm coming from a very long line of the MS natural keyboards. The biggest issue is Alt/Control and Windows keys are just about impossible to get to. I have to either use my pinky (in major pain after a couple of hours of work) or wrap my thumb way around to get to them. Or I can just move my whole hand, but that would defeat the theory of touch typing. My other complaint is the space bar is just way too wide. With my fingers on the f and j keys, my thumbs only occupy a space around 3/4" wide. Just look at the shiny spot on your keyboards space bar. Where is it and how large is it? So why the wasted realestate on a key that does not have to be that big? This puts the alt and windows keys under the center of my palm, a very hard to reach position. My next problem is the size of the windows, alt and control keys. All are much smaller than I'm used to. The MS natural keys are very large and wide. Super easy to get to. But on this keyboard they are much smaller and their location so far under the palm.... it's just terrible for me. I also do not like the right mouse windows key over on the far left. It's always been on the right side between the control and alt keys... why move it? The space bars are twice the size it needs to be, so there is room for it where it belongs. I'd also like larger shift keys.
Now to the good stuff. I bought this keyboard because of the shoulder pain caused by reaching for the mouse. Having the keyboard so much more compact, puts the mouse in a very nice position. I'm also going to root through my boxes of computer castoffs and find an old trackball I had. There is just a perfect place for it between the two halves. Don't know how it'll work, but it looks promising. I really hardly miss the 10ten pad. I do miss my + and - keys on the keypad for my paint and cad programs, but I'm getting used to it. The arrow keys are surprisingly easy to use and I took right to them. The cut and paste buttons are nice, but I'm so accustomed to the Control A, Control C, Control V, Alt F4 sequence, they are not that useful for me. The delete, backspace and esc keys are all very large and pretty good.But I do question the size of those buttons while making the alt, control and windows keys so small. I use them more than any of the others except the backspace. I also like the clicky sounds of the keys. I'd prefer the original IBM click, and why they don't include it in a keyboard like this is confusing to me. But the sound is welcome.
I have been going back and forth between the MS Natural and the Freestyle and each has it's positive points. Neither is perfect. The size and position of the bottom row on the MS is far superior to the Freestyle. But the Freestyle moves the mouse a good 4" to the left and having the two halves move independant of each other is a great plus. So I'm forced to endure right shoulder pain, or left hand palm/pinky pain. I know MS has a new board, the 6000, so I might have a go at that.
I'm giving it 4 stars to be fair, but I'd really give it 3.5 to be accurate.
The search for the perfect (ie, painless) keyboard goes on.
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