iGesture Pads & MiniKeyboards?

[Jbuffalo]

Thought I would kick off this ergonomics category

I recently became a "member" of the "FingerWorks fanclub" when I after much trouble finally found a TS. It's has german layout but I LOVE it anyway

Given the extreme coolness of the TS I would like to know about any experiences with iGesture Pads & MiniKeyboards...
- What are the benefits over the TS?
- What are the drawbacks?
- etc...

[Will]

Hi,

as far as I know the iGesture Pad is kind of one half of the TS w/out the typing feature. So you can do mousing and gesturing but not typing. It's definitely inferior to the TS. The Mini Keyboard is a miniturized version of the TS, which leads to reduced ergonomics due to its small and flat form factor.
The TS was Fingerworks' flagship keyboard and thus superior to all other of their products (well, except its mobile version, the MacNtouch).

[Ninotchka]

I have been using an iGesture pad for about a month. The ergonomics seem to be improving for me the longer I have it -- my hand is more relaxed. Simply having the scroll function has made a huge difference. There are a few gestures I haven't been able to get to work at all, but overall it's good enough that I've bought another one just in case!

My TS should be here in a week or so. I'm excited about having mousing and typing on the same surface, but nervous about learning how to type again -- I'm pretty fast on a regular keyboard. Also, my hands are very small; some of my RSI has come from the fact that the keypitch on standard keyboards is quite a strain for me (switching to a children's keyboard helped immeasurably, and my co-workers have been very good at not laughing at my purple-yellow-green keyboard). I hope that the keypitch on the TS is okay for me. If not I'm sure I'll be able to find it a home via this board!

[The00Dustin]

I hope that the keypitch on the TS is okay for me. If not I'm sure I'll be able to find it a home via this board!

If you like the idea of using the TS and really want to do it, it is extremely customizable. You can change the locations of the keys until they fit your hands so you can type completely comfortably. Many people do that to improve their typing speeds, but so far I'm afraid to go there (I've customized everything but key lcations). It would take some time and patience, but it is definitely a possibility worth looking into before givng up and selling it. The learning curve for typing on them is pretty high even without customization, though, so you might well find the first few weeks frustrating, so be warned, and good luck.

[Ninotchka]

You can change the locations of the keys until they fit your hands

really? that's fantastic. I have never seen one in person, and I imagined it somewhat like the old "chiclet" keyboard, with some sort of surface differentiations. If it is really perfectly smooth and fully customizable... so cool. can't wait to get it.

[The00Dustin]

You can change the locations of the keys until they fit your hands

If it is really perfectly smooth and fully customizable... so cool. can't wait to get it.

Well, it has bumps for the home row finger positions, but other than that it is shooth, so if those fit your fingers, then you can move the other keys towards those and still be able to type without loking because you can find home row with the bumps (which are quite small), so imagine you'll really like it.