My review of an alternative -- the TypeMatrix 2030.

[Shawn_Milo]

[ivanw]

[barbara]

[ivanw]

[barbara]

[Rqyteqto]

[ivanw]

That's it, I am going to buy the TypeMatrix EZ-Reach 2030.

Sometimes, as I said, I have to switch back to my "standard" keyboard while struggling with some sucking issue. When I get mad at something (my job does that to me now and then), I just can't use the FW keyboard! My 20-80 error rate becomes 80-20 This is where I revert to my old worn out MS-Natural KB... How weird it feels! Working with this thing is like beeing punished for something I'm not guilty of

Nah, this is why I deserve a TypeMatrix It's just fair... And, should my TS kill itself from some disease of its kind, I'll be less desperate as We all must have a plan B.

That wont be easy to get a Qwerty TypeMatrix from France but among all the keyboards I've seen, based on what is said about it, here as well as in several other reviews, it looks like it is the one to have -- after FW's.

May be Barbara and Shawn could send some updates... How does it goes since your last review?

[bradheintz]

I've posted a of the TypeMatrix 2030, the Kensington Expert trackball mouse, and Macro Express - these being the tools I've chosen to replace my TouchStream at work. (It has become too fragile to transport.) Interested parties are welcome to come get my perspective (the enthusiast of a TouchStream enthusiast forced back into the HCI ghetto) on these products.

This was a set of off-the-cuff impressions of these products after a few days' use, so please feel free to leave comments, ask questions about any features that I missed, etc.

[ivanw]

OK, I've got the idea and I am glad to see that the Typematrix could come through your harsh report.

Before sending my Oder, I scrutinized the whole . I had the same sceptic frame of mind while reading. After all, I agree when you say that we have something that comes from the future on our desk

But I have some really good feelings to report here: First the spirit, you can get it from looking at this TV ...there is a man behind this keyboard.

There is a woman too because, after reading THE WHOLE site, I reported some (thousand times read) typos someone had to signal them. While I was there, I told them where I came from (I mean from here, from the Multitouch enlightened guild). Then I received a nice reply from Mary Webber the next day (last Sunday) telling me she had noticed my order and that my keyboard would be sent on Monday. Was it a favor? I would not know but she said they have heard about the "TouchStream disappearance". My mention of the Fingerfans site was meant to let them know that things happens here they could be interested in. Who knows, they could - and we could - benefit from an even better alternative solution in the future.

Your review seems to be a neutral appreciation as long as you cannot be easily satisfied having traveled back in time.

[bradheintz]

Well, I didn't mean to be harsh about it - but I did try to show both what I liked and what I didn't. And I stand by my evaluation of the Shift key placement.

Did you order directly from the company? You can get 2030 much cheaper at Amazon, at least in the U.S.

[ivanw]

[Rqyteqto]

[ivanw]

[Shawn_Milo]

[ivanw]

Thanks Shawn, its good to know what can be accomplished in the long run when you have to invest as much as it takes to get comfortable with a work tool.

I received mine last Friday as expected -- less than one week and 26$ to reach France. I like it alright! Non-staggered, silent, small, transportable, ...but I still like my TS though

Here I am once again! Re-learning to touch type As for the letters, I make it about 330cpm already. As I started touch-typing only six months ago, I can say that I did transpose the knowledge thanks to the keys layout.

But I do miss the TS's programmability. Numbers, braces, brackets and all these alien symbols escaped the home row once more! I was so happy living with these at my fingertips .

Anyway I would say it is a nice object. It looks like it needs some getting used to work with. I will report about milestones on my dealing with this survival substitute for my beloved TS.

We may suggest to embed some software under these keys

[Shawn_Milo]

[ivanw]

[ivanw]

Well, I’ve been using a TypeMatrix 2030 since four months now. I must say that my TouchStream still works fine, thank you. I bought the 2030 so I can take it along when I have to move because the TouchStream is not allowed to leave my desk (…as chances are that it would break its leg should someone slam a door too hard)

This TypeMatrix thing is very small and the feeling is good while typing, it has a soft touch and it is pretty silent. But!
1. It looks like you have been held a bunch of keys, placed in a box, waiting for you to pick them out... The problem is that you will have to use them right where they are!
2. Your hands are oddly too close from each other,
This is already enough to disqualify it from the ergonomic domain.

This said, I don’t dislike the TypeMatrix. It has unique traits: First, keys are very close to each other and that’s nice. Then the non staggered keys, quite like the TouchStream. This is a combination you can use while typing large documents as your fingers travel really fast! Conclusion, although it is not the perfect device of my dreams, I do like the TypeMatrix

My point here is about justifying another alternative. Yes it has become a sort of infatuation. It looks like I take keyboards like if they were toys to play with. In fact, a TouchStream is just that! You can do magic with it… Just twist your fingers and its like if someone did something with a real mouse and keyboard from under the table

I have something in mind but I can’t tell yet whether it makes sense or not. I use to have a MS Natural ergonomic keyboard, the huge kind they made more than five years ago. I liked it, I still consider it to be closer to what a keyboard should be than any cutting edge wireless with embedded LCD you find all around.

I have some very specific criteria which qualifies my expectations. I have developed a very efficient feeling of where my hands use to rest when I am editing some program file with my favorite – and only – editor which is gvim. This is a wildly tunable tool that has become sort of third arm. The MS has become a kind of mediator in this process and I miss it when I use another keyboard whatsoever.

If I try to understand what I get from the MS that I miss with any other keyboard I’ve tried, it turns out to be simply that my fingers have something to recognize! Indeed, which other keyboard has anything more than a bunch of little squared shapes, all alike, all aligned, surely they want to confuse me while I am looking for one of them in particular. Oh, that’s mean!

That’s it! I want to give my finger something they can play with, they can recognize and feel comfortable with. No plastic: fur, leather… I know, I’m dreaming but this is the general idea. Anyway, thanks to USB, I can plug as many keyboards as I want at the same time. Currently I have only three of them, who knows where this will lead?

It looks like the is trying to hypnotize me… I will surrender soon if I can’t find better. I am also considering some but I feel that I risk ending up with some more unused junk on my desk... ... Did someone considered some of these aspects?

[ivanw]

[Msquared]

[ivanw]

[Shawn_Milo]

[Cerin]

[ivanw]

I would say that the staggering subject is pending mainly because there is no justification for it whatsoever... Does anyone here has one that would not be related to the that tells us it was to minimize mechanical jamming brought up by archeology?

My own appreciation is that with non-staggered keys, I am more confident about which key I will get when I stretch or bend a finger, ...but this is only when I think that I am typing - which is wrong!

The important thing here is that this comes into place when confidence has something to do with touch-typing...

I am a newcomer to the discipline, I used to huntpeck for 20 years. Last year, I bought a TS and I had to challenge myself badly about getting proficient at touch-typing. I looked for documentation on all aspects of the subject. Since then, I am having everyday training, like a musician would.

The result is that it turned me into an addict of the matter.
I'm not through with my training yet, it will never end. But I get more and more insight into the process of touch-typing with time.

I like any attempt to understand what is really important about what would be the perfect keyboard. The FingerWorks job is so a great technical achievement, through hard thinking and hard work, that it can serve as a great inspiration emblem.

Back to the topic, I would say that the conscious comfort of non-staggered layout means one trap less during the learning process.

Anyway, as long as the real thing about touch-typing is NOT on the conscious level, all these keys could as well be organized at random. Your muscle memory would achieve the same sort of miracle to reach them where they are... after a very long training effort.

Still, I prefer getting rid of the insanity of staggered keys layout. Conformism and historical justification are not good assets for geeks like us anyway

[TorbenGB]