Can't get used to the shallow keyboard, what should I do?

[jerryk]

If you like the Aerons, you may also want to check out the chair I mentioned, a Eurotech iOO or an Ergohuman, but you can't find them in stores. The closest thing you can get to it is if you find a Staples store that has Raynor chairs or an office supply depot that just happened to have some.

Besides the mesh being hard on your skin, the thing that led me to sell my Aeron was how hard and unforgiving the seat frame was. You don't always hit the mesh parts when you're sitting and sitting against blast proof plastic gets irritating.

If you're in the South Bay, drop by Tom's Discount Office Furniture in Santa Clara. They often have overstock items and sometimes will have fully loaded Aerons for a lot less than retail. Last time I was there, they had HM Mirra 1's for around $400. That's another alternative if you like the Aeron.

I tend to favor mesh chairs and ones with minimal padding because padding always wears out and becomes a very different chair once it does. If I need more padding, I add my own.

Leap's are nice chairs. I've never owned one of those, but it was one of the ones I did a long sit test in. They're just basically a super solid uber adjustable industrial strength office chair.

Thanks. I will check out Tom's

 

[smirking]

Thanks. I will check out Tom's

I think they've had a Leap there each time I visited in the past 4 years.

You should also visit BT Express Liquidators down the street from them in Sunnyvale.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/bt-express-liquidators-sunnyvale

Tom's website is here:
http://www.mrdesk.com

If you want to explore, start at BT. They have a wider range of things and it's very spacious and more socially comfortable to just plop yourself down and disappear for a while without feeling like your interrupting someone's day. The inventory is more constrained at Tom's and it's cozy, but they seem to always have really good deals and good items.

Also add a Zody chair to your list of chairs to try. BT has a bunch of those.

---

I think we've completely hijacked this thread.

 

[BarracksSi]

This is the chair I'd like to try:

 

[smirking]

This is the chair I'd like to try:

Those are a good secondary option when you need a change of pace, but exercise balls are usually not ideal as an everyday option. The good thing is that they cost even less than most cheap office chairs, but they'll still be in good condition years from now. I have one of those too and it comes out once in a while when I need something softer to sit on or if my back is feeling stiff. I don't use it as much now that I have a sit/stand desk. I'll stand instead of using the ball.

 

[BarracksSi]

Sometimes, I was using our yoga ball at home. Like you say, it's a great change of pace. I want to get a standing desk thing at my work cubicle, though, even if I only go there a couple days a week.

 

[smirking]

I want to get a standing desk thing at my work cubicle

There are ways to get a relatively inexpensive or less encumbering standing desk solution these days. They make these desktops that go on top of your desktop that will elevate if you want to stand at your existing desk. You can also get a keyboard tray that will slide up as well as out so if you have a monitor arm or some way to elevate your monitor, you can stand at your old school desk.

Standing desks have gotten a lot cheaper too if you're looking in the right places. They used to all cost around $1000 or more. You can find motorized ones in the $300 to $400 range now.

 

[BarracksSi]

We used wooden milk crates at coding school. LOVED them. I could stand up half the day and save my back.

 

[venom600]

This is the chair I'd like to try:

One of the guys who worked for me used one of those at his desk, and every time he was out of the office it would find it's way to someone else's desk. I couldn't stand it, but everyone else loved it.

 

[BarracksSi]

One of the guys who worked for me used one of those at his desk, and every time he was out of the office it would find it's way to someone else's desk. I couldn't stand it, but everyone else loved it.

If I get one, maybe I should secure it to my desk with a cable lock. Kensington, or Kryptonite? ;-)

 

[smirking]

If I get one, maybe I should secure it to my desk with a cable lock. Kensington, or Kryptonite? ;-)

Yeah, but someone could still steal the air inside.

 

[BarracksSi]

Yeah, but someone could still steal the air inside.

As us tuba players say, "Air is free," but yeah -- time is money, and refilling the ball takes time (there's a reason nobody deflates their yoga balls after every workout), so air would cost money here.

 

[Spudlicious]

Buy a ThinkPad.

But not a new Thinkpad. Apple aren't the only ones who've moved to skinny laptops with nasty chiclet keyboards. I bore hell out of people reminiscing about my T61 and its superb keyboard.

 

[smirking]

But not a new Thinkpad. Apple aren't the only ones who've moved to skinny laptops with nasty chiclet keyboards. I bore hell out of people reminiscing about my T61 and its superb keyboard.

They killed the Thinkpad's keyboard? Noooooo! For the longest time, the Thinkpad's keyboard was the class of all laptop keyboards.

 

[ZapNZs]

I have a solution. It is quite possibly a terrible solution, but it's a solution nonetheless.

Try a K70 with Cherry MX Brown switches (or something else with the Cherry Browns.) Will this magically make you like your current laptop's keyboard more? No, although I think over time it might make prolonged use with the butterfly switches more tolerable, because it may very well make you apathetic to all laptop keyboards.

I just bought one. I'm undecided whether I made a smart move or a terrible one. But good god laptop keyboards now all suck. Forget touchbars and touchscreens...this is the biggest improvement in the user experience for me since I've moved to using more than one display.