Here is my personal experience: Split design helps. Straight columns help (compared to staggered keys)[1]. I don't know first hand about mechanical keys, but

Here is my personal experience: Split design helps. Straight columns help (compared to staggered keys)[1]. I don't know first hand about mechanical keys, but nearly everyone say they help, compared to the cheap membrane keys. I like scissor switch a bit better than the membrane. Based on that, I'd say your best bet is a Kinesis keyboard (contoured, advantage), because it has all 3. Do listen to those who actually tried it however (Jd for instance says that using it with a mouse is a pain). Another keyboard that looks very promising is http://trulyergonomic.com/ http://trulyergonomic.com/ (not out yet, and they brag far too much for my taste, but nevertheless looks promising: flat (easier with the mouse), split, straight, and with mechanical keys). Now, about the keyboards I personally experienced: the cheap default keyboard is the worst by a relatively wide margin. I tried the MS 4000, and the split design makes things much better. Then I stumbled upon http://typematrix.com/ http://typematrix.com/. It is flat, but the straight design more than makes up for it. I like it much better than my MS 4000. I recommend you use a palm rest however: without it, your wrists can bend significantly backwards, defeating the purpose of an ergonomic keyboard. Note that I speak under the assumption that we all touch type. If you don't, you should start. It gives a huge boost in comfort. It also helps ease neck and eye strain, as you don't need to repeatedly glance down at your keyboard. Finally, without touch typing, ergonomic keyboards are much less useful. I also recommend that you learn a Dvorak layout, or equivalent for your language (note that even though Dvorak is optimized for English, it helps many other languages as well, due to similarities in the frequencies of letters). I found the gain in comfort noticeable, though less great than touch typing. It also took me some time to learn (expect 1-4 weeks of greatly diminished typing speed). [1]: http://www.loup-vaillant.fr/articles/better-keyboards http://www.loup-vaillant.fr/articles/better-keyboards