9826 Goldtouch's marketing slogan, "Productivity Through Prevention," summarizes the dynamic I've had to practice for a decade or so now, maintaining a delicate balance between productivity and disability -- at least so far as typing and mousing are concerned, a consequence of my ongoing struggles with fibromyalgia and polyneuritis.

Keyboard action, for obvious reasons, is especially crucial, with 'boards I can tolerate using for more than a paragraph or two of typing being few and far between.

There are of course a variety of ergonomic keyboards on the market featuring different approaches and innovations such as the radical Kinesis Contour 'boards and Key Ovation's less-radical but still unorthodox Goldtouch keyboard, claimed to be the first fully adjustable ergonomic keyboard for Macintosh users.

I last reviewed the standard Goldtouch Apple Compatible Keyboard keyboard for Applelinks back in 2006 (http://www.applelinks.com/index.php/more/the_goldtouch_apple_compatible_adjustable_keyboard_revisited_review1/ ), and found it to be solidly designed and built product. The Goldtouch's marquee feature is adjustable pronation, allowing you to configure its two split alphanumeric keypad sections on both the horizontal and vertical planes to suit your individual body requirements, thereby easing stress on the carpal tunnel and the nerves and tendons of the user's wrist. Rotating your wrists to use a flat o keyboard requires muscular effort, which can result in fatigue and discomfort. The Goldtouch Keyboard's two articulated segments can be raised in the center to more closely match the natural alignment o forearm and wrist. Forcing your hands to conventional keyboard orientation involves a hand movement clinically known as pronation — rotation of the right hand counter-clockwise the left clockwise. The theory behind the Goldtouch Keyboard's adjustability being that it supports a more natural pronation posture that helps relieve unnatural stress on your arms and wrists, improving comfort and productivity while using your computer.

For example, if you orient the Goldtouch's keypads in an inverted-V "vertical tenting" configuration with the nearsides splayed, your hands and wrists can assume natural pronation body-English that imposes less stress on joints and tendons, particularly those of the wrist' carpal tunnel. Adjustment within the 0°-30° range provided in both planes is infinite, quick, and easy to change.

The major downside of the Goldtouch keyboard for road warriors is that it's pretty bulky (notwithstanding having no numeric keypad) and heavy for its size, presumably thanks to its rugged, durable construction. It's not a keyboard ideal for packing around in your computer case or backpack.

Happily, Goldtouch has now addressed that issue with their Goldtouch Go! Travel Keyboard, which retains the standard, full-sized Goldtouch keyboard's lockable center-articulation function, in a much more compact and lighter package -- indeed one of the smaller and lighter freestanding keyboards of any sort I've ever used, weighing in at just 1 lb. 1 oz., and measuring 13.25" x 6" x 1" at its thickest point, allowing road warriors and mobile professionals to take low-stress pronation keyboarding along wherever their job takes them.

With full-sized keys approximately the size of those found on 15" notebooks, the Go! Travel Keyboard can accommodate large fingers and offers similar key feel and key travel distance as found on the standard Goldtouch 'boards, as opposed to other portable freestanding keyboards that have shortened key travel distance with hard landing than can result in significant pain from “bottoming out” shock stress on nerves and soft tissue.

The compact Go! Travel Keyboard is also well-suited for use in any limited-space environment, and allows external mice to be placed closer to the main keyboard, reducing shoulder pain and increasing comfort.

However, the initial, somewhat disconcerting impression I had the Goldtouch Go! Travel Keyboard upon opening the shipping box is that it appeared to have no keys at all, due to the the keyboard halves being fitted with slide-off covers that protect the keyswitches from dirt and impact damage while in transit.

The covers can also be used to sit the keyboard on when in use -- a neat touch I've never seen on any other laptop-oriented freestanding keyboard. The screen lid serves a similar function on laptop computers themselves. The covers slide off easily once you figure out how they work, and as noted can be stored by sliding them into the lower groove of each side of the keyboard.

The undersides of the keyboard halves feature a full-width rubber "foot" pad along with smaller pads at the back of the unit provide traction that helps the 'board resist sliding around on its support surface, and also allow you to use the Goldtouch Go! situated on top of the laptop's built-in keyboard or other support surfaces with scratching risk minimized.

When the keys are exposed, they present a slightly unusual, but reasonably intuitive keymap layout, happily with both Mac and Windows PC labeling. A cool feature is that the 'board is instantly convertible from Mac to PC or vice-versa by pressing a key command combination. PC to Mac is left Control/Option > left Alt (white) > left shift > Down Arrow key (on the right side)

Mac to PC is left Control/Option > left Control (green control key) > left ? > left Shift > Up Arrow (on the right side.)

One caveat to note is that if you use the 'board with both platforms, Goldtouch recommends switching the keyboard from Mac to PC mode before unplugging it from a Mac because if the keyboard is left in Mac mode and you want to use it with a PC, the computer may not recognize it immediately. The Goldtouch Go! Travel Keyboard requires MacOS 10.4 or higher.

The convertibility feature will also prove convenient for folks who run both the Mac OS and Windows in Boot Camp or Parallels on their Apple 'Book.

Not being a touch typist, I find adjusting to nonstandard keyboard layouts a bit of a challenge, as my conditioned relationship with key location tends to be spatial/visual rather than by tactile feel. On this 'board I found it more than usually easy to hit the Caps Lock key, which juts farther than customary into the QUERTY area, when going for the "A", but I expect touch typists will have no problem.

The keys themselves have a comfortable action, with medium 3.2 mm travel and a very light touch (39 g. to 42 g. resistance). Not quite as comfortable a key action in my estimation as with my trusty Kensington SlimType 'board, but definitely one of the better 'boards I've tried, with smooth key action that has no clicking shock or over-center sensation to it. However, if you like "clicky" keyboards, this one isn't for you. I liked it.

There are no wrist rests, but the board is so slim that the support surface it's sitting on should suffice when you're using it in flat mode. The articulation feature works similarly to the way it does with the standard Goldtouch keyboard. A large locking lever on the left keypad releases and clamps the ball joint connecting the two halves of the keyboard. It works easily, quickly and intuitively, and when in locked position the 'board feels quite secure and solid.

You can adjust keyboard angle infinitely between flat and the limit of elevation, and likewise for lateral splay -- 0°-30° adjustment for ulnar deviation (wrist splay) in the horizontal plan, combined with 0°-30° adjustment for wrist pronation (vertical tenting).

You can of course also use the Goldtouch Go! keyboard in a conventional flat orientation, although you would probably not want to pay the premium price for that sort of use exclusively, but it is very convenient if more than one person uses the computer, and other users are not accustomed to and/or comfortable with typing on a split and angled orientation 'board.

One particular point of appreciation I want to highlight is that despite its compact size, the Goldtouch Go! Travel Keyboard has a USB repeater port -- something seldom seen on laptop oriented keyboards, or for that matter even on larger-sized ones these days. Indeed there were none on the full-sized Goldtouch Apple Compatible 'board I tested in '06. If Key Ovation can find room in a 'board this tiny for a USB port, no one has any excuse for not including one. The extra USB port looms especially large in importance with Apple's port-impoverished MacBook lines, most critically of all for the MacBook Air with its pathetic single USB port.

I'm less enchanted with the absence of a numeric keypad, although I appreciate the rationale in keeping the keyboard's footprint modest in a unit designed for mobile use. There is a keypad function embedded in the right-hand key pad and activated using the Num Lock key. Goldtouch also offers an optional, freestanding numeric keypad module for $59.95. More info at:
http://bit.ly/dwWAbe

Full marks however for including page navigation keys, although they have an unorthodox layout vertically on the right periphery of the keyboard, with the End key non–intuitively located just below the Home key instead of at the bottom where you would expect to find it. There's also a Forward Delete key (hooray!), and a standard inverted tee set of arrow keys, but I do miss having a dedicated, laptop-style Function key.

At the opposing extreme left there is an eight-key pad with substantially different functions depending on whether you're running the Mac OS or Windows for most of them respectively. The combinations include (Windows/Mac):

PntSc - SysRQ/Eject
Pause Break/Audio Volume
Delete/louder Volume
Back Space/loudest Volume
Scroll Lock/Power
Num Lock/Num Lock
Highlight Line/Help
Windows Key/Control

The also ambidextrously labeled Apple Option and Command modifier keys are in their usual positions when in Mac mode, and morph into Control and Alt respectively when in Windows mode on both sides of the twin spacebars.

Above the left column keypad there are three indicator LEDs for Scroll Lock, Num Lock, and Caps Lock.

Unlike the rich creamy color scheme of the standard Goldtouch Apple Compatible keyboard I tested (black is also available), the mobile version comes in a somber, dark shade of gray, which will be good for camouflaging dirt but makes the key caps a bit murky for those of us who depend partly on visual identification -- a shortcoming shared with the black chiclet keyboards on Apple's current laptops.

I prefer corded keyboards to wireless, and this one has a nice long cord.

Like the full-sized Goldtouch, the Go! Travel 'board is on the pricey side -- but has dropped to $119.00 from the product's initial price of $139.00 -- but this is a highly-engineered, quality constructed piece of equipment, and if it eases your typing pain you'll probably appreciate it as an investment in productivity through prevention and cheap at the price.

Features Summary:
• Adjustability: 0°-30° adjustment for ulnar deviation (wrist splay) in the horizontal plan, combined with 0°-30° adjustment for wrist pronation (vertical tenting)
• Protective Removable Covers: Allows keyboard to be placed on the notebook
• Soft key touch, low activation force, full key travel distance provides keying comfort and reduces risk from “bottoming out” when keying.
• Compact size allows for use in limited space environments and reduces shoulder abduction when reaching for mice and other peripherals.
• Ease of use and intuitive design allow new users to adjust the keyboard to a comfortable typing position without additional accessories or attachments.
• Compatible with PC and Mac.
•
• Contains a USB port on the side of the keyboard to attach a low powered device such as a Goldtouch Key Pad or mouse.

For more information, visit:
http://www.goldtouch.com/p-139-goldtouch-go-travel-keyboard.aspx


Charles W. Moore

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