I was looking to replace my really bad logitech keyboard and at the same time make the switch to the Bepo layout (a french and free ergonomic keyboard layout similar to Dvorak). We have long sought after a quality keyboard like the classic ThinkPad keyboard and avoid the many badly designed toys we found on the market. Macish like keyboards with their flat smooth keys and soft press were right out. I really hate these even if everyone seems to swear only by them nowadays.

So we ordered three TypeMatrix keyboards one month ago and we just received them this week. One of the distinguishing feature of this keyboard is that it doesn’t conform with the classical staggered layout remaining unchanged from the typewriter era and use a vertical columns layout instead which reduces motions. It also comes with a optional switchable skins with different layouts (qwerty, azerty, dvorak, bepo). These not only makes the layout switching easier but also makes the keyboard waterproof and dirt-free. The keyboard itself requires no drivers though you may want to add the following to /etc/X11/xorg.d/typematrix.conf to setup the default layout :

Section "InputClass"
  Identifier      "Typematrix"
  MatchIsKeyboard "on"
  MatchVendor     "TypeMatrix.com"
  MatchProduct    "USB Keyboard"
  Driver          "evdev"
  Option          "XkbRules"   "xorg"
  Option          "XkbModel"   "pc105"
  Option          "XkbLayout"  "fr"
  Option          "XkbVariant" "bepo"
  Option          "XkbOptions" ""
EndSection