Penclic, My Favorite Keyboard

In 2016, I experienced an episode of repetitive strain injury (RSI). I have suffered sporadically from RSI for a number of years, although at that time I didn’t know what the condition was. After my RSI flareup in 2016, I performed a search on Amazon and discovered the book It’s Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!: RSI Theory and Therapy for Computer Professionals, written by Suparna Damany, MSPT and Jack Bellis. According to ergonomic guidance in the book, using a large computer keyboard can result in RSI issues because you have to reach further to access computer pointing devices. At the time, I was using the Logitech illuminated keyboard, which I loved because the keys were very easy to depress and they were also backlit.

Therefore, I decided to purchase a compact keyboard. I did quite a bit of Internet searching and I ended up purchasing the Bakker Elkhuizen S-board 840 Design USB compact keyboard from Ergoprise, a woman-owned company dedicated to ergonomic products.

I initially enjoyed using the Bakker Elkhuizen S-board 840 compact keyboard, but as time went on, I thought the keys took more force to depress than I liked. Therefore, I once again began looking for a possibly better keyboard; compact with keys that didn’t take much effort to depress. After a bit of searching on Amazon, I discovered the Penclic keyboard. There were two models offered at different price points, but I was unable to determine the reason for the price difference based on the product descriptions.

As a result, I decided to locate the company’s web site and I discovered that Penclic is a Swedish company. The price difference between the keyboards is due to the fact that one keyboard has a plastic body and the other has an aluminum body. An even better discovery was that the pricing for the keyboards was quite a bit lower than what was offered on Amazon, and Penclic offered free shipping as well. I couldn’t justify spending the extra money for an aluminum body, so I ended up purchasing the Penclic Mini USB C3 Office wired keyboard (plastic body) in April 2020.

The Penclic Mini USB C3 Office wired keyboard sits flat and there are no legs to prop it up or angle it. The Penclic Mini USB C3 Office wired keyboard is noticeably lower in profile and has a smaller footprint than the Bakker Elkhuizen S-board 840 compact keyboard.

Following is a dimension comparison of the Bakker Elkhuizen S-board 840 compact and the Penclic Mini USB C3 Office wired keyboards:

The keys on the Penclic are chiclet style and are much easier to depress than those on the Bakker Elkhuizen. However, the RETURN key on the Penclic is a bit smaller than the same key on the Bakker Elkhuizen. I wasn’t initially happy about the smaller RETURN key size, but I’ve become accustomed to it. I also would have preferred a keyboard with backlit keys for low, or no, lighting use. However, Penclic does not currently offer a keyboard with backlit keys.

The Penclic Mini USB C3 Office wired keyboard comes with three USB 3.0 ports, whereas the Bakker Elkhuizen S-board 840 only has two. The USB ports on the Baaker Elkhuizen are on the sides, which I think are easier to use. The USB ports on the Penclic are on the back of the keyboard.

The other odd thing about the USB ports on the Penclic keyboard is that they require insertion of USB devices upside down. It’s not a huge deal unless you need to use a USB device that does not have a slim profile. I have a couple of 64gb Samsung BAR Plus USB thumb drives that have a prominent protrusion at the end. The protrusion prevents me from being able to use the thumb drives in my Penclic keyboard.

Penclic currently offers wired and wireless keyboards with the following language layout options: French, German, Swedish/Finnish, UK, and US. Unfortunately, not all models are offered with all languague layout options. The following colors are currently available: black, grey, pink, and gold. As with the language layout options, not all colors are offered for all models.

I thoroughly enjoy typing on the Penclic Mini USB C3 Office wired keyboard and highly recommend it if you are in the market for a new keyboard or desire a keyboard that is more ergonomic and compact.

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