Perixx 535RD Wired Ergonomic Keyboard

This one hurts. I read reviews, watched videos, researched the differences between red, brown, and blue switches. I listened to audio samples from multiple sources of what it'd sound like to type on. I was beyond excited to see a mechanical switch ergo keyboard finally available. Been waiting over twenty years for something like this! Opting for the brown switches I wasn't at all disappointed in the feedback. Short throw keys, a good tactile feeling, not obnoxiously loud, it felt GREAT to type on and I was so dang excited to finally get away from these awful membrane type keys! But within minutes this keyboard let me down hard. First off, there are extra keys. Because it's both Windows and Mac there's some extra stuff thrown in there, including a function lock key which needs to be on for F1-F12 to work. Otherwise they operate as multimedia keys and some other stuff. This also leaves all of the function keys directly in line with the number keys up top, not slightly offset. There's also barely any spacing between the rows which meant a lot of accidental key presses. A bigger issue was having a fourth button at the bottom left which continued to mess me up in very short order. But the single worst offender which I don't see being brought up in other reviews is the shape of the wrist rest. Not the texture, which was fine. For whatever reason this keyboard's rest is shaped with 90 degree edges and completely fails to follow the curve of the split key design, you can clearly see how there's less of a rest by the spacebars and more of a rest at the edges. I don't know of any other ergo keyboard with this general shape, and with good reason. I was concerned about this going in and my concerns turned out to be the ultimate downfall of this keyboard. After about 20 minutes of typing the heels of my palms were both getting very irritated because they were resting against this sharp edge. The rest isn't nearly long enough and this deficiency in usable surface area holds the keyboard back. I even looked online to see if anyone provided an extension to the rest, to no avail. It's a dang shame as this keyboard has a great feeling to it. The aluminum shell makes it feel sturdy while being incredibly thin and light. The switch keys are AMAZING and I sorely want to keep them! But when it hurts to type on an ergonomic keyboard then it is immediately failing at its main purpose in life. I'm a writer and a gamer, I put serious miles on my keyboards. I've gone through 2-3 Fellowes Microban ergo keyboards which no longer seem to be available, though they can now be found as the Perixx Periboard-512. I've just ordered a 512 for when this last Fellowes finally meets its end. Hopefully the quality hasn't taken a hit. Letting this one go hurts, but it'd hurt more to keep it. Here's hoping Perixx makes a Gen 2 version which can address these issues, I would eagerly give it another try.