3 ms·

Yeah... that seems like a reasonable option - certainly for the price reduction alone. A couple of cons to that option for me: - Having already found a keyboa

Yeah... that seems like a reasonable option - certainly for the price reduction alone. A couple of cons to that option for me: - Having already found a keyboard I love, It would be hard for me to switch without trying it first at no cost to me :). - I notice it does not have the curved key wells, which I have really come to appreciate. It may seem subtle, but after typing on one for a while, I find it really amazing what a difference the curves make. Any keys around the home keys just require less effort to activate. It feels quite nice to type with. - I have never built a keyboard before (but would like to give it a shot). Does that require soldering? Unless assembly is just completely foolproof, I think Id just prefer my main keyboard to be built by people who build them regularly :P

SuperPaintMan 8y ago
Ergonomics was a large factor in building my own ErgoDox, my shoulders were killing me due to the keyboard being too short to be supported by the rests on my chair. Choosing to build your own keyboard is it's own little rabbit hole to go down, but it's worth it and you have a truly personalised device at the end. Some soldering and research is required but places such as r/mechanicalkeyboards and geekhack exist along with many many tutorials. As far as curved keywell that comes down to your choice of key profile. I'm using XDA which a flat profile, while a SA profile has a decent curve to it. The choice of board does come into play but most kits are flat as to avoid 3d printing and whatnot[1]. For the feel of the key itself there are a ton [2] of options, from extremely smooth and light linear switches to heavy clacking tactile switches, most being compatible so mixing and matching is possible. PCBs come in all sorts such as tiny 70% sizes, split, stenographic and some freakazoid monsters [3]. Even FOSS firmwares such as QMK are common and hackable! There are are too many options to enumerate! I just wanted a split keyboard that was small, light on my fingers and wouldn't wake the girlfriend up. I took some time and built a ErgoDox with Gateron clears, XDA blank keycaps and a programming focused layout. For less then 150CAD, it was worth it for it being entirely my own. [1] https://github.com/adereth/dactyl-keyboard https://github.com/adereth/dactyl-keyboard [2] https://deskthority.net/wiki/Category:List_of_all_keyboard_switches https://deskthority.net/wiki/Category:List_of_all_keyboard_s... [3] https://keeb.io/products/bfo-9000-keyboard-customizable-full-size-split-ortholinear?variant=8116135755882 https://keeb.io/products/bfo-9000-keyboard-customizable-full...
- wrecursion 8y ago
  Very cool. Thanks for sharing! This definitely makes me want to build one now! One thing I really like about the ErgoDox, and similar designs, is the ability to move the key wells to wherever you want! Even the kinesis still feels a bit too close together for me!
  - SuperPaintMan 8y ago
    Exactly! My arms rest perfectly on the arm rests and my spine is thanking me for it! If you want a prebuilt there's the ErgoDox EZ but that takes half the fun out of it :) Take the dive, be the guy that built his own damn keyboard!
bootlooped 8y ago
The Ergodox-EZ is a pre-built model you can buy. If you get the DCS profile keycaps it will have a bit of a faux curve, not like on the real deal Kinesis, but better than standard keyboards. I imagine my ideal keyboard would be a Kinesis Advantage, but split and fully programmable.

SuperPaintMan 8y ago

Ergonomics was a large factor in building my own ErgoDox, my shoulders were killing me due to the keyboard being too short to be supported by the rests on my chair. Choosing to build your own keyboard is it's own little rabbit hole to go down, but it's worth it and you have a truly personalised device at the end. Some soldering and research is required but places such as r/mechanicalkeyboards and geekhack exist along with many many tutorials. As far as curved keywell that comes down to your choice of key profile. I'm using XDA which a flat profile, while a SA profile has a decent curve to it. The choice of board does come into play but most kits are flat as to avoid 3d printing and whatnot[1]. For the feel of the key itself there are a ton [2] of options, from extremely smooth and light linear switches to heavy clacking tactile switches, most being compatible so mixing and matching is possible. PCBs come in all sorts such as tiny 70% sizes, split, stenographic and some freakazoid monsters [3]. Even FOSS firmwares such as QMK are common and hackable! There are are too many options to enumerate! I just wanted a split keyboard that was small, light on my fingers and wouldn't wake the girlfriend up. I took some time and built a ErgoDox with Gateron clears, XDA blank keycaps and a programming focused layout. For less then 150CAD, it was worth it for it being entirely my own. [1] https://github.com/adereth/dactyl-keyboard https://github.com/adereth/dactyl-keyboard [2] https://deskthority.net/wiki/Category:List_of_all_keyboard_switches https://deskthority.net/wiki/Category:List_of_all_keyboard_s... [3] https://keeb.io/products/bfo-9000-keyboard-customizable-full-size-split-ortholinear?variant=8116135755882 https://keeb.io/products/bfo-9000-keyboard-customizable-full...

wrecursion 8y ago
Very cool. Thanks for sharing! This definitely makes me want to build one now! One thing I really like about the ErgoDox, and similar designs, is the ability to move the key wells to wherever you want! Even the kinesis still feels a bit too close together for me!
- SuperPaintMan 8y ago
  Exactly! My arms rest perfectly on the arm rests and my spine is thanking me for it! If you want a prebuilt there's the ErgoDox EZ but that takes half the fun out of it :) Take the dive, be the guy that built his own damn keyboard!

bootlooped 8y ago

The Ergodox-EZ is a pre-built model you can buy. If you get the DCS profile keycaps it will have a bit of a faux curve, not like on the real deal Kinesis, but better than standard keyboards. I imagine my ideal keyboard would be a Kinesis Advantage, but split and fully programmable.