4 ms·

> You want to go tkl and pull out your number pad when/if you need it more power to you, but anything smaller than that and your working against yourself in my

> You want to go tkl and pull out your number pad when/if you need it more power to you, but anything smaller than that and your working against yourself in my eyes. I'd put it the other way: if you have a keyboard where all your thumb can do is press the spacebar, you're much more limited compared to if each thumb can hit 2-3 keys. With keyboards with 2-3 thumb keys each, suddenly it's possible to use layers to bring many keys to within easy reach of the hand. -- On a standard keyboard, you'd either have to reach or move your hand to hit the ` key; whereas with layers, no hand movement/stretching is required. Layering trades-off hand movement / stretching, at the cost of being more complicated to use. (Not having to stretch your fingers is an increase in comfort). The only real downside to small-keyboards-with-thumbkeys I've experienced is for one-hand-on-keyboard usage; e.g. FPS games pretty much need to have a number row. Though, I could do CAD okay without a number row (e.g. by using a numpad layer).

majormajor 4y ago
I wouldn't give up number row and Fkeys for more chording for two reasons. One, I already have muscle memory for existing keyboard bindings to F keys and the existing locations. Two, I have multiple devices, and I can't drop new spacebar replacements onto the mobile ones. Why optimize for just the desk? I like to move around to change things up sometimes. (I do take advantage of things when I'm at the desk by having a mechanical keyboard... but it's a kinesis with more keys than a laptop, not fewer.)
- airstrike 4y ago
  > I wouldn't give up number row and Fkeys for more chording for two reasons. Here's a third reason, based on personal experience (n=1): chording actually creates more strain on your hand/wrists than single keystrokes
  - laserlight 4y ago
    QMK’s One Shot Keys/Layers is a solution [0]. [0] https://docs.qmk.fm/#/one_shot_keys https://docs.qmk.fm/#/one_shot_keys
- least 4y ago
  > Why optimize for just the desk? I like to move around to change things up sometimes. Probably because most people spend a significant part of their day at the desk so it makes sense to optimize your workflow for that. Adapting to using two different keyboard layouts is awkward but not that difficult if you do both enough. If you don't do both enough for it to become easy then you're not using one of them enough for it to matter that it's awkward to swap. Making your primary workflow significantly less efficient for the sake of the edge case doesn't make sense. For someone like you that likes to move around a lot, you're optimizing with different criteria in mind.
- rgoulter 4y ago
  > I have multiple devices, and I can't drop new spacebar replacements onto the mobile ones. ... Why optimize for just the desk? I like to move around to change things up sometimes. :o) This is less of a disadvantage for small keyboards. It's easier to move a small keyboard around than a big keyboard. I don't like laying a keyboard directly over the keys, but I was able to get away with lasercutting a plate with some bumpons; and a cable to accommodate seating the keyboard closer to the screen: https://rgoulter.com/blog/posts/programming/2022-08-24-travel-setup-using-a-fancy-keyboard-with-a-laptop.html https://rgoulter.com/blog/posts/programming/2022-08-24-trave...
Scarbutt 4y ago
My thumb also presses command and option.

majormajor 4y ago

I wouldn't give up number row and Fkeys for more chording for two reasons. One, I already have muscle memory for existing keyboard bindings to F keys and the existing locations. Two, I have multiple devices, and I can't drop new spacebar replacements onto the mobile ones. Why optimize for just the desk? I like to move around to change things up sometimes. (I do take advantage of things when I'm at the desk by having a mechanical keyboard... but it's a kinesis with more keys than a laptop, not fewer.)

airstrike 4y ago
> I wouldn't give up number row and Fkeys for more chording for two reasons. Here's a third reason, based on personal experience (n=1): chording actually creates more strain on your hand/wrists than single keystrokes
- laserlight 4y ago
  QMK’s One Shot Keys/Layers is a solution [0]. [0] https://docs.qmk.fm/#/one_shot_keys https://docs.qmk.fm/#/one_shot_keys
least 4y ago
> Why optimize for just the desk? I like to move around to change things up sometimes. Probably because most people spend a significant part of their day at the desk so it makes sense to optimize your workflow for that. Adapting to using two different keyboard layouts is awkward but not that difficult if you do both enough. If you don't do both enough for it to become easy then you're not using one of them enough for it to matter that it's awkward to swap. Making your primary workflow significantly less efficient for the sake of the edge case doesn't make sense. For someone like you that likes to move around a lot, you're optimizing with different criteria in mind.
rgoulter 4y ago
> I have multiple devices, and I can't drop new spacebar replacements onto the mobile ones. ... Why optimize for just the desk? I like to move around to change things up sometimes. :o) This is less of a disadvantage for small keyboards. It's easier to move a small keyboard around than a big keyboard. I don't like laying a keyboard directly over the keys, but I was able to get away with lasercutting a plate with some bumpons; and a cable to accommodate seating the keyboard closer to the screen: https://rgoulter.com/blog/posts/programming/2022-08-24-travel-setup-using-a-fancy-keyboard-with-a-laptop.html https://rgoulter.com/blog/posts/programming/2022-08-24-trave...

Scarbutt 4y ago

My thumb also presses command and option.