4 ms·

I love fancy keyboards. I've had mechanical keyboards when they were rare and expensive. I'm typing this from a fancy keyboard. I now have a cupboard full of th

by keyle 3y ago

I love fancy keyboards. I've had mechanical keyboards when they were rare and expensive. I'm typing this from a fancy keyboard. I now have a cupboard full of them ;) ... But this, this kind of keyboards, that's masochistic! :-) I honestly doubt that these make your life easier. Please explain if you have one of these what drew you to this?

OJFord 3y ago
Split is theorised to be ergonomically better, match shoulder spacing / inward tilt from reach, etc. Column stagger is theorised to better match finger 'layout' and therefore be better/easier/more even to type. Both are debated.
- zokier 3y ago
  Splitting also allows "tenting" the keyboard easily, i.e. having the halves sit at an angle instead of just flat on the desk, which further improves ergonomics. The history of spltting and tenting go way back. If you look at Microsofts somewhat popular "Natural" and "Sculpt" keyboards, they are semi-split and slightly tented already since late 90s.
- bee_rider 3y ago
  I really thought a split keyboard would be amazing, but it ended up just being a vehicle for tenting. Tenting is great, though!
Ballas 3y ago
> Please explain if you have one of these what drew you to this? Debilitating neck spasms, I was willing to try anything. I can reach any key with minimal movement of my hands. Though my keyboard is 50 keys, which I find the closest compromise, by keeping the layout somewhat more compatible to normal keyboards.
1MachineElf 3y ago
I use a variant that requires only 34 keys. It's amazing how many extra keys you can eliminate when when you dedicate a couple to each thumb. Without extraneous keys that require you to reach away from the home row, is very efficient to use. A mnemonic keyboard layout keeps it intuitive. The Miryoku layout is a popular choice: https://github.com/manna-harbour/miryoku https://github.com/manna-harbour/miryoku As a Dvorak user, here's mine: https://github.com/1MachineElf/qmk_firmware/tree/_sb4dv/keyboards/planck/keymaps/sb4dv https://github.com/1MachineElf/qmk_firmware/tree/_sb4dv/keyb...
3np 3y ago
> Please explain if you have one of these what drew you to this? Apart from also having tried a lot of different varieties and figuring out what works for me (it's not always what you think): Full typing range with no hand-movement. Call me old-fashioned but I'd like to have access to the upsides of soon-ubiquitous immersive VR but keep typing with my fingers and maintain tactile feedback. At the desk or on the train. Not interested in neurolinks, voice or AI-camera-hand-gesture stuff for the foreseeable future. FLOSS purist. This seems like the best direction if one has a similar inclination and wants to make it a progression.
- rcarr 3y ago
  I think VR keyboards are probably going to be more along the lines of tapxr, I could definitely see Apple baking something like this into the watch https://www.tapwithus.com/product/tap-xr/ https://www.tapwithus.com/product/tap-xr/
  - 3np 3y ago
    Might be and I'm not discounting reconsidering if/when something viable and promising comes up.
bjoli 3y ago
I was a mech fan until I tried light contactless switches. I bought a razer huntsman v2. I stopped using any other keyboards after some simple mods and sold my collection of vintage and custom stuff. Maybe it was because I started getting old, but I started feeling it was a waste of time. Still miss it a bit though, but when I could spend an hour on a huntsman v2 and have it feel better than any of my other linear keyboards I just felt it wasn't worth it.
- TylerE 3y ago
  In a sane world Topre would release a Cherry compatible sealed single key and we could have our cake and eat it too.
  - bjoli 3y ago
    I mean, most people who like tactile have forgotten how a snappy rubber dome feels. The only one making keyboard for typists these days seems to be Matias, and they DO feel like a snappy rubber dome.
    - TylerE 3y ago
      Tactile is so weird. My current keeb has… I forget what but it’s whatever limited edition Kailh Box linear has the lowest activation for I could find. They’re like 35g switches.
alpaca128 3y ago
100% of the functionality without hand movement. You can have the arrow keys directly under your fingertips at all times, same with numbers and special symbols. And while I don't like this particular layout in the link I do have a very similar 42-key keyboard and after a couple days of practice it was the most natural and smoothest typing experience I've ever had. Terrible for any one-handed use (e.g. gaming), though, and it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea.
- tigeroil 3y ago
  Absolutely this - I use a Corne and it's my favourite keyboard for productivity by miles. I do have another keyboard - a 61 key that I use for gaming, but for day-to-day productivity the corne is absolutely glorious.
  - rcarr 3y ago
    Are you using 36 or 42 key? I’m looking to get one soon and was initially leaning to 36 but I’ve heard reports that 42 is the better way to go because the shift buttons can be frustrating as a home row mod on 36 key?
    - lawn 3y ago
      In my humble opinion, having a one-shot shift on your secondary thumb is something everyone should try. I personally use auto-shift (long press for shift) on my 34 key layout, but I think most would prefer the one-shot shift.
      - rgoulter 3y ago
        One-shot shift = after tapping, the next key you press is shifted? That does seem useful. I also liked QMK's "caps word" feature. It's like CapsLock, but only for UNDERSCORED_WORDS. (i.e. the keyboard returns to non-CapsLock after typing a non-word letter, like space/esc/tab/etc.).
        3y ago
microtonal 3y ago
Please explain if you have one of these what drew you to this? Wrist pain posed me to research other keyboards than the Apple Magic Keyboard and Microsoft sculpt. Within a brief amount of time I tried a Kinesis Freestyle Edge RGB, Kyria, and Ferris Sweep. I found the Kyria and Sweep pretty awkward (for different reasons) and caused other pains. Then I got a Kinesis Advantage2 and that really changed things for me, my hand/wrist health improved a lot. I did replace the controller with a KinT to get QMK though. I am also using a Model 100, since it also allows me to experiment with different switches. But the Advantage2 is my main work keyboard. I also have an Advantage360, but I don't use it much, because I don't like the switches. Review: https://danieldk.eu/review-kinesis-advantage-360-pro/ https://danieldk.eu/review-kinesis-advantage-360-pro/
- xupybd 3y ago
  I'm glad I didn't switch to the 360. I love my Advantage. I'm not even on an Advantage 2 yet. They cost too much for me to get another one. I added o-rings to the keys and think that made it a little nicer to use.
pixelbreaker 3y ago
It's more comfortable, but you have to be willing to learn the layout or develop your own. I have a bastardKB Charybdis Nano as my daily, and I'm developing my own low profile board too. My next iteration of both will be 34 key only, that's plenty for me. You can see my layout/firmware here https://github.com/pixelbreaker/qmk_userspace https://github.com/pixelbreaker/qmk_userspace (layout is in layout.h)
lawn 3y ago
> I honestly doubt that these make your life easier. Please explain if you have one of these what drew you to this? Moving to a custom 34 key layout fixed my RSI, which has been an amazing benefit for me. Of course, the tradeoff is that my layout is far more complex than a standard layout, and it has required a lot of time to tweak it to where it is now. For me, it's been one of the best decisions of my programming career (together with learning Vim).

by keyle 3y ago

OJFord 3y ago

Split is theorised to be ergonomically better, match shoulder spacing / inward tilt from reach, etc. Column stagger is theorised to better match finger 'layout' and therefore be better/easier/more even to type. Both are debated.

zokier 3y ago
Splitting also allows "tenting" the keyboard easily, i.e. having the halves sit at an angle instead of just flat on the desk, which further improves ergonomics. The history of spltting and tenting go way back. If you look at Microsofts somewhat popular "Natural" and "Sculpt" keyboards, they are semi-split and slightly tented already since late 90s.
bee_rider 3y ago
I really thought a split keyboard would be amazing, but it ended up just being a vehicle for tenting. Tenting is great, though!

Ballas 3y ago

> Please explain if you have one of these what drew you to this? Debilitating neck spasms, I was willing to try anything. I can reach any key with minimal movement of my hands. Though my keyboard is 50 keys, which I find the closest compromise, by keeping the layout somewhat more compatible to normal keyboards.

1MachineElf 3y ago

I use a variant that requires only 34 keys. It's amazing how many extra keys you can eliminate when when you dedicate a couple to each thumb. Without extraneous keys that require you to reach away from the home row, is very efficient to use. A mnemonic keyboard layout keeps it intuitive. The Miryoku layout is a popular choice: https://github.com/manna-harbour/miryoku https://github.com/manna-harbour/miryoku As a Dvorak user, here's mine: https://github.com/1MachineElf/qmk_firmware/tree/_sb4dv/keyboards/planck/keymaps/sb4dv https://github.com/1MachineElf/qmk_firmware/tree/_sb4dv/keyb...

3np 3y ago

> Please explain if you have one of these what drew you to this? Apart from also having tried a lot of different varieties and figuring out what works for me (it's not always what you think): Full typing range with no hand-movement. Call me old-fashioned but I'd like to have access to the upsides of soon-ubiquitous immersive VR but keep typing with my fingers and maintain tactile feedback. At the desk or on the train. Not interested in neurolinks, voice or AI-camera-hand-gesture stuff for the foreseeable future. FLOSS purist. This seems like the best direction if one has a similar inclination and wants to make it a progression.

rcarr 3y ago
I think VR keyboards are probably going to be more along the lines of tapxr, I could definitely see Apple baking something like this into the watch https://www.tapwithus.com/product/tap-xr/ https://www.tapwithus.com/product/tap-xr/
- 3np 3y ago
  Might be and I'm not discounting reconsidering if/when something viable and promising comes up.

bjoli 3y ago

I was a mech fan until I tried light contactless switches. I bought a razer huntsman v2. I stopped using any other keyboards after some simple mods and sold my collection of vintage and custom stuff. Maybe it was because I started getting old, but I started feeling it was a waste of time. Still miss it a bit though, but when I could spend an hour on a huntsman v2 and have it feel better than any of my other linear keyboards I just felt it wasn't worth it.

TylerE 3y ago
In a sane world Topre would release a Cherry compatible sealed single key and we could have our cake and eat it too.
- bjoli 3y ago
  I mean, most people who like tactile have forgotten how a snappy rubber dome feels. The only one making keyboard for typists these days seems to be Matias, and they DO feel like a snappy rubber dome.
  - TylerE 3y ago
    Tactile is so weird. My current keeb has… I forget what but it’s whatever limited edition Kailh Box linear has the lowest activation for I could find. They’re like 35g switches.

alpaca128 3y ago

100% of the functionality without hand movement. You can have the arrow keys directly under your fingertips at all times, same with numbers and special symbols. And while I don't like this particular layout in the link I do have a very similar 42-key keyboard and after a couple days of practice it was the most natural and smoothest typing experience I've ever had. Terrible for any one-handed use (e.g. gaming), though, and it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea.

tigeroil 3y ago
Absolutely this - I use a Corne and it's my favourite keyboard for productivity by miles. I do have another keyboard - a 61 key that I use for gaming, but for day-to-day productivity the corne is absolutely glorious.
- rcarr 3y ago
  Are you using 36 or 42 key? I’m looking to get one soon and was initially leaning to 36 but I’ve heard reports that 42 is the better way to go because the shift buttons can be frustrating as a home row mod on 36 key?
  - lawn 3y ago
    In my humble opinion, having a one-shot shift on your secondary thumb is something everyone should try. I personally use auto-shift (long press for shift) on my 34 key layout, but I think most would prefer the one-shot shift.
    - rgoulter 3y ago
      One-shot shift = after tapping, the next key you press is shifted? That does seem useful. I also liked QMK's "caps word" feature. It's like CapsLock, but only for UNDERSCORED_WORDS. (i.e. the keyboard returns to non-CapsLock after typing a non-word letter, like space/esc/tab/etc.).
      - 3y ago

microtonal 3y ago

Please explain if you have one of these what drew you to this? Wrist pain posed me to research other keyboards than the Apple Magic Keyboard and Microsoft sculpt. Within a brief amount of time I tried a Kinesis Freestyle Edge RGB, Kyria, and Ferris Sweep. I found the Kyria and Sweep pretty awkward (for different reasons) and caused other pains. Then I got a Kinesis Advantage2 and that really changed things for me, my hand/wrist health improved a lot. I did replace the controller with a KinT to get QMK though. I am also using a Model 100, since it also allows me to experiment with different switches. But the Advantage2 is my main work keyboard. I also have an Advantage360, but I don't use it much, because I don't like the switches. Review: https://danieldk.eu/review-kinesis-advantage-360-pro/ https://danieldk.eu/review-kinesis-advantage-360-pro/

xupybd 3y ago
I'm glad I didn't switch to the 360. I love my Advantage. I'm not even on an Advantage 2 yet. They cost too much for me to get another one. I added o-rings to the keys and think that made it a little nicer to use.

pixelbreaker 3y ago

It's more comfortable, but you have to be willing to learn the layout or develop your own. I have a bastardKB Charybdis Nano as my daily, and I'm developing my own low profile board too. My next iteration of both will be 34 key only, that's plenty for me. You can see my layout/firmware here https://github.com/pixelbreaker/qmk_userspace https://github.com/pixelbreaker/qmk_userspace (layout is in layout.h)

lawn 3y ago

> I honestly doubt that these make your life easier. Please explain if you have one of these what drew you to this? Moving to a custom 34 key layout fixed my RSI, which has been an amazing benefit for me. Of course, the tradeoff is that my layout is far more complex than a standard layout, and it has required a lot of time to tweak it to where it is now. For me, it's been one of the best decisions of my programming career (together with learning Vim).