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Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

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Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#71

Post by eru »

salted-fry wrote: post #15

I like the idea of a split keyboard, but I've never been able to go down that road because I sometimes hit keys with the "wrong" finger - most notably, I need to be able to hit B with my right hand because it's down-left in roguelikes (i.e. Nethack). What I'd love to see is a "106% keyboard", where a couple columns are duplicated on both the left/right side. Does anybody make such a keyboard?

I used to hit some keys with the 'wrong finger' before. But it hasn't prevented me from adopting to the Kinesis Advantage.

For Nethack and games in general, I have a cheap 'normal' keyboard.

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#72

Post by kemitchell »

pimlottc wrote: post #61
kemitchell wrote: post #54

I own or have owned several of these. The Kinesis Advantage 2 is the only one I regularly recommend. It's very expensive, but also refined, thoroughly tested, and highly customizable. It did not take me long to adjust. I'm now as fast on the Advantage as on any mechanical standard.

I’ve got one as well but I haven’t quite managed to make the switch. The normal keys are no problem, but what keeps me from using it full time is all the special keys, i.e navigation (arrows/home/end/etc) and shortcuts (command/option/ctrl). I’m used to flying through editors by muscle memory so it feels quite painful to stumble on the new keyboard. Half the time I have to look at the old keyboard just to figure out…

I use a lot of keyboard shortcuts. I can share what worked for me.

Remap CapsLock to Windows/Super. Mirror Ctrl and Alt from the left thumb cluster onto the right thumb cluster, so you have Ctrl and Alt in reach of each thumb.

Don't be afraid to customize special keys and punctuation. Especially that big Delete key under your left thumb. That's prime real estate.

If you have larger hands, buy some of the stick-on palm rest pads. They'll help bring your wrists to the right angles.

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#73

Post by maximilianroos »

eru wrote: post #68
workingonmyback wrote: post #66

I wonder if anyone shares my setup. I lie horizontally with a monitor suspended 3ft directly above. I use a logitech trackball on my right hand at my side. I find this position comfortable for long hours and don't experience the backpain that I did for years. One wrinkle is the keyboard - it rests on my upper thighs, and I find I'm rolling my shoulders forward to type which is less than ideal. I experimented with spl…

A friend of mine cut up her Kinesis Advantage to put a big trackball right in the middle. (There's enough space in the housing, especially if you are not afraid to cut and move the circuit board.) A similar position might work for you? I use a standing desk to be in a similar (but upright) position, because sitting is also bad for me.

I have a trackpad in the middle of mine, it works great. Here's a photo from a few years back: https://twitter.com/max_sixty/status/1144236070369988609/pho...

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#75

Post by thex10 »

Awesome! I wish I'd seen this last year when I was in the market. Nonetheless I'm happy with my Dygma Raise (I mostly wanted split, RGB lights, with not too few keys). I wasn't ready for an ortholinear layout but hope to venture in that direction for my next purchase.

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#77

Post by nine_k »

I wonder why people obsess so much with colorful keycaps and RGB lights. I suspect it's for aesthetic pleasure, not for enhanced ergonomics.

I got me a split keyboard so that I would never have to look at it. For me this is achieved by not moving the wrist, only moving the fingers. Then my hands do not slip and do not need vision-guided repositioning.

(My current keyboard is an Ergodox EZ, all black, no lights. It's fine enough, and thr ortholinear layout is very helpful, but the thumb cluster is clumsy, and the pinky columns are not staggered enough, so typing P or Q needs a wrist shift. I have 60g switches in the home row, so that fingers can rest on them without clicking, and 30g switches everywhere else. My plan is to build a Kyria which has a better geometry / ergonomics, so I made a Kyria-compatible layout to get used to it.)

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#78

Post by nikkaelle »

nine_k wrote: post #77

I wonder why people obsess so much with colorful keycaps and RGB lights. I suspect it's for aesthetic pleasure, not for enhanced ergonomics. I got me a split keyboard so that I would never have to look at it . For me this is achieved by not moving the wrist, only moving the fingers. Then my hands do not slip and do not need vision-guided repositioning. (My current keyboard is an Ergodox EZ, all black, no lights. It's…

I have my Ergodox EZ configured so that each layer has a different backlight color, helping me notice if I've inadvertently switched layers.

I agree on the pinky column not being staggered enough.

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#79

Post by autocorr »

blhack wrote: post #39

How on earth do people actually type on some of these? I have a keyboardio model 01(this: https://shop.keyboard.io/collections/model-01-keycaps/produc... ) And even this feels like I'm having to function dive into weird chords of keys to get some of the functionality that I want (arrow keys, mostly). Are people just not actually writing code with these ultra minimalist things?

From browsing r/ErgoMechKeyboards and GeekHack, I think the main group of people making these custom keyboards are devs actually. Consider how foot pedals are a long-standing emacs thing :)

I use a 40% layout on a custom board with palm keys for coding and writing in LaTeX mainly (like the Model 01 with 3x6 alphas 3 thumbs 1 palm on each side). It took some effort to re-train, but I'll never go back to a keyboard without palm keys now, I love the setup. They palm keys are perfect for activating the layers for arrows/navigation or numpad. But typing style plays a role too, it's definitely probably not everyone!

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#80

Post by TheCapeGreek »

sphynxie wrote: post #13
avolcano wrote: post #8

This is a neat gallery! I'm personally thinking of getting a split keyboard soon, but I'm so split on what I want. Currently using a Preonic and find the ortholinear/compact layout fairly pleasant, so I might just want to get something like the Let's Split. Still, I can't decide if I'd prefer a board with thumb clusters and/or staggered rows (like the Ergodox). I'd honestly be fine going back to a more traditional la…

I wanted a split keyboard but wasn't ready for ortholinear (yet) so I built one of these last year: https://keeb.io/products/quefrency-60-65-split-staggered-key... I love it. I added some tilt but it doesn't come with any, and it can be easily flashed with QMK. I just stuck some bumpers on it for the tilt so you could easily go negative. I don't even have mine in a case, so it is very low profile. Since it does not h…

For anyone reading this and not keen on DIYing or the quefrency generally or looking for a "normal" layout: checkout Mistel keyboards. I've seen a few on amazon. It's pretty much a normal keyboard layout cut in two.
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