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The 40% Keyboard

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Re: The 40% Keyboard

#211

Post by CarVac »

aeyes wrote: post #188
xouse wrote: post #64

I know a lot of people who think they can touch type the number row, but I've yet to meet anyone who can actually do it at anything resembling their normal typing speed and without errors. If people could there would be no reason for the numberpad to exist. I'm a very fast typist and I've always struggled with touch typing the number row. Thirty minutes into using a split 40% keyboard and I was using the number row a…

I also haven't met anyone that touch-types 100% to the book. Everybody does some movements which aren't considered correct. The problem is that at some point you reach a level which you consider sufficient and you stop improving. Unlearning bad habits is a huge effort. I can touch-type the number row at full speed as I was drilled doing it. If it wasn't for that I wouldn't be able to either because you rarely need it…

I tried to learn to touch type by the book and my hands started hurting, so I switched to dvorak and that makes it really easy to touch type by the book.

Also, having the period on the top row makes using the number row for inputting non-integers much easier than on QWERTY.

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#212

Post by dhagz »

helen___keller wrote: post #205
dangus wrote: post #7

Call me cynical, but I think a lot of the small style keyboards I see around the office are more of a fashion trend than anything. I remember when the insistence was on number pads, and how dare they be removed from our laptops and desktop keyboards. Fast forward a few years and I was made fun of at a programming job for preferring a full keyboard with a number pads. I guess programmers are too cool to enter in dolla…

> Call me cynical, but I think a lot of the small style keyboards I see around the office are more of a fashion trend than anything. There's legitimate preference at play in terms of 40 vs 60 vs 100, choice of switch, etc, but a lot of the fanaticism itself is indeed fashion. If there's ever a doubt, just check out all the keyboard photoshoots that get upvoted to the top of /r/mechanicalkeyboards

Without a doubt, half the reason I use a 40% keyboard is how it looks. I feel that the ergonomics argument is not fully thought out, as holding down a modifier to access other layers can actually reduce ergonomics if you haven't set up your keymaps properly (e.g. to access number keys you must hold down a modifier with the same hand that you need to type the numbers with - potentially un-ergonomic).

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#213

Post by rwbaskette »

I use the olkb plank (https://olkb.com/planck?category=eotw) both at home and at the office. It started as fun to build, solder, and program but I soon realized that I was less fatigued after typing all day. My wrists don't break outward and I maintain my proper starting position longer as result of having less distance to travel between keystrokes. Take it for what it's worth, but at the very least they are a fun hobby project.

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#214

Post by celeritascelery »

> It’s sort of obvious to figure out that the less we have to move our hand from the home row to the arrow keys, the more time we save. There is however a more formalized way to look at this in the field of user interface design.

I feel like this thinking is flawed. When you are pressing a sequence of keys, your fingers don’t wait for the first key to be pressed before the next finger starts moving to its key. This means that it is in position right after the first key is hit. One of the reasons that more optimized layouts (Dvorak, etc) don’t seem to produce any speed up, Even though from a Fitt’s law perspective they should.

Having a tiny keyboard will not make you faster and may slow you down because of all the layers you now need to use.

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#215

Post by leshow »

dangus wrote: post #7

Call me cynical, but I think a lot of the small style keyboards I see around the office are more of a fashion trend than anything. I remember when the insistence was on number pads, and how dare they be removed from our laptops and desktop keyboards. Fast forward a few years and I was made fun of at a programming job for preferring a full keyboard with a number pads. I guess programmers are too cool to enter in dolla…

> I guess programmers are too cool to enter in dollar amounts into Excel.

I use a 40% board and one of my layers brings up a numpad. I really just prefer typing on one of these boards much more than a traditional keyboard. It's more comfortable, more fun (because I can flash my own layout with QMK) and it served as a nice introduction to electronics and embedded programming. What's wrong with that?

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#217

Post by leshow »

roel_v wrote: post #142
terandle wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No numpad is an ergonomic benefit. Your mouse is closer so you don't have to move your hand as far. The best way to have a numpad if you really need one, I have found, is to have a separate one like how the Microsoft Sculpt keyboard does it.

"The best way to have a numpad if you really need one, I have found, is to have a separate one like how the Microsoft Sculpt keyboard does it. " The way I do this, is by having an 'Ultimate Hacking Keyboard' (ugh I loathe that name, how can anyone take you serious with a name like that? but at least the product itself is the best there is available (at the moment)) and then have a numeric keypad in the middle (betwee…

If you have a keyboard flashable with QMK you can make a key activate a layer that has a numpad on it. If you really like customizability and a split layout, a keyboard flashed with QMK is going to serve you much better, IMO.

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#218

Post by markstos »

dangus wrote: post #7

Call me cynical, but I think a lot of the small style keyboards I see around the office are more of a fashion trend than anything. I remember when the insistence was on number pads, and how dare they be removed from our laptops and desktop keyboards. Fast forward a few years and I was made fun of at a programming job for preferring a full keyboard with a number pads. I guess programmers are too cool to enter in dolla…

I thought the same thing, but I tried a split 40% layout and am typing on one now. It excels when there are long sequences of numbers and symbols, which are now within easier research. Pinkies are weakest, and on a typical keyboard there's about 14 keys assigned to the right pinky. I'm left-handed as well, and this layout allows me to put BOTH my thumbs to greater use and shift more work away from my pinkies and towards my left hand. In my typing pre-test on my old keyboard I typed about 65 wpm. Now for standard text it's closer to 70.

I was concerned that typing code might be slower, so I used the "custom text" feature on keyhero.com to practice typing JavaScript code. While I didn't pre-test typing code, I often type it around 50 wpm, which seems fine-- coding is often more thinking than typing.

I'm using an Ergodox EZ which has 75 keys, but I'm experimenting with this 42 key layout. So far, I prefer it. (I also receive no "fashion" benefit from trying this, as all 75 keys would appear to be in use to co-workers!)

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#219

Post by the_gipsy »

KaiserPro wrote: post #93

I really can't see how having to hold down two keys at the same time is going to help RSI. (because to get to the special keys you have to hold down a modifier key) When you have your fingers contorted and under stress trying to hold two keys down, thats when RSI really kicks in. I would go out on a limb and say that these keyboard are going to make one's RSI even worse.

You're only holding down a few more modifiers on a 40, and with the thumbs which are underused on a full.

Also finger/hand positions are definitely much more contorted, or spread, on a full keyboard.

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#220

Post by PascLeRasc »

me_me_me wrote: post #118
binarycrusader wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your mouse is closer so you don't have to move your hand as far. Not if you use a mouse left-handed ;) But more seriously, I grew up being trained to touch type in the classical way complete with ten-key exercises. I strongly prefer having a full numpad and I actually prefer the extra distance to the right for mouse usage. I've found over the years that the more I move my hands, the less likely I am to have discomfor…

God damn you cheating lefties! You cant have cake and eat it too! I really wish for keyboard options with numpad on the left. I am using numpad rarely but its handy to have when in need.

Those exist, look up "southpaw" mechanical keyboards.
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