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The 40% Keyboard

tbf-rnd.life

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Re: The 40% Keyboard

#261

Post by JeffL »

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.

I'm using a Kinesis Freestyle 2 split keyboard with a separate num pad in between the left and the right side. Works nicely for me.

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#262

Post by lemper »

currently, i use split and concave mechanical keyboards with 38 keys[1] and 42 keys[2] and i have no problem so far. i also put mods on the homerows for left and right hand. whenever i want to type numbers, i only have to move down my thumb and then move down one of my three fingers. for symbols, i write haskell and racket, i don't have any problem either. as for f-keys and common shortcuts, i also don't have any problem. while writing prose, i literally don't have to move my wrists at all[3]. and here's my current layout [4].

[1] https://assets.bigcartel.com/product_images/248892149/IMG201...

[2] https://github.com/ibnuda/dactyl-keyboard/tree/coffin or tree/master

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIBFrzXZbec

[4] https://github.com/ibnuda/qmk_firmware/tree/rarded/keyboards...

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#263

Post by roel_v »

leshow wrote: post #217
roel_v wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

You can do that on a uhk too, but then you don't have printed keys. Which is okayish for the numbers themselves, but not the operators.

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#264

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

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…

This is what I believe as well. I prefer no numpad- there is a number row afterall. I will not give up anything else though. I see so many of these keyboards with no function keys or even a number row. It's all hidden behind some mode toggle. It's for the birds.

They do look nice but they seem to cross my personal boundary into being less pragmatic as a result.

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#265

Post by sli »

tapland wrote: post #68
taneq wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But my WASD keys and my mouse are exactly shoulder width apart. If I didn't have a numpad I'd just have a gap between my mousepad and my keyboard.

Which means you don't have a good position when typing? I bought a 40% split keyboard and had my mouse inbetween the halves and it relieved my joint pains. Now, I work on old mainframes and need up to function key F24, but otherwise the 40% works wonders with thumbs on modifier keys.

> Which means you don't have a good position when typing?

Well, can't speak for OP, but personally I just slide the keyboard back over when I'm done gaming and going back to typing. I don't just leave my keyboard to my left relative to my sitting position.

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#266

Post by fimdomeio »

Lio wrote: post #128
_0ffh wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I use the numpad to navigate source code and other text files. I very rarely use the mouse under those circumstances. So this very much depends on our personal style and use cases.

Yeah definitely somewhere where people should be allow a personal preference. What does that numpad offer that is not already on the rest of the keyboard? I think if you are comfortable touch typing numbers then there's not much advantage to having a number pad. (I've worked from laptops (without numpad) connected to an external monitor for about 15 years now so I may be missing something potentially useful here.)

Macros. Its a pretty fun exercise. I just started a few months ago. Still building muscle memory: 0 reruns test, . breaks test 1 opens inspector, 2 opens console, 3 opens network 5 refreshes browser (for some old stuff without livereload)

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#269

Post by jethro_tell »

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 don't use a num pad since I switched my stacks to IPv6, but I do like having my mouse closer to the enter key. I use a 60%.

I also put my keyboard in my backpack 3/4 times a week and move to a hot desk on a different floor when I have some real work to get done.

It works for me, I spend most of my time in vim keybindings and have a layer for arrows if I need it. Even when I use my laptop keyboard, moving over to the arrows is annoying to me since I have to take my fingers off the home row.

It may be, that people who started with laptop keyboards instead of model M keyboards prefer what they are used to and what they learned on.

It's not a trend, it's a workflow. I touch type but I have keycaps with letters, I have a red escape key and a tux for the mod4, because I like the look. I hope I'm not going to hell for that.

Re: The 40% Keyboard

#270

Post by nemo136 »

BigJ1211 wrote: post #138
mewse wrote: post #21

I'm mostly typing on Corne keyboards now; a split kit keyboard with 42 keys, so still considered 40%, but fewer keys than most other 40% boards. (so you have to learn to cope with not having dedicated arrow keys, for example) I can't imagine ever going back to a non-split keyboard; for me, it's a much better typing position to have my hands shoulder-width apart rather than squeezed together. I think that's more impor…

The only thing I dislike about my corne as opposed to the iris and redox I use, is the missing [] in the centre.

to solve that, I expanded the space cadet to other layers to do [] and {}
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