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If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

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Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#101

Post by Osiris »

stevehawk wrote: post #77
overkalix wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$300 for the simplest keyboard...

complaining about $300 for a great keyboard is like complaining about a pricey bed. You use it for how many hours of the day if you're a programmer/engineer? Maybe it's worth spoiling yourself.

For me the hesitation is that it's a lot of money for something I don't know if I'm going to like it or if it's going to make me more productive.

It's an expensive experiment, especially considering the vast variety of different styles, layouts, pressure sensitivity, etc, etc.

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#102

Post by rumanator »

stevehawk wrote: post #77
overkalix wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$300 for the simplest keyboard...

complaining about $300 for a great keyboard is like complaining about a pricey bed. You use it for how many hours of the day if you're a programmer/engineer? Maybe it's worth spoiling yourself.

> complaining about $300 for a great keyboard is like complaining about a pricey bed.

except it isn't a great keyboard when compared with standard keyboards, and its value proposition is absurd when taken into account that standard keyboards cost around 10€ and ergonomic keyboards by reference brands such as Microsoft go for about 50€.

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#103

Post by stamps »

robto wrote: post #72

I'm currently held back from going into the mechanical keyboard world because I'm hooked on the thinkpad trackpoint stick and mouse buttons below the spacebar - I've got a thinkpad and two usb keyboards with the dot and mouse buttons, and I use them on every computer I touch. Are there mechanical keyboards with built in mouse functionality?

https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/

Mechanical and split ergonomics.

Has built in Mouse capability using the keys. They’re also working on attachable touchpad, trackball, and trackpoint (just like a thinkpad).

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#105

Post by Symbiote »

lexicality wrote: post #71

I don't really understand why people want such tiny keyboards. The most comfortable (and healthy!) way to type is to have your hands a shoulderwidth apart so you don't have to compress your arms. I used an ergodox infinity for a while which was fantastic in terms of back pain but terrible in terms of everything else. I currently use a Kinesis Advantage 1 which I'm tempted to dremel in half so I can get proper separat…

If 6x6 is enough, there's someone on Reddit in the USA who makes custom printed Dactyl/Manuform cases:

https://www.reddit.com/user/crystalhand/comments/96xu7g/3d_p...

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#106

Post by TylerE »

bitxbit wrote: post #59
ComputerGuru wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last time I dropped by /r/mechanicalkeyboards it was full of people that thought Cherry MX was the be-all end-all rather than just a brand name and a poor substitute for something like a proper buckling spring switch. Is that still the case?

People gravitate toward MX equivalent switches because you can customize them. You can mimic or surpass the topre experience which has been the gold standard. There’s also a thriving niche market for keycaps which is very much focused on MX compatibility.

I'm curious what you think is superior to Topre.

I've tried most of the MX style switches, and none come close.

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#107

Post by gambiting »

stevehawk wrote: post #77
overkalix wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$300 for the simplest keyboard...

complaining about $300 for a great keyboard is like complaining about a pricey bed. You use it for how many hours of the day if you're a programmer/engineer? Maybe it's worth spoiling yourself.

It's the same as spending $10k on a mattress - it's just dumb. Yes you spend a lot of time in it, but after a certain point you're spending money to feed someone's marketing, not paying for any tangible benefit.

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#108

Post by JoshTriplett »

qes wrote: post #25

One day I'll likely be faced with making my own keyboard layout or losing the wonderful Home/End/PgUp/PgDn/Delete layout I've been used to for years now on a long discontinued keyboard model (I seriously have a box of spares under the bed that I bought when they stopped being made). I've found myself adaptable to the action of many keyboards, but there's some layout features I'm very particular about.

> a long discontinued keyboard model

Can you provide a link with a picture to show what you mean about the layout?

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#109

Post by detaro »

bloopernova wrote: post #93
stevehawk wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

complaining about $300 for a great keyboard is like complaining about a pricey bed. You use it for how many hours of the day if you're a programmer/engineer? Maybe it's worth spoiling yourself.

Precisely, although I don't think it's spoiling yourself. You use some things a whole lot that it makes sense to spend comparatively more on them than you would on "normal" items: * Bed * Office chair * Keyboard and mouse * Monitors * Footwear * Cooking basics like a couple of knives and a pan or two. Perhaps this can explain it better than I will ever be able: https://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Sam_Vimes_Theory_of_Ec…

Tbh, cheap(er) keyboards don't necessarily are unreliable and fall under that theory. I'm mildy interested in buying a fancy keyboard, but the Logitech I bought in highschool refuses to die...

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#110

Post by Symbiote »

wishinghand wrote: post #88
jseliger wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/ may be heading in the direction you want.

Unfortunately it's not even close. I want 4-5 keys for a thumb arc and a columnar stagger layout. Also it has way too many keys.

I did this [1] to an Ergodash kit, although I don't find it practical to press the furthest thumb key with my thumb. You'd want the Ergodash Mini which has one fewer row.

I chose by printing the PCBs for several split keyboards and working out which one fitted my thumbs best.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/comments/duu6zn/e...

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