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Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

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Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#41

Post by martin_a »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #37

I'm surprised the original[1] MS Natural Keyboard is not listed in the mass-market page. Maybe it's because it's not made anymore. I still have mine, it's years old, but it still works and I still love it, it seems to be the perfect angle for my hands. Even though it is absolutely enormous. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_ergonomic_keyboards#...

I think that list is for "cool" split keyboards. The Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard seems to still being manufactured, see here: https://www.amazon.de/Microsoft-LXM-00006-Ergonomic-Keyboard...

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#42

Post by LeoPanthera »

martin_a wrote: post #41
LeoPanthera wrote: post #37

I'm surprised the original[1] MS Natural Keyboard is not listed in the mass-market page. Maybe it's because it's not made anymore. I still have mine, it's years old, but it still works and I still love it, it seems to be the perfect angle for my hands. Even though it is absolutely enormous. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_ergonomic_keyboards#...

I think that list is for "cool" split keyboards. The Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard seems to still being manufactured, see here: https://www.amazon.de/Microsoft-LXM-00006-Ergonomic-Keyboard...

Yeah but the current models are quite different from the original one. Mostly in size - they shrunk them down to more acceptable dimensions.

The original is notable just for how enormous it is.

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#43

Post by jhardy54 »

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?

I use my Ergodox full-time and I love it, but I feel this way about an Atreus I just picked up: there are only a few keys, and some are inaccessible (!) so I'm stuck putting stuff like colons and quotation marks in a layer. Feels bad.

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#44

Post by jrockway »

mholm wrote: post #9

Anybody have the moonlander and enjoy it? I currently have an ergodox infinity, and want something I can swap to Kailh Choc White switches. The layout and programming seems perfect for me, though I'm disappointing that it's still wired.

I switched to a Moonlander from an Ergodox and am liking it. I ended up not liking their built-in tenting mechanism, so 3D printed my own shims that screw to the back, allowing me to tent the keyboard but also tilt the "wings" upwards. Very comfortable!

One thing I thought I hated about the Ergodox was how inaccessible the small keys on the thumb cluster were, and I thought I would like 3 big keys better. It turns out not to be the case... those keys are useless, but there are a lot of useless keys that are nice to have around (arrows, delete/insert, home/end, pgup/pgdn). I mostly do everything in Emacs and so don't use those keys, but when I'm using non-Emacs software, I do miss them.

(I ultimately decided on Backspace, Alt, Up; Space, Enter, Down as what I use the big thumb keys for. Not sure I love this. This transitioned my backspace key from my right pointer finger to my left thumb, and it broke my muscle memory. I still forget that you can control backspace words to kill them outside of Emacs (where I use C-w for that, which closes your window in every other program).)

TL;DR: it's fine! But still not perfect.

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#45

Post by CTDOCodebases »

gorgoiler wrote: post #29
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?

What you need, and I’m pretty sure this is a serious suggestion, is a pair of identical 60% keyboards. It might just work wonderfully.

I wish this worked. I tried it. The problem is pressing shift only modifies the keyboard that it is pressed on.

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#46

Post by martin_a »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #42
martin_a wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that list is for "cool" split keyboards. The Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard seems to still being manufactured, see here: https://www.amazon.de/Microsoft-LXM-00006-Ergonomic-Keyboard...

Yeah but the current models are quite different from the original one. Mostly in size - they shrunk them down to more acceptable dimensions. The original is notable just for how enormous it is.

Ah, just had a quick glance and thought they look similar in size.

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#47

Post by jedberg »

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?

Fwiw I typed “wrong” when I got my first ergo keyboard. Like very wrong. About 20% of my key presses were with the wrong finger.

For about a week I was smashing the blank space between the halves but then it just suddenly clicked and I’ve been fine since.

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#48

Post by CarVac »

salted-fry wrote: post #18
CarVac wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer to that is to make your own and hand-solder wire to the switches.

The thought has occurred to me - and I wouldn't mind a thumb-trackball on the right hand, either. Design in the physical world is well outside my wheelhouse though - is a keyboard an approachable project for somebody who hasn't done woodworking/machining before, or would I be better served working on smaller projects first?

I used Keyboard Layout Editor to generate the files to send to a laser cutting service.

Re: Show HN: Split Keyboards Gallery

#50

Post by 1-more »

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?

I code full time on an Iris. Hold/tap is huge for me for every kind of bracket or brace, just like the spacecadet keyboard that came before us. I have my layer modifiers under F, D, and S which then flip the right hand to Vim style arrows, a number pad, and a symbol pad.

Space cadet hold/tap shifts details here, from a soft remap I used to use: https://stevelosh.com/blog/2012/10/a-modern-space-cadet/#s17...

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