Using two keyboards at once for pain relief • Hacker News Board

Re: Using two keyboards at once for pain relief

#21

Post by EForEndeavour » Thu, Sep 23, 2021, 5:29 PM UTC

roganartu wrote: post #11

> I tried a few of those Kinesis split keyboards. Too squishy for me. Not far enough apart. The CherryMX Kinesis split keyboard was is too clickey for calls and screenshares. Muscle memory made it difficult to switch. This is a really cool hack, and I’m happy that the author found a solution for their pain that works for them, but this bit confused me. Kinesis are keyboards with separated key clusters, but not split…

You must be thinking of the Kinesis Advantage. Kinesis has also made split keyboards for a while: https://kinesis-ergo.com/products/#keyboards

Re: Using two keyboards at once for pain relief

#22

Post by dhagz » Thu, Sep 23, 2021, 5:29 PM UTC

...just get a split keyboard (the Kinesis isn't a true split - still one body). It's cheaper. You don't have extraneous keys. You don't have to worry about using software to get your computer to play nice with two keyboards. I like the offerings from https://gboards.ca, personally (bonus, they're ortholinear if you believe that is good for reducing pain).

I got the Gergoplex from that site, and over the course of a week of typing I got used to it and was able to be productive with it.

Just get a split.

Re: Using two keyboards at once for pain relief

#23

Post by georgewsinger » Thu, Sep 23, 2021, 5:29 PM UTC

Split keyboards can also do this :]

If you've always wanted to get one of those fancy custom split keyboards (corne, iris, etc), I highly recommend https://keebmaker.com/. For a small price premium, you basically pick out the keyboard you want, and they'll build it for you (so you don't have to mess with soldering, etc).

Re: Using two keyboards at once for pain relief

#24

Post by lolc » Thu, Sep 23, 2021, 5:31 PM UTC

roganartu wrote: post #11

> I tried a few of those Kinesis split keyboards. Too squishy for me. Not far enough apart. The CherryMX Kinesis split keyboard was is too clickey for calls and screenshares. Muscle memory made it difficult to switch. This is a really cool hack, and I’m happy that the author found a solution for their pain that works for them, but this bit confused me. Kinesis are keyboards with separated key clusters, but not split…

I found R-Go Tools Split to be a nice and light keyboard for my mobile rig. The only annoyance was the throbbing light in the corner. But a patch of tape fixed that. The stock cable wouldn't allow placing the parts as far apart as in the article though.

https://www.r-go-tools.com/products/ergonomic-keyboards/r-go...

Re: Using two keyboards at once for pain relief

#25

Post by eertami » Thu, Sep 23, 2021, 5:31 PM UTC

woah wrote: post #14

gorbachev wrote: post #12

Any one of the keyboards listed on https://github.com/diimdeep/awesome-split-keyboards would be better than that.

Why?

A well built ergonomic split keyboard with high quality switches will certainly provide a better experience than two cheap chiclet keyboards placed side by side.

And that's without the auxiliary benefits like freeing up additional desk space, a longer lifespan, and ease of repair.

Re: Using two keyboards at once for pain relief

#26

Post by mikepavone » Thu, Sep 23, 2021, 5:32 PM UTC

roganartu wrote: post #11

> I tried a few of those Kinesis split keyboards. Too squishy for me. Not far enough apart. The CherryMX Kinesis split keyboard was is too clickey for calls and screenshares. Muscle memory made it difficult to switch. This is a really cool hack, and I’m happy that the author found a solution for their pain that works for them, but this bit confused me. Kinesis are keyboards with separated key clusters, but not split…

The Kinesis Advantage line is as you describe, but there is also the Freestyle line which are actually split

Re: Using two keyboards at once for pain relief

#27

Post by tjoff » Thu, Sep 23, 2021, 5:33 PM UTC

woah wrote: post #14

gorbachev wrote: post #12

Any one of the keyboards listed on https://github.com/diimdeep/awesome-split-keyboards would be better than that.

Why?

Layerkeys that avoid long stretches. It is just so comfortable. You might have heard how nice hjkl is compared to using arrow-keys, imagine ~that for the entire keyboard.

Straight columns are superior. Think about it, look at your right hand and how the columns aligns with the keys underneath it. Pretty good huh? Now look at your left and you will probably struggle to explain how anyone could ever justify it, it is absolutely horrendous.

Re: Using two keyboards at once for pain relief

#28

Post by slightwinder » Thu, Sep 23, 2021, 5:38 PM UTC

roganartu wrote: post #11

> I tried a few of those Kinesis split keyboards. Too squishy for me. Not far enough apart. The CherryMX Kinesis split keyboard was is too clickey for calls and screenshares. Muscle memory made it difficult to switch. This is a really cool hack, and I’m happy that the author found a solution for their pain that works for them, but this bit confused me. Kinesis are keyboards with separated key clusters, but not split…

> Kinesis are keyboards with separated key clusters, but not split keyboards. When one says split keyboard I think they are normally talking about things like the Ergodox EZ/Moonlander

Kinesis has also their freestyle-line, which are physically splitted keyboard. But traditionally, the name refers to the split of the key-segments, not the whole keyboard. Until a decade ago, there barely where any real split keyboards, and split segments was the mainstream.

> Most of these kinds of keyboards also support whatever key switches you prefer, and there are plenty of options that are sufficiently quiet for zoom (pretty much anything linear should do the trick)

But even the most silent switch can't compete with the absorption of a normal rubberdome. Stiff matter hitting stiff matter always produces some noise, and most people don't know how to use mechanical keyboards correctly to reduce this.

Re: Using two keyboards at once for pain relief

#29

Post by colordrops » Thu, Sep 23, 2021, 5:43 PM UTC

dhagz wrote: post #22

...just get a split keyboard (the Kinesis isn't a true split - still one body). It's cheaper. You don't have extraneous keys. You don't have to worry about using software to get your computer to play nice with two keyboards. I like the offerings from https://gboards.ca , personally (bonus, they're ortholinear if you believe that is good for reducing pain). I got the Gergoplex from that site, and over the course of a…

As people mentioned elsewhere in this thread, kinesis does have split keyboards (the freestyle / edge line). And you can choose your switch type in case you want a quiet keyboard.

Re: Using two keyboards at once for pain relief

#30

Post by jborichevskiy » Thu, Sep 23, 2021, 5:44 PM UTC

12ian34 wrote: post #19

ziyangdev wrote: post #7

Try the Moonlander keyboard!

I just got one, but I'm still using my old SteelSeries Apex M500 for work though because I'm just too slow to do my job effectively using it still. The learning curve is higher than I thought, even after remapping most of the keys to my preferences - just need to give it some time!

Similar experience here! Love the keyboard but wow it's a learning curve