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ErgodoxE EZ – an ergonomic keyboard with open source firmware

ergodox-ez.com

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Re: ErgodoxE EZ – an ergonomic keyboard with open source firmware

#91

Post by asciimike »

rcarr wrote: post #88

I bought a Moonlander earlier this year after getting bad upper back pain and knowing that if I didn’t do something the pain would only get worse and I would end up with a hunch. Previously I was coding on a Magic Keyboard. I ended up quitting my coding job shortly after getting the Moonlander so the pain has sort of resolved itself anyway as I’m no longer doing massive coding sessions. But I’m glad I’ve got it for t…

I have an ergodox and a moonlander, and I shared the same frustration on initial use; however, after about a week of pecking around and doing a good number of typing exercises (e.g. https://www.keybr.com/, https://www.speedcoder.net/) using a basically modified mac layout, I was back up to 99% for standard use, and definitely a bit faster for common things (e.g. typing usernames/passwords).

I don't use tons of layouts, I'm mostly there for the ergonomic benefits, which I definitely feel vs a magic keyboard and trackpad.

Re: ErgodoxE EZ – an ergonomic keyboard with open source firmware

#93

Post by denvaar »

I bought an ErgodoxEZ a couple months ago in an effort to find the right ergo keyboard for me. Though I ended up choosing the Kinesis Advantage 2 instead, there are a lot of great things about this keyboard.

- Really nice build quality.

- Lights made me feel cool and helped me keep track of which layer that I was in.

- Extremely customizable layout options with a user-friendly way to map keys and all that stuff.

- Customer service was very friendly and helpful in helping me return the keyboard and get a refund.

In the end I just found that the Kinesis Adv. 2 felt more comfortable for my hands. I would recommend the Ergodox to anyone who is looking to try out an ergo keyboard, especially if the layout config is high on your priority list.

Re: ErgodoxE EZ – an ergonomic keyboard with open source firmware

#95

Post by spartanatreyu »

hammyhavoc wrote: post #80

So, no numpad, right? Love the concept, just not sure I could use DAWs, Unreal Engine, and Blender without the ol' numpad.

It's a split keyboard. Put a numpad in the middle.

That way you can use the numpad with your left or right hand easily while having your other hand ready to follow up with an enter or a letter to start typing something else.

Re: ErgodoxE EZ – an ergonomic keyboard with open source firmware

#96

Post by [deleted] »

rococode wrote: post #85

Does ortholinear/columnar actually feel better? I feel like I see many comments about how there's a bit of a learning curve that can be overcome after a while, but very few comments about whether overcoming that learning curve is actually worth it and it's really more comfortable. Is it supposed to be better for your wrists? Or your fingers? The "split" aspect of these keyboards is definitely more comfortable imo - I…

[deleted]

Re: ErgodoxE EZ – an ergonomic keyboard with open source firmware

#97

Post by clircle »

denvaar wrote: post #93

I bought an ErgodoxEZ a couple months ago in an effort to find the right ergo keyboard for me. Though I ended up choosing the Kinesis Advantage 2 instead, there are a lot of great things about this keyboard. - Really nice build quality. - Lights made me feel cool and helped me keep track of which layer that I was in. - Extremely customizable layout options with a user-friendly way to map keys and all that stuff. - Cu…

Happy for you! I tried the Kinesis Advantage and thought the keys were placed in a weird way that I could not get used to. Now I'm a happy kinesis freestyle user for 1 year. Sold my Advantage and HHKB.

Re: ErgodoxE EZ – an ergonomic keyboard with open source firmware

#98

Post by somedudetbh »

lrvick wrote: post #45
TakeBlaster16 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish there was a showroom or something I could visit to try them all out and see what fits my hands. I don't mind dropping $300 on a keyboard once, but I don't want to buy 10 different keyboards just to try them and then have to sell the ones I don't want.

FWIIW friends and I have used, bought, and built a lot of these but the build quality and comfort of the Moonlander surpasses everything. Yet to hear anyone that has tried one that switched away from it. It is also the most expensive, but in this case you get what you pay for IMO.

For anyone else reading this thread- FWIW I bought a Moonlander a few months ago and I haven't been able to switch to it. It's missing just enough keys that I haven't been able to figure out a layout that seems good enough to stick with long enough to get used to it, and so when I use it it's still painfully slow.

There are some extra keys, but some of them seem hard to use well (the big red triangle keys at the top of the thumb clusters) and other things that sound great in practice, like "hold" = modifier but "tap" = insert some character, in practice have turned out to have more annoying rough edges than I had hoped.

It's very well-made though, the configurator works good, etc. Seems like a high-quality gadget, but I wish I thought a bit more about what I would do for arrow keys, special characters, modifiers, etc.

I found the Kinesis thumb clusters a lot more usable when I used to have one, but I really wanted to try a split keyboard this time.

Re: ErgodoxE EZ – an ergonomic keyboard with open source firmware

#99

Post by konfusinomicon »

lrvick wrote: post #45
TakeBlaster16 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish there was a showroom or something I could visit to try them all out and see what fits my hands. I don't mind dropping $300 on a keyboard once, but I don't want to buy 10 different keyboards just to try them and then have to sell the ones I don't want.

FWIIW friends and I have used, bought, and built a lot of these but the build quality and comfort of the Moonlander surpasses everything. Yet to hear anyone that has tried one that switched away from it. It is also the most expensive, but in this case you get what you pay for IMO.

can confirm..was skeptical but now I could never go back to a normal layout for daily driving...it's a dream and worth every penny and more

Re: ErgodoxE EZ – an ergonomic keyboard with open source firmware

#100

Post by badlucklottery »

TakeBlaster16 wrote: post #21
breckenedge wrote: post #6

If you’re interested in ergo, I recommend visiting the ergo keyboard comparison tool [1] to get a sense of how deep this rabbit hole goes. And you can now use YAML to prototype custom layouts via Ergogen [2]. [1] https://jhelvy.shinyapps.io/splitkbcompare/ [2] https://ergogen.cache.works/

I wish there was a showroom or something I could visit to try them all out and see what fits my hands. I don't mind dropping $300 on a keyboard once, but I don't want to buy 10 different keyboards just to try them and then have to sell the ones I don't want.

Kinesis still does 60 day no BS returns for stuff bought directly through them: https://kinesis-ergo.com/support/returns/

ZSA does 30 day returns: https://ergodox-ez.com/pages/shipping-returns

It's only the tip of the iceberg w/r/t the number of keyboards out there but they're the most polished products and they cover a lot of your more exotic bases (split, key wells, thumb clusters, etc.)

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