Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

I wish I had seen this earlier. Probably a few hours before seeing this on HN I bought a Kinesis Advantage 360 from an EU retailer for nearly 700 euros (I got the palm/wrist rests).

And I am still waiting on a Moonlander to try out as well but DHL customs is being difficult.

I really do think this keyboard is interesting. My only concern is why not use the more mainstream cherry mx mechanism?

The reason is that mx switches together with keywell make a keyboard quit high, which is causing issues - you need either a desk which can go quite low, or a chair and monitor stands which can be adjusted quite high for an ergonomic position. I have a KA2 and Model100 and yes, it is a problem if you do not have adjustable desks. Choc switches allow to keep the profile low.

If you try a split keyboard, either Glove80-like or Kinesis Advantage-like, it's pretty clear they're much, much more comfortable than rectangular keyboards. Your wrists sit in a natural position instead of bent unnaturally outward. This is particularly clear the smaller the keyboard is, e.g. on laptop keyboards.

In my opinion rectangular keyboards aren't good enough at all. They're uncomfortable and bad for your wrists, and the only reason people are using them are because: they don't know any better, computers (laptops), by default, come with rectangular keyboards, force of habit, the cost involved with buying another keyboard or having durable wrists/being young and not suffering from deteriorating body.

I started using Microsoft Natural Keyboards mid 90s, and moved onto Arisu layout mechanical keyboards a few years back when I first learned they were an option. They are so much more comfortable than rectangular keyboards. It's not even close, even without all the customization options available for switches, keycaps, tenting, etc.

Go to https://kbd.news/search/ and search for “trackball” to get some inspiration. Personally I would like to try something like the Orbyl but haven’t had the time to build one yet.

As a general question to anybody that used the Kinesis Advantage and switched to the Glove80: how's the thumb cluster?

The double-length keys for bk/delete/enter/space allows a lot of vertical travel freedom on the hand. Instead of flexing the fingers I can just move the whole hand down and hit the lower row _very_ comfortably while not having to worry about the thumb at all.

I've mocked a few pieces of paper to advantage with the shape of the glove80 cluster and I really can't decide if that's good or bad. While the inner thumb keys of the advantage are pretty far from the key wells, the most important modifiers are all closer compared to the glove80.

Trying it on the mockup, the glove80 cluster placement forces my hand on a higher position and requires the thumb to stretch more.

I've been looking at the advantage 360 and I don't like the complete removal of the Fn row, while at the same time I also hate the old Fn keys on the advantage. The glove80 layout is really nice, but I find the thumb cluster of the advantage to be pretty darn good.