Live data from Hacker News

Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

danieldk.eu

141–150 of 229 posts

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#141
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While ergonomic keyboards are big part of some peoples fight against RSI, for many more using them is about comfort. After you get used to having tilted keyboard going back to normal one just feels tight and uncomfortable. Also for me big part about customizing your tools is exactly that - you get to customize your tools. I type professionally so it is insane to me when I see my colleagues working on some random lapt…

"Insane"? I type professionally too. On my laptop, in a myriad different settings. Sometimes in a coffee shop, sometimes on a quiet bench in a hallway, sometimes at home on my sofa, my kitchen table, and sometimes at my desk. I enjoy every minute of it and I'm having a blast. 11 years and counting. If it doesn't work for you then it doesn't mean it won't for anybody else. It's surely not "insane".

Is it possible you've taken more from that single word than was intended?

GP said "insane to me". I understood this as a colloquial expression of disbelief or surprise rather than an actual accusation of insanity.

E.g. I might say it's insane to me that anyone likes Brussels sprouts. The state of mind of someone who could hold such a position is so alien to me as to be comparable to insanity.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did think about it being non-hotswappable but it was a non-factor since I'm optimizing for ergonomics. I already knew I want linear switches and the lower force which was Choc Pro Reds. I don't like the other switch types after trying other keyboards.

For me the first switches I bought felt mushy. You could argue I didn't do my research, but you can end in same place with this Glove, should I get the normal Reds or the Red Pros? Maybe I would like the tactility of the Browns better? Then again what is the point of having a mechanical keyboard without THONC so maybe Whites aren't that bad? With hot-swap you can just buy a set and if you don't love it you don't need…

With the Kailh Choc switches, I wouldn't bother with anything other than linear. -- The tactile on Kailh choc is very lame; the 'clicky' sounds like insects crawling, and isn't all that satisfying.

(For MX style, I do prefer clicky or tactile).

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#143
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much do you type a day to have problems? I have never felt limited by my typing speed or comfort during my career, but I understand that different people might have different workflows. For me it’s thinking, writing a few lines and start thinking again. One programmer guy I know who had RSI problems was actually writing way too much and overly verbose code and also literally banged on the keys instead of pressing…

I think its just genetics, some people are more inclined to experience RSI due to structure of wrists. I'm 22 and I started experiencing wrist pain during college and found that split keyboards are the solution for me to be able to do my work without pain.

Shoulders too. The wider the shoulders, the more awkward your posture becomes on fixed keyboards. Also length of legs, length of spine, etc etc.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#144

I’ve haven’t tried the glove80 but suspect I won’t like it because it doesn’t do QWERTY and the columnar layout may not work for me. However over the years I’ve purchased many ergo kbs: ergo dox, kinesis and variants, and I just could not get into any of those. Until I got the UHK (Ultimate Hacking Keyboard) , and I absolutely love it. It retains the QWERTY + regular (staggered?) layout, has split/angled halves, and…

It seems that any layout is supported and that it comes with the QWERTY layout by default.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#146

I highly recommend low profile switches for those who haven't tried them. They weren't really available in many models until recently and they're a big step up from standard switches if you're more used to laptops.

> they're a big step up from standard switches if you're more used to laptops

In what way? I was contemplating a keyboard with mechanical low profile switches. One of the reasons was that I could easily remap the keys without having to buy new keycaps, since they all have the same profile, and for some reason, every manufacturer insists on their own home / en / pg up / pg dn layout (I'm looking exclusively at "75%" and similar layouts, which put those keys in a column).

But I'm hesitant because I've trained myself to not bottom out when I type with my regular mechanical keyboards, and my fingers enjoy the lack of abrupt stop at the bottom.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#147
post #144

I’ve haven’t tried the glove80 but suspect I won’t like it because it doesn’t do QWERTY and the columnar layout may not work for me. However over the years I’ve purchased many ergo kbs: ergo dox, kinesis and variants, and I just could not get into any of those. Until I got the UHK (Ultimate Hacking Keyboard) , and I absolutely love it. It retains the QWERTY + regular (staggered?) layout, has split/angled halves, and…

It seems that any layout is supported and that it comes with the QWERTY layout by default.

You're right. It is qwerty but the columnar is what I meant would be a big obstacle

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#148

I had severe problems with RSI many years ago, to the point where I thought I had to give up programming alltogether. I also got an ergonomic keyboard, which helped, and an argonomic pen-like mouse. However, I would say that even more important in getting rid of my problems was the use of a break program. It reminds me to take regular breaks, and prompts me to to stretches throuhgout the day. The combination of these…

The pen-like mouse is intriguing.

While I have not used a Penclic mouse, I am pretty sure that it is inferior to using a small Wacom Intuos graphic tablet instead of a mouse, like I do.

The tablet is no larger than a traditional mouse pad, it is even somewhat smaller.

The stylus, i.e. the pen, is much lighter than any pen-like mouse can be, and it has better resolution and accuracy. Because the pen works contactless and it is very light, you can move it very fast. You can point to any location on the screen faster than with anything else.

Because the pen is so light, I usually retain it between my fingers while I am touch typing, without noticing that I still keep it, which shortens a lot the transitions between typing and using the graphic pointer. I leave the pen on the tablet only before starting to type a long text.

The tablet is switched to "relative" mode at startup, so it behaves as an ordinary mouse. I use it under Linux, where it has excellent support.

The equivalent of the mouse buttons is configurable. I have chosen to touch the tablet with the pen for left click, and to use the two thumb buttons for right click and for double left click.

After I have begun to use a graphic tablet instead of a mouse, trackball, trackpoint or touchpad a couple of years ago, my only regret is that I have not thought to try this earlier, because at least for me it is much more comfortable than the alternatives, and it is also much more precise, being easy to use for drawings or signatures.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#149

I'm very happy with my Glove80. I started with a prototype 3D printed model last year: the creators are friends of mine, and I wrote the LED status display code for them. I also dropped the prototype down a flight of concrete stairs (sorry! It still works though). I now have a production model with the white clicky keyswitches. Ultra happy with it. I've been using Kinesis Advantage2s for a shade over two decades - th…

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 adva…

I wrote about this in one of my articles. I use a Kinesis Advantage 360. It's like the Kinesis Advantage but split. I like it, but there are draw backs. Namely, the clusters are not mirrored across both keyboards.

Left Side Backspace Delete Ctrl Alt Home End

Right Super Key Ctrl Page Up Page Down Enter Space

The keys are easy to hit, but the biggest problem is the space bar. On a typical keyboard the space bar is accessible from either thumb. This makes it so that if you are using the mouse and are playing an FPS, then you can still jump. This is not possible on the Kinesis Advantage withought modifying the keys. I use the Smartset program, and have a profile specifically for games that fixes this, but it might be annoying to some

The second is that fact that there is not print screen key on the advantage. I take a lot of screenshots for work so this is annoying. I've set one of the 4 macro keys to be the key combination I need to make screenshots, but again this required some configuration.

With that being said I still like the keyboard. My hands feel great even after 12 hours of mixed browsing, coding, and writing. My posture is better, and I don't get pain in my vertebrae next to my shoulder blade. But there are definitely things I would change if I was making it from scratch. Maybe in the future I'll Diy a dactyl-manuform^1 which has the perfect switches and layout for me.

https://github.com/abstracthat/dactyl-manuform

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#150

I had severe problems with RSI many years ago, to the point where I thought I had to give up programming alltogether. I also got an ergonomic keyboard, which helped, and an argonomic pen-like mouse. However, I would say that even more important in getting rid of my problems was the use of a break program. It reminds me to take regular breaks, and prompts me to to stretches throuhgout the day. The combination of these…

The pen-like mouse is intriguing.

I'm still using a Penclic mouse. I love it, works great for me.
Post reply on HN