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00Key a 75% Keyboard

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Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#71

Post by sbeckeriv »

BossingAround wrote: post #2

Personally, I found the perfect keyboard in Ergodox [0][1]. Ortholinear, split, programmable (and open-source) keyboard with hot-swappable switches. I've had my Ergodox EZ [2] for ~7 years now. The biggest problem that happened was that some of the switches started malfunctioning - fixing which was a matter of literally 5 minutes. I don't think I would want to go back to non-split, non-ortholinear keyboards nowadays.…

I backed ergodox-ez on indiegogo in 2016. I moved to the moonlander mostly for the built in wrist pads. support has been amazing. I just got a replacement for a cracked piece of plastic that I can repair myself. https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/teardown

The thing I like most is the split and I have customized the layout to my working style. I really should learn to use layers or try some of the "hacks" https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/printables.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#72

Post by keyrdprisoom »

orphea wrote: post #41
jwells89 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s “essential” varies a lot between users. As a mobile dev I’ve been using 60% and 65% boards almost exclusively since 2015 and haven’t missed the removed keys much at all. Really though, to me the problem with full-size keyboards isn’t the number of keys but their positioning. The traditional full sized layout was designed prior to mice being common, which immediately becomes evident when you try to center the a…

How do you guys not miss F keys? I can press e.g. Ctrl+F5 with one hand but I would have to use both hands to press Ctrl+Fn+5.

Layers. I can also press ctrl f5 with one hand.

Your full size keyboard is an ergonomic prison.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#73

Post by extragood »

crazygringo wrote: post #42
mmh0000 wrote: post #4

I really do not like these compressed baby keyboards that are missing essential keys. My perfect keyboard would be something like a 150% with standard full layout but then adding in a bunch of programmable macro keys, I want more than F12! I want F1 through F36. Also a built in coffee grinder, water heater, and there should be a fan under the keys to keep my hands cool. Okay, ignore those last three.

But why? The whole point is that you can access all the "essential" keys with modifiers like Fn. I find it so natural to Page Up/Dn using Fn+Up/Dn that when I'm on a keyboard with dedicated Page Up/Dn keys it just seems like this bizarre waste of space. Plus the keyboard is so big I have to keep moving my hands all over the place! A 75% keyboard keeps everything within distance of the home row, as it should be. Faraw…

I don't see any missing essentials on this keyboard (even pg up is there), but some of the even smaller form factors actually remove the arrow keys, and using fn for those gets irritating super quickly.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#74

Post by ZeWaka »

criddell wrote: post #15
luke-stanley wrote: post #8

This is cool but I wish I could just have a 75% portable Bluetooth keyboard. I can't justify buying a foldable phone with a million screens but would love a Psion like keyboard with 4 and a half almost full size rows that I can slide out from below my phone with no folding and just use directly without getting in the way of my rear camera. Has anyone seen anything like that? I am really happy with laptop scissor swit…

I might be wrong, but in this case I think the 75% refers to the layout, not the physical size of the keys. https://www.keyboard.university/100-courses/keyboard-sizes-l...

It's a percentage of the 'total number of keys,' insofar that a 'normal' keyboard is a 100% keyboard.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#75

Post by GuB-42 »

karlshea wrote: post #9
VyseofArcadia wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been wondering for a while now why these fractional keyboards are so popular. It's some sort of trendy faux-minimalism that I've never been able to wrap my head around.

75% is basically everything except the numpad, so if one isn't a big numpad user it's nice to have your mouse a bit closer.

75% is not exactly this. It mangles the home cluster (pgup, pgdn, home, end, insert, del), often missing "insert" entirely. It also relocates the arrow keys slightly.

If you just want a keyboard without a numpad, it is called TenKeyLess (TKL) or 80%.

For me, it matters. I use the home cluster a lot, including the insert key (for copy and pasting), and because I use many different keyboards (for work, etc...), muscle memory is important, and full size is the most common. So when using a compact keyboard, I like having the keys in the same place more than saving 2 columns.

But to each his own, especially with keyboards.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#76

Post by tombert »

mmh0000 wrote: post #4

I really do not like these compressed baby keyboards that are missing essential keys. My perfect keyboard would be something like a 150% with standard full layout but then adding in a bunch of programmable macro keys, I want more than F12! I want F1 through F36. Also a built in coffee grinder, water heater, and there should be a fan under the keys to keep my hands cool. Okay, ignore those last three.

I've never really understood why people pay more for the kind of gimped keyboard. They're sleeker, sure, but even if you almost never use the special keys they're missing, it will still be annoying the .1% of the time you need that key. I guess at that point you just grab another keyboard, but if you have to have a spare full sized keyboard anyway, why not just use that?

I use a $30 mechanical keyboard I bought from a six-letter brand on Amazon four years ago and I've been much happier than when I tried one of those "optimized" compressed keyboards.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#77

Post by jwells89 »

tombert wrote: post #76
mmh0000 wrote: post #4

I really do not like these compressed baby keyboards that are missing essential keys. My perfect keyboard would be something like a 150% with standard full layout but then adding in a bunch of programmable macro keys, I want more than F12! I want F1 through F36. Also a built in coffee grinder, water heater, and there should be a fan under the keys to keep my hands cool. Okay, ignore those last three.

I've never really understood why people pay more for the kind of gimped keyboard. They're sleeker, sure, but even if you almost never use the special keys they're missing, it will still be annoying the .1% of the time you need that key. I guess at that point you just grab another keyboard, but if you have to have a spare full sized keyboard anyway, why not just use that? I use a $30 mechanical keyboard I bought from…

> …even if you almost never use the special keys they're missing, it will still be annoying the .1% of the time you need that key. I guess at that point you just grab another keyboard…

Unnecessary with layers, e.g. FN + 1 = F1, which covers the 0.1% use case well enough.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#78

Post by jdietrich »

VyseofArcadia wrote: post #6
mmh0000 wrote: post #4

I really do not like these compressed baby keyboards that are missing essential keys. My perfect keyboard would be something like a 150% with standard full layout but then adding in a bunch of programmable macro keys, I want more than F12! I want F1 through F36. Also a built in coffee grinder, water heater, and there should be a fan under the keys to keep my hands cool. Okay, ignore those last three.

I've been wondering for a while now why these fractional keyboards are so popular. It's some sort of trendy faux-minimalism that I've never been able to wrap my head around.

The ergonomics of a full-size keyboard are atrocious, because they weren't designed with mice in mind. You've got a relatively unimportant set of keys occupying the exact piece of desk space that a mouse should be. Unless your shoulders are three feet wide, you'll either end up with your QWERTY keys too far to the left, your mouse too far to the right, or some awkward compromise.

If you really need a num pad - most people don't - then you can get a separate one and position it to the left of your keyboard.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#79

Post by jdietrich »

mmh0000 wrote: post #33
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You joke about the fan but I'd love a keyboard heater for winters. I keep it cold in here to save $ but I have a hard time keeping my hands comfortable.

There's always some truth to a joke and I wouldn't mind heated/cooled keys. If you're not aware, such a thing already exists! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B87H383N

I can highly recommend it, unless you've got a cat.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#80

Post by dvdkon »

bluesquared wrote: post #20
atlas_hugged wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A subset of those is gamers that want the mouse closer to the center, rather than off to the right when using a full keyboard. Especially competitive gamers, because it helps reduce RSI

Wouldn't you want your head/eyes centered on the monitor, not the mouse being held by your arm that's off-center?

I don't understand your comment. Nobody's looking at their mouse (or their keyboard) when gaming.
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