Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

00Key a 75% Keyboard

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 149 posts

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#121

Post by kerhackernews »

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.

This is why I would not use less than a 75% keyboard. I don't see the point in saving vertical space (unless it's a laptop).

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#122

Post by LanternLight83 »

derefr wrote: post #108
Arainach wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like keyboards with layers support, but layers aren't a replacement for sufficient keys. Holding down the layer button means another finger unavailable for hotkeys. For instance, on my keyboard (ZSA Moonlander) I have the function keys in an alternate layer. This isn't a problem for a normal press (layer shift + 2 => F2), but it makes pressing something like Ctrl+Shift+F2 rather painful. Yes, for such shortcuts tha…

Crazy idea I've always wanted to try: somehow hack a USB foot-pedal to act as a layer key. (Hard, because usually the layers are implemented inside the keyboard's firmware, rather than being processed by the OS. Maybe the foot-pedal would need to plug into the keyboard.)

Layers in software are thing with eg. kmonad or kanata

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#123

Post by derefr »

jwells89 wrote: post #114
derefr wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...which makes macOS-using developers' negative reactions to the 2016 MBP touch bar kind of odd/ironic, no? We all agree that nobody needs the F keys on a Mac... so why was it such a big problem when they got virtualized under the equivalent of a car infotainment display? (Yeah, the escape key was taken out as well at first, but then it was brought back, and people still were quite hateful toward the touch bar after…

The biggest issues with the touch bar, from my perspective: - It couldn’t be used without being looked at, due to it having no physical keys - It was always kind of hacky, being essentially a long thin Apple Watch (down to running a watchOS variant) that would occasionally freeze up I think it would’ve been better received had it been composed of Stream Deck-like display keys powered by macOS itself which would’ve br…

> had it been composed of Stream Deck-like display keys

Mind you, a majority of the useful "things the touchbar can change into" involved non key-shaped interaction surfaces. The volume and brightness sliders; the iMovie/FCP video scrubber; the keyboard autocomplete suggestions; etc.

The only way this would have worked is if arbitrary regions could have been dynamically raised/tactile-ized to match the interaction elements being shown.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#124

Post by derefr »

LanternLight83 wrote: post #122
derefr wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Crazy idea I've always wanted to try: somehow hack a USB foot-pedal to act as a layer key. (Hard, because usually the layers are implemented inside the keyboard's firmware, rather than being processed by the OS. Maybe the foot-pedal would need to plug into the keyboard.)

Layers in software are thing with eg. kmonad or kanata

Doesn't work for keys that don't send keysyms by default but instead act as e.g. media keys if you're not holding a modifier. (Media keys are their own USB HID usage page; the OS keyboard driver doesn't see them.)

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#125

Post by apfsx »

The perfect keyboard for me has been the Kinesis Freestyle Pro. Split keyboard with all the keys you would want plus 10 macro keys on the left side you can map to anything. There is absolutely no way I could go back to using any other keyboard after using this for a few years now. Shoulder and wrist pain completely gone.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#126

Post by LanternLight83 »

TheCapn wrote: post #87
evnix wrote: post #19

Good example of form over function. This is nice if you want to impress your YouTube fan followers or get a few likes for when you post on Reddit or other social media. Split keyboards should be your go to if you are spending considerable time on your computer. A lot of back issues, shoulder pains and RSI issues just disappeared after making the switch.

I could never get used to ergonomic keyboards. I actually spend a considerable amount of my day typing single handed across the entire QWERTY so I don't have to remove my hand from the mouse. I developed the habit working on far too many apps with bad/missing keyboard shortcuts or broken tab ordering. For me I wanted a smaller keyboard, but one that still included the numpad and ended up with this custom build: https…

I get that, I've practiced with my ergo board for like a year and still don't use it exclusively bc of one-handing stuff (though learning a new layout at the same time cert. didn't help).

There's a layout based on multi-key chords called Taipo that has this really interesting "reversable" property, in that each half is a mirrored copy of the other, so you can type any letter (or eg. tab or return) with either hand. I think that's super cool, but don't think chording is for me, so I'm trying to imagine what a compromise might look like.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#127

Post by luke-stanley »

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...

Oh okay, I guess I want 65% then in terms of the keys it has! Thanks.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#128

Post by luke-stanley »

CodeWriter23 wrote: post #49
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…

Best I can offer is a Blackberry-style non-sliding mono-slabic configuration or is it conflagration? I'm not affiliated in any way nor do I vouch for this just sharing info. https://www.clicks.tech/

Thanks, it's interesting but I use shell scripting on Android and need to type the pipe characters and so on fairly quickly.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#129

Post by dvdkon »

bluesquared wrote: post #116
dvdkon wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

The seating position and keyboard is centered on the screen, the mouse is off to the right. I've never seen anybody try to center their mouse on the screen- then you'd either be bending your arm inward/across your body or sitting left of center of the screen

When using the standard WASD+mouse arrangement, you don't exactly want to center anything, but rather put the WASD keys at the left hand's natural resting place, and likewise with the mouse and right hand. With many large keyboards, the mouse then ends up colliding with the keyboard, so you have to spread out your arms. With a small keyboard this isn't an issue.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#130

Post by ffsm8 »

alamortsubite wrote: post #88
bxparks wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The traditional full sized layout was designed prior to mice being common, which immediately becomes evident when you try to center the alpha cluster of such boards with how doing so pushes the mousing area uncomfortably far off to the right. I developed tendonitis on my right elbow because of this. I fixed it by moving the mouse to the left. It took a few months to get used to it, but now my brain doesn't recogniz…

Same for me. A side benefit is improved neuroplasticity, but the bummer is reduced options for mice. I use Microsoft's ambidextrous models, which are barely mediocre.

All the superlight mouses I know work great with the left hand.

I.e. https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/products/gaming-mice/pro-x-s...

You can also combine this one with the charging pad to get a wireless mouse that you never have to charge

Post reply on HN