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Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

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Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#131

Post by layer8 »

lars_francke wrote: post #120
verinus wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a sidenote: I did use a switchtester a friend lent me and thought I had found my favorite switch only to realize, that typing on a switch-tester is vastly different to typing an actual keyboard. :(

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll keep that in mind. I've typed the last 20 years on the same keyboard and all those "clicky", "linear" etc. things don't mean much to me so I hope to benefit by just testing those different styles to get a feel for it

You can get a basic impression of what the differences are, but I agree with the GP that it won't really tell you how typing on an entire keyboard with those switches will feel.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#132

Post by schengnz »

wakeupcall wrote: post #119
deadlyllama wrote: post #101

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…

Due to the 3D nature, it is very hard to mock up with a few pieces of paper.

One thing to note is that the Glove80 thumb cluster plane is at a very different location and angle, compared to the the Kinesis Advantage thumb cluster plane. In fact the Glove80 thumb cluster plane is much lower and slant down gently (nowhere as much as DM) towards the opposite half. OTOH the KA thumb cluster sits significantly higher than the keywell.

Due to the thumb plane difference, "the glove80 cluster placement forces my hand on a higher position and requires the thumb to stretch more" is not the case in reality for me.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#133

Post by layer8 »

sooheon wrote: post #11

There are a lot of touted ergo features: tenting, concave keywell, l/r split, ortho columns, thumb cluster. Of these, the most important IME is the thumb cluster -- giving more work to your thumbs and taking load off your pinkies. This led me to HHKB JP layout for 80/20 ergo benefit without having to carry two unwieldy halves of a keyboard when I want portability. Still use Kinesis Advantage 2 at home, but nothing be…

It depends. My thumb joints specifically can't bear a lot of action, so all those thumb-cluster ergonomic keyboards are a non-starter for me. Hitting the space bar is about as much as my thumbs can handle.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#134

Post by d4rkp4ttern »

henrik_w wrote: post #38

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.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#135

Post by d4rkp4ttern »

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 thumb clusters, all of which can be programmed with an excellent software.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#136

Post by tymm »

microtonal wrote: post #45
least wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bluetooth issues are sort of resolved with the 3.0 firmware, but the previous firmware versions were pretty awful in scenarios where you turn the keyboards off and the pairing between halves becomes an absolute nightmare. With that being said, while Kinesis' own firmware for their keyboards (SmartSet) has gotten a lot better over the years, it still doesn't really come close to ZMK or QMK. To me the functionality…

Are they solved? I still see a lot of reports of people with issues with ZMK 3 on the 360 Pro. Someone who does switch replacements for the KA2/360 said that there is a design error in the 360 Pro, where on one of the halves the key well flex cable runs through the Bluetooth antenna clearance area. This also explains the high variance: how much the issue affects you depends on how the flex cable happens to be oriente…

I haven't had any bluetooth connectivity issues with the 360 Pro since ZMK 3.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#137

Post by mpsprd »

d4rkp4ttern wrote: post #135

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…

Columnar patterns are painful to muscle memory.

I personally use an ergodox I built, and I will never type fast like I can on a staggered layout. I also had to fix a typing mistake (I typed c with my index on staggered, and it became 'b')

In the end it's the split that saved my wrists. I believe everyone should type on one, whatever the model.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#138

Post by tymm »

smrq wrote: post #84

I like but don't love my Glove80. The build quality just feels a little cheap given how decidedly not cheap the price tag is. And the thumb clusters are quite pointy. I do like how the key well shape makes it easy to reach an extra row of keys; I have all my parens and braces below the zxcvb row, where on an ordinary keyboard all the modifiers would be.

This is exactly why I wouldn't want to switch from my Kinesis 360 Pro even though I prefer the low profile switches and maybe the thumb cluster from the Glove80. I just love the build quality of the Kinesis 360 Pro.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#139

Post by crabbone »

I use Kinesis Advantage 2 for work, but I don't use it to play video games. First, it's kind of expensive, and games wear the keyboard very quickly, second: game designers assume a more conventional keyboard layout, so, for example, small function keys are a non-starter for a lot of games. Also, games assume that the player should be able to press keys 6-0 with the same hand they press 1-5 (while holding the mouse in the other hand) -- this doesn't work well with split keyboards.

I would expect the same to be true, more or less for this keyboard. With the exception of function keys being bigger. On the other hand, I'm not sure I'd want function keys to not be very easily distinguishable from the rest. At least, in the case of Kinesis, some of them control keyboard's own macros / remapping. Accidentally hitting those might result in an hour long break trying to reprogram the keyboard to do what it used to do before you fat-fingered it to do something stupid.

Re: Glove80 Ergonomic Keyboard

#140

Post by daggersandscars »

If you have arthritis in your base of thumb joints, keyboards with thumb clusters may not be a good fit for you. I can use these types of keyboards for a day or two, then the thumb pain is too much.

I have the same issue with game controllers, so that may be a good indicator of problems with this type of keyboard.

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