I love my keyboard.io Model 01. I think a refresh is coming later this year (Model 100?). Worth the price IMO.
How long did it take for you to adjust to the layout?
Split Keyboard for Professionals
21–30 of 331 posts
Re: Split Keyboard for Professionals
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most are horrible. One of the reasons is overlap. Your hands do occasionally hit keys on the other side. You want a pair of 2/3 keyboards, rather than 1/2 keyboards. You /especially/ want a lot of the "special" keys on both sides. Another is key action. You want proper mechanical keys. A third is mounting. That's a problem which hasn't really been figured out. The middle hinge or fixed setup is definitely sub-ideal.…
I was told by one friend that they made it really hard to use a normal keyboard effectively after a few years. Did you find that?
I’ve been using an Atreus split ortholinear keyboard with the Colemak layout for more than a year now, and I have no difficulty switching back to a standard Qwerty staggered keyboard when I use my laptop or someone else’s computer.
Re: Split Keyboard for Professionals
#23I just picked up a moonlander that i'm really living. https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/
I am on the fence about this one, care to push me over? (I already have the Ez)
Re: Split Keyboard for Professionals
#24I used the microsoft natural keyboard for years and now the kinesis freestyle. I don’t know why split keyboards aren’t more popular. Proper ergonomics are important or your career could be interrupted due to RSI.
I started out using Microsoft Natural keyboards in the 90s. Ergonomic pain using straight keyboards at work brought me back to them in the 2010s. The Sculpt (wireless) is really wonderful.
Favorite keyboard ever for me. (<-- that sentence, and this one, typed on a Sculpt. Thank you, unknown engineers.)
Re: Split Keyboard for Professionals
#25The trackball thumb module is a great idea - being able to mouse without moving my right hand off the keyboard would be ideal (you can buy an actual mouse to use for FPS games if you want that). For anyone who is seeing this and thinking they need to upgrade though, know that you really don't have to spend $300 to get a good-quality ergonomic keyboard. The Goldtouch GTN-0099 can be found in like-new condition for $60 on ebay. The Kinesis Freestyle2 is around $100-130. Neither of these have mechanical keyswitches, but I've had a mechanical keyboard before and can tell you the tactile novelty wears off within a couple of weeks. High-quality non-mechanical keyswitches are just dandy these days. So do question whether you really need to plunk down $200 extra for mechanical.
Separately, if you care about ergonomics enough to be interested in your keyboard, don't neglect your mouse - usually a much worse culprit for wrist issues. I recently switched from a vertical-style ergonomic mouse to a trackball and it's enough of a difference to make me a zealot! I bought the Kensington vertical model with a thumb trackball. My small remaining wrist issues are no more.
Re: Split Keyboard for Professionals
#26I just picked up a moonlander that i'm really living. https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/
I am on the fence about this one, care to push me over? (I already have the Ez)
I just learned about this last night, and was really considering it. One thing that I wasn't sure about is the size-- I already love the ergodox I've been using for the last 6 years, and reddit says the moonlander is much smaller feeling.
Re: Split Keyboard for Professionals
#27I am puzzled why there aren't more split keyboards on the market, they are such a good idea.
Most are horrible. One of the reasons is overlap. Your hands do occasionally hit keys on the other side. You want a pair of 2/3 keyboards, rather than 1/2 keyboards. You /especially/ want a lot of the "special" keys on both sides. Another is key action. You want proper mechanical keys. A third is mounting. That's a problem which hasn't really been figured out. The middle hinge or fixed setup is definitely sub-ideal.…
1. An ortho keyboard, e.g. crkbd fixes this. This made me finally touch-type after 20 years of using keyboards.
2. Yes :)
3. You do have great choice between splitting and tenting and wrist rests.
4. The keyboard in question has trackpoint, trackball, and trackpad accessories.
Bottom line is that once you enter the realm of unconventional keyboards, you will want a very custom one. You are right in that. This one is quite customizable, but there is always something you want different (a.k.a. endgame is a lie).
Re: Split Keyboard for Professionals
#28I used the microsoft natural keyboard for years and now the kinesis freestyle. I don’t know why split keyboards aren’t more popular. Proper ergonomics are important or your career could be interrupted due to RSI.
I started out using Microsoft Natural keyboards in the 90s. Ergonomic pain using straight keyboards at work brought me back to them in the 2010s. The Sculpt (wireless) is really wonderful. Favorite keyboard ever for me. (<-- that sentence, and this one, typed on a Sculpt. Thank you, unknown engineers.)
I do love the sculpt but they tend to die within a couple of years. I went through two of them before switching to something more durable. The build quality is just bad - many times my computer was behaving weirdly, traced to one of the function keys being stuck down (this also manifested as the keyboard eating new batteries within a couple of days).
Re: Split Keyboard for Professionals
#29I just picked up a moonlander that i'm really living. https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/
I wouldn't recommend an ortho keyboard, I've found it takes a lot of time to relearn how to type with not much benefit.
Re: Split Keyboard for Professionals
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most are horrible. One of the reasons is overlap. Your hands do occasionally hit keys on the other side. You want a pair of 2/3 keyboards, rather than 1/2 keyboards. You /especially/ want a lot of the "special" keys on both sides. Another is key action. You want proper mechanical keys. A third is mounting. That's a problem which hasn't really been figured out. The middle hinge or fixed setup is definitely sub-ideal.…
I was told by one friend that they made it really hard to use a normal keyboard effectively after a few years. Did you find that?
I use an Ergodox EZ for most of my typing, and don't really notice any major problems adjusting back to a standard keyboard on the odd occasion I find myself using a laptop keyboard instead. The only exception to that is for the first half hour or so I'll try holding caps-lock to get control, and just get escape being held instead.