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00Key a 75% Keyboard

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Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#51

Post by mixmastamyk »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #23
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.

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.

The mouse hand seems to get coldest. Might want to look into that.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#52

Post by jwells89 »

dyingkneepad wrote: post #46
mmh0000 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm familiar with layers; in fact, I have an extensive layer setup in KDE. But then the problem becomes that I can never remember which key under what layer does what action. So, I basically use four keys from my other layers and have given up on all the others I set up. My poor memory is my unique problem. Layering won't help. Having dedicated keys that I can see, though, helps me remember what those do. As someone…

You have it configured in KDE. The cool keyboards allow configuring layers in the keyboard firmware. Yeah it took me a while to get used to my layers, but now it's all muscle memory and I don't even remember which key does what.

Layouts being configurable in firmware is a must for keyboards for me at this point. Having to rely on OS/DE configuration or especially crappy third party software sucks.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#53

Post by Arainach »

dyingkneepad wrote: post #21
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 have a keyboard that's "missing" essential keys, but I have a special key that I can press with my thumb that changes that every single key does (it's called a Layer). So I never need to move my wrist to press the arrow keys: just hold the thumb button and press hjkl. Page up is layer+t, page down is layer+g. And so on. It's great, my wrists thank me. I can even program a macro that will trigger an OS shortcut that…

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 that I use frequently I can create special custom keys in layers, but when using new apps or particularly complicated apps with lots of hotkeys (IntelliJ) that doesn't scale.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#54

Post by input_sh »

swah wrote: post #37
input_sh wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That niche is usually filled with something like a Stream Deck alongside your keyboard, though personally, I'd recommend MIDI controllers. You get a lot of extra buttons very cheaply, using an open, easily-readable protocol. Get a label maker to put some labels on top of the buttons, and you're good to go! In my experience it's a much easier option when compared to trying to say to your computer "key A has two functi…

Do you mean the thing that looks like a tiny piano or the thing that looks more squarish with 8x8 buttons that light up? Some project in this space https://github.com/michd/mmpd

Both work, they're all just sending digital versions of notes! You can find one for every perceivable amount of buttons you might need.

My hobby is electronic music, so I tilt towards grids over tiny pianos (though I own both). The smallest one I own is AKAI LPD8, which gives me 8 buttons, 8 knobs, and a couple of modifier keys for less than half the price of a Stream Deck.

It's not that Stream Deck is particularly expensive ($150), but I just can't justify it to myself when I'm aware of all the MIDI controller marvels you could get for like $100.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#55

Post by PurpleRamen »

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.

They are small and thus take less space on the desk, or in your bag (perfect for traveling and on-site-work). And not all keys are necessary for everyone. Numpad is a big part with little use for many people. And the newer generation of keyboards is often programmable, so you can remap them on very sophisticated levels on the keyboard itself. This reduces the demand for more keys even more.

For example, on my keyboard I have no dedicated cursor-keys, but they are mapped to hjkl and wasd with a thumb-key. Function-keys are similar mapped to number-keys with the same thumb-key. This makes writing from homerow much faster, and I need to move my hands not so often. I basically just must my fingers, instead of the whole hand.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#56

Post by digging »

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.…

Thanks for this! My current mechanical keyboard is great, but doesn't have an ergonomic layout. I tried a different split mechanical keyboard once and it was way too small for my hands, and didn't have built-in tenting, so it ended up being horrible for me. This appears to be a much better option & I'm going to check it out now.

And for those reading this thread, if you need a mouse, I've been extremely satisfied with Evoluent's vertical mouse[0]. Unlike most mouse manufacturers, they're very serious about selling what customers actually need - durable hardware, multiple sizes options for every model, just enough extra buttons, and a wired/wireless option for each model. Can't possibly recommend them enough - I went through 3 other vertical mice and absolutely hated all of them (all of them too small, and shockingly Anker's is very low quality; but really I don't trust any with a cheap BT connector).

[0] https://evoluent.com

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#57

Post by WesleyLivesay »

yttrium wrote: post #36
WesleyLivesay wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had exactly the same experience. After using the Ergodox since around 2020 it is hard to see going back to a non-split keyboard. It helps that I also swapped to a trackball at the same time and I find the ergo of having a trackball between a split keyboard to be excellent. Also, having the backspace key as the "home" key for my left thumb has greatly increased my typing speed....I make a lot of mistakes.

Which trackball do you use?

Logitech MX Ergo.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#58

Post by CarVac »

lawn wrote: post #45
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.…

The problem with Ergodox (and Moonlander) are the horrific thumb cluster that only makes sense if you have very large hands/fingers.

My favorite is Mitosis, which has large thumb clusters very close to the alphas.

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#59

Post by jasongrout »

input_sh wrote: post #28
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.

That niche is usually filled with something like a Stream Deck alongside your keyboard, though personally, I'd recommend MIDI controllers. You get a lot of extra buttons very cheaply, using an open, easily-readable protocol. Get a label maker to put some labels on top of the buttons, and you're good to go! In my experience it's a much easier option when compared to trying to say to your computer "key A has two functi…

What do you use to map midi commands to keystrokes?

Re: 00Key a 75% Keyboard

#60

Post by mixmastamyk »

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.…

Neat but no good place for arrow keys.
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