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I Like Small Keyboards

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Re: I Like Small Keyboards

#51

Post by cjshearer »

stavros wrote: post #38
cjshearer wrote: post #35

Gonna shill my project, a 34 key solar powered split keyboard https://github.com/cjshearer/cweep . Each half should end up just a bit wider than a smartphone (114mm x 86mm). I'm still working on the case generation, which is intended to have a metal backplate for magnetic mounting, but I've gotten distracted developing a generic method to convert kicad geometry primitives to cadquery, so others can benefit from this…

What is that battery? It looks like it will last about ten years, wouldn't a solar keyboard need a battery about 1/50th the size?

To answer the battery life question, I estimate (https://github.com/cjshearer/cweep/issues/2) it will last ~228 days without the solar charger, and between between ~261 and ~337 days with the solar charger.

I acknowledge that that really isn't much of an improvement, so at this point the solar charger mostly exists "because it's cool".

Re: I Like Small Keyboards

#52

Post by stavros »

cjshearer wrote: post #51
stavros wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is that battery? It looks like it will last about ten years, wouldn't a solar keyboard need a battery about 1/50th the size?

To answer the battery life question, I estimate ( https://github.com/cjshearer/cweep/issues/2 ) it will last ~228 days without the solar charger, and between between ~261 and ~337 days with the solar charger. I acknowledge that that really isn't much of an improvement, so at this point the solar charger mostly exists "because it's cool".

Ah, that's too bad. Given how little energy this keyboard consumes, I was hoping it could run on the solar charger indefinitely. Hell, maybe a supercapacitor could be enough, hm.

EDIT: I think you've overestimated active power consumption, I don't know if you'd actively be holding down keys for 2.5 hours per day... Also you estimated using this for 11 hours a day straight, which seems like way too much.

Re: I Like Small Keyboards

#53

Post by Ancapistani »

benjiro29 wrote: post #21

> I Like Small Keyboards I like quiet keyboards but finding non-laptop / non-membrane keyboards that do strip the leather from your wallet, is a almost impossible task. Let alone one that does not grow in noise level over time! There is way too much focus on a entire enthusiastic click click keyboards, but everything that i keep finding, sounds like absolute horrible loud, in a quiet room, where your partner is sleep…

I’m using a Keychron K2 HE these days. It has Hall effect switches, so there is absolutely no clicky noise at all.

Re: I Like Small Keyboards

#55

Post by childintime »

numpad0 wrote: post #48
childintime wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, so do away with the zoo of national keyboards, any language should be typable on the standard QWERTY keyboard.

well, that's actually how East Asian input usually work, so...

Right. You do it. So why can't we?

Re: I Like Small Keyboards

#56

Post by numpad0 »

childintime wrote: post #55
numpad0 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well, that's actually how East Asian input usually work, so...

Right. You do it. So why can't we?

Frankly, I think it is about time Latin languages should get predictive typing assist on desktop. It's probably within possibility for Mythos/Fable class LLMs to one-shot it out of a tweet-length description and full code access for existing IMEs like Mozc.

Re: I Like Small Keyboards

#57

Post by ToyKeeper »

squeedles wrote: post #5

65% is the sweet spot for me. Reaching across a numpad for a mouse aggravates my RSI. I ditched 100% long ago, then eventually ditched the mouse and moved to a laptop-style trackpad in the middle, which did the trick. Over the years, I tried pretty much every keyboard with a built in trackpad. Usually the keyboards were so-so to poor. Eventually I got a plate of 6061 aluminum, added a nice wooden wrist support with r…

Yeah, 65% to 75% is great. It may be "boring", compared to the more exotic layouts, but I've tried a bunch and I like this more. The traditional rectangle is popular for a reason.

The main thing is... it's gotta have open-source firmware. After switching to something like QMK, I wouldn't want to go back. I customize stuff too deeply to go back... like 8 to 12 layers and a bunch of completely custom behavior. And for notebooks, remappers like Kanata help immensely.

Ideally it's nice to have a small touchpad under the space bar, like maybe 4 keys wide, retro style, meaning a high-DPI zero-force touchpad. But that's optional. With good firmware, I don't really need a mouse because MouseKeys and Warp do most of what I need.

The world has a lot of problems, but ... at least we've got a wide selection of awesome keyboards these days, to suit nearly every person's style and taste. Typing has never been better.

Re: I Like Small Keyboards

#58

Post by pss314 »

I found the below two split keyboards very enticing. I haven't pulled trigger on either though.

- ElimKeys Elytra https://elimkeys.com/products/elytra, I Finally Found It: The Elytra Wireless Split Keyboard (VIAL, Bluetooth, RMK, travel friendly) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIkULzKPmig

- Compose (Estimated delivery Feb 2027) https://read.compose.llc/, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-s...

Re: I Like Small Keyboards

#59

Post by mondoman712 »

AlexErrant wrote: post #30

For people who like small keyboards, why do you NOT have an integrated trackball/pointing device? E.g. I love my Charybdis, but I rarely see people advocating for a keyboard with a pointing device. Does a trackball disqualify it as "small"?

I wrote the original post, I've been thinking about a keyboard with a trackball for a while, I really like the idea. I do generally find that I'm either typing or using the mouse and there's enough time spent in each that I don't mind moving my hand.

Re: I Like Small Keyboards

#60

Post by mondoman712 »

dingaling wrote: post #50

Seems odd that, if he has to type parentheses so much, he didn't just map them to their own key instead of keeping them as a shift key code.

The clojure job is more temporary than the keyboard, and I like that the base layer is as close to standard as possible as to not mess with my muscle memory for switching between the corne and my laptop.
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