this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

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Keep it ergo

Posts must be of/about keyboards that have a clear delineation between the left and right halves of the keyboard, column stagger, or both. This includes one-handed (one half doesn't exist, what clearer delineation is that!?)

i.e. no regular non-split¹ row-stagger and no non-split¹ ortholinear²

¹ split meaning a separation of the halves, whether fixed in place or entirely separate, both are fine.
² ortholinear meaning keys layed out in a grid

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How do you choose a right ergo keyboard for you? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 1 year ago by CatLikeLemming@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/ergomechkeyboards@lemmy.world
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I've slowly been going down the rabbit hole of ergo keyboards and want to replace my current "normal" full-size keyboard, but the sheer amount of variation there is, even disregarding the usual differences like rgb or some extra macro keys or whatever, is kind of giving me decision paralysis, so I'd like some help.

I know what I definitely want:

  • Split
  • Tentable
  • Ortholinear
  • Supports QMK

But that still leaves a lot of questions open.

I like the look and portability of heavily vertically staggered 42-key keyboards (three rows and three keys per thumb cluster), and while for programming that's definitely enough, especially for certain games that seems like a questionable choice, since you'd need a lot of layers for a good experience.

Then I looked further into keyboards with four rows, which definitely seem more appealing, but at that point I'm wondering if for convenience's sake, it might be better to just get something like the Moonlander which has more than enough keys, but is also just really big and leads to a lot of finger movement which isn't necessarily a problem, but also just isn't really... well, neat.

What kind of keyboards do you all have and what do you use them for? Are there any you'd recommend? Should I just go with something akin to the Moonlander or are there any tangible advantages to something like the Piantor apart from portability?

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[–] CatLikeLemming@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 year ago

Thank you to all of you for the great advice <3

I think for now I'll get a Moonlander, or at least something similar, and in the (very) long run, if I'm not satisfied or it doesn't suit all my needs, invest in a soldering kit and a 3D printer to start testing out more and more smaller diy style keyboards (depending on how many I'll test that's probably cheaper, tinkering is fun, and I'll probably find other uses for those as well) to see what fits me best, or what I could use as a secondary option.

But for now, I'll just get a nice base that will certainly work. Experimentation comes later. Thank you all. I'll be sure to at least have a good look at all the keyboards recommended here, and make a list of my favorite ones for long-term experimentation, but at the time I just don't quite have the money for more than one keyboard, even if many of them seem very cool (；・∀・)