this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2024
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ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

Rules

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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[–] Corr@lemm.ee 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

That seemed like a lot of hurdles to have jumped through but I'm glad you stick with it and that you're enjoying it.

I originally thought people were crazy for using 40% boards, but with home row mods I'm now using 34 keys and I would never go back to using a standing row stag 60% again lol.

Welcome to the ergo split club, and the months of tinkering with your layout until it works the best for you :)

[–] mrus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Thank you! I guess with enough training motor functions will eventually pick up on the c-c-c-c-combos required to type without tripping over every other special character or number. :-) I however feel like below 60 keys every missing key adds one to x where (weeks required to get comfortable with the layout) ^ x, heh. How long did it take you to get fluent?

[–] Corr@lemm.ee 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It took me about a week or so once I dropped down to 34. Sometimes I would lose a key and that made me realize it needed to be moved if I couldn't easily remember it.

One thing I found super helpful was configuring autoshift for non-alpha characters. So now I can hold [ to get { for example, or 2 for @. It's helped a lot in reducing the size of my keymap. And as I said, home row mods are incredible once you become accustomed to using them.

If you're interested I can share my own keymap, which might help you come up with some ideas that help you.

[–] mrus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Hmm, autoshift... keep on talking, sir! Haven't tried that/didn't knew it was a thing. So holding down on 2 for x amount of time would input @? Doesn't that effectively slow you down? Also, how would you laugh in Brazilian Portuguese, if holding down on a key produces another key? kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

[–] Corr@lemm.ee 3 points 7 months ago

Yeah, exactly. It does slow you down just a smidge, but it removes the need to do finger gymnastics to hold shift + layer + tap (in this example) 2. Instead, it's just layer + 2 (hold for like 0.1s). You can also configure it to not apply to alpha characters, which is what I have, so it won't do anything unless it's a symbol or a number.
If you want to hold a character (2), then you tap, release, then hold within a configurable time frame.

I also think you mentioned it, but combos are also really nice, as is the leader key.
Leader key you press it and then you input a series of keys (or just one) and it acts as a new key. I have a lot of macros stored under leader key activations, like wrapping a word in (), or writing "->" or " !=" . There's a deep rabbit hole of customizing you can fall into here :P

[–] HejMedDig@feddit.dk 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Really nice build, but what a roller coaster of events!

BTW I have a large flock of seagulls outside my window, arguing very hard for, that birds, in fact are real

[–] mrus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 7 months ago

That's what every government official involved in the conspiracy would say! :-) scnr