this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2023
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ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

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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!?)

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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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I'm quite tall and have rather long arms. As a consequence, I rarely find myself sitting at the desk with the elbows bent at a proper angle while typing. I figured out it would be more comfortable for me to work with the keyboard sitting on my lap, tented if possible, but I couldn't find a stable configuration with my split 34-keys board. Is there anybody that came up with a smart solution to this?

I'm also considering building a small unibody like the hummingbird, but I guess it may be too small to comfortably sit on the lap.

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[–] iZRBQEcWVXNdnPtTV 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I find that something with more texture on my lap helps, like a towel of some kind, or a board with an exposed PCB helps a lot. I've also heard the Atreus works really well on the lap.

[–] nickfaraco 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The exposed PCB and towel could be a neat trick when I work from home, but I'd like to find a slightly more refined solution, possibly portable. At some point, the endgame will probably be a set of clamped mounts at home and one at work, to which magnetically attach the keyboard I carry around. The Atreus is an interesting option in the meanwhile, but I have a few concerns. First and foremost, too little pinky stagger. I don't even find the one of my chocofi to be enough and operate the upper pinky key with my ring finger instead. Not a big deal tho, I could ignore the additional keys and I will probably move to a 30 keys layout someday. Next, there's the software: I'm not sure moving away from zmk is worth it. And lastly, I have no experience with mechanical switches apart from the keychron bananas (which I hate) and linear chocs. But I don't like long travels, so MX style switches is probably not my cup of tea (and honestly I'd like a shorter travel for chocs too). Actually I'm on the look for a way to reproduce the feeling of the latest MacBook Pros. I've never used an apple keyboard before (fortunately, it seems), but I really enjoy the tactility and short travel of the one on my laptop. I've heard good things about kailh speed switches, but I never tried them.

[–] iZRBQEcWVXNdnPtTV 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm interested in something like this that allows something like split keyboard tray mount. The Glove80 also has a pretty elegant tripod mounting option, since you mentioned low profile switches. The Ferris Sweep also has a greater pinky stagger, and you may also consider using Ergogen in the future to make something that properly matches your hand curvature!

[–] nickfaraco 1 points 1 year ago

The glove80 has way too many keys for me. And, as far as I know, the stagger on the Sweep is the same as the chocofi. But yeah, I'll probably create my own design sooner or later.