ErgoMechKeyboards
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
No Spam
No excessive posting/"shilling" for commercial purposes. Vendors are permitted to promote their products/services but keep it to a minimum and use the [vendor] flair. Posts that appear to be marketing without being transparent about it will be removed.
No Buy/Sell/Trade
This subreddit is not a marketplace, please post on r/mechmarket or other relevant marketplace.
Some useful links
- EMK wiki
- Split keyboard compare tool
- Compare keycap profiles Looking for another set of keycaps - check this site to compare the different keycap profiles https://www.keycaps.info/
- Keymap database A database with all kinds of keymap layouts - some of them fits ergo keyboards - get inspired https://keymapdb.com/
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You can buy tester switch packs so that you can test how you like the feel of different switches. It’s probably worth the investment if you have no idea what you like. But to be honest, I’m a n00b (been active for 2 years now but at a very basic level) and I chose my first switches based on an assessment of how I’d rated different keyboards over the years. (Possibly easier if you’re older and opinionated - I’m a millennial, I have several decades experience using different home, school and office keyboards and have always had strong keyboard opinions). I knew I liked clicky keyboards and proceeded accordingly; I looked at which clicky switches were well-regarded by the community and watched YouTube reviews, and started from there.
Having said that, I recently built a keyboard with silent switches for the first time to see if I liked them too, and it turns out I do. So I guess my main thought is that building the perfect keyboard (=endgame) for you is a journey, and kind of the whole point of the hobby. The experimenting is part of the fun.
I get the hobby-remark, which is very true. But like I said, I'm hesitant to pour in hundreds of Euro's before I actually know if I like it (a keyboard or the hobby around it).
Any hints on where to buy these testers?
I’m in the UK so I don’t really recommend you shopping with a UK store since you’ll be hit with customs 🙄 There are good EU keyboard shops, so it’s worth just doing a search for “switch tester” and limiting your results to Europe. But if you get stuck, UK Keycaps stocks testers, as does The Keyboard Company. Worth looking on Etsy too, as there are traders on there who sell keyboard parts.
Okay, great!
Thank you!