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 [email protected] to c/ergomechkeyboards
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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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[–] iZRBQEcWVXNdnPtTV 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Welcome to the infinite rabbit hole! At this point I've decided that actually, I'm just an ergo mech keyboard collector...

IMO, if you're just starting out, the Moonlander is one of the best options. It can be hotswap, which will help you figure out what kind of switches you want. It's incredibly durable and reliable. It's got the best configurator software of all ergo keyboards, in my opinion. Unless you have really small hands (like I do) it works quite well for most people's needs. And even if you get into the even more niche boards, having a board that you can count on to reliably work like the Moonlander is always going to be useful.

Getting into stuff like the Piantor is a lot more about narrowing down the specs you exactly want in a keyboard. Honestly, it's hard to know without just diving in and trying it. The Moonlander is great in this way as well because you really don't need to use all of the keys on it. I would also put on your radar the Corne, the Microdox, the Kyria, and the Iris. All amazing boards, all fulfill slightly different needs :P

Another way to figure out which board is best for you is if you have active pain or injury, you can go backwards from there. But it seems like you're doing something more preventative rather than reactive to pain.