this post was submitted on 29 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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KLOR is 34 keys split columnar staggered keyboard made by GEIST. I built it with Nice!Nano and without an OLED screen. Been regularly taking it with me to the office.

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[–] sicjoke 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I can’t begin to comprehend what might be involved in transitioning from a “normal “ keyboard to something like this.

[–] hannadryad 8 points 1 year ago

I think once you accept that standard keyboards are laid out as they are just by convention and nothing else, and that moving to a new layout will take a bit of time, the prospect of having a keyboard where everything is exactly where you want it to be becomes quite thrilling. This is actually my first bit of real typing using Colemak DH. It is excruciatingly slow to touch type but I didn't know it at all two weeks ago. In two more weeks time I'll have my first split keyboard in my hands. So it's definately doable...

[–] Bubbleology 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The transition for me personally was fortunately pretty smooth due to having touch typed properly on a normal row staggered board. My first columnar staggered keyboard was the 3W6. It of course felt different and your muscle memories have to slightly adapt but it was worthwhile with the added comfort a columnar staggered board in a split layout provides. So if you are already touch typing properly I think you get used to it just fine. The harder part at the beginning will probably be finding the right keymap since having fewer keys using mod tap, combos and layers will be mandatory :D.

[–] iZRBQEcWVXNdnPtTV 2 points 1 year ago

Haha, honestly not nearly as bad as you might think! The amazing thing about the brain is that it’s incredibly good at learning when it feels a strong need to learn something. For me, a couple of days of trying to keep up on Discord is enough time to learn a new layout and be proficient.