There's a 3D hand model roaming around somewhere that you can put into the Dactyl model and give it a try. Also, if you know anyone with a Kinesis Advantage (2 or 360) you can test drive a default Dactyl (it's based on that). I 3D printed mine blindly knowing that I have smaller than average hands and want more aggressive stagger + tent and it worked out really well for me.
Also check out Ergogen and Ergopad for truly customized to your hand experiences. This video is a great primer.
Are you in the Absolem Discord? They can probably help you confirm everything looking right.
oh my god
bless you
Never say anything over chat/IM that a company knowing would hurt
I used to work at Discord and I can tell you that this is, painfully, not the norm.
I'm a huge fan of the Kensington Trackball in the middle in between my halves. It's not especially subtle or cute but it's very comfy to use. I think the slimblade is smaller, not sure. Also, I love mouse keys. I use them for all small movements that I can, and the trackball for larger movements. I would love an app that like, subdivides my screen into a grid that I can use to just automatically jump to a place with just my keyboard, that would be perfect.
TBH though, especially if you're a frontend dev on Mac, you will still need the trackpad or Magic Mouse. Gestures are kinda not replaceable, as far as I can tell.
Honestly, I don't do typing tests (I have RSI so I think it's a waste of precious finger energy). I can confidently say that I can type faster than I think in both layouts. I am a software developer so I really only need to type as fast as I can code.
Pro-tip: getting rid of the numpad is good for you long term. Num pad existence is associated with RSI pain. I would consider a 60-80% keyboard and a separate numpad that you can pull out when you need it.
Thank you!
Its where caps lock normally is on a mac keyboard by default, although I've remapped my esc to a thumb cluster.
Since you're looking at non-ergo mechanical keyboards, you have way more options and flexibility.
I would get a quality hotswap board (Keychron boards are the usual recommendation, if you go Aliexpress you can find cheaper options too) and a set of any switches you like. Switches maintain resale value well (some even raise, because broken in switches tend to work better than non broken-in) so get a set you're interested in, daily drive it for a bit, and then see what you'd want changed.
You can also think about your current keyboard setup, what you like about it and what isn't working for you.
Personally I think you can always have more keys and just not use them/only have them as "emergency" keys. I'm personally on a 5col corne layout, I love it.
How did you get it for cheap?