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?
One unfortunate thing about ergonomics is that each persons needs are different. No one can tell you what’s best for you, but luckily we have a lot of good options that help you find what does work for you.
If you’re fine with some soldering, there are a lot of open source splits that you could get fabricated for pretty cheap and end up with two full builds. Cantor, Piantor, Corne, Lily, Sofle, etc etc etc. The low cost of having them fabricated and built yourself can mean trying out a few different keyboards to see what works best for you.
When it comes to gaming, maybe using one keyboard for programming and a different keyboard for gaming. It could be just half of a 4 row split, a gaming focus keypad (like the Eternal) or just your current rowstagger board. I personally use a QAZ-alike I designed as a gamepad.
Tenting can be accomplished multiple ways. Some boards have Tenting Puck support. Some can have large bolts added to adjust the angle. For boards without some native tenting support, many 3d printable cases exist that provide tenting and lately I’ve seen a lot people use the magsafe sticker thingies to attach their keyboards to small tripods.
One reason there are so many options is because it’s pretty easy (and fun} to design your own keyboard. It’s not uncommon to try a few different designs/layouts to see what works best for you from each and then design a keyboard to fit your requirements. Designing your own keyboard comes with it’s own set of information overload, but there are a lot of us around to help us.
If you’re down with DIY and Stateside, hit me up. I’ve got a bunch of PCBs in a box that I can part with for stupid cheap. I’ll need to take an inventory of what I have but if you’re interested I’ll gather up the info. I know I’ve got at least an MX Corne.
Link Dump:
