this post was submitted on 16 Sep 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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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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At someone who has to pound a lot of keys for a living, I've taken a small passing interest in these sorts of split boards, especially since they keep popping up so prevalently in the Lemmy "all" feed. (Currently I use a variety of traditional, but very nice mechanical keyswitched, 104 key boards.)
But... The apparent universal lack of a number row is turning me off of all the offerings I'm seeing on display, or built by others. Is there a reason for that? I use my number pad a lot, ergonomically terrible or not, but losing not only that but also the number row would drive me batshit. No arrows, either? Are you guys doing all that stuff with foot pedals, Fn key combos, or telepathy, or do you have a manservant off to the side holding a numeric pad for you, or what?
Generally yes, for keyboards without a number row we will tend to use some combination of those kinds of tricks. In the past I've had numbers on the homerow under an fn key (note that said fn key is on a thumb key so easier to press than the standard location for fn keys on regular keyboards). Currently I have a number row as vertical combos on my Sweep (34 key low profile split). So q+a = 1, w+s = 2, and so on. As well as a numpad on one half under a fn key (we call these layers). So for long strings of numbers I use the numpad layer, for short ones I use my "virtual number row".
However, I got here gradually, my first split was a keebio Iris (which has a number row) and have gone progressively in the direction of smaller ones. There are a good number of numrow inclusive splits out there. Some examples:
Splitkb.com is due to release the Elora (Kyria, but with a number row) Any Day Now™️
On foot pedals, I have a stack of them but haven't got around to making use of them in any projects yet. Others have