433% Keyboard
relivesight.com
relivesight.com
https://web.archive.org/web/20200916174120/https://relivesig...
The image itself: https://web.archive.org/web/20200916210058/https://doc-14-a0...
https://i.ibb.co/MgzRRbk/7.jpg https://i.ibb.co/dQqqtgB/2.jpg
Sincerely typed by someone on a 44 key layout :)
I will admit, I have been in IT for many years. I feel like unless you are an accountant, or someone that has to hit {} [] constantly and can not deal with macros, that the 60%, 40% keyboards help a lot. Most CS/sysadmin/engineer type people are good with layering anyway.
I will say this, on a normal keyboard, you have to hit shift to do a few odds and ends. On a 40%, you would be amazed at the speed that you pikcup "oh, hey, {} and [] are over here, just I have to hold down this one key, just like shifting on an normal keyboard... ok, I get it" and then by week two you no longer think about it. Just my $0.02. I did, however, test my typing speed on one of those online things. I really did not change much after about a month from my previous keyboard to the minivan.
40% is not just plank, and I personally find the ergonomics of a plank board to be rather bad compared to staggered, unless it's split.
That being said obviously you have more flexibility if you have fully separated sides, but it does tend to make the keyboard harder to carry around.
However, I'm planning on making something like this[1] "trackball Dactyl Manuform", where the trackball under the thumb can be configured to use different modes -- e.g. a key toggles it between being a mouse and being arrow keys, and another locks it to vertical/horizontal. It could be combined with holding Alt/Ctrl/Shift.
I made a gallery of split/ergonomic mechanical keyboards if you'd like a quick overview of other options. [2]
[1] https://medium.com/@kincade/track-beast-build-log-a-trackbal...
Or even suggestions on what I'd need to google to find opinions of people in that group?
Anything 3D/dished like the Advantage isn't going to be very portable, just because of the bulk. I suspect many DIY versions are also fairly delicate, as a result of the 3D printing process.
For a flat, split keyboard you could look for one where someone has already designed a case that goes some way to protecting the keys, or make such a case yourself. I wouldn't choose something with this few keys, but [2] is on the first page of the Reddit, and shows what I mean -- unlike the keyboards where the "case" is just a sheet of acrylic, this one looks like it would be OK stuffed in a bag. Many of these keyboards use a Pro Micro controller, which is known to have a weak USB port. Using a wireless keyboard, or choosing a different controller, might also help.
You will have far more options if you're able to solder the components onto the PCB yourself. Otherwise, there are a few companies like falba.tech that sell assembled keyboards.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/comments/ir7axv/a...
You can easily use your right pinky to hit Fn and then use the arrow keys that are right under your fingers (I think it's actually better than normal keyboard arrow key placement).
I don't think I could go below a 60% board because having the number row is too useful and dealing with function layers for that (and memorizing symbol placement) seems like an unnecessary pain for style.
The bigger issue with adding more keys to the mix is that with heavier switches (35g+) the amount of work/stress done by the hand can be more then a traditional keyboard. But even with heavier switches it's often faster then having to move your hands around the physical board. And once you factor in things like combos you can just map End to something like QW or whatever works for you. Programmable input devices are _really_ weird!
[0] https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rRS_TOYuIQQ/XhRERox3moI/AAAAAAABE...
I finally don't have to worry about this or that program not supporting this or that binding, it's uniform everywhere.
You say that you already use hjkl (I assume?) in Vim, so clearly you have the muscle memory for that, why not extend it to all applications?
And there's so much more to programmable keyboards. Modifier keys that input characters when pressed on their own, allowing for dual function. Some people like remapping caps lock to control, others to escape. Why not both? My keyboard has a key that behaves like control when chorded and like escape when pressed on its own. The best of both worlds!
On ergonomics and RSI, tough to say whether some of these things make a difference or not. There's no data. The single biggest difference to me is having multiple thumb keys because that allows you to almost completely relieve the pinkies. The only sideways movement I use them for now is a "sticky keys" style one-shot modifier for Control on the keys adjacent to the home-row. Although having a split board (and standing desk) has been super for overall posture.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/comments/infzme/t... [2] http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/8105b7f97f89fa...
It's not new in the vim world, but now what I use is `jk` pressed at the same time. Adjacent finger pairs are pretty easy to coordinate fast combos with -- just sort of jab your hand. Since it's in the keyboard firmware (QMK) it works in all contexts and not just vim, but the `jk` combo is also something that I can configure in the vimrc to use on my laptop.
Thumbs do L3, space, L1, escape, L2, L4, control.
L0: dvorak
L1: programmer, left hand symbols (all 4 braces paired under middle and index), right hand arrow keys, nav, pgup/pgdn. Vimlike navigation at the keyboard level!
L2: left hand function keys, right hand numpad
L3: qwerty layout but with command so I get natural one-hand undo/cut/copy/paste
L4: mouse keys. Not a big fan of mouse nav, but keyboard issuing scroll up/down is handy
L1+L2: macros live here, I use this to eg. flip between iterm tabs. I desperately need more bucky/control bits though - It's hard to know which hotkeys are mapped across various applications. Give me a real Meta key, dangit!
This lets me rarely move from home position and it's great for ergonomics. Still trying to figure out what to about the mouse, as that makes my hand cramp. I keep a magic trackpad between the ergodox halves for gestures which is neat. But the dang mouse. Maybe it's the way my brain works, but I'm rarely in a single context, flipping between Pycharm and chrome and terminal constantly. Controlling application focus is a pain point.
I can't do the vim thing. I've tried for years. I'm a fast yet inaccurate typer, and the lack of any insight into the state (other than mode), and the heavy chording setup means spooky action constantly happens. I also hate having to hit a key for mode changes, chording is so much more efficient.
I use bettertouchtool and alfred, and don't have a lot of customization in there, so if anyone has any tips for utilizing this sort of setup to reduce mouse reliance, I'm all ears.
sort of like this: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Frederik...
And they even have keys (modifier keys?) for their feet. They left that off the table (so to speak)
hmm... and maybe some sort of suspension system for your arms, so your arms could float over the keyboard sort of like monitor arms keep your monitor suspended in place but allow movement.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sun_Oracle_type-7_keybo...
It's sort of like when people see emacs next to something like sublime text on a mac. It's probably super-capable but being a prototype it lacks the polish of a finished product (while overshadowing what it can do)
I use it for things like having keys which jump directly to specific windows, keys which open various terminal types, and even macros for some common commands (Git operations for example).
I don't know that there's any good reason why this isn't more popular other than fashion, which means that an industry has not really built up around plus-sized keyboards like it has around smaller ones. My example was purchased used and was formerly used at a telephone operator's workstation, based on the key legends. There is a fairly robust used market for plus-sized keyboards originally used for specialty applications, mostly POS and dispatchers/radio operators, from companies like PrehKeyTec and Cherry (of the switches). Unfortunately they mostly cost $500+ new and still often demand over $100 used. The majority of these keyboards feature on-board macro programming, but are intended to be programmed in bulk by the vendor of some turnkey solution so the programming tools are a bit awkward (for me, use a GUI keymap editor, export a file, use a command line tool to flash the generated file to the keyboard - I think it actually just produces a full firmware image each time).
The only real disadvantage I would report is that the PrehKeyTecs are made with dome switches that feel decidedly mushy when they're old (and my used model is probably around a decade old). The Cherries use mechanical switches, of course, but tend to be more expensive and aren't made in as interesting of configurations IMO.
Note the blanks in the lower right there do have switches under them so you could put keys there as well (that's where mine has Hold and UnHold incidentally). One warning is that the blank keycaps and relegendable keycaps (the ones that are a clear plastic cover you can stick a bit of paper under) are mostly sold in bulk to system integrators and it's expensive to get them in small quantities. So if you're in the market, you probably want one with as many of those as possible. PrehKeyTec's software supports printing legends for them but it's pretty basic so you might want to use something else to design them.
well, all the emojis.
1) For some reason this thing gives me joy. Imagine sitting at work in front of one of these bad boy keyboards! You'd never get interrupted! People would assume you're running a battleship remotely or something!
2) It seems very Soviet. Or at least very 80s Anime - this is the keyboard we should all be using, only each key should light up in disco colors.
All working together casting arcane spells with the aid of the keyboard.
Dialects of programming languages so old and obscure that even Cthulhu himself would flinch at the sight upon such seeing.
For example, you can't have an ! key. That is always Shift+1 (with a US layout, that is). QMK and other firmwares will let you make an ! key, but it's implemented by pressing shift, then pressing 1. So you could never make a keyboard shortcut that is Shift+! even though you can press that on your keyboard. The OS wouldn't be able to tell the difference between than and Shift+1. As a corollary, you couldn't rebind your keyboard such that Shift+1 outputs @ instead of !.
It's really just a classic case of bad abstraction. All the keyboard hardware does is scan rows and see which columns are also active. That gives you a grid position like (1,2) for "w". It is then forced to translate that to a scancode that it sends to the computer. The computer then sees that scancode and translates it to a letter. Obviously, things would be easier to program if the keyboard just emitted characters, or the OS just read key matrix grid positions. (In the first case, your X key would always be X, no matter what. Annoying for laptop users that want to use Dvorak, of course. In the second case, things like QMK wouldn't need to exist, you could just write a normal program running on your computer to add layers, shifting, tap dances, etc.)
The end result is that everything sucks. Isn't it always?
I know that was probably just meant as an illustration, but you can have an ‘!’ key — it's 07:00CF “Keypad !”¹.
Linux will ignore it² though, because being Linux they had to NIH their own key codes, and Windows will ignore it³ because it wasn't on the IBM PC keyboard in 1981.
¹ https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/documents/hut1_12v2....
² https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v5.8.9/source/drivers/hid/h...
³ http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/6/1/161ba512-40e2-4...
My conclusion: QMK could do this, or at least some firmware could do this. It's hard to come up with an eloquent way to express it, however.
But there's no a priori reason that pressing shift-1 couldn't be special-cased to instead send shift-2, yielding @. It's all being precomposed by the firmware, after all.
It's too bad, because I have a custom key for delete-back-word, and I want shift-thatkey to send delete-forward-word, but as you point out, I can't. But that's a limitation of QMK, not a fact of nature.
The disadvantage of using layers is that you can't press the layer-activate key on one keyboard and then press your key on another keyboard. With shift (and OS-level modifiers) you could technically do that. But it's a weird case that probably doesn't come up very often.
I think a lot of people in the mechanical keyboard community think of their keyboards as a hobby just as much as a day-to-day tool. The huge variety of key-switches and keycaps and firmwares and the much greater customization opportunities make mechanical keyboards a very good hobby. And, given the variety, it’s probably possible to find the “perfect” keyboard for everyone.
In the end, I was convincing myself that the expensive mechanical keyboard I bought was better than my ThinkPad and Mac keyboards, when I actually still prefer the laptop-style keys. Is there a mech keyboard out there somewhere that would be the perfect fit for me? I’m sure. But I don’t want to spend the time and money searching for it when my current preferred models work plenty well for me. I’d rather spend my resources in other ways.
Travel distance can also be adjusted, either with o-rings that are used as spacers (that also silence the switch), low profile switches (kailh has laptop-sized switches now) or simply finding a switch on which you wouldn't bottom out (either by making them heavier or by using tactiles with a light bump).
I have a 60% board with gateron yellows (mid-weight tier linear switches). Lubed and with double o-rings on the keycaps, it's one of the quietest keyboards I've ever owned, and the travel distance is very comfortable at about half of what these switches are intended to be (around 2mm).
If you're not much for building these things yourself and doing all the research, I can always recommend the HHKB.
As for profile, the ThinkPad keyboard is rather high profile for a laptop. I don't know of any low-profile mechanical keyboard but some switches have a short travel distance, ideal for gaming and fast typing.
BTW, the ThinkPad keyboard is available standalone if you like it. You may need to buy it secondhand if you want the original though.
It looks like the creator just used whatever random keycaps he had. There are also duplicate arrow keys and duplicates from the navigation cluster (e.g. pgdown). The katakana(?) keys also look like they might be incomplete.
There are defined usages for function keys up to F24, and for all of the dedicated function keys that one could find on Sun and IBM keyboards, such as Stop, Again, ExSel, and CrSel.
Your option when it comes to a lot of keys (as the one posted here) is either to build it yourself or try to find some very specific offerings, maybe aimed at video production.
Here's one with 127 keys: https://mcinformatica.loja2.com.br/715631-Teclado-Multimidia...
There is a guy making "new" model F keyboards out there, and if he ever makes an f122 clone I will probably buy it, regardless of price.
Look out for PS2 and a hard requirement to program them via a real PS2 (not a USB emulated port).
I've bought one (cherry switches sans keycaps), filled it with blank keycaps and now I need to put together some electronics to make it useful (it looks like it uses something like SPI internally).
But first, I'm stuck trying to remember why I thought it would be cool. Because it's just an 8x16 grid of switches.
Point-of-sale hardware is so much fun to play with, and there's so much of it out there!
I've always wanted something like the space cadet keyboard with a couple of extra modifier keys vs. what's typically available today for typing unusual characters (and the keycaps for making that easy).
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Space-ca...
Print your own keycap labels with Avery sheets for starters, and once you've got the layout nailed down, you can send off to have custom caps made by whatever process you like.
I have.
Keyboard maps are on the host, not on the keyboard. Engravings on the keytops are meaningless and are not what determine how a key is understood. A (for example) U.K. 105-key keyboard and a French 105-key keyboard just look like two 105-key keyboards with all the same keys to the host.
Several common operating systems just combine all keyboard input from multiple plugged-in keyboards into one giant "union" keyboard and apply a single keyboard map to it.
I've been working on Linux/BSD software that allows individual different keyboard maps per keyboard, for my user-space virtual terminal system. It's achievable, but I've not encountered anyone else who has seriously attempted to make such a thing work, in the general case where arbitrary USB keyboards can be plugged in and out at runtime.
It's been a really low-priority desire (I won't dignify it with "need") and so I haven't even really worked out a layout or even carefully defined what I'd like, but yeah, the Really Big Keyboard would fill at least a small need.
That is probably trivial to setup on conventional keyboards but I wonder if it is ergonomically better.
There are split keyboards with more keys than the Corne, such as the Lily58. https://github.com/kata0510/Lily58
For ergonomics.