I am puzzled why there aren't more split keyboards on the market, they are such a good idea.
One of the reasons is overlap. Your hands do occasionally hit keys on the other side. You want a pair of 2/3 keyboards, rather than 1/2 keyboards. You /especially/ want a lot of the "special" keys on both sides.
Another is key action. You want proper mechanical keys.
A third is mounting. That's a problem which hasn't really been figured out. The middle hinge or fixed setup is definitely sub-ideal. Two pieces are a bit clunky. Armchair mounts are $$$.
For me, I also like having a trackpoint. I'm not saying that's common, but a lot of people want /some/ oddball feature like that. For one person, it might be lighted keys. For another, swapped capslock. Etc.
And then there's the mass of people who don't care about keyboard and buy the cheapest possible model. Split keyboards are $$$.
On the whole, the concept is good in abstract, but all models I've used have had one fatal flaw or another.
I don‘t mind it. 99% of my time spent typing happens at my own desk(s) and the few times I use someone else’s keyboard don‘t justify compromising on comfort with my own setup.
A big part of what makes it hard for me to use a normal keyboard now, isn‘t so much the physical shape, but the programmability and additional modifier keys offered by the UHK, both of which I use a lot.
It really depends on a keyboard - if it is similar to regular one or not. The UHK is pretty similar to regular keyboard - keys are staggered (not ortholinear), there are no additional thumb keys which are also not available on a regular laptop keyboard. After a year with UHK I'm still able to jump between laptop and UHK when needed. Somehow muscle memory "detects" when my hands are on UHK and I start using additional shortcuts which are not available on laptop.
Meanwhile if you'd pick something like Dactyl https://github.com/adereth/dactyl-keyboard, I believe it would be more difficult to jump arround.
P.S. After a year my typing speed on split keyboard is higher compared to laptop.
But I'm still not sure if it would be too cyborg-y enough to use in public...
How did you find switching to Atreus& colemak? I was thinking of doing something similar and going to Corne/Colemak...
However, after not using my Das keyboard for a few weeks, I found that I couldn't type with it at all any more. I realized later that that's because the distance between the keys is smaller, so after I realized that and compensated, it became easier to type there. I never use it, though, so I haven't put in any effort.
However, put that into perspective and it feels like this keyboard will outlive me. I'll probably get another one for home use when I can go back to the office...
2. Yes :)
3. You do have great choice between splitting and tenting and wrist rests.
4. The keyboard in question has trackpoint, trackball, and trackpad accessories.
Bottom line is that once you enter the realm of unconventional keyboards, you will want a very custom one. You are right in that. This one is quite customizable, but there is always something you want different (a.k.a. endgame is a lie).
The benefits were obvious immediately, even while not touch-typing yet. Every key is assigned to a finger without ambiguity. Except for some shortcut combinations, but even then it feels clear.
You use your pinky more which I think is good (I also play the guitar).
The number one advantage is that my hand is never lost anymore. With staggered, every other word or command makes my hand "float" somewhere away from the "home row/keys", with a subsequent mistype or look-down. This does not happen anymore.
When I switched to a split keyboard I did have this problem at first (with the B and 6 keys in particular on a QWERTY layout) but it took me a week to relearn that. In particular if you use an ortholinear layout on each side there's really no reason to go fishing for keys with the wrong hand.
This in turn means that you can add new keys in the middle that are easy to reach, addressing your 2nd point since it lets you have more "special keys" in the middle.
>Another is key action. You want proper mechanical keys.
That's orthogonal. I like mechanical switches because there's a lot of variety to chose from and they're easy to replace if one goes wrong (a strong advantage on an expensive ergo keyboard that you don't want to replace because of a broken switch) but there are very decent membrane keyboard out there. It's really a matter of taste in the end. After all some people even like those low profile keyboards like the Apple ones that I personally find horrible to type on...
>For me, I also like having a trackpoint. I'm not saying that's common, but a lot of people want /some/ oddball feature like that. For one person, it might be lighted keys. For another, swapped capslock. Etc.
But you're moving the goalpost completely here. It's fine if you like trackpoints but you can't call keyboards "horrible" if they don't support your niche dream build. I don't care for trackpoints personally and it'd probably annoy me to have one on the middle of my keyboard.
>For one person, it might be lighted keys. For another, swapped capslock. Etc.
RGB lighting is fairly standard these days, and swapped capslock is normally easy to achieve either by reconfiguring the keyboard or, if not possible, the OS.
>And then there's the mass of people who don't care about keyboard and buy the cheapest possible model. Split keyboards are $$$.
That is true, ergo keyboards can be very expensive. That being said for the average HNer it's probably still worth it, after all we spend most of our days typing on keyboards, having to shell ~$300 to get a keyboard that will last us for years and improve our comfort is a no-brainer, at least for me.
I've been using an ergodox for years and while it does cost a lot it checks all of your points besides the overlap (which I think is a bad idea) and the trackpoint. It uses QMK under the hood so you can reconfigure it any way you want.
And that's not the only one either, you have the dactyl, the manuform, the moonlander and many others. It's not 2009 anymore, custom keyboards are more accessible than ever (if you have the money for them...)
If I give up a few things I like about my existing keyboard to get what you like about your keyboard, that's a bad deal. I think that's true for most people.
The type of mechanical keys on my keyboards really reduce the amount of strain on my wrist relative to membrane keyboards. It's not just a matter of taste. There's much less of a bump on the bottom if the key can continue moving after the keystroke is triggered. Membrane keyboards can do a little bit of that, but not nearly as well.
Trackpoint, implemented well, means I can do casual mousing (e.g. switching focus) without moving my hands to the mouse. That reduces shoulder strain.
You're welcome to call things I like "a bad idea," and I could do the reverse just as well, but at the end of the day, I ain't buying. I know what works for me, and I haven't found an "ergo" keyboard which does.
I was responding to: "I am puzzled why there aren't more split keyboards on the market, they are such a good idea."
I would argue, for all the reasons I gave, most are horrible for most people. That's the context. You have to read in context. That doesn't mean they won't work for you. Most people want $5 keyboards. That's followed by a long tail of oddball keyboards, of which ergo are one breed.
Most of the keyboards I use would be horrible for most people too. But they work for me.
Hell you can get a kit for a Let's Split for probably under $125 if you hit used markets for the switches and caps. The kit for everything but switches and caps is $54.99 [1]
1. https://mehkee.com/collections/featured-home-page/products/l...
Previously I was used to typing some of the letters on the edges with the "wrong" hand (e.g. typing Y with my left hand) so I mapped an Y onto both halves, but eventually I got rid of that mapping.
I also had to gradually make many other small adjustments to the layout (which is thankfully really easy), because while you can adapt to typing of the letters fairly quickly, keyboard shortcuts and function keys are another matter (especially if you were used to using the function key row with Ctrl/Alt/Shift modifiers).
Having your arms naturally apart is pretty comfortable though, and I also like how cool it looks with the blank keycaps and the metal legs.
If anything, I had bigger issues with a MacBook keyboard, due to the missing Home/End keys, which I use all the time for selecting code (e.g End followed by a Shift+Home or vice versa to select a row, or using Shift+PageUp/PageDown plus arrows to select a block, are very ingrained in my muscle memory).
What I do care about is the ergonomics and the customizability, where the Ergodox Ez excels. I don't ever need to stretch out far or in any weird way anymore. Heck, most of the time I don't need to stretch out for my mouse anymore.
Most of all keyboards on market are horrible.
I discovered I was using the wrong hand for the & key and that took some time getting used to - I do wish some keys on the middle rows were available on both sides
That has been my biggest re-learning curve - but with only the 6/7 numeric keys (which, apparently I use often) - the one thing that I would have loved with the Kinesis RGB Edge, would have been a dedicated number pad on the right-side.
>Another is key action. You want proper mechanical keys.
Kinesis RGB Edge allows you to choose which "cherry mx" mechanical keys you get when ordering.
(I sound like a shill - but, I am very satisfied after a month of ownership - pricey, yes - but well worth it)
I actually have both keyboards and they're pretty similar.
A trick here though, the RGB aka "gaming" version of the Freestyle includes wrist rests, which are $15 extra in the "Freestyle Pro," so the cost difference isn't as much as it seems. Neither includes the nifty tenting stands. You probably will want both of those accessories, so keep that in mind when pricing.
The Freestyle Pro also puts the ESC and FN keys in weird spots. You can remap them, but it's kind of annoying to move the caps around (there's also no "normal" size esc key cap to use...).
All in all, it's probably worth just getting the RGB, even if you don't care about the RGB feature.
I hadn't noticed that the esc key is moved which is kind of interesting. I actually decided that RGB would attract too much attention for me: One of my office mates is a 5-year-old right now, and I didn't want to distract from online kindergarten class too much.
I also avoided the RGB for this reason (at work, where I have the pro) - but when I got my own RGB (for home), I learned that the LEDs are just as customizable as the keys, and are only as distracting as you wish them to be :)
Why stop at 2/3? Apple Magic Keyboards are compact enough that for many people with reasonably wide shoulders they could just use two of those at once.
A setup with an Apple Magic Trackpad in the middle, two Magic Keyboards on the sides, and a mouse farther to the side might be quite reasonable.
e.g.:
https://splitkb.com/products/kyria-pcb-kit
With that said, I cannot go back to a non-split keyboard. When I use them I feel so cramped. Split design for life!