Comment by Quequau | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Quequau | Hacker News Reader

Over twenty years I've spent too much money trying to get a keyboard that really worked for me... and I finally gave up and I now use the cheapest disposable crap from hole-in-the-wall electrical / electronics shop that I can walk to.

Nearly all the DIY keyboards I've seen are ruthlessly minimalistic and I really would prefer a larger keyboard with more keys, so I don't have to remember lots of meta-key combination short-cuts. I don't think I've memorised all the keyboard short cuts in a given piece of software in a decade... I just don't really use one particular thing enough to make it worthwhile.

That keyboard with the active LED keycaps came out in what... 2006? I expected a regular keyboard with small set of active keycaps for macro keys would have existed by now. Come to think of it, I never used an Apple laptop with that active TouchBar thing either but that doesn't seem to have achieved enduring popularity. but I guess there's no real market for that either.

You can have two keyboards. A first ergonomic split keyboard for the alpha keys. A second keyboard _only_ for function keys (placed between the split keyboard), an ortholinear planck keyboard with QMK firmware would be ideal. With QMK you can program a single key to send a complex combination like Alt+Shift+F10 (the Run... action in IntelliJ), you get the idea.

Moreover you can make [1] the same key to do the same action in different OSes and programs. No need to remember different shortcuts how to switch tabs in a browser and in a text editor.

[1] https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/blob/master/users/miles2...

I have sorta tried this.

Razer makes a macro keypad which they call "orbweaver" and it also has a nifty thumb switch which I suppose they intended to be used for the wasd movement in games. Unfortunately, it's designed to be used with the left hand and I mouse with my left hand. I would dearly love a macro keypad exactly like an orbweaver but which was designed for use with the right hand.

So I also now own an unbranded "ambidextrous" macro keypad. Besides the fact that it is great example of how ostensibly ambidextrous devices being really not that great for left handed people, I mostly used it for gaming but as I am not much of a gamer it doesn't get used often.

I also migrated from a Mac desktop to Linux. I had a very nice application for macros on MacOS called ControllerMate but I've yet to find anything remotely similar for Linux.

Just search "104 key" (or however big you want) along with whatever you're looking for to weed out smaller keyboards.

I've got a "WASD v3" keyboard which is a full keyboard with numberpad, like you I can't stand low key count keyboards. You can choose the color, switch type, key color/images, and program macros/layouts stored in the firmware. No LED displays if that's what you want though. The nice thing about this option vs a DIY is you order it, it arrives. I.e. you're buying a customized keyboard not a customized keyboard building experience. There are plenty like this out there, you just have to specify that's what you want when searching.

96 key. You're welcome.

Sounds like you're just after a 80% keyboard or bigger, no? Plenty out there with all benefits of going premium/mechanical. Search for "TKL mechanical keyboard" and you'll maybe find what you're looking for. It's everything except the number pad.

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