Comment by gbrown_ | Hacker News Reader

Comment by gbrown_ | Hacker News Reader

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It's a shame they couldn't get hot-swapable switches to work [1]. I have an ErgoDox with MX Browns which hasn't seen the light of day for a while. If I were to make a large outlay again on a keyboard I'd want to buy with the switches I now know I want or no switches and fit them myself. TBH I could take a soldering iron to my ErgoDox I just haven't had the motivation.

As an aside I've always wondered why the Katana60 [2] didn't have much interest as it seemed like a reasonable regular to full ergo in-between and IMHO more comfortable than something like a Planck. Though whilst I have tried the Plank I've not actually tried the Katana60 IRL. Looking forward to keyboard meetups again the post COVID future.

[1] https://twitter.com/kinesisergo/status/1470446358372896772

[2] http://xahlee.info/kbd/katana60_keyboard.html

If you're looking for something small but more ergonomic than a Plank, take a look at the Atreus (either as a DIY or in a kit from Keyboario[1]). I also had issues with the Plank but the slight angle of the keys on the Atreus has been extremely comfortable for me.

[1] https://shop.keyboard.io/products/keyboardio-atreus

Love the small size, but the layout is too different from a "regular" keyboard for me to consider it; the switching costs between it and my laptop would be too high. Placement of shift, super (I use caps lock as super), and tab being the biggest issues.

I just bought two and use one on top of my laptop. Or perfect but it works out alright.

Yeah I'm pretty familiar with most keyboard offerings. I'm just not keen on the Atreus' lack of a surrounding case/the key caps themselves being the edge. I know it's only an atheistic quibble but I guess I'm fussy like that.

Hot swap switches would be a killer RAS feature for a KB. Throw in redundant power and multipath USB with chipkill ECC in the MCU and it can be the longest uptime device in your data center...

Hot swappable switches is a common (premium) feature in the mech keyboard world. There are many examples, but the ergodox EZ is one that is very similar to TFA, but without the contours.

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