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Comment by plutonorm | Hacker News Reader

yeah, dipping your toe in this hobby is like dipping your toe into a triple A MMORPG. Make sure you are prepared for the toll it may take on your productive years.

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As I said in another part of this thread, I don't have any problem "dipping my toe in". It isn't difficult at all to enjoy using a good mechanical keyboard without becoming obsessed with it. My friends who use mechanical keyboards also don't have any problem with that kind of obsession. I guess it depends on the person.

I don’t get it though. What’s the payoff, marginally better comfort and typing speed or is it like having collectibles to own and show off? Personally, sure a mechanical keyboard is a little more satisfying to type on but who really cares.

There's another side to the mechanical keyboard community that is focused on ergonomics [1]. I personally use a Kinesis Advantage 2 [2] with an Adantage 360 [3] on preorder. These are not marginal improvements to my quality of life, they enable me to continue using a keyboard at all.

As for the very expensive, mostly standard layout keyboards... it's an expensive hobby with marginal improvements at best, but the same could be said about furniture purchases. Most people don't choose furniture based solely off its functional characteristics. They want something pleasant to look at, especially since it's something they're using every day for a long period of time. I think there's plenty of utility in that, though personally I would never pay the prices that these people do.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/

[2] https://kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage2/

[3] https://kinesis-ergo.com/keyboards/advantage360/

Same, split keyboard (with thumb cluster) may take some time to get used to, but it does improve the QoL for me. The major problem with this is that either the keyboards are relatively expensive or you have to DIY. I'm looking to clone the moonlander keyboard but modify its layout to redox, and print it by myself. DIY can cut down a lot of the cost.

Would love to get one (actually any split one), but they are crazy expensive. Add duties (I’m in the EU) and it goes beyond what I would be willing to spend for something that I can’t even try first. I don’t even need mechanical switches, wireless, backlight or programmability, but I will probably need two of them in the end.

DIY can lower the price, but it is a hustle and in the time needed is not free.

Maybe at some point Logitech will offer a split one for a more reasonable price, but I won’t hold my breath.

Be careful with split keyboards, or any keyboards with fewer keys or columns than usual, if you’re a European user. Many split layouts have a missing column on the right, where accent keys are located. One has to assign them to different keys or combos, which results in a substantially different typing habits with a steep learning curve, in my experience.

Yeap, that’s the other thing, many (especially in the DIY scene) have so few keys that you are forced to use layers even for mundane, every day stuff.

The unfortunate reality is you can't have both an inexpensive and prebuilt keyboard in this space. I'd suggest looking for a used Kinesis Advantage 1 or 2 on ebay as that might be a little more palatable and the used prices are fairly stable so you won't lose too much money if you find you don't like it.

Hobbies aren't about the payoff, they are about the process. May as well ask "why do you do things you enjoy"?

100%. Going in I had no idea how all-consuming it would get.

Same here, although once I'd spent an absurd amount of money and then even more time, I finally, settled on a really good setup and haven't had the desire to change it. IRIS keyboard (https://keeb.io/products/iris-rev-4-keyboard-split-ergonomic...) with my own QMK keymap with 3 layers.

Oh wow that looks like what I'd want but it looks like they are selling a circuit board?

How do I get one that I can pull out of the box and be typing within 60 seconds?

Keeb.io does list prebuilt, where the store owner would build it for you. https://keeb.io/collections/pre-built-keyboards/products/iri...

Pro'bly the most popular pre-built keyboard along the same lines is the Moonlander. https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/ The configuration user experience would be nicer with this.

It's not precisely the same, but the ZSA Moonlander has the same layout with stilts and a wrist rest so that you can position it how you feel best. The real winner is their Oryx firmware that makes reprogramming the keys on the board a breeze. It's the best investment I've made in my ergonomic health.

> The real winner is their Oryx firmware that makes reprogramming the keys on the board a breeze. It's the best investment I've made in my ergonomic health.

As a Moonlander owner who loves it, it's worth pointing out that most QMK-based boards (including the Moonlander itself with a third party firmware) can support the VIA system for similar easy GUI programming.

https://www.caniusevia.com/

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