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Comment by mastazi | Hacker News Reader

Are there split keyboards that preserve the standard layout of the home/end/pgup/pgdown cluster? Due to my usage patterns, not having that is a deal breaker for me. As an example, with rectangular keyboards my only choices are tenkeyless or full size, because they preserve the home cluster. Are there equivalents in the split keyboard world? All I'm seeing in that subreddit are smaller keyboards that lack the home cluster, that's why I ask.

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I can't vouch for its quality, but this has the full standard layout of those buttons (plus insert/delete). https://www.amazon.com/EPOMAKER-Mechanical-Swappable-Program...

I've also really enjoyed my Keychron Q11. It only has 5 of those keys (I remapped them a bit because I find "end" more useful than "insert"), and have adjusted quite easily. Relative to the default, I've got Home/End where Ins/Del are, Del for PgUp, and PgUp/Dn where it has PgDn/Home. That was all painless to change in the mapping tool. https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q11-qmk-custom-me...

> Are there split keyboards that preserve the standard layout of the home/end/pgup/pgdown cluster?

There used to be. I have a Microsoft keyboard[1] that works just fine using a PS2 <-> USB connector. Unfortunately I lost the PS2 <-> USB connector (which, IIRC, was an active converter, not a passive one) so I don't use it any more.

I use a standard mechanical keyboard with the standard US layout, and have not noticed any discomfort after 25 years or daily driving the standard layout.

[1] This particular one - first gen model: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_ergonomic_keyboards#... - although if you browse that entire page you'll see that there are newer models.

I think the Ergodox ez does those keys better than a standard keyboard because they are split between the two thumb clusters in the standard layout. Don't even have to move my hands to hit any of the four keys. It was one of the things I was looking for in a keyboard.

Why not create a "navigation layer" where you can have your home/end/pup/pgdown and arrow keys, right below your fingers?

That's the usual way people use these smaller keyboards, and it's way superior in my opinion.

Does seem like a white whale. Nearly all of the split keyboards want to do something different. I just want to stop scrunching my shoulders and space out my arms. Give me a fully traditional keyboard with all of the keys, just with a split down the middle.

My non-QMK keyboard has a horrendous home+end location, which I only realized after I acquired the thing. I did not realize how much I rely on those keys in normal programming.

For a very long time and until now, there have been models of Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboards, with all the classic PC keys, just with a split layout of the keys.

I have used such keyboards for many years and I have been content with them, even if a couple of years ago I have switched to a more compact completely split keyboard, without a separate digit pad (for 2 reasons, a closer position of the pointing device and easier transport in my luggage, due to its smaller total size, to be able to also use it instead of the non-ergonomic laptop keyboard).

Unless I am mistaken, the Microsoft versions are all single slabs of hardware with a slight space between the halves. By split keyboard, I want two separate pieces of hardware I can arbitrarily position to fit my body. I maintain a solid 12 inches(30 cm) between the pieces on my desk.

If you want completely separate halves, with the 104/105-key formats the right-hand part would be much larger than the left-hand part, which is inconvenient when you want to move or transport it.

You can achieve the same effect in a more convenient way by buying any of the many keyboards with separate parts for the hands, together with a separate numeric pad, which contains the third part of a classic 104/105-key keyboard.

The only remaining difference from the classic format is that on such keyboards the home-end and PgUp-PgDn key pairs are typically on the same vertical column at the right edge of the keyboard, instead of being side-by-side, but it is easy to become accustomed to this arrangement, which actually makes them easier to reach.

The Q14 preserves some similar placement but not all. The Q13 has 4 configurable keys in the top right.

https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q14-max-alice-lay...

Why not have home/end near home row with a right thumb modifier instead?

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