If you have been using an ergonomic mechanical keyboard for more than year, let us know which keyboard it is, and whether you plan to keep to keep using it for at least another year or if there’s another keyboard you are considering trying instead.
- I was a 60% guy until I borrowed (stole? I still have it) a Kensis Advantage from a coworker.
- Not long after I built a couple Ergodox (Hotdox). I used all 76 keys for about 5 years.
- I built a beautiful wireless Ergodox with a metal case and solar charging (SliceMK) that I have basically never used :/
- For the last year and a half I’ve used a dactyl manuform (Wylder) that I soldered with ameba king per key pcbs. 39 keys (I don’t use a few) + a trackball.
I don’t see myself changing anytime soon, auto mouse layer is amazing. I have a Draculad PCB and case but no real reason to build it since I wfh.
The only keyboard that solved all my wrist pain was the Kinesis Advantage Pro, which I learned alongside Colemak. Love the keyboard, and if it broke I’d buy it again tomorrow without hesitation.
I used an ErgoDox for years. I wasn’t thrilled with the switches, and I wanted more stagger.
For the past few months I’ve been using a Piantor. I’ve learned:
- Thin is sexy, but I still haven’t found anything I loved as much as buckling springs, and maybe I should have opted for less sexy, but more tactile, than what’s available in Choc
- I really need to focus on a bat-wing style, connected keyboard next time. While the sides don’t slide around much, it really bugs me when they aren’t exactly where I expect them to be.
- I need more tenting; the tenting option(s) on the ErgoDox was good.
- 42 keys is just a few too few for me.
I’m a fairly fast touch typist, and while I loved the chording for, eg, the num pad, I have to have too many keys under layers and I can’t quite get the QMK settings tuned such that I’m either not getting a layer switch fast enough, or I’m getting them unexpectedly.
I think part of my problem is something the author of kanata found out and corrected for: I sometimes type a following key before fully releasing a previous key, which gets interpreted by QMK and kmonad as a layer switch (and, with 42 keys, almost every key is doing double duty). I suspect I can make QMK do what I want, but there are a lot of knobs and it can be hard to tell what to adjust.
Anyway, I think next time I’ll go for less thin, max tactile, more connected halves, at least a couple more keys on each side; I miss those center thumb keys on the ErgoDox. Same stagger. I’m going to have to solve the QMK programming either way.
You might like cocot46plus, although only one vendor in Japan seems it have it.
Also check out the Vulpes Majora by Fingerpunch.
Thanks! I thought you asked your question for a different reason.
Why did you ask your OP? Just curious.
There are a lot ZOMG posts about just-built keebs. That’s a moment worth celebrating, but I was curious which designs people actually stick with.
I’m enjoying seeing the differences and similarities in what people are posting.
I’d been wanting a new keyboard for a while, mainly to get better tactile switches and more aggressive stagger. But I tried to swap some keycaps on my ErgoDox and broke a switch, and that was enough to justify a new keyboard. I’m sticking with the Piantor for a while because I don’t want to afford to drop $250 on keyboards every few months. So, in my case, I’m sticking with it for financial reasons, not “in love with” reasons.
I do like the better programmability, tho. Definite win, although kanata certainly filled that need adequately.
(Yah, I’m answering twice)
cocot46plus looks fantastic; I do like to have that extra pinky column. Plus, I recently forced myself to convert to a trackball, and having one in the middle there is appealing. I also have a PowerMate that the knob could replace - just about perfect!
The Vulpe Majoris might be even better, since I have large hands and the more aggressive stagger is not comfortable for me. And also a trackball option; these are both fantastic suggestions, thank you!
Self made Scylla for a year (it’s a dactyl type - split, tented, welled, ortho) and I’m cruising on it.
Still adjusting 1 or 2 keys on ZMK but from comfort its amazing.
Bluetooth, USB-C and battery. Enjoying life!
I’ve been using my keyboard, Toast, for two years. I use it with a modified Miryoku layout with Colemak DH. It’s for work, travel and at home.
I open-sourced Toast too
https://github.com/vpzed/keyboards/tree/main/toast
I also built half an MX-switch Helix to have a fully programmable gaming keypad for home.
Colemak DH
Happy to find another user here!
Colemak DH represent!
Nice!
I’ve been using a Glove80 full time for over a year and I love it! It helped with my wrist pain too. I’ve not used any other ergonomic keyboards other than the Microsoft one, but I’m very happy with this one and see no reason to change.
I’ve had a Manuform Dactyl 6x4 for about 3 years, it’s fantastic and I’ll definitely try to get another one if this one ever breaks in a way that makes repair impossible. Shoutout to Ibnu from the other site, thanks bro
I’ve been using my bad wings (v1) for over a year, and I didn’t think I’d ever give it up. It’s a 36-key mono-body split with a cirque track pad in the middle, and I use it with a miryoku layout. I used it as my only board for several months after I first built it, but I was constantly using it for travel and project computers (it’s perfect for tinkering with raspberry pis), so I put another board at my desktop computer and now my bad wings goes wherever I go for my laptop, or hot-desking, or projects, or anything else. I’ve even used the track pad on it as my only mouse for days at a time.
I recently bought a bad wings 2 as a back up and so that I could convert my first one to wireless with ZMK. All in all, it’s been a fantastic board for me, and I’ll definitely be using it for the foreseeable future.
Coming from a normal 60%, I have a Sweep keyboard (34 keys) that I’ve been using for a bit over a year. It’s overall been great and I prefer it by a large margin to the 60% but the one thing that has been annoying is playing video games, though I’m sure if I put the effort in it would be no problem after a couple months.
I don’t plan to change keyboards for a while unless it somehow breaks. Perhaps I’d try a steno keyboard but I’m quite happy with the modified Colemak-DHm layout I have on this one.
Plover can make any keyboard work as a steno board, haven’t messed around with it since early covid, but it’s great foss software
I’ve been using a moonlander for a couple years now. I love it, but I’ve been toying with the idea of building my own with a trackball in the thumb cluster
I’ve been rocking a technik with purpz and mbk legends for about 2 years now, will probably stick with it until it gives out and replacement parts are no longer available. Low pro, hotswap, metal case, LEDs (never use them though), etc, it’s great imo. My raise and lower layers are heavily riced for both my wm (bspwm) and having all my common programming symbols easily accessible.
I’ve been wanting to switch to a staggered low pro split board for ergo reasons but haven’t had much time to look unfortunately
I built a Sofle RGB a couple years ago, and loved it so much I built a second for work.
Then I made a dactyl manuform mini (6 x 4) because I could make the key layout pretty much match the Sofles. I didn’t really like dactyl at first, with Amazon’s cheapest XDA keycaps, but when I replaced them with something more interesting, CSA they were called, I was a lot happier.
If I had used quieter switches on the dactyl, that would be my work keyboard. But as it is I’ve got my work Sofle tented to maybe 15 degrees or so and really love it!
I don’t see any good reason to change, and wind up swapping between the Sofle and the Dactyl at home depending on the application. Dactyl is terrible for gaming, but way more fun if I’m doing a long coding session.
I’ve been using the Piantor by Beekeeb for over a year now. I started with the 42 key version, but after a time broke off the outer columns and am using 32 keys.
I’d really only change my daily driver to go wireless, with something like the Chocofi.
That’s not to say I don’t dabble with smaller keyboards just for fun 😊 I use a 16-key on and off, but I’m not very fast on it yet.
I’ve been using a Kinesis Advantage for over a decade now. I’ve tried most of the ergo options out there and I keep coming back to the Advantage. It’s the only one that gets the thumb keys right in my opinion.
I currently run a heavily modified version done by the guys at Upgrade Keyboards.
Been using a Matias Ergo Pro for several years now. Love the chonky CTRL, OPTION, CMD and Spacebar keys.
Before purchase, I read reviews that some of the keys would tend to stick. Indeed, after a few months, the ‘F’ key decided that it was going to work according to its own plan. So the reviews were right. A good keyboard if they would just fix their d*mn key issues.
Working on building a new custom keyboard to replace it.
Are you able to pop off the keycaps and see what’s going on underneath the sticking key?
I’ll try that.