I’ve slowly been going down the rabbit hole of ergo keyboards and want to replace my current “normal” full-size keyboard, but the sheer amount of variation there is, even disregarding the usual differences like rgb or some extra macro keys or whatever, is kind of giving me decision paralysis, so I’d like some help.
I know what I definitely want:
- Split
- Tentable
- Ortholinear
- Supports QMK
But that still leaves a lot of questions open.
I like the look and portability of heavily vertically staggered 42-key keyboards (three rows and three keys per thumb cluster), and while for programming that’s definitely enough, especially for certain games that seems like a questionable choice, since you’d need a lot of layers for a good experience.
Then I looked further into keyboards with four rows, which definitely seem more appealing, but at that point I’m wondering if for convenience’s sake, it might be better to just get something like the Moonlander which has more than enough keys, but is also just really big and leads to a lot of finger movement which isn’t necessarily a problem, but also just isn’t really… well, neat.
What kind of keyboards do you all have and what do you use them for? Are there any you’d recommend? Should I just go with something akin to the Moonlander or are there any tangible advantages to something like the Piantor apart from portability?
I have a moonlander and love it, but that’s technically columnar and not ortholinear since it’s staggered rows. One thing I like is the Oryx software that I found very intuitive and easy to use to update layouts and layers. Although some question build quality, it was cheap to find someone on printmything to 3d print extra feet for the thumb cluster to add stability to the cluster. Swapping switches was easy as well and installed U4Ts to get more tactile feel.
But I found it helpful to print shit out and play with it on a desk to get a feel for size and layout difference in lieu of seeing a real keeb. You can get creative with folding stuff or angled binders to simulate tenting options as well. This tool lets you do size comparison and print out different keyboard layouts on paper. https://jhelvy.shinyapps.io/splitkbcompare/
Same here. Had the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard prior, but really appreciated when I switched to the Moonlander. Is portable without much work - just isn’t small. Oryx is really easy to use (including color mgmt per layer and per key). I thought it has a really nice feel. Only downside I have is that it isn’t wireless.
Just built my first Corne, which has been a good learning process, but don’t think it will be my final keyboard.
For me it was really up in the air between ergodox and moonlander. But as a novice to mechanical and ergo, the Oryx software was a huge selling point, and I wouldn’t discount that benefit when considering a ergo keyboard where you will be needing to tweak and edit layers to experiment with fit. Just built a budget GMK67 keeb for my partner, and that software is sketch and weird… Really made me appreciate Oryx.
In the end, I think I preferred the moonlander thumbcluster layout of 3 columns of thumb keys. That red key is really a modifier for not typing. The column and row ergodox thing seemed not as great for me. I was surprised that the modifier keys on the moonlander being narrow width wasn’t a hard thing to get used to.
One unfortunate thing about ergonomics is that each persons needs are different. No one can tell you what’s best for you, but luckily we have a lot of good options that help you find what does work for you.
If you’re fine with some soldering, there are a lot of open source splits that you could get fabricated for pretty cheap and end up with two full builds. Cantor, Piantor, Corne, Lily, Sofle, etc etc etc. The low cost of having them fabricated and built yourself can mean trying out a few different keyboards to see what works best for you.
When it comes to gaming, maybe using one keyboard for programming and a different keyboard for gaming. It could be just half of a 4 row split, a gaming focus keypad (like the Eternal) or just your current rowstagger board. I personally use a QAZ-alike I designed as a gamepad.
Tenting can be accomplished multiple ways. Some boards have Tenting Puck support. Some can have large bolts added to adjust the angle. For boards without some native tenting support, many 3d printable cases exist that provide tenting and lately I’ve seen a lot people use the magsafe sticker thingies to attach their keyboards to small tripods.
One reason there are so many options is because it’s pretty easy (and fun} to design your own keyboard. It’s not uncommon to try a few different designs/layouts to see what works best for you from each and then design a keyboard to fit your requirements. Designing your own keyboard comes with it’s own set of information overload, but there are a lot of us around to help us.
If you’re down with DIY and Stateside, hit me up. I’ve got a bunch of PCBs in a box that I can part with for stupid cheap. I’ll need to take an inventory of what I have but if you’re interested I’ll gather up the info. I know I’ve got at least an MX Corne.
Link Dump:
You have mentioned two keyboards that took your attention the Piantor and the Moonlander.
So let’s breakdown them, and let’s see the major benefits:
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If you have to travel a lot and dont want to spend much to try a new cup of tea, you should go for the piantor; it’s cheap, really easy to build (thanks to the diodeless feature), tentable (see on the community for tentable case) and portable!
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Instead if you don’t need to travel and you are sure that you want to switch go for the moonlander; Despite it’s high price it has a really large community and it’s built to make the average user feel at home. With the number row, tentable, full-size mx switches; it’s a really good option if you dont have to travel that much!
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If you want a middleground of those, I can suggest the Sofle, it is a very popular keyboard too and has a number row;
This is the beauty of this community, everyone has it’s preference and we love to build keebs on those!
Let us know what will you take and your feedbacks!
Seconded on Sofle, though Moonlander would be a good choice too. Having the numrow helps ease the transition and reduces the chances that you give up on ergo splits. If you buy a 50+ split and later get the minimalist bug, you can change your keymap to test drive a numrowless layout.
I use Sofle V2 for WFH. I started with a Lily58 at the beginning of the pandemic because I was getting shoulder and wrist pain from using a TKL all day. I liked the Lily58, but I also have big hands and found the thumb cluster cramped and the stagger too shallow. The Sofle V2 is nearly the same layout except the thumb row is moved out by a column for more natural thumb placement. I’ve been using the Sofle for a little over a year now and am planning to build another for the 1 day a week I need to drive into work to hotdesk.
QMK is great, but I switched to VIAL, which is a fork of QMK that allows for on-the-fly keymap changes from an app without having to recompile.
OP, DM me at al177 on Discord if you’re in the US and decide to DIY a Sofle. I have extra unpopulated V2 main PCBs (not top or bottom tho) and would be glad to send you a pair to get you started. I also have a Lily58 I would part with for cheap.
I recommend to try corne v3. It’s a super popular keyboard with huge community, tons of cases and cheap to build. I’m currently using it.
