Craigslist and r/mechmarket have been my go-tos to finding used boards. It's not very reliable as they pop up once in a blue moon, but every so often the stars align and I check mechmarket on a day when a board I want is there.
I like alternating hands to use my trackball
That board can be found here:
https://github.com/sekigon-gonnoc/CorneECWL/tree/main
I believe he sells it online sometimes here: https://nogikes.booth.pm/items/2371017
Haha, honestly not nearly as bad as you might think! The amazing thing about the brain is that it’s incredibly good at learning when it feels a strong need to learn something. For me, a couple of days of trying to keep up on Discord is enough time to learn a new layout and be proficient.
What about the Ferris sweep or the Kyria? Both have significantly more stagger than the Ergodox.
Shirogane Lab's Keyball has the most elegant integrated trackball situation, IMO. I thought I heard somewhere that it was an open source design but I haven't been able to find the socket. If your keyboard can support it I think mouse keys are really nice too.
Maybe we could do a sticky promotional thread?
Welcome to the infinite rabbit hole! At this point I've decided that actually, I'm just an ergo mech keyboard collector...
IMO, if you're just starting out, the Moonlander is one of the best options. It can be hotswap, which will help you figure out what kind of switches you want. It's incredibly durable and reliable. It's got the best configurator software of all ergo keyboards, in my opinion. Unless you have really small hands (like I do) it works quite well for most people's needs. And even if you get into the even more niche boards, having a board that you can count on to reliably work like the Moonlander is always going to be useful.
Getting into stuff like the Piantor is a lot more about narrowing down the specs you exactly want in a keyboard. Honestly, it's hard to know without just diving in and trying it. The Moonlander is great in this way as well because you really don't need to use all of the keys on it. I would also put on your radar the Corne, the Microdox, the Kyria, and the Iris. All amazing boards, all fulfill slightly different needs :P
Another way to figure out which board is best for you is if you have active pain or injury, you can go backwards from there. But it seems like you're doing something more preventative rather than reactive to pain.
Amazing! Would love to hear how it's getting on for you :D
There's a 3D hand model roaming around somewhere that you can put into the Dactyl model and give it a try. Also, if you know anyone with a Kinesis Advantage (2 or 360) you can test drive a default Dactyl (it's based on that). I 3D printed mine blindly knowing that I have smaller than average hands and want more aggressive stagger + tent and it worked out really well for me.
Also check out Ergogen and Ergopad for truly customized to your hand experiences. This video is a great primer.
Are you in the Absolem Discord? They can probably help you confirm everything looking right.
Never say anything over chat/IM that a company knowing would hurt
I used to work at Discord and I can tell you that this is, painfully, not the norm.
I'm a huge fan of the Kensington Trackball in the middle in between my halves. It's not especially subtle or cute but it's very comfy to use. I think the slimblade is smaller, not sure. Also, I love mouse keys. I use them for all small movements that I can, and the trackball for larger movements. I would love an app that like, subdivides my screen into a grid that I can use to just automatically jump to a place with just my keyboard, that would be perfect.
TBH though, especially if you're a frontend dev on Mac, you will still need the trackpad or Magic Mouse. Gestures are kinda not replaceable, as far as I can tell.
Pro-tip: getting rid of the numpad is good for you long term. Num pad existence is associated with RSI pain. I would consider a 60-80% keyboard and a separate numpad that you can pull out when you need it.
Its where caps lock normally is on a mac keyboard by default, although I've remapped my esc to a thumb cluster.
Since you're looking at non-ergo mechanical keyboards, you have way more options and flexibility.
I would get a quality hotswap board (Keychron boards are the usual recommendation, if you go Aliexpress you can find cheaper options too) and a set of any switches you like. Switches maintain resale value well (some even raise, because broken in switches tend to work better than non broken-in) so get a set you're interested in, daily drive it for a bit, and then see what you'd want changed.
You can also think about your current keyboard setup, what you like about it and what isn't working for you.
Personally I think you can always have more keys and just not use them/only have them as "emergency" keys. I'm personally on a 5col corne layout, I love it.
Hi friends, I have been using the KA360 Pro (with ZMK and bluetooth) for a week and I wanted to share some thoughts on it. My brief overall review is that I love this board and it is very nearly endgame for me. It is outrageously expensive but it fulfills every need I have in a board. My only gripe is with the Gateron Brown switches. Eventually I will probably de-solder and replace these. The overall board is also kind of loud but that's also personal preference.
vs KA2
- very similar to the KA2 but a significant upgrade in build quality.
- fully split (KA360) vs unibody construction (KA2). My poor posture greatly prefers fully split.
- KA2 does not support ZMK but has great on the fly remapping
- KA2 is slightly angled towards you like a conventional keyboard, so your wrists cannot be in negative tilt and relaxed.
vs Ergodox EZ
- curved keywells (KA360) vs flat (Ergodox). As someone with small hands curved keywells work better for me
- Ergodox build quality is ok. The plastic molding reminds me of low quality children's toys. But it is remarkably sturdy and has survived many a cross country move with me, and is the only ergo board in my current collection that I know I can reliably plug in to a computer and start using, which is the primary reason I've continued to keep it.
- it has cherry mx brown switches, which I hate. It can be ordered in hot swap, which I would recommend for anyone that is considering this board or the Moonlander (I did not get that option though!)
- Best configuration, customization, and flashing software I've ever tried
- Tenting kit is poor quality. I need to use books and towels to get it to stay somewhere. It also doesn't go very high.
- The Moonlander did not exist when I got this. I think the Moonlander is better, but I have never used it personally.
vs Dactyl Manuform
- Customizability is the biggest differentiator here. The Dactyl is a completely customizable open source clone of the KA curved boards. You are really able to configure this to almost exactly how you want it.
- It's completely hand built, which comes with major downsides. The 3D print quality leaves much to be desired. If your Dactyl stops working (like mine did), you will need to figure out how to solve this problem yourself. Mine only lasted 4 months before one hand stopped working entirely.
- Unless you completely source and build it yourself, the price tag of this product will closely approach the 300-500s.
- Is the effort worth it? One of the best and most comfortable typing experiences I've had when it's all said and done, but the lack of proper support for it makes it hard for me, as someone inexperienced with building, to go back to using it as my regular daily driver. At the very least I need to have a backup plan for when it inevitably goes dark.
- IMO, the KA360 is what I wished the Dactyl Manuform was going to be. Even though the KA360 is less customizable, its build quality is significantly better and I can rest easy knowing that if/when the board has issues, Kinesis is just an email away.
vs Gergoplex
- A hand built low profile ergo keyboard with an exposed PCB.
- The build quality of this product is very poor, especially without a case. Mine is a bit older and predates the recent explosion of low profile offerings, and I find the LP switch/keycap experience leaves much to be desired.
- I have no idea how to flash this thing. It seemed to only do it by random chance. It comes with very little/no support at all. It eventually stopped working and faces the same maintainability problem that the Dactyl does.
- Despite this, it is by far the comfiest flat board I have used with its ergodox inspired layout, compacted choc spacing, and 12 g choc switches. I experienced 0 pain in the months I used this board. If you have an active injury I very much recommend this board, or considering other low weight low profiles.
vs Corne-ish Zen
- I consider the Corne-ish Zen to be the pinnacle of this hobby. A true enthusiast's board with high quality manufacturing and parts. Darryl, the builder behind this, provides active support on Discord and is constantly innovating new ideas in the low profile world.
- It has an aluminum body that is just chef's kiss. It also comes with its own travel case. IMO, the body is better than the KA360.
- All in this board is close to 450 with switches and keycaps. If you want the ability to tent this board it will add on another 100 at least.
- The quality of the case is let down by the overall lower quality that low profile switches and keycaps tend to be. But there are some really interesting offerings that Darryl is working on that keeps me interested. Unfortunately you cannot get 12g springs for this board -- that is a specialty that only the Gergoplex provides.
- I find the layout of the Corne not to particularly work for me. I have pain from crossing my thumb underneath my wrist (damn the Mac command key!).
- The eink displays are not particularly useful on this board and I could do without them.
- I will probably keep this as a travel board for when I need to go onsite for work or when I want to work in other places, but it is not quite daily driver material.