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.
Boardsource Lulu. Built with Gateron Silent Ink Black and MT3 Susuwatari.
It has been my most used daily board for the past year and a bit more. First split, first ortho, first custom build for me. Coming from a 75% board with traditional stagger there was some adjustment mainly due to the ortho nature (but otherwise I was already using IJKL as arrows on the 75% board for example). First couple of days I was typing at 9 WPM (down from my then usual 90-ish), I needed a week to get back up to around 70-80 (fortunately I was between jobs then, so it wasn’t critical).
In terms of layout I think this is the perfect amount of thumb keys that’s manageable for me (on the bottom left I have Super/Win, Alt, MO(1) and Space, and Ctrl is to the left of A). I have another board with more keys there and they’re not all that useful. I think however that I could do with a few more keys in the inner columns - on this board in particular if I want to use rotary encoders, I have to sacrifice the keys in the inner column, and those keys are useful for brackets and also for some primary letters in my native language (Bulgarian - it has 30 letters in the alphabet). I’ve tried home row mods, but I don’t think I can rely on those as the sole way to access a mod. I personally couldn’t do without the number row even though I have a num block on a layer - so 60-ish percent is fine for me for most things.
I’m pretty happy with the build quality. One thing I don’t like is the plastic bottom - if you don’t tighten it properly it rattles a bit, and every time I go about tightening it I’m afraid I might crack it.
I really like the MT3 profile keycaps - they basically hug your fingers in such a way that it’s pretty hard to get lost on the layout, and it also encourages proper ten finger technique. As for the switches - I get why people generally recommend lighter ones for split boards - I find those a tad too heavy. Also in stock form they’re not fully quiet and have some mush to them (I guess it’s inherent to this kind of silent MX switch). I might do a spring swap and lube at some point, or maybe swap the switches entirely (since I have another board that I lug to the office, this one doesn’t really need to be quiet any more).
Another board that I’m looking forward to is the ai03 Altair - it solves most of my gripes with the Lulu in that the case is fully aluminium and that the layout has a few more keys in the inner columns. As an added bonus the halves connect using USB-C, not TRRS. The only thing I don’t really like is that it has neither a display nor indicator LEDs - so managing multiple layers would be a bit harder unless I find a way to add a LED somewhere. I have the Dark Grey on preorder and I’m probably putting MTNU Graphite keycaps (or perhaps something like MT3 Darkness) on it.
The keyboard I’ve used for longest was K860 (which still works fine after 3 years and which I still like, though it is rather wide), and as for future works I’d like something between the current two keyboards being Sofle Choc (rotary encoders next to QWERTY B/N) and Redox (thumb cluster layout) with a couple tweaks to allow for closer-angled placement of the halves.
However, no such keyboard seems to currently exist, so I’d have to either find the time to design and build one myself, or commission someone to do that for me.
Been using the Glove80 for over a year now and I love it.
Everything about it is exactly what I wanted from an ergonomic keyboard and it’s also very customizable.
It’s been very comfortable for me from the moment I got it up until now. And while I used to like rough PBT keycaps texture, I’ve learned to enjoy the Glove80’s smooth POM keycaps.
I had only one keyboard before it which I could consider as “ergo” and have used for quite a bit - The Sweep. I liked it, but the limited amount of keys ended up being an annoyance for me. Especially when gaming. Plus the Glove80’s curve and palm rest make it substantially more comfortable for me, despite it being a larger keyboard.
There are only 2 things left on my checklist for the “perfect ergo keyboard”:
- Lighter switches - I got the red chocs before the red pro chocs were an option. I’m thinking of soldering the 20g ambient switches though.
- Pointing input module - There was some work going on about an Orbital v2 touchpad integration with the Glove80. But I haven’t heard anything about it since (I think it’s been over a year).
So I’ve been eyeing the Svalboard.
I’m not sure it’ll fit my needs as it isn’t wireless and has less keys. But I love everything else about it.
I’ve been using a tshort dactyl manuform 4x6 for 5 years now, having never planned to use it for even 1 year. I only commonly use the two innermost thumb keys; I didn’t think I would like the thumb cluster from watching a video of someone typing on it, and I indeed don’t like the thumb cluster. The switches are Kailh Brown; one of them started to stutter and I replaced it with … a TTC Brown or some such.
I’ve printed, but not finished, a Splaytyl. I think it’s going to feel nice, but it’s only 4x5, and I’m nervous about not having Tab and Enter on the base layer.
I’ve been using my 34 key ferris sweep for a couple of years now and I love it.
I have a charybdis nano that I need to wire up, it makes me really appreciate the tighter choc spacing on the sweep, that and the low profile keys are doing a lot for comfort IMO
