[jeromenerf]

Indeed, I like the thumb keys (2 per thumb would be enough for me though), the tap/hold feature and the central special keys on ergodox for instance.

I have not found anything like that for laptops. Not even a split space bar. The tap/hold feature is possible at the os level, with caveats.

I usually map the key left to the space bar to Enter.

[moonchild]

What is tap/hold?

I believe some people have done portable kinesis builds, which could be an option in tandem with a laptop.

[jabroni_salad]

A good example is the space cadet shift. If I tap left shift, I get an open parenthesis. If I hold it and use any other key, I get a capital letter. It's a lot nicer than hitting shift+9/0 and I got used to it in about 10 minutes.

Any keyboard using the QMK keyboard firmware can do this.

[yuribro]

The most famous one is the dactyl[0]. I'm guessing you mean a portable kinesis advantage. There are some other kinesis keyboards which are portable.

[0] https://github.com/adereth/dactyl-keyboard

[clarry]

> What is tap/hold?

Tap a key, get a symbol. Hold the key, get something else (perhaps a modifier).

[boogies]

Not necessarily a symbol. I use "setxkbmap -option caps:super && xcape -e 'Super_L=Escape'" to make tapping Caps Lock simulate tapping Escape, and holding Caps Lock and pressing another key work as Super("Windows key") + that key in X11.

(eg. Caps alone = exit insert mode in vi, Caps + Space = Super + Space for toggling the tiling layout in my window manager dwm.)