[klysm]

I personally don’t understand why someone would want an ortho if you’re going to 1) have to learn a new layout and 2) spend a lot of money on something custom. The ergonomics of either a columnar stagger or something like a manuform seem way better.

[flamwenco]

Yeah, I think ortho has benefits over row stagger, but if you're going to go through the learning curve anyway, I think going straight to columnar stagger is more beneficial. That said, I don't find it that hard to switch between ortho and columnar stagger, so it may not be a huge deal if you learn ortho first, unless you're moving to a board with incredibly aggressive pinky stagger or something.

I think the one thing ortho has going for it over columnar stagger is aesthetics, which is a little silly in a discussion about ergonomics, but after a certain point, some smaller keyboards are kinda just there for fun. I have a small ortho 10 column board that is just adorable and I like using it, but it's definitely not as comfy or efficient as my reviung.