[23B1]

Not sure if this breaks HN's rules, but I'd love to hear anyones suggestions on favorite split keyboards. There's a lot of homebrew boards out there that're very small/light but I have sausage fingers and the demeanor of an orangutan.

https://www.amazon.com/KINESIS-Advantage360-Professional-Erg...

^closest I've found, but $$$

[misterbwong]

I was doing quite a bit of shopping for a split ergo about a year ago.

My main contenders ended up being:

  - Glove80
  - Advantage360
  - ZSA Moonlander
  - ZSA Ergodox
  - Various alice layout KB's (not full split.  ex: Keychron K15)
  - Custom building some sort of sofle or dactyl - ZSA recently came out with the voyager which looks essentially like a wired 65% sofle.

In the end I went with the Glove80, which I _highly_ recommend. It's the most comfortable keyboard I've used, bar none. The biggest knock I have on the Glove80 is the fit/finish for its price-it doesn't feel like you'd imagine a $400 keyboard would. The unique design makes it worth it for me, though.

[mech422]

I keep saying I should trying the Moonlander, but I never get around to it. The ErgoDox thumb clusters were too much of a stretch for my thumbs - I think the adjustable ones on the moonlander would help

Edit: A Dactyl with a trackball would be pretty sweet too. They seem to be getting a bit easier to buy now too.

[misterbwong]

The thumb cluster design was one of the reasons I went with the Glove80. Moonlander, ErgoDox, and even Advantage 360 thumb clusters seem harder to hit than the Glove80's, though I do wish there was some option to use 1.5u keys on the Glove80 thumb cluster.

[lockyc]

ZSA Moonlander is awesome (https://www.zsa.io/moonlander). Their configuration tool is excellent, its a really easy keyboard to use and configure without making it a full time hobby.

[Just_Harry]

I've been using a Matias Ergo Pro Programmable for the past three-or-so years and it's been excellent; all the wrist pain I had been experiencing after typing ceased once I started using it, and that's held true since. The switches are tactile but quiet. The keycaps are well-sized with a pleasant texture. It's very weighty, and never moves. It has arrow-keys and Home/End/PgUp/PgDn. The cable that joins the two halves is just a standard 3.5mm TRRS audio cable. The USB cable is detachable. It does have a few flaws: the Escape key's awkwardly out-of-the-way, the same goes for the Delete key; the fabric used for the palm-rests is sort of difficult to clean; very rarely, a pressed key will get stuck and will repeat after it's been depressed.

I've also tried the Kinesis Freestyle 2... I'm much less of fond it, it might just be the worst keyboard I've used (especially relative to its price). Its switches are bad, even by the standards of membrane switches—to get keypresses to reliably register I have mash the keys so forcefully that it ends up being louder than the mechanical Ergo Pro. The keycaps are small, with a texture that's unpleasant to the touch. The cable that joins the two halves is proprietary, and the cable that comes out of the box is too short at 9", the 20" cable costs 20% of what the keyboard does and is still too short to fully utilise the split. The USB cable isn't detachable. Something about the way the right half is laid out makes it difficult to get your hand in position to use it. The Escape key's really out-of-the-way, as is the Fn key. Though, it does have a lot of macro keys.

[jonhohle]

I like split ergonomic keyboard, and Alps switches, and prefer a Mac keyboard, if possible. Unfortunately, the Mattias Ergo Pro I’ve had since launch was not particularly reliable. Apple’s ergonomic keyboard has odd choices for function buttons and (a deal breaker for me) a terrible escape key.

I recently found a Gemini III P20028 which is nearly perfect except it is missing a “Command”/Windows key.

I also have an Apple Extended II which is my daily driver at a desk. And I have one of these Unicomp’s which I enjoy as well. I used to use IBM Model Ms, and like their switches almost as well as Alps.

For my own comfort, I’ve found switches to be more important than split. I’ve used Cherry and clones, and they really aren’t in the same league in terms of tactile response as Alps or buckling springs. It’s too bad they’ve become synonymous with “mechanical” keyboards.

I’ve liked the idea of many of the minimalist keyboards, but always want a full number row, dedicated Esc, brackets, Pipe, etc. I thought the Ergo Pro would be that, but when switches started double registering after only a few years, I grew cold to it. I have 30+ year old keyboards that are working great, anything modern and hundreds of dollars should do the same.

I’ve always wanted to try a Kinesis, but it would have to be so much better than what I have to justify double the price that I can’t really justify the price. After 20+ years of keyboarding nearly every day and finding boards that don’t give me pain, I have no reason to try at that price.

[SloopJon]

I haven't used that many different keyboards, but each one has kind of added a feature to my must-have list.

My first mechanical was a tenkeyless Max Keyboard Nighthawk. It sold me on the TKL size, and backlighting. It also has a USB hub, which is very convenient for mouse dongles and headsets.

For several years I used a Kinesis Advantage at work. I never loved it, but it sold me on having my preferred layout (Dvorak) in hardware, rather than configuring it in the O/S. I also liked having a backspace under my left thumb.

Not long after I got a Kinesis Gaming Freestyle Edge RGB at home. Even better than the Advantage, I could program an arbitrary layout (and lighting) in hardware. And because it's split, I can program the left spacebar for backspace.

When I got tired of the Advantage, I bought a System76 Launch, a compact TKL with a split spacebar. This sold me on hot-swap switches. I generally like light tactile switches like the Cherry MX Brown in the first three keyboards, but it's fun to put clickies on some of the keys, and very light linears on the pinkie modifiers.

I guess the point is that as your list of must-have features grows, the set of candidate keyboards shrinks. There aren't many programmable RGB keyboards with hot-swap switches, a split spacebar, and a USB hub. What are your must-haves?

[gsamuelhays]

I supported the Keyboardio kickstarter and purchased two Model 01s which I liked very much. The problems I had with it were twofold: first - I use my pointer finger for the "c" key, which was very difficult and I had to switch to my middle finger. This adjustment was made with a little effort and eventually my brain was able to switch depending on which keyboard my hands were fit to - sort of like a dialect. The much larger problem was that _both_ the 'b' keys broke within the first couple of years. It did not quite fit the heirloom quality point for me and I didn't feel like taking it apart and figuring out what was going on.

Since then, I have switched to Mistel split keyboard which have the exact feel as any other qwerty keyboard and I haven't looked back (though I did rebind some of the keys, like the arrows for example, to match the vi movement keys).

I'm interested in keymouse (keymouse.com) but frankly don't feel like dropping a bunch of money on another experimental design. So I've got two Mistels for both my daily drivers and will likely continue with that brand as I've been very happy with the quality.

[tiltowait]

Was your Model 01 with the clicky switches or the quiet ones. I believe the clicky ones had some issues. Mine did; one of the switches just sends keypresses on repeat. I could fix it, but it's more work than I care to put in right now.

The Model 100 uses MX-style switches and has some small design improvements here and there. No complaints on my end, but I haven't put it through as much torture as my Model 01.

ETA: Which Mistel did you get? They look interesting.

[rssoconnor]

I ended up getting the ZSA Moonlander, which I'm quite happy with. I probably would have gotten the Advantage 360, but the measurements indicated it would be too tall to fit on my keyboard tray and still slide under my desk.

That said, I eventually ended up getting "The Platform" for tenting my Moonlander. And while the tenting is collapsible, The Platform lifts increases my keyboard height just enough that it now no longer slides under my desk with my keyboard tray.

But I prefer the tenting, so I just live with it. I just unplug my keyboard and set it aside when I need to close my keyboard tray.

I constructed myself a Miryoku inspired layout for my Moonlander. Though getting the timing right for using home-row mods is very tricky, and it is unclear to me if it is worthwhile or not.

[samatman]

I didn't know Kinesis made an Ergodox layout, that's probably what I'll buy when my Ergodox EZ quits. Again. Which it will.

The first one died after 26 months. Sounds weirdly specific, why would I remember that? Two-year warranty. The owner of the company was shockingly rude to me, accused me of threatening to trash his reputation if he didn't give me free stuff. I had sent him some links to times I had praised and recommended his product (they're all on here, feel free to Algolia it if you're curious).

Well, Erez Zukerman, you deserve to have your reputation trashed. The product itself is decent. Unless it randomly dies on you right after the warranty expires, in which case, fuck you.

[tiltowait]

Layout-wise, I haven't seen anyone beat the Keyboardio. The thumb cluster is perfect, and the palm keys are fantastic. The only thing it lacks is a sculpted key well like the Kineses/Maltron.

From looking at it, the Glove80 looks to be a near-perfect layout (good thumb cluster, sculpted well, but no palm key). The switches give me some pause, but I haven't ever tried them.

[dinkleberg]

I'd highly recommend Kinesis advantage360. I previously tried a moonlander, but I wasn't a fan. The curve of the kinesis is perfect.

It has truly spoiled me and now typing on a regular keyboard is terrible. My only complaint is that they are so big and chunky that traveling with them isn't all that feasible. So I'm confined to the crappy laptop keyboard when on-the-go.

[acjohnson55]

I used a Moonlander for a few years, and then I impulse-bought the Dygma Defy during its crowd funding campaign. I like the Defy slightly better but I definitely should not have bought a second several hundred dollar keyboard.

[__mharrison__]

Using a Lily58 after almost 10 years of ErgoDox. Happy to answer any questions.

[thomastjeffery]

I really like my keyboard.io Model 01. The thumb (and palm) keys are excellent.

Beyond that, there is a market for prebuilt Dactyl and similar hand-made boards.

[argiopetech]

I didn't know Kinesis had a split board. Thanks for the tip.

The ErgoDox/Moonlander are in that price range and are highly thought of.

[astrospective]

I’ve been using an Ergodox-EZ for 7 years, it’s been so good for my wrists.

[dotancohen]

I've had over a dozen split or mechanical keyboards over the years. By far the most comfortable for everyday usage (software development) was the Matias Ergo Pro. The keys are outstanding. The layout is terrific. The keyboard is completely adjustable so the R in RSI is vastly reduced, I would move mine around constantly. But the quality is atrocious. After less than a year mine was repeating some keys and not registering others. The company rep told me this was normal but sent to me a replacement anyway - and that one had the same issues a year later.

That said, if money were no object I would just get a new one every year. That's how much I loved that keyboard while it was working.