I've seen that there was a tiny trackball mod for Sofle, but cannot easily tell if any changes are necessary to get this working with Choc.
Myself I'd probably want a bigger trackball like fingerpunch's Faux Fox / Rock On builds have it.
It's certainly not wood or steel, but it's doing okay - the only time when you can feel that it's not an extra-sturdy material is when pressing on the encoders, and that might be addressable by adding an extra pair of rubber feet next to these.
A Sofle Choc with mixed gray/red pro switches
The two are pretty similar, but to me red pro is just about the point where I can hold the key without thinking about it, which is a good trait for modifier keys.
Originally I used numpad as a navigation block, but I've since figured out that setting right thumb row to [MO(2)←→↑↓] / [▿Home End PageUp PageDown] works well for my purposes, so now it's just chillin'.
Assembled (complete with the pleasantly smooth photopolymer SLA case) by a local company (splitted_space on Telegram), originally with brown switches.
Thank you for your advice, and also Sofle looks neat - for a 58-key keyboard it doesn't feel like it has sacrificed too much.
Ximi looks amusing - I guess this is the point where you need 3-4 layers to make proper use of it, but two trackballs are quite a treat. I do occasionally use a trackball as a scroll wheel ball in my existing setup.
That's a neat keyboard - doesn't have arrow keys, but their upcoming Defy keyboard has a rather impressive number of side keys and thumb keys. I'll keep this in mind.
So what do people do with thumb clusters?
In my current setup, I have a little tool to have remapped RAlt act as a faux mod layer (so that I can quickly enter symbols like · — ➜ or have two-key shortcuts that don't conflict with anything), but most of the objective improvement comes from good auto-completion, snippets, and editor features (e.g. multi-cursors can be a blessing to both edit a bunch of lines at once and to create N constructs out of a list of names/signatures).
I've seen this one, but I'd need to find a local sample to verify that I can use it - per post, I have non-too-strict typing habits and I'm afraid that an ortholinear[-ish] layout will be weeks-long despair with me missing keys.
For example, I already had a habit of holding my hands at an angle prior to using split keyboards, but this also meant that I was usually pressing Y key with my left index finger, which, on Sculpt, meant that I was now either typing a T or hitting my finger on the edge of the keyboard.
Thank you - I've been eyeing the various keeb.io models (Cepstrum / Quefrency / Sinc / KBO-5000), and is there more to be aware of beyond layout? Off-hand I can only tell that switches are hotswappable on all of these except KBO-5000, and that Quefrency / Sinc have an option for 3x1.25u / 2.25u / 1.25u on the bottom left row, which is nice.
And as for the squishies, that's a delight
Help me pick a keyboard
Some context: I write code and play videogames, primarily on Windows and currently on a Logitech K860, which I've been thinking of replacing with something that is less wide and/or two-piece. In looking into this I have discovered that there's quite a number of keyboards that fit my criteria, so I could use some help figuring out what's more likely to be a good choice.
What do I desire:
- US-like QWERTY layout (LShift next to Z, horizontal or otherwise reasonable-sized Enter)
- TKL (or otherwise not too wide)
- Split (ideally two-part, but the classic 15(?)-degree triangle in the middle is also okay)
- Probably a normal staggered layout (I touch-type, but it's not strict home-row typing)
- Normal arrow keys (read: separate keys not requiring an Fn press/layer switch; Up-arrow being above Down-arrow)
- Home/End keys next to arrow keys, or accessible via Fn+arrow (or a couple useless keys next to arrow keys that could be remapped)
- A Delete key somewhere in that area (or another useless key that can be remapped)
- Digit keys
- A Windows/Option key
Nice to have:
- F-keys (to use for keyboard shortcuts)
- Tenting
- (detachable?) palm supports
- Wired connection or optional cable.
Things that don't mean too much:
- Lighting
- Key labels and their durability
- High-end macro recording (key codes can be remapped on PC side)
Misc:
- I've not owned enough mechanical keyboards to have a switch preference beyond "shouldn't take much force to press / shouldn't be too loud".
- I can assemble and disassemble devices, but probably wouldn't find time to solder.
- Not particularly limited in terms of budget - been a few years since I've last got a fancy keyboard.
- I'm used to low-profile keyboards, though it's more about travel time and how much the keys poke out of the keyboard than actual key cap height.
What else I've used that's worth noting:
- MSI GK-701 (non-split) Bought to see what was the fuss with Cherry MX brown switches, but couldn't get used to how tall this thing was (~4cm).
- Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Desktop Very good keyboard layout, somewhat stiff (?) keys and clicky F-keys.
- HAVIT HV-KB390L (non-split) A pretty pleasant TKL low-profile keyboard with Kailh white switches that I used for a little while before going back to split keyboards.
- Logitech K860 Better keys than Sculpt, but full-sized.
- Perrixx/MoKo/etc. Foldable Keyboard (aka B.O.W. keyboard) It's a pocket comedy split keyboard. Not very high-quality, but beats typing on the phone, you know?
- Logitech K280e (non-split) A curious low-profile, quiet (rubber-domed?) office keyboard that I use with secondary devices.
Considerations so far
Sculpt-likes (one-piece ~75%):
- Perixx PERIDUO-606 A mouse wheel in the middle?
- Perixx PERIBOARD-613 B This one has a 4:1 Enter key. I think it's for people that like their RShift keys.
- Perixx PERIBOARD-335 (TKL) A mass-market-ish keyboard with mechanical switches? That's neat. Not hot swap, but still!
- Lenovo Go Wireless Split Apparently Lenovo made a conventional TKL split keyboard once.
- BC Split Ergonomic Seems like an almost 1:1 replica of Sculpt layout, except for distribution of F-keys. UK layout only, I think?
- X-Bows Knight Column-staggered, has a 2x2 Backspace key, and the most obnoxious website I've seen as of late.
- Truly Ergonomic 229 Mechanical Keyboard A similar design to X-Bows, but with a more symmetrical layout. -Truly Ergonomic CLEAVE A slightly different design with a handful of large keys for your thumbs.
Two-piece (pre-assembled):
- Goldtouch V2 (>75%) A seemingly normal rubber-domed keyboard.
- Kinesis Freestyle2/Pro/Edge (>75%) A similar layout. I guess this one made it big because every other split keyboard post I find includes a sponsored listing from Kinesis. And what's the difference between these? Switches, programmable buttons, and lighting?
- Matias Ergo Pro (>75%) That's a quirky layout, but technically has all the buttons.
- Cloud Nine ErgoTKL (>75%) A fairly Sculpt-like layout with a couple extra buttons.
- Core Mechanics Project: 0001 (>75%) Pretty good layout and a couple macro keys too. A clean look.
- Perixx PERIBOARD-524B (75%) A perfectly normal two-piece layout.
- Goldtouch Go!2 The wireless/scissor edition of the seemingly normal keyboard, now with a couple sacrifices and navigation keys on the left.
- R-Go Split Break This is a different kind of a compact comedy keyboard, except it's a wired PC keyboard.
Two-piece (kits):
- Mistel MD770 (75%) An (almost) perfectly normal layout that's split into two halves. 650L seems similar sans the f-key row.
- YMDK Split 64/75/84 All QMK-based I believe?
- Keychron Q11 QMK (75%-ish) Also a pretty normal layout featuring two knobs.
- Keebio collections (65%..>75%) I've not even heard of some of these switches before, but Cepstrum looks intriguing.
- Sinc R3 (>75%)
One-piece (kits):
- Keychron Q8 That's not how you curve a keyboard.
- Feker Alice 80 (65%) A very sensible layout sans the relocated Win-key.