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.
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.
After starting with an Ergodox, I’ve been using a 42-key Corne keyboard for the last few years.
I love it. My current board is the Boardsource Unicorne.
I’m experimenting the cocot46plus as a “unibody Corne with trackball” for cases when an all-in-one keyboard and pointing device might be more useful, but plan to keep using a Corne a daily driver.
I pair it with MT3 keycaps and Cherry MX2A Browns.
After some practice, my typing speed increased to about 85 wpm on the board vs 65 wpm on my more traditional Happy Keyboard Lite 2 60% keyboard.
I use the markstos layout
I’ve been using a Glove80 full time for over a year and I love it! It helped with my wrist pain too. I’ve not used any other ergonomic keyboards other than the Microsoft one, but I’m very happy with this one and see no reason to change.
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
Do you have any tenting on you ferris sweep?
No tenting, I have found it very comfortable just sitting on the desk, I think the low profile height helps a lot
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 was a 60% guy until I borrowed (stole? I still have it) a Kensis Advantage from a coworker.
- Not long after I built a couple Ergodox (Hotdox). I used all 76 keys for about 5 years.
- I built a beautiful wireless Ergodox with a metal case and solar charging (SliceMK) that I have basically never used :/
- For the last year and a half I’ve used a dactyl manuform (Wylder) that I soldered with ameba king per key pcbs. 39 keys (I don’t use a few) + a trackball.
I don’t see myself changing anytime soon, auto mouse layer is amazing. I have a Draculad PCB and case but no real reason to build it since I wfh.
4 years with my Iris V2. My only 2 complaints are that I didn’t like the default layering layout in QMK and that I couldn’t wait for V4.
Incredible keyboard.
I also highly recommend the Otemu Silent Sky switches I used in it, though sourcing them is a real pain. Tactile, buttery smooth, good resistance curves, and utterly silent.
Self made Scylla for a year (it’s a dactyl type - 6x4 plus clusters, split, tented, welled, ortho) and I’m cruising on it.
Still adjusting 1 or 2 keys on ZMK but from comfort its amazing.
Bluetooth, USB-C and battery. Enjoying life!
Been using a Matias Ergo Pro for several years now. Love the chonky CTRL, OPTION, CMD and Spacebar keys.
Before purchase, I read reviews that some of the keys would tend to stick. Indeed, after a few months, the ‘F’ key decided that it was going to work according to its own plan. So the reviews were right. A good keyboard if they would just fix their d*mn key issues.
Working on building a new custom keyboard to replace it.
Are you able to pop off the keycaps and see what’s going on underneath the sticking key?
I’ll try that.
I’ve been using my bad wings (v1) for over a year, and I didn’t think I’d ever give it up. It’s a 36-key mono-body split with a cirque track pad in the middle, and I use it with a miryoku layout. I used it as my only board for several months after I first built it, but I was constantly using it for travel and project computers (it’s perfect for tinkering with raspberry pis), so I put another board at my desktop computer and now my bad wings goes wherever I go for my laptop, or hot-desking, or projects, or anything else. I’ve even used the track pad on it as my only mouse for days at a time.
I recently bought a bad wings 2 as a back up and so that I could convert my first one to wireless with ZMK. All in all, it’s been a fantastic board for me, and I’ll definitely be using it for the foreseeable future.
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.
I’ve been using a Kinesis Advantage for over a decade now. I’ve tried most of the ergo options out there and I keep coming back to the Advantage. It’s the only one that gets the thumb keys right in my opinion.
I currently run a heavily modified version done by the guys at Upgrade Keyboards.
I’ve been using Zilpzalp basically exclusively for over a year, at this point I don’t think I’ll ever find a more comfortable board :)
Now that you’ve been using this for awhile, how is your typing speed? Or is your preference for it more about comfort and enjoyment?
It’s definitely about comfort, but i’ve also never been faster on any other board. Gotta admit I’m not a fast typist, with around 80wpm.
that’s what your board should feel like, right. also same, except for splaytoraid of course. I don’t use anything else anymore.
I’ve been using a moonlander for a couple years now. I love it, but I’ve been toying with the idea of building my own with a trackball in the thumb cluster
Keyboardio Model 01 since late 2017 until Model 100 came out early 2022, then I switched to that asap for the nicer switches.
Love them both. Very hackable. Very reliable, especially the newer model, the 01 needed some occasional switch de-dusting.
The only downsides are:
- I miss my F keys
- There is no way to get custom labeled keycaps except for manufacturing them yourself somehow.
