Hey,

I’m looking for a portable ortholinear for taking to co-working in my backpack.

For context, I’m a coder. I use neovim all day. At home I use a maltron 3d. It’s a fantastic comfortable keyboard (I think kinesis nicked the design?), although it did take getting used to.

It’s the only keyboard I’ve ever been able to touch type on.

So yeah. I’d like to find something similar that is portable. It has to have quiet switches, as it’s a shared office. Any suggestions?

So far I’ve looked at:

Those all look nice, but are too expensive.

How does the ergodox ez hold up these days?

  • silico_biomancer@lemmy.nz
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    1 month ago

    Glove80 is probably the best commercial option, but is very expensive. For the combination you are looking for, DIY might be a good solution, depending on how adventurous you want to go. Linear choc/low-profile switches are not loud, but hard to silence. If you want silent, you’ll need to tape mod and lube them (search up how). That isn’t difficult, but is time-consuming. If your time is too valuable, there are sites available where you can pay people to do it before sending keys to you.

    I recently designed a super easy-build portable board that I put together in an hour, for $80 and only very basic soldering skills. Shipping takes a while though. The low cost comes from having few switches/keys and using a chinese microcontroller. If you aren’t ready for that few keys, there are options like the kyria or Lily that are bigger.

    For portability, I’m just in the final stages of completing this 3D printed case generator that holds the two halves of a split keyboard together magnetically, protects the PCB, and has quick-unfold tent legs that you can customise at design time for your desired tenting. You could use this for whatever custom PCB you chose.

  • pixelprimer@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    For a silent and portable keywell you’ve basically only got the Glove80. Their new Cherry Blossom silent switches is where I would go. Voyager is also an option but only slightly less expensive than the glove and you lose the keywell. I’d definitely go for that if you’re willing to drop the cash. There’s usually a few used ones up for sale on the MoErgo discord

  • 667@lemmy.radio
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    1 month ago

    I specifically selected the Moonlander because I travel often and needed the small form factor, while also retaining the split design and large number of keys.

  • version_unsorted@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    Ergodox EZ is fantastic, I’ve got zealpc zilents installed in mine for silent tactile. Expensive switches, but I’ve been transplanting them between new keyboards. I got the EZ from a friend when he wanted to go to a moonlander.

    • vext01@lemmy.sdf.orgOP
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      1 month ago

      Ergodox

      I’ve been looking for a photo of a ergodox ez and a voyager side-by-side. Trying to figure out how luggable the EZ will be.

      Voyager looks amazingly luggable, but I’m not sure if I can live with so few keys.