Ergo Dox MX choices

[Quardah]

Hello!

Short and sweet backstory; i'm not an heavy-spending person and my wallet currently has a little spare. I managed to buy all my mod stuff for my Poker II (Dis gon b gewd) and right now i am considering getting an Ergo Dox.

First of all i would like to know if Ergo Dox responds as a normal keyboard in the BIOS? I know this sounds stupid but the 7G has issues with my motherboard for some reason therefore i'd rather make sure.

Then the big thing:

In this thread i would like to open a discussion about how did you personally determine which MX switches use with the Ergo Dox.

Here are the options : Blue Black Brown Red Clear Green White Tactile Grey and Linear Grey. (Nothing else don't go Buckling Springs or Topre or Alps please spare me your hipsterness, i am currently not interested into anything else than MX.)

Also, what do you actually do with it? Heavy typing workdays? Translation works? Form filling? Gaming? Programming? Linux/Unix Administration? Showing off? Is there a noticable advancement in WPM (Personnal 10ff results would be nice)?

Thanks!

[davkol]

I opted for MX Red, because it was the first kind of switch I liked (still enjoy my choc mini with reds), but didn't install them, because I got some PCB-mount MX Clear switches. I wanted to give them a try and considered the PCB mount an advantage in case of that acrylic case. I loved them for typing, much more than ergo clears, thanks to the steep force/travel curve. OTOH I didn't like the pronounced bump for gaming or even controlling software (e.g., navigation in documents). That's why I'm converting my ergodox to #vintage MX Black (I might convert them to 62g Korean springs or maybe "ghost" springs from clears eventually).

I've used the keyboard to take notes in lectures (ergodox halves on my knees), write prose and code (C, Python, TeX)... and obviously control the desktop environment. My software setup of choice consists of GNU/Linux with KDE Plasma Desktop (hotkeys for nearly everything, although I like my trackballs), Firefox w/ VimFX, Vim (or Emacs w/ evil) and pandoc.

The symmetrical layout has positively affected my accuracy and typing technique in general. Speed? Not really. I usually type slower on mechanical keyboards than on scissor switches or some rubber domes, at least in bursts, but with much less fatigue.

[Harrowed]

First of all i would like to know if Ergo Dox responds as a normal keyboard in the BIOS? I know this sounds stupid but the 7G has issues with my motherboard for some reason therefore i'd rather make sure.

Ergodox sents out same signals as any other normal keyboard so it should work.

In this thread i would like to open a discussion about how did you personally determine which MX switches use with the Ergo Dox.

Here are the options : Blue Black Brown Red Clear Green White Tactile Grey and Linear Grey. (Nothing else don't go Buckling Springs or Topre or Alps please spare me your hipsterness, i am currently not interested into anything else than MX.)

Also, what do you actually do with it? Heavy typing workdays? Translation works? Form filling? Gaming? Programming? Linux/Unix Administration? Showing off? Is there a noticable advancement in WPM (Personnal 10ff results would be nice)?

Thanks!

I used QWER8 V2 MX Switch Testing Kit to test the feel of different switches and decided to go with blues. I bought switches used from forum user to save money. I mostly type for forums and irc plus do some coding (I'm studying computer science in university). I really didn't know how to properly touch type before switching to Dox so in my case the typing speed has increased significantly (plus it was really uncomfortable to type with normal keyboards).

[davkol]

First of all i would like to know if Ergo Dox responds as a normal keyboard in the BIOS? I know this sounds stupid but the 7G has issues with my motherboard for some reason therefore i'd rather make sure.

Ergodox sents out same signals as any other normal keyboard so it should work.

Actually, it depends on stuff like KRO implementation. Ben's firmware should be fine. I haven't tested sending Unicode.

[Quardah]

First of all i would like to know if Ergo Dox responds as a normal keyboard in the BIOS? I know this sounds stupid but the 7G has issues with my motherboard for some reason therefore i'd rather make sure.

Ergodox sents out same signals as any other normal keyboard so it should work.

Actually, it depends on stuff like KRO implementation. Ben's firmware should be fine. I haven't tested sending Unicode.

Yeah that's the issue. It seems for some reason newer motherboards are having some issues depending on the keyboards connected. For some reasons the 7G doesn't want to respond in BIOS even when the only board, and even the Poker II doesn't respond as a valid keyboards on some BIOS (i've tried on several machines, maybe one or two would not accept it).

My friend and i have older machines in his basements where we do stuff arround on Linux and even there, some boards are simply not working as intented on BIOS. It sucks :/

[vivalarevolución]

Here is the thing with the Ergodox case design: you can easily remove and change the switch tops without have to desolder the switches, so it makes it very easy to change the switches if you please.  Then you can resell the switches that you removed if you do not want them.

In my two Ergodoxen, I have MX clears with 62g springs, and stock MX blues.  It all comes down to what you enjoy typing on, but I find lubed clears with 60-65g springs are the best Cherry typing experience.

For typing, I use the Ergodox for daily typing and long prose. Since it is programmable, you can optimize the layout for whatever you please. I did find that my words per minute were reduced, but my accuracy improved.

to tell the truth, though, I have stopped using my Ergodoxen because I find most of my typing related pain derives from the type of mouse and the layout.  I find that layouts that facilitate less movement from the home row more comfortable than good, ole QWERTY.

[SonOfSonOfSpock]

The choice of switches is a personal preference. I don't feel like the Ergodox changes how you strike keys with your fingers enough to change that. If you have a preference from using other mech boards, it might be good to make the same choice with an Ergodox.