a great ergonomic keyboard to help your health issues
this remains to be seen
True, but I find it hard to believe that it won't help.
The Ergodox is not my idea of my dream keyboard. It simply appears to be less crazy than a Kinesis Advantage and it seems like it is made by ppl who are actually trying to solve a problem. Since they seem like they are
trying I am willing to go ahead and spend the bucks to buy it and pay someone to put it together for me if someone will fix the USB/PS/2 issue.
Just because I am willing to take a risk on something does not mean it is perfect for me. It just means I am open minded and willing to give it a try and willing to help the project out.
> How could it possibly not help you?
1. The thumb buttons are built into the hand buttons. I never asked for that and don't exactly want it due to this makes the keyboard as a whole take up a huge amount of deskspace. This means the keyboard either: A) Won't work for me. B) Will work for me but it will always be hanging off the edge of my lapmat or the edge of my rollerdesk and eventually will fall off and break.
> Why can't you just be like me and keep your keyboard on a normal GDMF Desk?!
Because I don't live a life of luxury and decadent pleasure like you. I am dying of pain. I can't use a keyboard PERIOD unless a huge number of strict rules are followed. Rule #13 The keyboard shall not be any higher than neccessary or extreme arm pain shall cause paralysis or death.
Maybe there is some luxurious larger desk than this little thing I am using, that would have infinitely adjustable height like this... but I don't have it and I don't know how much such a thing costs or where to get it. I just recently gained the ability to do online shopping so there are probably an infinite number of little thingamajigs that u know about that I don't.
Ok so even if I had the most perfect desk in the universe it still doesn't mean an ergodox will work for me because it just looks like the Ergodox intrudes greatly into my mouse space.
> Oh dear God, he's going to quote another rule...
Yes I am
Under: Attempting to use a computer
Rule #1. Don't
Rule #2. If you break Rule#1 then you MUST keep the mouse right in front of you. None of this nonsense keeping the mouse way up on a tall desk out beyond your numeric keypad.
I have to be hyper ergonomic at all times to even use my computer a little bit. If I had not come up with all these strict rules of Ergomania then I would not be here on GeekHack. I wouldn't be alive or I would still be in READONLY mode like I was for years just watching the world go by like a Dolphin, unable to use my hands.
So yes, Ergodox allegedly lets me shift with my thumbs. That is kewl. And it is flat unlike Kinesis Advantage. That is great. But it consumes large amounts of deskspace. It uses a grid layout. I never asked for that and never thought I would like it. Normal layout is ok for me.
Ergodox also uses a split layout with a really huge split. The only split keyboard I ever used before hurt me a lot but that is because it was some crappy fake "ergo" rubberdome keyboard with typical way overstiff rubberdomes that required a wildly painful impact in order to register a keypress. I am just hoping that my pain will be ok with the split and the grid of the ergodox.
I know I can handle a small split. But the Ergodox split is hugely gigantamongous. For me, its a risk.
If I stick with the Cherry Red keyboards I have now then I get real Function keys. I have coding stuff set up on my function keys so I can press a single button to trigger some text. On Ergodox I hafta press 2 keys. (2x the keys = 2x the pain) I only get to press a certain number of keys per day before the pain gets to high. I don't even know how SHIFT+F1 would work... I think to use the temp Layer key would require too much finger gymnastics which would hurt my hand immediately so that leaves using the Layer Switch key (whatever its called) but then I have to 1. Switch layer 2. Press SHIFT+1 3. Switch back to original layer. So that is 4 keypresses instead of 2. Some of the macros would no longer really be worth it.
What if shifting with my thumbs doesn't work out for me? I would like to be able to shift with my fingers in the middle of keyboard. I need extra keys in the center of the board that are freely definable. In my dream keyboard there are at least 4 columns of keys in the center of the board. I have been wanting that since 2003. But Ergodox has only 2 columns and some of the keys are critically important layer keys and cannot be done away with.
> Dude, you can like totally redefine the layer keys to be shift keys.
How do you know it actually works? Have u tried it? What if there is a bug in the controller software so that you can redefine any key you want
except the layer keys? That is exactly the kind of bug/limitation I would expect.
If I could redefine the layer keys to be elsewhere, which other keys would I destroy? This is why a keyboard needs a few extra keys on it so you don't get jammed up just because you want some extra shift keys.
You see, switching to Ergodox is a risk.
Now you can see why there is only a 50% chance of Ergodox actually helping me.
If I stick to my brand new (complete garbage currently being held together with scotch tape) Rosewill then I at least get my cherry red switches with a beautiful spring under every key that works on PS/2 and I get 12 function keys and a whole entire numeric keypad filled with keys that I can redefine to do special things. In fact, writing this msg has given me a great idea how to make an ergo keyboard out of a normal keyboard without having to pay someone thousands of $$$ to build my dream keyboard! Wow! Thank u Sordna for harassing me into writing this!
My new idea does not replace my dream keyboard but it might possibly maybe be "barely good enough" for me to squeak by with.