geekhack
geekhack Community => Ergonomics => Topic started by: dotancohen on Sun, 15 August 2021, 12:51:01
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About six years ago I purchased a Matias Ergo Pro with the quiet keys. After some issues with the keyboard Matias graciously sent to me another keyboard, with the regular keys. I must state that for the time that the keyboards worked, they were the most comfortable keyboards that I have ever used - and I have gone through a lot of ergonomic keyboards. But both keyboards had many issues, such as keypresses repeating indefinitely. I remember the keyboards more for the quality issues than for the comfort, to be honest.
I'm now looking to purchase another split ergonomic keyboard. Due to needing dedicated Function keys and palmrests, I am deciding between the Matias Pro, the Cloud Nine C989, the Kinesis Freestyle.
Has the quality of the Matias keyboards improved in recent years? I would absolutely love a keyboard with the comfortable Matias layout, but with higher quality. I'm not even sure that simply soldering in Cherries would help as from what I've read on forum posts the issues are with the controller, not the keys.
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Two split keyboards that are currently popular from my research are Moonlander, the successor of Ergodox EZ and Dygma Raise.
I have ordered a Raise.
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Two split keyboards that are currently popular from my research are Moonlander, the successor of Ergodox EZ and Dygma Raise.
Both of which lack dedicated Function keys. Otherwise, they seem nice.
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If you don't use the number pad, you could consider the Mistel MD770.
I'm a month late but I've tried it inb4 and it's nice :D
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I've had two Ergo Pros. The first was definitely dodgy, it didn't take long for some switches to start failing and the USB connector was soldered weakly so that unplugging/replugging quickly broke it. By that time, I'd heard that the quality had improved since the initial batch so I ordered a second one, which to be fair, did last somewhat longer. Still, they aren't cheap and I'd expect them to last for more than the 2-3 years I got even from the second one.
I didn't order a third one - felt like I didn't want to reward them for unsatisfactory workmanship. Shame, as they keyboard itself is a nice design esp for those who want an more ergonomic experience but without ditching row stagger.
Also, I've since moved on to fully ergo boards, and now consider the Ergo Pro to be merely a gateway keyboard on the path to full ergonomic enlightenment.
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I have used the Kinesis Freestyle Pro for a good couple of years and while not flashy (no rgb, no backlight, etc...) it's one of the best keyboards I've ever had.
I use it every day for work. It's fully programmable, the internal drive layouts are a little clunky, but otherwise I completely recommend it.
I haven't tried the Mathias.