- I've seen some debate between thumb cluster (ErgoDox) and thumb arc (Keyboardio). I've seen varying responses, so I believe I just have to test both, right? (although, if anyone has some long term comparison between the two, I'd love to hear it).
I own both an ErgoDox EZ, and a Model01. The former has been my daily driver for about two years, I switched to the Model01 in late 2017 (but still used the EZ at work). I'm only using the Model01 since late August. I guess I have pretty long experience with both.
My vote goes for the thumb arc, hands down. On the EZ's thumb cluster, I can reach the 2u keys comfortably, and the innermost key on the bottom row. If I stretch, I can also reach the bottommost 1u key on the thumb cluster, but that's not very comfortable. The other three keys require me to lift and reposition my hands, rendering them much less useful. The Model01 thumb arch does not have this problem. It has fewer thumb keys, but we must stop and think if we even need that much. Whether the effort of moving one's hand is worth the extra thumb keys (it doesn't).
- Then there is the concave (like dactyl) vs convex (like the Manuform). Do we have a definitive answer of which of the two is better?
I don't think there's a definitive answer, mostly because it highly depends on how much you tent your keyboard. If the keyboard is flat on the desk, then Manuform's thumb cluster style is better in my opinion. If you tent it high, then a more flat one becomes more comfortable.
- And (originally planned as my main question): What if we replace the thumb cluster with a D-pad, or 4 direction thumb-pad? Or POV hat switch, or some other kind of mini-joystick? I've read that the thumb-pad on the Razer Orbweaver can wasn't good for RSI, but there it was continually used for movement during gaming. I imagine it's completely different when you assign space/enter/PgUp/PgDown to the four sides, which are used far less, right? Do you think this could be something for use during typing instead of separate keys? Or am I missing something else here, that it's always a bad idea compared to normal, even when used less frequently?
I have a
Shortcut prototype, which has two 4-way sticks for the thumbs. It tried assigning modifiers to it, along with space & enter, and it mostly worked. The trouble there is that your thumb is not the most dexterous digit you have, and it is far too easy to move the thumbstick the wrong way. Less of a problem during gaming, but when typing, it is mighty annoying. There are workarounds one can implement to make them more usable, but a 4-way thumb-stick is less practical for typing than keys. I'd say the same is true for a D-pad - might as well use normal key switches then, which would be much less surprising.
Mind you, for gaming, the thumb sticks are awesome. If we had a keyboard where the thumb cluster is an addon module, one that can be easily changed, then one could switch between keys and thumbsticks easily. That would be amazing.