Ergo Board Suggestions?

[Pdub]

Hey Guys.

I went to the Philly meetup yesterday and played with Binge's Ergo.
It was nice, can anyone help me with picking an ergo? I have no idea where to start. 
Board suggestions and or dissuade-ations <- YEP Made it up.  Thanks in advance. 

[SonOfSonOfSpock]

There are different takes on ergo boards. Some are close to just a split normal board while others are a more drastic change. Here are a few boards to take a look at that will give you an idea of what's out there. It isn't an exhaustive list, just what I can come up off the top of my head.

Keyboardio: http://shop.keyboard.io/
Ergodox: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/infinity-ergodox
Matias Ergo Pro: http://matias.ca/ergopro/pc/
Kinesis Advantage: http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage-for-pc-mac/
Kinesis Freestyle: http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/freestyle2-for-pc-us/
Goldtouch: http://www.goldtouch.com/ergonomic-keyboards/
Microsoft Sculpt: https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/products/keyboards/sculpt-ergonomic-desktop/l5v-00001

[bocahgundul]

You could join the infinity ergodox at massdrop bro

[hoggy]

That's a good list from SonOfSonOfSpock.

Both Kinesis and Matias will let you try their keyboards and return them if they aren't for you.  Both the Advantage and the Ergo Pro are worth trying.

[zefyr]

There are different takes on ergo boards. Some are close to just a split normal board while others are a more drastic change. Here are a few boards to take a look at that will give you an idea of what's out there. It isn't an exhaustive list, just what I can come up off the top of my head.

Keyboardio: http://shop.keyboard.io/
Ergodox: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/infinity-ergodox
Matias Ergo Pro: http://matias.ca/ergopro/pc/
Kinesis Advantage: http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage-for-pc-mac/
Kinesis Freestyle: http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/freestyle2-for-pc-us/
Goldtouch: http://www.goldtouch.com/ergonomic-keyboards/
Microsoft Sculpt: https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/products/keyboards/sculpt-ergonomic-desktop/l5v-00001

+1 for kinesis freestyle.
But the best one was MS Natural Elite Keyboard, Man I miss that thing.

[droshi]

Might as well add in the UHK
https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/

I'm not sure on which to try out myself.

The ErgoDox thumb clusters would likely be not so useful to me, biggest downfall I can see is that they aren't adjustable and therefore fit only a certain size hand perfectly.

Keyboard.io seems similar but possibly better in that there are less thumb buttons (along with a palm key to supplement), but no aftermarket key cap support.

UHK seems like a good split board with some extra options.

The thumb is really the worst "finger" with poor side to side range of motion when you consider ergonomics. In some ways, it almost seems like some boards are giving up some amount of ergonomics for productivity (more buttons available).

Another consideration is a standard 60% board. My pok3r has been doing well and doesn't require much finger movement, and anything you do use often can be moved to a closer key if needed. Right now I'm trying out a HHKB style layout on it with the Ctrl moved to caps lock position, and the backspace and \ keys switched. Overall it seems nice and more comfortable, but trying to give it time to see.

The real question I'm trying to decide...what features exactly makes a keyboard "more" ergonomic than another? I think there are a couple areas, and it all really comes down to adjust-ability to me, but I could be wrong:

• Split (hands can be in almost any position relative to body)
• Re-programmable (if something is too hard to reach it can be moved)
• Extra keys (or layers) available for the reprogramming

Since moving fingers any distance (further is worse) from home-row requires more effort, it makes a good case for the 60% style board and layer keys. I just wish I had a program, and key cap customization available that would help me keep track of what has been programmed into my other layers.

The UHK in some ways seems like a split pok3r, but I'm not certain how it will turn out. I guess sometimes there's no substitute for just trying a bunch of options. Too bad you can't just walk into a computer store and try out one of each!

[vvp]

The ErgoDox thumb clusters would likely be not so useful to me, biggest downfall I can see is that they aren't adjustable and therefore fit only a certain size hand perfectly.

Ergodox thumb cluster is not that bad. It is a bid far away and it needs keycaps of different height. If you can get low profile keycaps for the two 2x1 keys, low profile for the bottom row 1x1 key, middle height keycap for the middle row 1x1 key, and tall profile for the two top row keys of the thumb cluster then it is quite usable. If you want to look at some pictures of reach-ability of a thub cluster which is similar to Ergodox then check out the pictures in the spoilers of this post: https://deskthority.net/post250605.html#p250605

And really if you cannot reach all the thumb cluster keys then you do not need to use all of them. You can redefine their meaning so use only the ones which you can reach a put on them the functionality you want.

[Pdub]

Thank you guys. I will be taking a look at them tonight.

[Niomosy]

The UHK would probably get my money if it had function keys and an arrow cluster on it.  As a 60% board, it's not really my thing.

Supposedly the MX switch Freestyle will be out this year according to Kinesis.  I'll keep an eye out for that.  The Korean Vergo Type.T is also great and a pretty ideal layout.

[droshi]

The ErgoDox thumb clusters would likely be not so useful to me, biggest downfall I can see is that they aren't adjustable and therefore fit only a certain size hand perfectly.

Ergodox thumb cluster is not that bad. It is a bid far away and it needs keycaps of different height. If you can get low profile keycaps for the two 2x1 keys, low profile for the bottom row 1x1 key, middle height keycap for the middle row 1x1 key, and tall profile for the two top row keys of the thumb cluster then it is quite usable. If you want to look at some pictures of reach-ability of a thub cluster which is similar to Ergodox then check out the pictures in the spoilers of this post: https://deskthority.net/post250605.html#p250605

And really if you cannot reach all the thumb cluster keys then you do not need to use all of them. You can redefine their meaning so use only the ones which you can reach a put on them the functionality you want.

To the ErgoDox, that may be the case with different caps, but finding a matching set of caps is already so hard and expensive. When the caps needed get to be almost as much as the board something is wrong to me. Then if it's not what I'm looking for it offers a big risk. But you may be right. As to not using some keys..that is what I plan, but even still a well known member has had thumb problems after a year use, mostly because of the space placement:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=58673.5

The Katy keyboard looks nice...I threw my credit card at the screen but nothing happened. I don't mind building a board from a kit, but from scratch won't work for me personally.

The UHK would probably get my money if it had function keys and an arrow cluster on it.  As a 60% board, it's not really my thing.

Supposedly the MX switch Freestyle will be out this year according to Kinesis.  I'll keep an eye out for that.  The Korean Vergo Type.T is also great and a pretty ideal layout.

I'm still uncertain about Fn arrows on my pok3r. They seem pretty nice, and I use them a lot, but I can't decide if dedicated would be better as it requires more hand movement. But I'm still not fully used to the Fn layer stuff and have moved the key a couple times so I frequently hit the wrong key when combos are required.

[Niomosy]

The ErgoDox thumb clusters would likely be not so useful to me, biggest downfall I can see is that they aren't adjustable and therefore fit only a certain size hand perfectly.

Ergodox thumb cluster is not that bad. It is a bid far away and it needs keycaps of different height. If you can get low profile keycaps for the two 2x1 keys, low profile for the bottom row 1x1 key, middle height keycap for the middle row 1x1 key, and tall profile for the two top row keys of the thumb cluster then it is quite usable. If you want to look at some pictures of reach-ability of a thub cluster which is similar to Ergodox then check out the pictures in the spoilers of this post: https://deskthority.net/post250605.html#p250605

And really if you cannot reach all the thumb cluster keys then you do not need to use all of them. You can redefine their meaning so use only the ones which you can reach a put on them the functionality you want.

To the ErgoDox, that may be the case with different caps, but finding a matching set of caps is already so hard and expensive. When the caps needed get to be almost as much as the board something is wrong to me. Then if it's not what I'm looking for it offers a big risk. But you may be right. As to not using some keys..that is what I plan, but even still a well known member has had thumb problems after a year use, mostly because of the space placement:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=58673.5

The Katy keyboard looks nice...I threw my credit card at the screen but nothing happened. I don't mind building a board from a kit, but from scratch won't work for me personally.

The UHK would probably get my money if it had function keys and an arrow cluster on it.  As a 60% board, it's not really my thing.

Supposedly the MX switch Freestyle will be out this year according to Kinesis.  I'll keep an eye out for that.  The Korean Vergo Type.T is also great and a pretty ideal layout.

I'm still uncertain about Fn arrows on my pok3r. They seem pretty nice, and I use them a lot, but I can't decide if dedicated would be better as it requires more hand movement. But I'm still not fully used to the Fn layer stuff and have moved the key a couple times so I frequently hit the wrong key when combos are required.

Personal preference but I'm not concerned at all about hand movement and much more concerned about needing to use multi-button combinations more than necessary.  Fn+Number to get a function key is more an ergonomic problem for me than adjusting my hand a bit to hit a dedicated function key.  Combinations that need a Ctrl-FX combination are made more difficult if typing and impossible for right-handers with the right hand on the mouse since most Fn keys are placed on the right-hand side for some reason.

Beyond that though, I have no problem floating my hands so home row means almost nothing to me other than for tough typing placement.

[MajorMajor]

Might as well add in the UHK
https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/

I'm not sure on which to try out myself.

The ErgoDox thumb clusters would likely be not so useful to me, biggest downfall I can see is that they aren't adjustable and therefore fit only a certain size hand perfectly.

I'm most excited for this keyboard, should be out in July.

[xtrafrood]

Might as well add in the UHK
https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/

I'm not sure on which to try out myself.

The ErgoDox thumb clusters would likely be not so useful to me, biggest downfall I can see is that they aren't adjustable and therefore fit only a certain size hand perfectly.

I'm most excited for this keyboard, should be out in July.

Wait, modules? Trackball? Trackpoint? Touchpad? I'll have to look in to this for a future project pc, thank you droshi for the link. For the ErgoDox I found a build log that could interest you. I'm not sure if you want to solder everything or just buy one. Additional parts lists and instructions can be found on Massdrop.