Cheap large ortho keyboard?

[hactar]

Hey.  I'm reasonably sure I would like an ortholinear keyboard, but I'm not willing to drop hundreds of bucks on a "maybe".  I was looking at the Chester Creek "Myboard", which is a colorful ortho kb for kids.  It can be had (used) for maybe $40.  No doubt it's cheap & nasty and definitely has a weird layout, but at least I can find out whether I like ortho keyboards.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/255589421926

But, I type with one hand (you there, quit sniggering) and I rather doubt that kb comes in the Left Hand Dvorak layout.  So I'd need to rearrange the keys and do it in software.  I can't find any information on whether that's even possible.

Has anyone done it, or know of another ortho kb of about that size where you can?  Thanks.

[TheMastermind]

It might work for a little bit but layout aside, I don't think the board you linked would work very well since it looks like the keys themselves are much bigger than a standard 1u keycap. Maybe you can build a smaller ortho for just alphas, but that could also get pricey. :/

[hactar]

It might work for a little bit but layout aside, I don't think the board you linked would work very well since it looks like the keys themselves are much bigger than a standard 1u keycap.

Yeah, I'd be stuck with the keys they provide, if I can even rearrange them.

Maybe you can build a smaller ortho for just alphas, but that could also get pricey. :/

True.  I haven't seen any cheap orthos, much less large ones.  The BFO would work, but it looks crazy expensive to populate.  I saw a guy selling a full-size one once, but he had made a custom case and PCB and who knows what all else, and wanted $600 for it.  Sure thing, buddy.

[suicidal_orange]

Those keycaps all look to be the same profile (height and slope of the top) so you could pull them off and rearrange them.

All keyboards send the same keycodes then the operating system converts them to characters depending on language and layout setting so if you set the computer to Left Hand Dvorak you're good.  If you want to plug it in to multiple computers and have it just work you'll need to buy a programmable board or a USB-USB converter and do the remapping in firmware

Another option would be a POS (Point Of Sale) keyboard, something like this or this.  You'll have to do a bit of research as to whether you can do remapping or find one with the keyboard bit in the right place.

[hactar]

Those keycaps all look to be the same profile (height and slope of the top) so you could pull them off and rearrange them.

Cool, thanks.  I had a Thinkpad (T40) and the keys had this weird scissor-like mechanism which made them pretty fragile.

All keyboards send the same keycodes ... so if you set the computer to Left Hand Dvorak you're good.

Right, that's what I do now.  I rearranged the keycaps on my current keyboard to match.

Another option would be a POS (Point Of Sale) keyboard, something like this or this.

Ooh, good idea.  I'll keep an eye out.

[kajahtaa]

As an Ortho user since 2018 I would recommended you not

[hactar]

OK, why's that?

[hactar]

I ordered one of these:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/295175953405

and the PS/2 cable it needs.  It was cheap and I think it'll work.

Now I have to write a script to assign all the keys, but first decide which keys I want, and where I want them.  If someone knows an easy way to do this in Linux, that'd be great.  I did it before using loadkeys.  The OS can do it for normal-shaped keyboards, but this definitely isn't normal.

[kajahtaa]

OK, why's that?

You haven't read qmk docs