A few weeks ago, I started a thread asking for advice on purchasing a tenkeyless board. In spite of good advice from GeekHack, I was still undecided and chose not to rush into a purchase. I started experimenting with keyboard layouts to find one that had the least amount of compromise for me and I found a good 75% layout. Further refinement got me to a good (for me) 60% layout with almost no compromise. I continued to refine my design, experimenting with Autohotkeys. Autohotkeys can have some issues with key commands. I decided to add TouchCursor to the mix and discovered that I could get a perfectly acceptable 60% layout without having to build a custom keyboard. I plan to update my design log in the near future with the hope that someone else can benefit from it.
TouchCursor layout.
That brings me back to my original situation. Having spurned your advice on tenkeyless keyboards, I now come before you, a humble supplicant, begging for advice on buying a 60% board. I’m currently considering the Filco MiniLa, the Leopold 660m, the Pok3r, and the Infinity. I am open to other suggestions. Before anyone suggests the HHKB Pro 2, I’m not willing to spend that much on a switch type I’ve never used, I don’t care for the layout, and it doesn’t have enough buttons. I’ve also discounted the Poker II, KBP V60, Ducky Mini, and KBT Pure but maybe you can convince me otherwise or maybe you know about another 60% board I haven’t discovered yet.
I want the ability to have a TouchCursor layout natively on the board. I also use a negative tilt on my keyboard, so any board with a built-in tilt will have to be raised even higher to compensate for the built-in tilt.
The major pros for the Infinity is its programmability and the flat Tex aluminum case.
The major cons of the Infinity are its cost, the necessity of soldering the switches, and, if I understand correctly, the configuration software is not currently working.
The major pros for the other boards are price and more immediate availability. The MiniLa has the additional benefit of having a tiny space bar, making the function keys accessible to my thumbs without having to remove my hands from the home keys.
The cons of the rest:
The MiniLa has a built-in tilt and non-standard key sizes, making it more difficult/expensive to get replacement keys.
The Leopold 660m is actually a 66% board which is bigger than I want, and it has built in tilt.
Both keyboards do not have the function layer layout that I want and I will have to use TouchCursor to get the necessary layout. I don’t want to rely on installing third party software to make my keyboard function the way I want it to.
The Pok3r looks like it could give me the programmability of the Infinity at a lower cost, although it still has a built-in tilt, according to in-development screenshots. But it’s a wildcard. I don’t know when it’s coming to market or if it will be worth the cost.
I greatly appreciate any information or advice you can offer. I have a full-size keyboard at work that I use as if it was a 60% board and I want to transition to a true 60% board so I can free up space and bring my mouse closer to me. But I am willing to wait a couple months if my patience is rewarded with a keyboard that fulfills all my needs. Does anyone know if the Infinity plate allows for modding switches without desoldering?
