Finding a mechanical keyboard which is not a terrible design

[batfink]

I am looking to get a mechanical keyboard, but never having owned one before and am struggling to find one that is satisfactory.

I love the look of the ErgoDox and the other ergonomic designs on this forum, but am also looking for one that comes ready assembled. I am keeping my eye on the Uniquek Diverge but that is still new / not tried and tested.  In reality I will probably have to limit myself reluctantly to relatively mainstream maufacturers and/or more conventional designs.

Therefore I am thinking maybe in the meantime maybe a portable, small (60%) keyboard would be the easier route. I could probably make do if I could find one that at least met these criterea:

- Must have split spacebar so at that both thumbs can have something to do! This would need to be configurable (hardware or software) so that I could make one of my thumbs the Shift key.
- If staggered, there must be a key to the left of Z (ISO stylee) at 50% offset.
- Must be able to move the keycaps around so that I can set it to Colemak.
- Not overly expensive (maybe $150?)

I haven't noticed such a mainstream keyboard. Perhaps the Matthias Ergo Pro might be close? I feel somewhat unhappy that it is so hard to find decent options 

[jdcarpe]

Unfortunately, you're not going to find many options in a 60% with a split space bar. Maybe the Ergo Duck? But I doubt it has the ISO left shift option.

And if you want key caps that you can swap to different rows, you'll want a uniform profile set, such as a set of them in SP's DSA profile, or an all-row-3 SA set.

Maybe look at something like the Atreus?

[DrHubblePhD]

You can always just get an ergodox and then have someone assemble it for you. Also, matias just came out with their ergo pro which looks promising. Both are a bit out of your price range but it will be worth it for you to buy what you want because buying something that is second rate will only lead to buying another keyboard down the road.

EDIT: didnt see your last comment, yeah the ergo pro might be a good option.

[jacobolus]

- portable, small (60%) keyboard
- Must have split spacebar [...] configurable so that I could make one of my thumbs the Shift key.
- If staggered, there must be a key to the left of Z (ISO stylee) at 50% offset.
- Must be able to move the keycaps around so that I can set it to Colemak.
- Not overly expensive (maybe $150?)

I haven't noticed such a mainstream keyboard.

This is a set of somewhat non-mainstream criteria. Ergonomic keyboards are a niche, meaning they have smaller production volume and therefore higher per-unit production costs. For a vendor to make any kind of profit, they need to price niche non-standard mechanical keyboards in the $200–300+ range (like ErgoPro, Kinesis Advantage, Truly Ergonomic, Ergodox, or the upcoming keyboard.io), or else figure out a way to hit higher volumes without spending money (unfortunately most of the ways of getting new customers involve spending a lot on marketing, and those costs show up in the final price).

(The Diverge is a different story, since the guy making them seems to not really care about paying himself a livable salary from it, he’s just one guy not a company with employees, and he’s working at a very small scale [I think he’s a college student?].)

Anyway, the most reasonable “mainstream” options for you are probably the Kinesis Advantage, the ErgoPro, or the Truly Ergonomic. All three are $200–300, and none is quite as portable as you’re looking for. They all use sculpted keycaps so if you want to have Colemak legends you’ll need to add your own aftermarket keycaps. I’m not sure if any of them makes it easy to configure one of the thumb keys to be shift.

If you really want to get something that very specifically matches your criteria, I think you’re going to need to build it yourself. If you have access to a laser cutter and a soldering iron you can probably make a layered acrylic keyboard in the precise shape you want, and get the whole thing down to ~$100 + a whole bunch of labor. Or else pay someone to build your design for you, but that’s probably a lot more than $150.

[Sc0tTy]

I concur with what jacobolus says but adding one thing.
Switching around keycaps on the Truly Ergonomic (TECK) is not a great idea because they use different keycaps dimensions for different places on the keyboard.

For me its not  a problem, I write Colemak without looking at my keyboard and when I switch to QWERTY (so that my colleagues are able to type on it) they can do a hunt and peck for the right keys (they all have non-matrix layouts).

[FrostyToast]

You want an ErgoDox for <200 you say?
There is this...

[batfink]

Thanks for the comments. It's kind of weird that split-spacebars are not more common, as there is no real disadvantage for those that don't especially need it, only a big gain for those who want it. It looks like Ergo Pro is my current front runner, assuming an ISO version is available. Apparently the left and right spacebars can supposedly set to be different things (space or backspace) - which ought to be enough for me to reconfigure one of them as Shift using software.

[jacobolus]

Thanks for the comments. It's kind of weird that split-spacebars are not more common,

There was a patent on this idea (marketed as “erase ease”) which was licensed and used by many keyboard makers in the 90s. This patent didn’t expire until 2009, which goes a long way to explaining why split spacebars aren’t more common. If you wanted to have one, you needed to either pay licensing fees (with I’m not sure what strings attached) or worry about patent lawsuits.
http://www.google.com/patents/US5711624

(Though considering the amount of prior art in various typewriter layouts stretching back to the 60s or even a few decades before, someone who wanted could have probably mounted a credible legal defense against that patent, especially if they built a keyboard with thumb keys for something other than just space and backspace.)

[tufty]

Smith Corona typewriters spring to mind as prior art.

[smellz]

How about the humble hacker? Does anybody know if they are purchasable at the moment?
It doesn't have the ISO style key, but I believe it does have uniform profile key caps.

[daerid]

There's always the Atreus. I'm planning on putting one together soon.

[Findecanor]

I believe the Humble Hacker keyboard was a one-off.

For normal 60% staggered, there might be the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard.

[Oobly]

Kinesis Advantage is decently ergonomic. Maltron costs more, but is better designed. Both are fairly large, though.

AFAIK, the Ultimate Hacking is not yet in production.

The Matias ErgoPro is a good choice, but I'm not sure the other half of the spacebar can be used for anything but space, the switches have Alps stems so keycaps are not as easy to find as Cherry MX and they're profiled, so swapping them around for Colemak or Dvorak won't work well.

You can find some built up ErgoDox's that pop up now and then in the Classifieds section, or you could start a "Want to buy" thread.

There's also the JD45, designed by our very own jdcarpe: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=62641.msg1466037#msg1466037

I'm currently working on a small portable keyboard with split space that I'd like to bring to market, but it'll still be a while in development: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=66836.msg1580523#msg1580523

I'm also working on an ergonomic split board, but that will probably take even more time before it's turned into a product: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49721.msg1117343#msg1117343

I would love to bring both to market, most likely the portable writer's one first, which I'm hoping will create at least a little brand awareness and acceptance of a slightly non-standard layout before introducing the ergo one, of course it all depends on many factors and a lot of work first

[jacobolus]

The Matias ErgoPro is a good choice, but I'm not sure the other half of the spacebar can be used for anything but space,

Either key can be set to backwards delete (“backspace”), as batfink already figured out. Might be tricky to get turned into shift with software though, as I’m not sure there’ll be any distinction over USB between backspace on the thumb vs. backspace in the top right corner.

There's also the JD45 [...]
I'm currently working on a small portable keyboard [...]
I'm also working on an ergonomic split board

None of these has an extra key to the left of Z (in general that’s going to be pretty tough to find in alternative keyboard designs I suspect), and I’m guessing the complete lack of a number row or most of the important ISO keys on the right side (same goes for the Atreus) is going to be a challenge, unless batfink decides to get a bit more adventurous than his first post indicated.

Also, I’m guessing it’s at least 6 months for the JD45 to get into anyone’s hands, and probably at least a year for the other two, if they’re supposed to be real products and not just a small handful of DIY one-offs. Hardware projects are hard.

[batfink]

Either key can be set to backwards delete (“backspace”), as batfink already figured out. Might be tricky to get turned into shift with software though, as I’m not sure there’ll be any distinction over USB between backspace on the thumb vs. backspace in the top right corner.

I already thought about that. I figure the solution is to remap Capslock as backspace, as per the Colemak recommendaton. I realize the "normal" backspace key will become another Shift, but I never press that key so who cares...  The biggest downside with this Ergo Pro then is probably going to be if I can't re-arrange the keys physically - which would be annoying but perhaps not critical.

There's also the JD45 [...]
I'm currently working on a small portable keyboard [...]
I'm also working on an ergonomic split board
None of these has an extra key to the left of Z (in general that’s going to be pretty tough to find in alternative keyboard designs I suspect), and I’m guessing the complete lack of a number row or most of the important ISO keys on the right side (same goes for the Atreus) is going to be a challenge, unless batfink decides to get a bit more adventurous than his first post indicated.

According to the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard FAQ page, they are not planning an ISO version. Similar problem with the JD45 design. However I could potentially make it work for me if the keys are remappable, since I would simply remap the left-shift key to Z, and make one of the "space" thumb keys my new Shift.

As you may guess, I really have a strong dislike of the default arrangment of Shift keys - which I think should be instead accessed with the thumb. At the same time, I do like having the extra key to the left of Z. By moving ZXCV left one space to the left, it avoids the unnatural twisting of the left-land that the standard keyboard technique involves.

I do admire the designs and custom builds that the folks on this forum come up with. In fact any number of them would work well so long as I could remap the keys to my taste. I suppose it comes down to the fact I'm a bit averse to what would be a DIY project and would ideally prefer to get a "normal" product! Probably I'll get an ISO Ergo Pro when they are out, and then keep an eye out for more interesting options longer term - keyboard.io perhaps.

[jdcarpe]

Just FYI, most of the custom projects created here are fully programmable, every key. And usually any time these custom projects are sold, there will be people who can assemble them for you, if desired.

I do wish you good luck finding what will work for you.

[Oobly]

I forgot to mention AcidFire's Axios board that's also in development: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=44940.0

[berserkfan]

Why don't you try out something already in beta production, such as samwisekoi's GH36? He needs people with technical skills to help test. I have the feeling that Ron is needing people who actually use that layout on a daily basis, which is why progress is slow. I use something very close to that layout, but don't have the requisite engineering skills to help him.