Personally, I'm using a Dygma Raise, after testing the Ergodox for a while. And the Dygma is really mostly perfect IMHO. I would prefer it to have an ortholinear layout, and an additional row with F-Keys (layers can be cumbersome when hands are not at homerow-position). But the build-quality and sane Thumb-cluster really makes it for me.
Though the argument about loudness of mechanical keys is understandable. But this can be solved with a proper audio-setup. Just look at all the streamers with their silent gaming-keyboards.
Absolutely love my Dygma Raise. Link for anyone interested: https://dygma.com/
My only gripe with it is that I wish the wrist pads were detachable - not because of the quality (which is good), but because I use a keyboard tray and they're a little bit too big for the amount of space I have. Also agree that an F-row would be nice, though I've gotten used to layer shifting for extra keys. I even have a layer that puts the letters on the right side of the keyboard onto the left side, so when I need to click around a lot while typing I can type using my left hand only and leave my right hand on my mouse.
The thumb cluster is perfect and the software does everything I need it to do. Customer support is great. And with their silent linear switch option (Kailh Silent Pinks), typing is very quiet and suitable for even an open office. No problems typing at full speed on it either since it's not an ortholinear layout, I was hitting my usual WPM (~135) the day I got it.
After some custom wooden cases for my ergodox, I'm really excited about the keyboardio model 100 https://keyboard.io/ basically an ergodox with style, and what seems a bit more ergonomy. I laughed a lot with the video for their last crowdfunding campaign, chicken jokes included :D
I think that this is meant as a "hack" - if you have two keyboards lying around and don't want to (or can't) purchase a new one. If you can, then yes, getting an actual split keyboard is far better.
However, the Dygma Raise has neither ortholinearity, nor concavity, nor a good thumb cluster (it's flat, not tilted to fit the actual strong muscle movement of your thumbs) - all of which improve ergonomics. See the Dactyl-Manuform for a build that has all of these three things.
Without reading the article I thought that's what they meant.
For me the biggest QoL improvement has been switching to a split ortho keeb (https://github.com/foostan/crkbd). They are super cheap to build (corne is 42 switches which are the most expensive component of a keeb) and once you get the hang of it they are superior to any other typing experience.
Learning how to use a 40% had a steep learning curve, but after a few weeks I was very productive and now I don't even think about the layers.
Since corne is so easy to build it's a great introduction into building your own keyboards. I just recently purchased the components from keyhive and I think I only spent $110 -- if that? That might sound expensive for a keyboard you have to build yourself but the prices for custom built keyboards can get insane (in the thousands)
I have no idea about these custom keyboards, and now I am paralyzed through choices when going to the github link. What would be a good first split keyboard to try out?
There are two types of split keyboard. The first one is one solid body, with divided key segments. The second one are two separated body's, each with their own key-segment. With the second type, the bodies are connected with removable cables, which normally use standard-connections (usb or trrs usually). So they can easily be replaced for longer cables.
Sure did. Just take a look at https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/ or similar. There's a cable that separates the two keyboards and they can go further apart than the picture in the article. Or just replace the cable with a longer one.
Personally, I'm using a Dygma Raise, after testing the Ergodox for a while. And the Dygma is really mostly perfect IMHO. I would prefer it to have an ortholinear layout, and an additional row with F-Keys (layers can be cumbersome when hands are not at homerow-position). But the build-quality and sane Thumb-cluster really makes it for me.
Though the argument about loudness of mechanical keys is understandable. But this can be solved with a proper audio-setup. Just look at all the streamers with their silent gaming-keyboards.