this post was submitted on 19 May 2024
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ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

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Posts must be of/about keyboards that have a clear delineation between the left and right halves of the keyboard, column stagger, or both. This includes one-handed (one half doesn't exist, what clearer delineation is that!?)

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¹ split meaning a separation of the halves, whether fixed in place or entirely separate, both are fine.
² ortholinear meaning keys layed out in a grid

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Left hand keypad with D pad and scroll wheel? (infosec.pub)
submitted 6 months ago by boatswain@infosec.pub to c/ergomechkeyboards@lemmy.world
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Hi all, I recently got into the world of ergo mech by borrowing a friend's old Iris v2, and I really love how powerful and customizable things can be with QMK firmware.

Recently, my old n52te has started to show signs of age after a dozen or so years of abuse. If you're not familiar, they look like this:

There's definitely stuff that could be improved on--just being able to build your own firmware for it would be amazing. Having one or two more thumb buttons for layers would be sweet as well.

The community of ergo mech keyboard builders are doing some super cool things with 3d printed builds and all kinds of neat stuff. Since I've just been dipping my toes in, my question is: does anyone know of any good replacements for my n52te? Is this something anyone has tried tinkering around with?

Thanks!

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[–] The_Hideous_Orgalorg@sh.itjust.works 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I had a Belkin age n52te, and loved it. I now have a Razer Orbeaver, but the Razer software sucks, and they discontinued the Orbweaver in favor of the Tarterus. I haven't used mine much since quitting WoW, so my Orbweaver has seen minimal use. That may change as I've been working on a sim pit. Definitely curious about the diy community, since I hate the Razer software so much.

[–] boatswain@infosec.pub 1 points 6 months ago

Yeah, the Belkin is just solid; it's definitely my longest-lived peripheral. I've never used anything by Razer; their stuff seems style over substance.

The DIY community here creates so much really cool stuff; I'm hoping someone else has already tackled this problem.

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Mayhap a Charybdis variant?

[–] boatswain@infosec.pub 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

That looks close, but I'd want to swap out the track ball for a D pad, and I'm not sure how feasible that is

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Certainly do-able, but perhaps more of an adventure than anticipated. On the other hand, trackball works surprisingly well once you adapt.

[–] boatswain@infosec.pub 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I'm sure it does for its purpose, but the D pad is something I use frequently to control movement in a specific direction, so I wantt to be able to, for example, strafe right for a second or two; track ball seems like not a great solution for repeated consistent input like that. Track ball seems like a better solution for doing things like moving a cursor to a particular location.

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 1 points 6 months ago

Fair cop.

[–] gerbercj@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

If you're OK with stepping away from a standard keyboard, I have an Azeron Cyborg that I use for most of my games. Paired with reWASD, it is infinitely customizable. It's a bit pricey, but I love having a thumbstick in the mix. Not quite what you're looking for, but maybe it provides some inspiration?

[–] boatswain@infosec.pub 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Interesting, hadn't seen that before. Their site doesn't really show how they get their 29 button presses--is is multiple switches for each finger? How's the software for it and, most importantly: does it run on Linux?

[–] gerbercj@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The Azeron and reWASD software are Windows only, unfortunately. That said, there is storage for two profiles in the device, so it can be used with a Linux machine after it is configured with the Azeron software. I've heard of folks using AntiMicroX on Linux to configure it, but have never tried myself.

[–] boatswain@infosec.pub 1 points 6 months ago

Ah bummer

[–] teft@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I miss my nostromo…

Mine broke a long time ago and i couldn’t find a decent replacement. I hope you find one.

[–] boatswain@infosec.pub 2 points 6 months ago

Me too! So far, the Azeron is looking most appealing, though I'm concerned about Linux support. It sounds like some people have got it working though, so maybe it'll pan out. The ideal would still be something that supports QMK, so I'm still interested to hear if anyone's come up with anything that does that.

[–] unmoored@awful.systems 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Others have mentioned some of the boards on this list, but YAL should be pretty comprehensive list of boards with dpads

[–] boatswain@infosec.pub 1 points 6 months ago

Ooh, wow, that looks like a super handy resource. Thanks!

[–] JustBrian7872@feddit.de 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The fulcrum comes to mind: It has a 5-way joystick (up, down, left, right and push) for the thumbs. You can always add tenting if you want (some alternatives)

You also can check some of the split kb databases if someone created something similar.

[–] boatswain@infosec.pub 1 points 6 months ago

That's actually really neat, and could be worth experimenting with. It's a shame the two halves seem to be hardwired together; I'd only want the left half. Might be a good place to start though, thanks!

I did find it amusing how much the site talks about using a smartphone with your thumbs though; that seems like an alien idea to me: I just a swipe keyboard on my phone with my index finger.

[–] rando@lemmy.ml 1 points 6 months ago

Check https://svalboard.com/. Personally this is next keyboard / mouse i'm going to try (I don't have experience with it yet, however seems to have enough customization to accommodate any needs).

I saw azeron recommended previously, svalboard is definitely supported on linux (uses via)