Ah, okay good to know you've seen those. Just wanted to check in case you missed something that suited you perfectly. It sounds like you have a clear image of what your ideal keyboard would be. ๐
Also I have no idea if I'm using the terms right either but I think the roller is the same as the scroll wheel? And rotary encoders would be those dial knobs.
I'm with you on having a trackball on the right half and a scroll wheel on the left, that sounds amazing. ๐
This is lovely. I'm currently using a lilty58 while leaving the number row empty, and have been looking for a board to downsize to. I don't feel ready to go down to as low as 42 keys, so the corne is still a bit intimidating.
This? This looks like the Goldilocks medium I need at the moment. ๐
Does the Lily58 or Iris fit your needs better then? Or is there something else about this board that trumps those other 2?
The primary difference to me seems to be roller vs rotary encoder and number row. And while I too, prefer rollers over rotary encoders :D... if the number row is critical to your use case those boards seem to be a better option.
Also wanted to chime in that I appreciate a more conservative pinky drop, as a compromise between ergonomics and keeping it useable while gaming with minimal rebinding (keeping the vertical stagger between the a and s keys in the usual wasd navigation cluster within a reasonable threshold since it'd be used with the ring finger instead of the pinky in those context)
I feel this is also inline with the apparent (I'm making some loose assumptions here) goals of being a little more newcomer friendly, along with the fact that it has a bit more thumb keys than what many consider optimal for ergonomics and other details. It really feels like the intermediate step between the typical entry point split ergo boards like the Lily, Iris, or Sofle and the more optimal ergo boards.
Pushing those additional eronomic quality of life tweaks may improve the board, but it also brings the board much closer in target demographic to existing boards like Hillside or Cantor/Piantor for example, and arguably makes this board less uniquely appealing.
I hope I don't come off too strong with my opinions here; The design middle grounds picked in this board so far really resonates with me in a way few others have that I can't help but get excited. ๐
on a different note entirely: Good callout/reminder on the pitfalls of over-relying on that tool in a way that reinforces existing habit that may not always be optimal.