Are you talking about one of these?
1 Like
Agreed but you have the freedom to put your laptop in a backpack and add a stand, external keyboard and external mouse if you are going to work in an open office space or just visiting a customer once in a while. Working on a laptop is alright for about 2 hours (for me at least), from then on I need an excellent chair, desk, and good peripherals.
I switch between laptop only and laptop with peripherals depending on mood and circumstances. Both ways of work are not mutually exclusive.
1 Like
I didn’t watch the whole video, but yes, that kind of keyboard.
1 Like
Just working from home means moving between home office, living
room and patio, several times a day. Just not interested in plugging
and unplugging over and over. And that doesn’t even count the days
when I might also be on bus/train/BART, where I’m sure not eager to
drag a bunch of extraneous gear around 
2 Likes
It should be timestamped to 12:50:
1 Like
Topre switches are still my favorite Realforce.
My second favorite are cherry browns.
1 Like
I have three mechanical keyboards
- CODE with Cherry MX Clears
- DuckyShine One 2 with MX Speed Silvers
- Ergo Dox EZ with Cherry MX Browns
The Ergo Dox is my absolute favorite. I was even shoving it in my backpack and taking it back and forth between work and home because i just loved using it so much. Aside from the ergonomics of it, the layers feature is really great. I wish I could justify owning two, but they are pricey for sure.
The CODE keyboard was my first mechanical and I still like it. Simple, functional, no-nonsense keyboard. The clears feel a little heavy (read: harder to push) after using the Browns for a while now.
The One 2 is purely for gaming and the speed silvers are murder to type on.
1 Like
I’m really tempted by those ErgoDox Ez keyboards… but they’re just so expensive when you factor in UK customs charges.
What other benefits do they give you apart from the ergonomics? What can you do with the layers - just assign different keys (so, for example use a layer as a numeric keypad) or can you assign keys to do specific things, for example, layer 3 and key X automatically ‘pastes’ pre-configured text?
One thing that puts me off most of these mechanical keyboards though is height - I vaguely remember from using old keyboards (even with resting pads) that typing for long periods was fatiguing. The Apple keyboards are pretty much flat/low and I’ve never experienced the same kind of fatigue with them.
The Ergo wrist rests put your wrists at the same level as the keyboard unless you have the back up really high which you can do with the tent kit, which is really nice for dialing in a specific hand position you are looking for.
Layers let you set what every key does. You could have a layer for a number pad or you could have a layer for editing in your text editor with certain keys mapped to shortcuts you use a lot. You can also assign multiple functions to each key, for instance, and i know it sounds crazy but it really works for me, my ‘j’ and ‘f’ keys are mapped to ‘ctrl’ when i hold them down.
The other cool feature around layers is that you can have keys that switch to the layer, or just momentarily switch to that layer, or switch until a keypress and then jump back.
The only downside to this is that you will spend at least the first 2-3 weeks thinking up all kinds of different layouts and combinations and changing things around constantly, but I enjoyed that.
Here is my current layout https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/keyboard_layouts/qvwewv/edit
1 Like
Get a good wrist pad. I could not type on a keyboard without one for 10+ years now.
It immediately eliminates the problem and makes the typing effortless. I haven’t had RSI not once in my life and I am on computers for 25-26 years now.
1 Like
Thanks for the info Ryan (and Dimitar!) perhaps my previous keyboard wasn’t very good. I’m certainly open to trying something new but am concerned that because I am not a touch typist I may find it too awkward. I’ve also just realised that I do not use the finger next to my pinky (ring finger). I wonder if that’s always been the case or just when I started to use this rather cramped Magic Keyboard (v1) 
Just spotted this video by @fxn btw:
Xavier’s layout certainly seems to make a lot of sense! Also looking at the testimonials @tenderlove has several ErgoDox keyboards too 
My other concern about this keyboard is lack of labels - will I remember where everything is? 
2 Likes
I prefer the Topre switches as used in my HHKB Pro2.
1 Like
I prefer apple keyboards before the butterfly keyboards. Both the built-in and external.
1 Like
HHKB Type-S: http://www.pfu.fujitsu.com/hhkeyboard/type-s/
Or how did I stop worrying about keyboard and enjoy programming.
Before I bought this I spend a lot of money buying and trying different switches and still want to try out new one…
After I use this I just don’t feel there’s a keyboard at all most of the time. If you can feel your keyboard it’s distracting you. If you try a cumbersome keyboard you will notice its existence all the time.
1 Like
Even though they are expensive, they are totally worth it in my opinion. I recently got one with speed silvers and love it. Keyboards are of the things that I don’t mind paying top dollar for given since I spend 9+ hours a day on them.
2 Likes
I was using cherry mx blue but my colleagues started to get irritated I am using cherry mx red it still kinda loud but nobody has complained yet
1 Like
Now I am using Outer Purple, but I have some Outemu Sky to mount back in home. I just wait now for Planck rev.6 to finish build.
1 Like
