this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023
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ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

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Keep it ergo

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!?)

i.e. no regular non-split¹ row-stagger and no non-split¹ ortholinear²

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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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

Heyo

I want to switch to a split keyboard setup, but I really don't want to spend $400 only to end up hating it. Are there any cheaper options that I can get as a temporary board while deciding?

EDIT: Massive thank you to all the replies I got. All of the suggestions and advice are great and have been very helpful. That being said, I will likely be going for the Momoka Ergo due to it having free shipping to South Africa and includes switches and keycaps. (Switches are extremely expensive here (around $250 for a set of Cherry switches for example))

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

This looks pretty cool! Will do some research on this. And free shipping to South Africa definitely helps!

Is there a way to mod the Momoka to add tenting?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The model I got (early adopter) had an aluminum top and bottom plate. I guess it still has those. I just stuck some rubber feet under it and placed the halves on two hardshell glasses cases that had the right height ;) , but you should be able to fix something more permanent to the bottom plate with screws or magnets (glued to the plate).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That sounds like a plan! Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Heyo. Quick question, I see on the QMK configurator that there are three layers on the Momoka. My questions are:

  1. Is this true? and
  2. How do you switch layers? The Momoka site is very bare and their chat has been unattended for a few days.
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

(I had to take a look at the keymap to verify, as I have been using a custom keymap for years.)
Yes, to switch to the second layer, you press and hold one of the FN keys and to switch to the third layer, you press the shift key in addition to that.
They do have a VIA-enabled firmware, in which you can change which keys are used for that in a graphical interface and, if you familiarize yourself with QMK and how to build it yourself (not as hard, as it may sound), you can have a keymap with as many layers as will fit in the keyboards memory and can have all kinds of useful functions.
My keymap for the Momoka has five layers, a key that will activate one layer when tapped and another when held, Home Row Mods (The keys on the home row produce letters when tapped and Shift, Ctrl, Alt and Win/Super when held), etc., etc.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That's cool! I was mainly hoping to avoid needed an external numpad by mapping the numpad onto the right hand for data entry. That's great! Should fit my needs perfectly. Thanks for all the assistance!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

And another thing: All of the keyboards that were recommended to you here use QMK (or KMK or ZMK) firmwares and thus are equally configurable.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're welcome. Full disclosure: I did have some troubles with the keyboard, as one of the USB-ports was wonky, but I was an early adopter and they sent me a replacement left half. They are a little hard to reach at times, and seem to concentrate on selling custom keycaps now, but aside from building a keyboard yourself, I doubt you will get one as cheaply as that.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yea even if I was to build myself the price of switches and caps in South Africa is a joke. I can handle some tech issues. The next cheapest option is around $300 shipped to me to this is a great price with the thumb clusters I wanted. I'm in the Discord now and it's pretty barren lol. Will have to just place the order and hope for the best!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

If you want to contact them, they have a discord server (called momoka), maybe you can try there?