Note that each half of keyboard and module has a separate microcontroller. Somewhere in the blog they even showed a monstrosity consisting of one right half and 3 left halves connected together. In theory you could run qmk on the primary controller (someone will probably do that) but you would still need secondary firmware for all other parts. It might be more productive to add common import/export format for some of the keyboard layout creation tools than trying to share firmware.
Many sane assumptions made by qmk wouldn't apply to UHK which is possibly more complicated than a keyboard should be. Keyboard layouts in qmk are hard-coded in firmware and replaced by building a new firmware. That is a reasonable approach for 8-bit AVR MCU supported by qmk, not so much for UHK which has an order of magnitude more resources.
Maintaining all of that in single codebase might be more difficult to maintain for both UHK and qmk developers than doing it separately. Ifdefs all over the code would be a mess (there is not much room for abstractions using 2K of RAM). Testing if the functionality added by UHK developers doesn't break anything on 10-50 keyboards supported by qmk would also be a significant burden.
Good on them for shipping. Followed them for awhile, but eventually went with a keyboard.io. I'm rarely traveling whilst needing a dedicated keyboard, and all the extra add ons weren't necessary for me.
Yeah, I had high hopes for the keyboard.io, but it turned out to be an ergonomic disaster. After a couple of weeks trying to transition, I just gave up. It's a shame.
I'd buy a keyboard from keyboard.io with a less radically different layout. I don't think I could reprogram the existing one to the point where I could retain my current typing speed.
I was curious so I looked at their marketing vid. "I found a bunch of research about keyboard design [...] and every keyboard design in the last 20 years has flat out ignored it"
It also seems they flat out ignored the single most beneficial feature for a keyboard on hand ergonomics: having your hands rest at a negative slope. The UHK seems to have this feature.
This. I've been following this product since it was first announced and I know it's been a looooooong road to travel for the team. If anyone is pondering doing a similar hardware product, you should check out the UHK blog because Laci goes into a lot of technical detail about development, procurement, and certification issues the UHK team ran into over two years.
I was mad when the projected date was missed, but as time went on, I strangely got less mad until I just threw up my hands and said "It'll be here when it's ready." I'm glad they didn't cut any obvious corners trying to get this out to meet angry customers mad about the ship date.
Thanks for the nice words! Our backers have been super nice about the announced delays, and cherished that we insist to quality so much. We're so glad to finally ship!
Can't think of any off the top of my head, but you could build a Let's Split (or Chimera, or... actually there are a lot) with Kalih low profile switches and keycaps.
I've had mine for about 2 months now. I like it better than my Ergodox, but it's not perfect (yet). Maybe I need to train muscle memory more still, but I'm looking forward to the extra modules shipping for having extra thumb keys. Furthermore I'm still annoyed at the arrow keys needing a modifier, where the Ergodox has an extra row of keys for that. Hardware build quality is impeccable, software/firmware is only just getting there though. Programmability is better (well, easier) than w Ergodox, although I imagine that by now there are graphical tools for that; back when I configured mine, I had to hack the C firmware to get it to do what I wanted.
Because all keys are printed, build quality (I have an Ergodox EZ and it's ok but not like the UHK), the palm rests are attached, the tenting works better, I like having a proper graphical config tool. I think those are the main ones but I'm not sitting at my desk looking at it, so I might forget something :)
There's quite a difference between the configurator of the ErgoDox EZ and Agent. Agent is a tad more polished, allows multiple keymaps, editing macros, directly saves configuration to the keyboard, restores configuration based on keyboard memory, and allows customizing mouse speeds.
I'm using a Pok3r and the programming is great for remapping keys - I definitely need Ctrl on Capslock. I bought it because my Unicomp was taking up too much desktop space.
To get to the point: Even as an Emacs user I am missing the arrow keys and Insert and Home. Tenkeyless is better.
So for me the above keyboard wouldn't be the ultimate hacking keyboard.
Same here (just with a different keyboard). Plus you can establish a few mappings more and get a minimalistic "Vim layer" going that works everywhere (say mapping caps+w to ctrl-right). That's great if you're stranded in Windows and have no options to opt for Vim-like input on almost all text widgets.
I dual boot Windows and Linux, and remapping on both platforms consistently (incl. system updates, etc.) is a pain in the ass. I also need to use a remote desktop connection with a normal keyboard from time to time, which makes the software solution even more annoying.
I thought that would be a big problem for me, too, being used to inverted-L shaped enter keys basically my whole computer life.
After a few days I stopped worrying because the UHK enter key is actually easier to reach for my right pinky finger than the one on my previous MS Natural keyboard was. OTOH the "\|" key above the enter key I'm still mistyping occasionally.
I use the Freestyle2 Blue, and absolutely love it. Enough that I have one for home and work. I don't have the gaming one yet for my gaming PC, but I'm seriously considering picking it up. The difference is I don't use my gaming PC for typing much, so it's less of an issue.
> Had way less of a learning curve than my ergodox.
The big difference to the keyboard you linked, the Ergodox is an ortholinear keyboard. It is to be expected that that comes with a learning curve if you've only typed on a staggered keyboard. I personally think ortholinear is worth the learning curve.
It's a shame that the Ergodox marketing blurb implies that they invented it.
> archaic design, which we fixed
It was fixed a long time ago, by other people.
Maltron keyboard designs have had this since the 1980s. Lillian Malt criticized "[t]he uneven stretches caused by the diagonal slope of the rows of keys on qwerty" in 1977. PCD Maltron's first demo keyboard from 1976 eliminated that slope.
Interesting. I'm going to build a Nyquist (60%, split, ortho, I picked Zealios 67g switches) in a few days, I'm currently waiting for a few parts to arrive, maybe I should consider designing some kind of wrist-rest that allows for a negative slope.
Jamie wasn't looking for a 60% keyboard, yet he purchased the UHK which is a 60% keyboard. That directly resulted in his review. Imagine you want a sedan but buy a truck.
> Warning: jwz doesn’t care much for HN, so you will be referred to a NSFW image if you follow the above link. I recommend copying & pasting the URL :-)
Or use the opportunity to disable the referer header. In Firefox, it's network.http.sendRefererHeader in about:config.
For someone so wrapped up in hacker culture, JWZ seems extremely allergic to changing factory defaults. ALL of his complaints could be resolved by 10 minutes in the configuration software.
I agree with some of his points, but I don't think they are design flaws. Firstly, the micro-switch buttons-- I fully expected those to be uncomfortable when I first saw the design concept. Using them as a space bar would really only be useful for programming without spaces. The function keys are also not important to me, so I plan to re-map them as additional space bars (fixing the issue of a narrow space bar). As for the display, it does look pretty ugly, but I don't this is a problem for a first product with other priorities. As for why it's there at all, I don't think its utility will be limited to displaying the key mapping; that's sort of the point, to make this keyboard hackable. I think it was a good decision to omit the escape key-- it's just not that common to use because it's difficult to reach. I'm not as familiar with Vi as I would like to be, but I would probably re-map escape even if there were an escape key. This keyboard definitely won't lack modifier options. Arrow keys suffer from the same problem, and any logical layout wastes space. As for home, end, page up, page down, etc... The placement of these keys is so variable between keyboards these days that I feel like some people would be unhappy with any placement. I probably would have preferred a more full keyboard layout, but I really don't think it's necessary given this level of flexibility, and spacing everything out like that is inefficient.
All that said, I do think some of these problems should be solved with time. For example, offering long key-caps to span the mod/space and fn switches. Offering a more cushioned hand rest would be nice if it's easy, but I would much rather let them focus on developing core functionality.
I'm not a mechanical keyboard guy. I much prefer something like the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic ... but it always made me sad that that style of keyboard didn't have more competition.
The enthusiast keyboard scene seems to be mostly mechanical and I kinda want something that feels more "in-between" what I think of as a heavy mechanical and lighter laptop thing...
I picked up a mechanical keyboard, because it looked cool. I liked the idea of a higher quality keyboard, programmable functionality looked potentially useful, and I liked the looks of some custom key cap sets.
Unfortunately I was not happy with it at all. For some reason I ended up getting hand fatigue. It's probably a combination of usually typing with my wrists on my desk and a habit of bottoming out, and switch type. But I ended up boxing the keyboard back up.
This echoes my first experience trying to switch to mechanical. But after a few retries I figured out what I needed.
1) Switches can make a huge difference and there are WAY more choices than often implied. Seems almost everyone references 3 types but there are more. I go for a non-clicking, extremely short trigger threshold style because I have typed on laptop keyboards for 20+ years and the light touch is what I know. Specifically, I'm using Cherry RGB Speed Silver.
2) Get a wrist rest. You probably never needed one before but if you have a mechanical with a normal depth of case, it makes a huge difference if you can't adapt easily.
And don't compromise on your layout. If you don't like ergo don't get one. If you NEED certain keys, get them. There are tons of choices out there, many more than you see listed on popular sites or stores. Sometimes you have to partly build them. It's not very hard. There are plenty of kits that don't even require soldering.
In the end I'm running a GK64, with the aforementioned switches, and I've never been happier with a keyboard.
There are "low profile mechanical" switches now that are more chiclet-like, but I'm not sure if they've been put into an ergo design yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lAokeiYbzo
I personally like Matias Quiet Click switches for a good feeling, quiet switch. But the keys and keyboards from Matias have a deserved reputation for being finicky.
I have a Matias Ergo Pro - which I otherwise like - but once in a while keys on the left half will chatter until the board is unplugged. https://matias.ca/ergopro/pc/
Just rubber o-rings on regular switches (instead of low-profile switches) might be enough to reduce travel length, and as a bonus to make bottoming out soft and silent, like on rubber dome keyboards. At least on MX, not sure about dampening rings on Matias.
Also, to add "chickletness", there are XDA and G20 keycap profiles, which are, AFAIK, especially popular to put on "ergonomic" splitted boards.
Same here. When it works, it’s great. But a bunch of keys either don’t register at all or will stick. Unplugging etc. doesn’t fix so I’m mostly left with a $200 conversation starter.
I'm not a mechanical keyboard guy. I much prefer something like the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic ... but it always made me sad that that style of keyboard didn't have more competition.
I tried one, but I believe that's the Bluetooth-only version that never quite seemed to work right on MacOS. Pity MS didn't make a wired version.
I want an ergonomical keyboard with quiet action. Ideally it would combine the feel of the old Thinkpad keyboards with the ergonomic layout of an ErgoDox keyboard.
Clears are probably my favorite so far. I despise browns. Every key press feels and sounds like two slightly rough pieces of plastic are grinding against each other. I miss the loud keys on the old IBM boards but my coworkers or family would kill me.
I like browns because I can feel the actuation. That bump is an assurance that I can proceed with the next key. And if you bottom out your keys you can always add o rings.
My perception is that cherry browns require less force than the MS natural 4000. I say this after comparing the two side by side.
There is another advantage to the cherry browns (or mechanical keyboards in general)... they last a LOT longer. I've had my main work Kinesis for 4 years. The key strokes feel the same today as the day I got it. I would burn through an MS natural 4000 at a rate of 1/year; the spacebar & alt/ctrl keys would become too sticky after.
I have the UHK with Cherry MX Brown switches and my old MS Natural (105KB?) which I had purchased second hand.
I feel that my UHK keys require less force than the Natural.
My Natural has a bit more prominent click points (which require more bundled force at a certain point) but an overall "stickier/mushy" feeling (to be fair, I hadn't cleaned it a lot :)).
My UHK keys feel more springy and one might not particularly notice the click point but I still get good tactile and auditory feedback.
It took me about 2 days to get comfortable with the new keys. Overall the UHK feels smoother and less strenuous.
I hope you can make some sense out of the above, otherwise please feel free to ask for clarification :)
Ergodox EZ lets you pick which keyboard switches you prefer. Its another crowdfunded split keyboard, but fully opensource.
Cherry MX Brown switches are normally recommended for very light activation pressure and "super-fluid motion". That is an option available.
You can order parts for yourself, make it yourself, and everything. It is opensource hardware, built around the "teensy" opensource controller. But it ends up cheaper just to buy the keyboard unless you want to build something custom.
While it sports up to 32 custom layers, it does lack a dedicated hardware module for a mouse. It is completely programmable.
IMHO Dampened Cherry Red switches configuration is almost as good as Topre if not better.
The ability to program it has been the killer feature for me, I have a layout that works absolutely perfectly for me! f.e. dual function keys! I have ' set as dual function key so if I hold it is Shift, if I just tap it is ', in place of usual Caps Lock location I also have Shift, having moved both Cmd/Win keys to usual Shift location. Home row Shift has improved the typing comfort so much! I also remapped function keys and made many other tweaks.
Also have alt/ctrl mapped with dual key feature to z/ctrl x/alt and ./alt //ctrl, this way all modifier keys are clustered together and easily accessible. I don't think I can ever go back! the mind did get used to switching between the two layouts though, so thankfully I can still use the laptop keyboard on the go :)
I have an Ergodox EZ, with many customizations, and I love it too.
I wanted to use dual function keys, but as soon as there is one such key on the keyboard, I feel a delay for all the key presses. It is ok for the dual function key (the firmware needs to wait to decide a tap or hold), but not for all the other keys. So I avoid using this in my layouts.
Maybe this has changed recently? I have not tweaked my layout for about 6 months.
I cannot notice any delay at 100+ wpm, but one thing I had to get used to is typing key combinations faster/holding the key for the right duration, I still lift a bit too fast a few times per week, f.e. getting 'a instead of A, but it is definitely becoming second nature, and even if I cannot eliminate it completely the ergonomics of home row shift, and other handy dual function keys, makes it still totally worth it for me.
You can get pretty much any feel you want from a mechanical keyboard. For soft you go with the "non-tactile" i.e. "linear" keys like cherry mx red. You can also get rubber rings to put on the stem of the swich so you get a softer landing. Available in different hardness, shore a40 or a50.
I have an Ergodox and a TECK (I prefer the latter to the Ergodox) and I cringe every time I need to use a "standard" (horizontally) staggered keyboard. It boggles my mind on how this industry continue to adopt a layout that was the result of technical limitations of the 1800, fuck ergonomics, we don't want to confuse our customers... Bah!
I think I've learned to touch type on a mechanical Olivetti typewriter, the hand stance was different and it required a lot, and I mean it a lot of force applied to the keys to print a character, anyway I probably used to touch type on staggered keyboards for more than 10 years, the transition to columnar keyboards was painless and I'm not going back.
The only two problematic keys are probably Y and B where you can learn to reach both with the same hand (I think my instructor left us freedom and I probably used the right index for both).
I switched 2~3 years ago to Colemak, I thought Dvorak moved too much keys around, and I have the impression that I'm slower than when I was on Qwerty and I still confuse the R with the S (I need to think to press the key instead of simply thinking the word, that is more than a decade of muscle memory) so you have a sample of one that is a weak argument. ^__^;
> [...] totally want, just with ortholinear keys [...]
This. I was actually pretty hyped about the UHK, but seeing the delivery schedule, opted for an ergodox. After a week or two I really started noticing how annoying that shift between the key rows is on a normal keyboard.
I used an ergodox for a while, but I was chafing my thumbs on it. I seem to do better with low profile keys. Currently I use the TypeMatrix for 6 years now (and have 3 of them).
The key tactility isn't where I want with the TypeMatrix, but the low profile (as well as good labeling for non a-z keys) design seems to be most comfortable.
I've tried so many styles of keyboard over the years and nothing has ever made me feel as 'at one with the computer' as the HHKB Pro 2.
It's so close to perfect. Typing feels amazing, it has a really pleasing 'thunk' if you bottom out, the CTRL key is in the correct position, it's almost symmetrical and everything's within reach. When used with a suitable wrist rest I can type for hours on end without complaint.
Worth every penny.
Additionally, I've seen "pimped" versions of the HHKB and it's honestly ridiculous. Why take something beautiful and minimalist and have weird-shaped keys?
Is it programmable? I don't suppose programmability is absolutely necessary since I use emacs and so "everything is programmable" but still, while I'm updating my keyboard from shitty MacBook Pro keyboard, I might as well get something programmable.
> Increase your productivity by never leaving the home row.
I can't possibly be the only one who read "Increase your productivity by never leaving home.", But awww I'm so much more productive in the office though =)
Are there any info/specs on the touchpad module? I love having the touchpad next to my thumbs on my macbook, but I'm admittedly spoiled by how nice this one is.
I've found a function layer easier to use than having a dedicated row for it. Having f1,f2,f3,f4,f5 map to a,s,d,f,g is a dream when debugging, you don't have to move your hand at all.
I type in Dvorak and used a typematrix 2030 for about 2 years. I never got as fast on their board as I could on a standard, staggered layout. Don’t know why...
I’ve a UHK arriving soon, stoked to try it out. It’s been a lot of years and a lot of keyboards (goldtouch split was probably my fav), will the uhk win me over? Time will tell :)
If you're doing numerical data entry the keypad is a star. If you're doing programming/writing, stick to the number row.
But even if we ignore that omission the lack of F keys is a complete deal breaker. There's a reason I won't touch the new Macbook Pros with Touchbar, this is worse than that.
That's the whole point of this keyboard though, the only thing it's missing is the physical keys.
You want F-keys? Add it in as a modifier on the number-row.
You do a lot of spreadsheeting? Make a layer with a numpad and maybe some macros and wasd->arrowkeys on the left to make life easy.
Its purpose is to give everyone what they need, but without needing them to have a bajillion different physical interfaces on their desk/s.
You want F-keys, someone else wants a numpad, another wants Logitech's G-keys, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
The UHK says enough. You can do it all on one set of buttons.
It may not be your style, but saying it's lacking F-keys is disingenuous.
> Doesn’t having a numeric keypad hurt ergonomics?
Absolutely. I will never buy a keyboard with an attached numpad because it splays my mousing hand way out to the right in an very awkward manner. That is one of the reasons I bought the UHK.
One of the really cool features of the UHK I was surprised to discover after I received it is that it can control your mouse cursor and right/left/middle buttons by using the Mod keys and h/j/k/l keys. Yes, I'm sure you can download some utility that enables this on any keyboard but it's nice to have it built into the firmware.
Numpad would be useful for hacking if it had letter keys for hexadecimal numbers. With only decimal digits, it's only suitable for hacking sales reports in Excel.
BTW, it really exists https://www.ipv6buddy.com/ (but does not have +, - and other traditional numpad keys).
305 comments
[ 1.8 ms ] story [ 268 ms ] threadMany sane assumptions made by qmk wouldn't apply to UHK which is possibly more complicated than a keyboard should be. Keyboard layouts in qmk are hard-coded in firmware and replaced by building a new firmware. That is a reasonable approach for 8-bit AVR MCU supported by qmk, not so much for UHK which has an order of magnitude more resources.
Maintaining all of that in single codebase might be more difficult to maintain for both UHK and qmk developers than doing it separately. Ifdefs all over the code would be a mess (there is not much room for abstractions using 2K of RAM). Testing if the functionality added by UHK developers doesn't break anything on 10-50 keyboards supported by qmk would also be a significant burden.
I'd buy a keyboard from keyboard.io with a less radically different layout. I don't think I could reprogram the existing one to the point where I could retain my current typing speed.
It also seems they flat out ignored the single most beneficial feature for a keyboard on hand ergonomics: having your hands rest at a negative slope. The UHK seems to have this feature.
I was mad when the projected date was missed, but as time went on, I strangely got less mad until I just threw up my hands and said "It'll be here when it's ready." I'm glad they didn't cut any obvious corners trying to get this out to meet angry customers mad about the ship date.
To get to the point: Even as an Emacs user I am missing the arrow keys and Insert and Home. Tenkeyless is better.
So for me the above keyboard wouldn't be the ultimate hacking keyboard.
After a few days I stopped worrying because the UHK enter key is actually easier to reach for my right pinky finger than the one on my previous MS Natural keyboard was. OTOH the "\|" key above the enter key I'm still mistyping occasionally.
Had way less of a learning curve than my ergodox.
Still, It's a wonderful keyboard.
Although I'm intrigued by the integrated pointer options, I don't think I'll make the switch due to the pricetag and 60% form factor.
The big difference to the keyboard you linked, the Ergodox is an ortholinear keyboard. It is to be expected that that comes with a learning curve if you've only typed on a staggered keyboard. I personally think ortholinear is worth the learning curve.
> archaic design, which we fixed
It was fixed a long time ago, by other people.
Maltron keyboard designs have had this since the 1980s. Lillian Malt criticized "[t]he uneven stretches caused by the diagonal slope of the rows of keys on qwerty" in 1977. PCD Maltron's first demo keyboard from 1976 eliminated that slope.
* https://www.maltron.com/maltron-history.html
That wasn't a novel criticism even then.
The only misdesign I can think of is that the DEL key should be bigger. (The ESC key is huge and hard to miss, which is fantastic).
Maybe VEA is better but good luck finding the first revision and second one is nowhere in sight
https://www.jwz.org/blog/2018/08/ultimate-hacking-keyboard/
Warning: jwz doesn’t care much for HN, so you will be referred to a NSFW image if you follow the above link. I recommend copying & pasting the URL :-)
Or use the opportunity to disable the referer header. In Firefox, it's network.http.sendRefererHeader in about:config.
In case anyone else wondered like me, change to 0 to stop completely, or to 1 to still work on click (no images)
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/8rnr8l...
http://codingsupply.com/ultimate-hacking-keyboard-review-wor...
http://brettterpstra.com/2018/08/17/i-wrote-a-review-of-the-...
Franky, the UHK has received extremely positive reviews with the exception of Jamie's.
>I'm going to say that again to let it sink in. There is no Esc key. You type Esc by holding Mod and typing tilde.
He is so committed to the glyph painted on the keycap that he made it a major part of his review. That is a wild thing to witness.
All that said, I do think some of these problems should be solved with time. For example, offering long key-caps to span the mod/space and fn switches. Offering a more cushioned hand rest would be nice if it's easy, but I would much rather let them focus on developing core functionality.
On the topic of accessories, I just found this: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/wiki/numpads
Modular is always better.
I'm not a mechanical keyboard guy. I much prefer something like the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic ... but it always made me sad that that style of keyboard didn't have more competition.
The enthusiast keyboard scene seems to be mostly mechanical and I kinda want something that feels more "in-between" what I think of as a heavy mechanical and lighter laptop thing...
Some TRON heritage lives on in the Esrille NISSE and the Keyboardio Model 01, although they don't feature Topre switches.
Unfortunately I was not happy with it at all. For some reason I ended up getting hand fatigue. It's probably a combination of usually typing with my wrists on my desk and a habit of bottoming out, and switch type. But I ended up boxing the keyboard back up.
1) Switches can make a huge difference and there are WAY more choices than often implied. Seems almost everyone references 3 types but there are more. I go for a non-clicking, extremely short trigger threshold style because I have typed on laptop keyboards for 20+ years and the light touch is what I know. Specifically, I'm using Cherry RGB Speed Silver.
2) Get a wrist rest. You probably never needed one before but if you have a mechanical with a normal depth of case, it makes a huge difference if you can't adapt easily.
And don't compromise on your layout. If you don't like ergo don't get one. If you NEED certain keys, get them. There are tons of choices out there, many more than you see listed on popular sites or stores. Sometimes you have to partly build them. It's not very hard. There are plenty of kits that don't even require soldering.
In the end I'm running a GK64, with the aforementioned switches, and I've never been happier with a keyboard.
I personally like Matias Quiet Click switches for a good feeling, quiet switch. But the keys and keyboards from Matias have a deserved reputation for being finicky.
I have a Matias Ergo Pro - which I otherwise like - but once in a while keys on the left half will chatter until the board is unplugged. https://matias.ca/ergopro/pc/
Also, to add "chickletness", there are XDA and G20 keycap profiles, which are, AFAIK, especially popular to put on "ergonomic" splitted boards.
I tried one, but I believe that's the Bluetooth-only version that never quite seemed to work right on MacOS. Pity MS didn't make a wired version.
I want an ergonomical keyboard with quiet action. Ideally it would combine the feel of the old Thinkpad keyboards with the ergonomic layout of an ErgoDox keyboard.
Not all mechanical keyboard switches have the same feel. The advantage uses cherry brown, which is quiet and requires relatively low force.
There is another advantage to the cherry browns (or mechanical keyboards in general)... they last a LOT longer. I've had my main work Kinesis for 4 years. The key strokes feel the same today as the day I got it. I would burn through an MS natural 4000 at a rate of 1/year; the spacebar & alt/ctrl keys would become too sticky after.
I feel that my UHK keys require less force than the Natural.
My Natural has a bit more prominent click points (which require more bundled force at a certain point) but an overall "stickier/mushy" feeling (to be fair, I hadn't cleaned it a lot :)).
My UHK keys feel more springy and one might not particularly notice the click point but I still get good tactile and auditory feedback.
It took me about 2 days to get comfortable with the new keys. Overall the UHK feels smoother and less strenuous.
I hope you can make some sense out of the above, otherwise please feel free to ask for clarification :)
Cherry MX Brown switches are normally recommended for very light activation pressure and "super-fluid motion". That is an option available.
You can order parts for yourself, make it yourself, and everything. It is opensource hardware, built around the "teensy" opensource controller. But it ends up cheaper just to buy the keyboard unless you want to build something custom.
While it sports up to 32 custom layers, it does lack a dedicated hardware module for a mouse. It is completely programmable.
I only mention it because I love mine.
IMHO Dampened Cherry Red switches configuration is almost as good as Topre if not better.
The ability to program it has been the killer feature for me, I have a layout that works absolutely perfectly for me! f.e. dual function keys! I have ' set as dual function key so if I hold it is Shift, if I just tap it is ', in place of usual Caps Lock location I also have Shift, having moved both Cmd/Win keys to usual Shift location. Home row Shift has improved the typing comfort so much! I also remapped function keys and made many other tweaks.
Also have alt/ctrl mapped with dual key feature to z/ctrl x/alt and ./alt //ctrl, this way all modifier keys are clustered together and easily accessible. I don't think I can ever go back! the mind did get used to switching between the two layouts though, so thankfully I can still use the laptop keyboard on the go :)
For anybody interested you can have a look at their configurator https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/keyboard_layouts/new
I wanted to use dual function keys, but as soon as there is one such key on the keyboard, I feel a delay for all the key presses. It is ok for the dual function key (the firmware needs to wait to decide a tap or hold), but not for all the other keys. So I avoid using this in my layouts.
Maybe this has changed recently? I have not tweaked my layout for about 6 months.
I'll never stop being amazed by how conservative these designs are.
I think I've learned to touch type on a mechanical Olivetti typewriter, the hand stance was different and it required a lot, and I mean it a lot of force applied to the keys to print a character, anyway I probably used to touch type on staggered keyboards for more than 10 years, the transition to columnar keyboards was painless and I'm not going back.
The only two problematic keys are probably Y and B where you can learn to reach both with the same hand (I think my instructor left us freedom and I probably used the right index for both).
I switched 2~3 years ago to Colemak, I thought Dvorak moved too much keys around, and I have the impression that I'm slower than when I was on Qwerty and I still confuse the R with the S (I need to think to press the key instead of simply thinking the word, that is more than a decade of muscle memory) so you have a sample of one that is a weak argument. ^__^;
This. I was actually pretty hyped about the UHK, but seeing the delivery schedule, opted for an ergodox. After a week or two I really started noticing how annoying that shift between the key rows is on a normal keyboard.
The key tactility isn't where I want with the TypeMatrix, but the low profile (as well as good labeling for non a-z keys) design seems to be most comfortable.
It's so close to perfect. Typing feels amazing, it has a really pleasing 'thunk' if you bottom out, the CTRL key is in the correct position, it's almost symmetrical and everything's within reach. When used with a suitable wrist rest I can type for hours on end without complaint.
Worth every penny.
Additionally, I've seen "pimped" versions of the HHKB and it's honestly ridiculous. Why take something beautiful and minimalist and have weird-shaped keys?
I understand it's a must for some people though, it's a good thing that there's plenty of choice these days.
I can't possibly be the only one who read "Increase your productivity by never leaving home.", But awww I'm so much more productive in the office though =)
I'm a fan of split keyboards and like it more than my ergodox.
Typematrix 2030 + Dvorak layout == high accuracy stealth flying experience.
My fingers fly on a Typematrix 2030. Give it a try, you are going to love it!
I’ve a UHK arriving soon, stoked to try it out. It’s been a lot of years and a lot of keyboards (goldtouch split was probably my fav), will the uhk win me over? Time will tell :)
Healthier wrist positions should take precedence?
If you're doing numerical data entry the keypad is a star. If you're doing programming/writing, stick to the number row.
But even if we ignore that omission the lack of F keys is a complete deal breaker. There's a reason I won't touch the new Macbook Pros with Touchbar, this is worse than that.
Its purpose is to give everyone what they need, but without needing them to have a bajillion different physical interfaces on their desk/s. You want F-keys, someone else wants a numpad, another wants Logitech's G-keys, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The UHK says enough. You can do it all on one set of buttons. It may not be your style, but saying it's lacking F-keys is disingenuous.
Absolutely. I will never buy a keyboard with an attached numpad because it splays my mousing hand way out to the right in an very awkward manner. That is one of the reasons I bought the UHK.
One of the really cool features of the UHK I was surprised to discover after I received it is that it can control your mouse cursor and right/left/middle buttons by using the Mod keys and h/j/k/l keys. Yes, I'm sure you can download some utility that enables this on any keyboard but it's nice to have it built into the firmware.
BTW, it really exists https://www.ipv6buddy.com/ (but does not have +, - and other traditional numpad keys).
How do people feel about the effect of ortholinearity on ergonomics?