My current tech rabbit hole is split keyboards, due to the way my work desk layout is I’ve been looking at ways to improve my dev environment and a lot of people recommend them for keyboard focused workflows. As even the cheapest ones can be a bit of an investment, I was wondering who in the community uses them, why, and what would you recommend to someone just getting into them?
I dont think mine is really split but I am using an Alice layout, so it is sort of split?
I was on the fence in buying a proper split keyboard like ErgoDox EZ and Moonlander but I watched some youtube videos and I am somewhat convinced that a split layout may not be for me.
The reason that pushed towards the Alice layout is I use other computers (and have a laptop) and it is sort of difficult to move between a complete split ergo keyboard and a regular keyboard. Alice seems to be a good compromise between a split ergo and a regular keyboard and it makes transitioning to and from a regular keyboard much easier.
Unless you can bring your own split Ergo keyboard and replace your work keyboard with one. Now that I think of it, maybe I should bring my portable Alice as well?
I have been using a Kinesis Freestyle Edge RGB for just over a year now.
Took some getting used to, is a comfortable way to type.
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So… how does it feel to move back to a regular keyboard? Is it really that hard?
I have a ZSA Moonlander. It took six months for me to get back to the same WPM as I was hitting on the MS natural keyboards I was using previously. It did fix the clicking I was getting in my wrists from long days, so in that sense it was worth it. YMMV 
Moving back and forth does take a moment or two to remember where this or that button is. But that pain is entirely dependent on how far down the rabbit hole of button customization one chooses to go. I kept it as close to a normal keyboard as I could.
Otherwise… well. It’s been ~4 yrs since I got it, and the kalih silvers I ordered it with are starting to get soft / wear out. Cue analysis paralysis on replacement switch options 
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I am switching between a regular (Ducky Shine 7) for gaming and the Freestyle for productivity.
Typing-speed is about the same, typing on regular feels cramped by comparison.
Only downside (which is no fault of either keyboard): I am still looking for a way to set an input-language per HID, outside of Autohotkey-shenanigans, no luck so far.
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One complaint that I thought may be valid was that the potential variable positioning of a two piece ergo keyboard may give a minor annoyance factor into using it. Where as a fixed ergo for the Kinesis Ergo (or Alice’s semi ergo I suppose) will not trigger a persistent minor annoyance in slight positioning. Do you notice such a thing?
Rarely, and more often with the right board than the left one - which makes sense, mouse hand repositioning; but I’d get that on a normal board too. I will say I miss having that extra row for the F# keys more, rather than having to flip layers on the keyboard to get to them. On the other hand, layer 3 by default has mouse controls so if one so wished they’d never need a separate mouse for basic productivity purposes. I just game too much to have spent the time to learn to do that with any proficiency.
In some respects the split boards can be like the Razer …well, now the Tartarus line of one handed gaming keypads. Slide the right board up out of the way and move the mouse in somewhere more natural. I don’t do this, but it’s a possibility.
On the other hand, when I got the ZSA I’ll admit I made a leap - first mechanical, first fully split board, first ortholinear keyboard - and that first six months was rough for me. If I’d asked my past self if I could’ve made ‘a perfect board’ it’dve been a MS natural keyboard with mechanical switches; that’s what I was looking for when I ended up buying it. Asked now, I’m not sure. There are limits to the ZSA where I’ve had to get creative with rebinding the board or the games I play to keep everything on the left board. On the other hand… I don’t know. I haven’t found another board compelling enough to make the jump again. Emphasis on ‘haven’t found’, for lack of looking, not that the proverbial grail board isn’t out there.
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I kind of want the ErgoDox EZ format but with the entire function row.
Are the angled thumb keys (or angling in general) feel more like a gimmick or do you see some value?
The Ultimate Hacking Keyboard also has my attention but again, they lack the function key rows. They do have some fun thumb clusters that has options for trackpoint nipple, trackpad or trackball.
The trend of the “out there” keyboards to throw all keys overboard drove me to the freestyle.
If the trackpad is as good as the ones on the Steamdeck, it may be useful for quick file-pushing 
I have my Freestyle set up so the “mode” button turns some of it into a numpad for number-entry and has some macros and gimmicks on the left half.
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Depends on how you’re using the keys, most likely. I find a lot of value out of them being angled as I’m using the bottom two on the left side as (press and hold for) shift and ctrl, alt is on the red one on the edge. It makes for me a nicer pivot point for thumb as modifier + pivot hand to stretch for whatever numbers for games than having it on the pinky and stretching with pointer or mid.
This I completely agree with. I get why some buttons get omitted - numpad coming and going on laptops by size, for example. But dropping the F-keys and things people use like print screen or the arrow keys? Strangeness.
Having the trackpad or trackball on the thumb would be cool for productivity use. The trackpoints… well, the idea behind those, so far as I can tell, was that you wouldn’t have to move your hands off the typing position, and the thumbs would do the mouse clicks. They’re otherwise kind of fussy to point precisely with, IME. Could just be a byproduct of my recent examples being second hand, though.
Also… IDK, the more I think about how they implemented those thumb clusters, of the three the touchpad probably makes the most sense. The other two options are probably going to be pretty cramped and/or contortionist to use (or have to peel the other hand away from its half of the board to hit the mouse buttons). I could be wrong, though. 
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Both at home and I work I use split ergo keyboards. At work (IT Helpdesk) I have an Ergodox Ez, and at home I have an Ergodash Mini that I built myself from a kit.
The transition was quite intense as I also had switched to Colmac-DH, but I am happy that I did. The combination of ortho-linear, split, and Colmac, while not quicker than my traditional WPM, is far more comfortable.
With both of these setups I found there to be a significant amount of time I had to spend making the layout functional. Things like cut, copy, paste, ctrl alt del, etc required some iterations, but I am really happy with what I have now. In the end, the customization has made my keypresses more efficient.
There are some downsides that have been mentioned, such as the lack of function keys, an support outside of the OS, but they have not been so bad that I feel the need to switch back. If you end up going the custom or kit route, be prepared to find or write your own firmware
I would suggest dipping your toe in the water with something inexpsensive as ZSA’s Moonlander etc can hurt if you find you are not a fan.
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The board being split is nice because it allows you to periodically adjust during the day. That dynamic placement is the key to the city IMO.
I’m partial to concave keywells myself.
I also have the moonlander and love it. I generally don’t have issue switching back and forth for the most part, although I miss my Moonlander when not using it. Side bonus is that all it’s programmability is in the firmware of the board vs software so it works on multiple computers really well and can be used through the HID port of the KVM 
I also thought I may miss the fkeys but after getting used to it really not a big deal to hit a layer key to get to them.
I really only notice the missing keys in MMOs. A lot of them use the F# keys for party targeting. Some of them are button hell heavy enough that having four hotbars (1-8, shift+1-8, ctrl+1-8, alt+1-8) isn’t enough to keep everything on the left pad. Or, as is currently the case, I do alt+1-8 for party target and then have to pick and choose what I’d have to click on instead (cue cries of heresy here ).
But you’re right, if not for gaming, I wouldn’t notice and the layers would be perfectly acceptable.
I had a shoulder injury once. (A spasming bad shoulder can be very painful. It was worse than my kidney stone.) A split keyboard, elbows out wide resting on the desk, was very helpful.
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My partner does, it has helped with her RSI.
She was getting sore wrists as her job involves a lot of copy/paste into spreadsheets/ERP utility. She’s also not been a typist for a long time and she was smashing the keys a bit hard, so the wrist rest/elevated from helped her to not do that with as much force. previously her wrists were not resting on anything and she was driving the weigtht of her hands into her fingers.
She got the Logitech one, which has a raised FRONT edge, which makes way more sense than jacking up the back. It’s a really nice keyboard, if you can get used to it.
To be clear this is a one piece, but the keys are split into two angled sections.
this one:
It’s a pity its not mechanical to help her further with the key feel, but it has definitely helped.
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I’ve been using a ZSA Ergodox EZ for almost 3 years now at work and absolutely love it. A big draw for me was being able to customize every button press and the multiple layout layers that could be setup for different applications etc.
Biggest pros are that I no longer have any keys on my keyboard that are hard or uncomfortable to hit from home row, and the thumb clusters are just downright efficient!
Because both halves are shoulder width apart for me I’m resting my forearms on my chair armrests instead of my elbows which prior to this keyboard I was experiencing numbness and tingling in my ring and pinky fingers after longer periods at my desk.
Hidden bonus is when I’m working on someone’s laptop I can use my full keyboard and mouse without any awkward reaching over / around to search something up.
The transition for typing was pretty fast since I kept a QWERTY layout and the ZSA “learn to type” webpage was helpful in speeding up my accuracy and committing the changes to memory. Spent a total of about 2hours getting comfortable with which keys were where and then through daily work tasks worked on speed. Thumb cluster layout is very subjective, so be sure that how it is laid out is going to work for you as it is one of the larger changes.
If there is a more specific question you have for me and my experience please let me know!
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Kinesis Freestyle Pro is great for layout compatibility, and there are split and tenting which are great.
I’ve been using it, and Microsoft ergo keyboards before it, for over 10 years. I’ve finally got RSI recently.
Found out that ergo and split keyboards are bad for health if not used properly. Need to move arms around more, and get up from the desk more, which are discouraged by convenient ergonomic position. The handy ergonomic wrist pads are killing nerves and ligaments in hands when leaning hands on them while typing or resting (that’s exactly what they are designed for).
corne from typeractive is great… I use colemak-dh as well but I think having split keyboard is enough to fix pain on wrists. Better elbow/arm ratio. This model has bluetooth as well so you can sit on a couch and do stuff on big screen… You can buy splits pretty cheap nowadays(in comparison with big names), this cost me totally 145$ without displays(they don’t add anything that important). I cut case from the book to save few more bucks.
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