I just paid 280 euro for a new keyboard…

Keyboards are a terrible hobby

@themilkman I have been using custom layout split keyboards for the past 6 years or so and it has completely ruined my ability to still enjoy a standard ANSI layout keyboard.

@themilkman I mean when I was younger I also just used whatever peripherals I could get my hands on, but I am an adult with a job now.

@SuperDicq that’s why i don’t want to go into building custom mechanical keyboards and for ~2 years just use some off-the-shelf tkl keyboard i bought for ~30$

@cat8124 Yeah I mean custom keyboards are great, but once you’re used to them you can’t really live without them.

@snacks @paula8 I’m personally not a fan of excessive layering, so I’m going with a 58 key keyboard instead (Sofle).

It has more modifiers, an actual number row and some more keys on the sides.

(pic not mine, but someone else’s build)

@snacks @paula8 I really do not like very often used functions, such as Esc, Tab, Del, Backspace, etc. to require more than a single keypress.

@snacks @rose @paula8 I’m using QMK on my Sofle with TRRS.

I’m not a big fan of wireless, I do not like having to charge batteries and I do not like having potential input lag or signal interference. So I don’t use bluetooth either.

@rose @snacks @paula8 You got a Sofle too? Hell yeah sister!

@snacks This is what I have as well, feels like the perfect amount of keys for me. Respect, corne friend.

@snacks I kinda knew the layout I wanted and that I had wanted specifically the 36-key variant, luckily.

My early days of custom keyboard layouts was with a Moonlander, which is expensive but at least nice in that you can easily experiment with different layouts. (And a nice on-ramp for fewer keys, I thought.)

@snacks @BitBun i have 40 keys, LEDs, independent halves and circular touchpads, and i paid less than that amount for 4 of those boards

i just had to DIY… well, everything, so it’s kind of a wash

@mia @snacks Love the design of the diffuse keycaps with the backlight colors! I prefer pretty simple nowadays, hardly even having backlights. But maybe I'll add it back in someday.

@BitBun @snacks yea. i mostly use these as indicator lights because i have layers that toggle options and stuff, and i can set LED states via HID protocol

@BitBun @snacks could add an OLED display as well but nah

@mia @snacks Oh, the touchpad is interesting too - I use the keys themselves to control the mouse, but occasionally I do want for something a tad smoother. That's not a bad idea. I'll have to keep it in mind for future builds.

@BitBun @snacks it’s nice for precise scrolling too (circular scrolling gesture)

@mia @snacks I currently have a display. It's cute but not really anything I use with any seriousness. It has a WPM counter graph on it, which I occasionally look at just for fun, but I could take or leave it.

@snacks @BitBun yeah pimoroni has breakout PCBs for them (they’re blackberry trackballs)

those are pretty terrible though tbh

@snacks @mia This is making me want to iterate on my keyboard again - but I really don't need more projects right now lol!

Thanks for these ideas though, filing them away to play with at a later date.

@SuperDicq less than 24 hours after I spent 260€ on a new keyboard this isn’t a coincidence we are in a simulation

@yunii Cool, what did you buy?

@SuperDicq keychron q1 max with some gateron reds, big upgrade from my 30€ plastic Amazon mechanical keyboard

@yunii Oh those look alright. Definitely a huge upgrade.

I’m a weirdo so I bought a Sofle split keyboard with Choc switches.