Thanks for this! I use a Perrix 835 and I'm quite happy with it except that the keys are rubbing raw and I need new key caps. But I'm always looking to trade up if possible.

There's a whole world of custom split keyboard options out there that use switches where it's super easy to buy replacement keycaps. You can get keycaps made of PBT which are long-lasting and have a very high "rub" factor so you shouldn't have to worry about rubbing them raw for a very long time.

Yes! I don't really understand the appeal of mechanical keyboards. I mean sure, they're a step up from cheap-ass rubber-dome defaults, so it's worth people discovering there are options.

But for me, most mechanical keyboards are downright painful to use. The standard rectangular layout is bad for my wrists, the keypress depth is bad for my fingers, clicks are just plain annoying.

Perhaps decades of keyboard use has worn my wrists and fingers down or helped me define what I wanted, but it's split low-profile or bust.

And there's a dearth of such options on the market. Slowly rising, but a paltry fraction of the overall "mechanical"/custom keyboard market, especially as it comes to keycaps!

Maybe I should just grab the bull by the horns and mod a Microsoft Sculpt to be wired, whose only downside is unreliable wireless.

/rant

There are non-clicky keys!

oh yeah, in fact I find it hilarious that clicky keys just have an extra lever just for the click sound. It's not part of the actuation mechanism! I have a Giant Kailh from Novelkeys which is interesting to see the construction of a switch.

indeed, of all the things to preserve from the bad designs of the past...

I’m quite happy with my Perixx Periboard 335 replacing the Microsoft Ergo Sculpt. Standard layout, semi-split, tented, low (-ish) profile, mechanical switches, wired.

Took me a lot of searches to find something meeting my requirements

> But for me, most mechanical keyboards are downright painful to use. The standard rectangular layout is bad for my wrists, the keypress depth is bad for my fingers, clicks are just plain annoying.

I think you're conflating things. The "mechanical" in "mechanical keyboard" refers to the key switches. That's it. Then you have unrelated traits such as customization,which can express in using fancy/functional keycaps, feel/keypress experience, and whatever you can imagine and throw at a keyboard. None of your complains refer to mechanical keyboards in particular.

My point is that the majority of the mechanical keyboard scene/market is occupied by very traditional (if cut down, in the case of the Any% ones) layout and key types.

For a scene that is so into customization, it's disappointing how much it sticks to bad choices.

> My point is that the majority of the mechanical keyboard scene/market is occupied by very traditional (if cut down, in the case of the Any% ones) layout and key types.

You need to pay attention to what you're saying, because you're referring to different things with unrelated words. If you look at what you're saying, you're talking about custom keyboards. Not mechanical keyboards. Custom keyboards. You even called it a "scene". You're talking about people who buy gear and assemble/modify it to fit their taste. What choice of switches they use is irrelevant. Heck, are you still talking about mechanics keyboards if someone switches cherry MX switches with Topre ones?

I share your experience. I can recommend the discontinued Microsoft LXM-00001 (the Sculpt wasn’t quite for me), which is wired, if you can find leftover stock, or if Incase finally manages to resurrect it [0].

[0] https://www.zdnet.com/article/fan-of-microsofts-windows-pc-a...

It's an article written by a mainstream site so I wasn't really expecting them to talk about split keyboards at all but I agree wholeheartedly.

I went from a full size to a 40% keyboard to an ortholinear and now use a low-profile split keyboard as a daily driver.

IME it's so much better for ergonomics with a proper desk setup and seating/posture with the split halves shoulder width apart. Wireless is a great benefit as well if you swap between desktops and laptops.

Open source firmware like ZMK and QMK make it trivial to use splits with Linux, mac OS and Windows and for any environments where the OS is locked down and software installation is required.

Are there split keyboards that preserve the standard layout of the home/end/pgup/pgdown cluster? Due to my usage patterns, not having that is a deal breaker for me. As an example, with rectangular keyboards my only choices are tenkeyless or full size, because they preserve the home cluster. Are there equivalents in the split keyboard world? All I'm seeing in that subreddit are smaller keyboards that lack the home cluster, that's why I ask.

I think the Ergodox ez does those keys better than a standard keyboard because they are split between the two thumb clusters in the standard layout. Don't even have to move my hands to hit any of the four keys. It was one of the things I was looking for in a keyboard.

Does seem like a white whale. Nearly all of the split keyboards want to do something different. I just want to stop scrunching my shoulders and space out my arms. Give me a fully traditional keyboard with all of the keys, just with a split down the middle.

My non-QMK keyboard has a horrendous home+end location, which I only realized after I acquired the thing. I did not realize how much I rely on those keys in normal programming.

For a very long time and until now, there have been models of Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboards, with all the classic PC keys, just with a split layout of the keys.

I have used such keyboards for many years and I have been content with them, even if a couple of years ago I have switched to a more compact completely split keyboard, without a separate digit pad (for 2 reasons, a closer position of the pointing device and easier transport in my luggage, due to its smaller total size, to be able to also use it instead of the non-ergonomic laptop keyboard).

Unless I am mistaken, the Microsoft versions are all single slabs of hardware with a slight space between the halves. By split keyboard, I want two separate pieces of hardware I can arbitrarily position to fit my body. I maintain a solid 12 inches(30 cm) between the pieces on my desk.

If you want completely separate halves, with the 104/105-key formats the right-hand part would be much larger than the left-hand part, which is inconvenient when you want to move or transport it.

You can achieve the same effect in a more convenient way by buying any of the many keyboards with separate parts for the hands, together with a separate numeric pad, which contains the third part of a classic 104/105-key keyboard.

The only remaining difference from the classic format is that on such keyboards the home-end and PgUp-PgDn key pairs are typically on the same vertical column at the right edge of the keyboard, instead of being side-by-side, but it is easy to become accustomed to this arrangement, which actually makes them easier to reach.

Why not have home/end near home row with a right thumb modifier instead?

The Q14 preserves some similar placement but not all. The Q13 has 4 configurable keys in the top right.

https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q14-max-alice-lay...

I can't vouch for its quality, but this has the full standard layout of those buttons (plus insert/delete). https://www.amazon.com/EPOMAKER-Mechanical-Swappable-Program...

I've also really enjoyed my Keychron Q11. It only has 5 of those keys (I remapped them a bit because I find "end" more useful than "insert"), and have adjusted quite easily. Relative to the default, I've got Home/End where Ins/Del are, Del for PgUp, and PgUp/Dn where it has PgDn/Home. That was all painless to change in the mapping tool. https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q11-qmk-custom-me...

> Are there split keyboards that preserve the standard layout of the home/end/pgup/pgdown cluster?

There used to be. I have a Microsoft keyboard[1] that works just fine using a PS2 <-> USB connector. Unfortunately I lost the PS2 <-> USB connector (which, IIRC, was an active converter, not a passive one) so I don't use it any more.

I use a standard mechanical keyboard with the standard US layout, and have not noticed any discomfort after 25 years or daily driving the standard layout.

[1] This particular one - first gen model: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_ergonomic_keyboards#... - although if you browse that entire page you'll see that there are newer models.

Why not create a "navigation layer" where you can have your home/end/pup/pgdown and arrow keys, right below your fingers?

That's the usual way people use these smaller keyboards, and it's way superior in my opinion.

Two thumbs up for the Iris keyboard, typically purchased as a kit: https://keeb.io/collections/iris-split-ergonomic-keyboard

I’d also add r/olkb for ortholinear keyboards and r/ergomechcomputers for those pushing ergo keyboards to their logical conclusion.

Side note, the BFO-9000 looks glorious.