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    Programmable layouts the rainbow road

    • Started by pinkyache
    • 4 Replies:
    • Reputation: 7
    • Registered: 21-Apr-2010
    • Posts: 818

    I don't really get the RGB thing and pimping up your PC.  But I'm also not a gamer.  After watching a few videos it seems people use different colours on keys for the games they play, probably as mnemonics.  And software seems far and wide for keyboard customisation these days.  It's another world.  Some new keyboards appear to have decent chips and memory and what not and you can reprogram them, switch keys.  Switch layouts.  Flash lights and all sorts.

    So given that, what's the most friendly and accessible and utilitarian of these modern keyboards?

    Do any have good cross OS support?

    And have any of you horrible lot used them to remap say Qwerty to Colemak?

    Or gone beyond?

    (Personally looking at Keychron boards for the size and build.)

    Thanks in advance.  Pinky.

    --
    Physicians deafen our ears with the Honorificabilitudinitatibus of their heavenly Panacaea, their sovereign Guiacum.

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    • Reputation: 11
    • Registered: 06-Jun-2013
    • Posts: 560

    well myself and steve have gone down the atreus route -> https://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard/usa … boards.asp
    programmable so no need for OS support as such
    I've been using his seniply layout -> https://stevep99.github.io/seniply/

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    • Reputation: 117
    • From: UK
    • Registered: 14-Apr-2014
    • Posts: 978

    I don't really see a huge benefit of RGB either. You can make pretty colours etc which is all very nice, but I'm personally more interested in ergonomics than aesthetics.

    I'm happy with my Atreus too, it hits that sweet spot of being mechanical, ergonomic, fully programmable, but also readily available as a finished product (i.e. not a DIY kit). I also have a Redox keyboard which is great too. There is also stuff like the Moonlander which is popular I believe, if you want a full size keyboard and don't mind the extra cost.

    I held back from these kinds of keyboards for quite a while, as they were mostly self-build projects, and my soldering skills leave much to be desired. But nowadays there are programmable ergo boards that can be bought assembled and ready to go, which for me was the gamechanger. The great thing about being programmable is you can have all your layers (including a Qwerty layer if desired) onboard, so there is no fiddling with software or changing the settings on the OS. This is especially good with my Atreus, as it's small and portable, so I take it with me and can use it should I need to use another computer.

    The only real downside is that because these split ergo boards are so much better, I'd wince at the idea of having to use a normal keyboard, even with Colemak-DH on it. I can't live without my thumb keys now.

    Last edited by stevep99 (28-Dec-2022 19:10:37)

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    • Reputation: 7
    • Registered: 21-Apr-2010
    • Posts: 818

    Just when you think you have seen all the keyboards, there's this Atreus super mini!  Yum yum.  Can I have it with a trackball please Sir?

    I picked up an RGB keyboard kind of by accident.  And it was quite cute alongside the xmas tree.  A cooler master.  There are programmable macros on it.  Not quite sure what people are using them for?  But I might teach it a few passwords, and leave the instructions buried somewhere.  The lights are fun for all of about five minutes, and then they kind of become annoying.

    Anyone doing anything quite funky with popular off the shelf keyboards?  Is there any software I should be looking at?

    Goes off to watch videos of the Atreus...

    --
    Physicians deafen our ears with the Honorificabilitudinitatibus of their heavenly Panacaea, their sovereign Guiacum.

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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
    • Posts: 5,363

    If you want to browse for macro ideas, there's a slew of them in EPKL. Both the DeadKeys and Extend files contain some of the ones I use a lot.

    One of my current faves is the CoDeKey punctuation combos: I have a thumb key (the old RAlt; the RAlt itself got displaced one unit to the right) and with it followed by a home row key I get a punctuation–space–capitalization 3-for-2. I like how it saves me not only one key press but also curling down to the lower row and reaching for a Shift key. It may be an acquired taste, idk.

    Last edited by DreymaR (10-Jan-2023 17:59:51)

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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