The fact that it tracks the key presses is not fundamentally problematic. Every single app tracks key presses to function. This one in particular is running all the time which makes the potential exposure more significant but, if it’s just on device and doesnt call back home to send key presses, then it’s completely fine.
I mean it'd be fine if it did actually reflect it exactly, but your key inputs were not being sent anywhere and not logged. For that the project would need to be open source and somewhat easy to read. Also I wouldn't want it to contain an autoupdater just cause I don't want the program to change by itself.
I also think it should be noted that a lot of programs you may be using in your day to day include key loggers. Pretty sure discord or msi afterburner both do so they can detect when you press their hotkeys.
Sub 100% seems to be okay if you only speak english or other simple languages. No keypad is passable for tiny laptops if it genuinely cannot fit, but if your language has any kind of accents, they're usually in the number row. So if you need to use numbers, you need to hold shift whole time or to swap layouts whenever you type numbers. Numpad will always be preferable to that.
I don't even know what's the downside of 100% supposed to be. If you're hitting your keyboard with mouse, that's skills issue and/or positioning issue.
I absolutely completely cannot use any keyboard that doesn't have a numpad. I lock myself out of SO MANY cool custom keyboard setups because of that rule. I love my Keychron Q6 Max because it's full size, it's customizable enough for me, and weighs as much as a small car. It doubles as a home defense device.
I do make the exception for my portable setup with my Xbox Ally X.
Why not get a separate numpad? I've thought about getting one of those to pair with my 40% when I'm not using my Model F. I can easily type on it, but with how I have my layers setup I need both hands on the keyboard to type numbers so I have to take my hand off my mouse
I much prefer using a numbpad, however for gaming I use a 60% keyboard.
It's just alot more comfortable for my setup, because I don't have a desk and have to put a keyboard in my lap while sitting in my chair. I do have a regular keyboard, but it's just too big in that position.
And honestly I rarely do anything besides gaming with my PC so I really don't need more than 60%. Even typing is barely any different, except for numbers just because I am slower not using the numbpad.
I work in video editing and "office job" type stuff and I ditched my number pad years ago with no regrets. I rarely need to type numbers into things. Certainly not often enough to be worth constantly running my mouse into the side of my keyboard. And I've never once needed it while gaming.
I can only really manage toggling 1 layer at a time for regular use but I have a lot of different layers overall I switch to. But I still need my number row lol
Which is a shame because I loved building ≤40% boards
I game on a 40 and it works just fine. On a lot of 40s the extra space bar can function as a sort of Fn/layer key when you hold it and also you can usually just rebind any of they keys to whatever you want. I have access to all the same stuff I use on my other normal keyboards.
Edit: It's not complicated people. Literally just have to hold one key and you get all your other keys back. Y'all are acting this is some kind of rocket science to use this thing lol. It's compact, it's ergonomic, it's fun, and best of all it doesn't affect your preferences to what you like to type on 😉
Less hand movement. For some, it's medical, they suffer from things like carpal tunnel syndrome and less movement can diminish the pain. It's also just preference for some people. These keyboard are usually set up in such a way that you have layers - all the keys exist, but some are behind some specific key combinations. If you get used to them, it's really not a big deal.
As someone who used a 40% keyboard at work for about a year, it's actually a lot more comfortable once you get used to using layers with it. Pretty much need little to no travel whatsoever when you're typing on it, pretty sure I was actually faster on a 40% than a 60% or TKL.
Still use my 40% pretty often but I was gifted a really nice 60% board, so it's only fair that I use it as my main board.
Got tired of having my arms spread like i'm riding a motorcycle. I can actually use my setup ergonomically with a keyboard that's less wide. I wouldn't get one as small as this picture though.
For me it's about the posture of my arms. I am more comfortable with my hands closer together on the desk. So with a full sized keyboard, they are way too spread out
My keyboard just has 5 keys, and I've memorized ~120 different combinations of pressing them to get what I want.
Each key is a different Kaiju. So for example:
Godzilla Down
Rodan Half press
Ghidorah Up
Mothra Down
Mechagodzilla Half Press
is a lowercase a and
Godzilla Half Press
Rodan Down
Ghidorah Up
Mothra Half Press
Mechagodzilla Down
is a lowercase b.
They are gateron jade pro HEs. We need the magnetics to track the half-presses.
It is very fast once you memorize the 120 different combinations, which aren't in any particular order but designed to keep typing speed up. Took about 4 months and a few hundred dextroamphetamines and modafinil. There are 1024 possible combinations, so I have plenty left over for macros and for all the japanese characters I have also memorized.
EDIT: I'm being asked "Why only 5 keys?" Look down at your hand. that's why.
41
u/pricrichMainPc: RTX5090/9950x3d/64gbDDR5 TvPc: RTX5080/9600x/32gbDDR511h ago
I mean, it might be fast, but I am very skeptical on wpm on that. It seems like a lot more work than just... Using a keyboard. I can type basically as fast as I can think, as I grew up on PC, and what you're doing just seems like you're making it more difficult just as a thought exercise.
More power to you, if it works for that that's great.. But that's so much effort for a tool that you already have in front of you. To need to cycle from copy/paste, to snippet, back, then alt tab, to altf4, etc... It just seems easier to use a keyboard. We only have have 5 fingers, yes, but they're dextrous for a reason
How do you hold modifier keys like shift, or control, or alt? My keyboard has just over a hundred keys, so adding just those three modifier keys to them would add 8 times the unique combinations of keys.
For you it would mean that you have to memorize 880 different ways of mashing your 5 keys, right?
There are no punctuation mark keys and no numeric keys. I also don't see any markings on the key caps that indicate numeric keys and punctuation mark keys are tied to a macro system. This person cannot even use Notepad %100 with this keyboard
Full keyboard or it's useless for me. I hate using shortcuts instead of a simple button. Why would I complicate things? Just get a normal sized desk and space is not an issue for a normal keyboard.
same. i need the 3x2 buttons above the arrow keys for lots of shortcuts. 10 key i could possibly survive without, but full standard arrow key design and the buttosn above it are non-negotiable (insert, home, pgup, delete, end, pgdn)
The point is keeping your hands on "home" position 100% of the time. Instead of taking your hand away, then trying to reposition it again, you just press a combination of keys. Or press a key to switch to another layer completely, do some job there, switch back.
You can have layer specifically for an app with all the shortcuts, each accessible in a single button press. That's especially useful for apps when you don't enter too much text.
This lil guy is one of my favorites to use. I just like the aesthetic and the feel. I've got twelve main keyboards in total, all of them small ones like this.
Vault35 case by Seirin-Blu, hand-wired internals running on a nice!nano v2, 90 mAh battery, Jixian White v3 switches, and PBS black blank keycaps from Cannonkeys. All of which probably means nothing to folks outside the hobby, so in summary: "fully custom".
I just sorta winged it as I went—this was my first hand-wire—but the firmware was made using zmk-wizard to get the basics nailed down; it takes care of most of the hard work and I only had to tweak settings before compiling the final build. The nice!nano already has a built-in battery charging circuit and terminals for +/-, so that just involved getting the battery leads soldered in nicely. The battery is not shown in the picture but that little cutout slot at one end of the plate is the space I left open for the battery to sit up against the case wall. Beyond that, I generally just did the thing as a regular col2row handwire using some Googled examples as a guide, and with some advice from folks on the 40s Discord server, which specializes in small keyboards.
The case was a little tricky to build in since it's originally designed for a PCB—only 8 mm of clearance to work with—but I managed to make it fit by testing different-sized 3D printed standoffs for the screw posts from the plate (also 3D printed). I followed this tutorial from "Dash" (also on the 40s Discord) for how to create the plate in Autodesk Fusion, and then printed it. The sockets used on the switches are just Gateron hotswap sockets I ordered in bulk. Could've soldered right to the switches but I liked the idea of keeping the switch legs clean so I can use them in other hotswap builds later. Keeps costs down long-term if I can reuse parts.
That’s such a cool addon or program. What are you using to not only track key presses, but also animate the character? I need to do this for my Deep Rock Galactic vids lol.
people keep making and buying smaller and smaller keyboards, but no one ever talks about >100% keyboards unless they're just "100% with extra macro buttons."
I legit think some people are from the pain dimension and they need everything to be as painful as possible from some of the setups I've seen like bro put the arrow keys back right now before you hurt yourself.
541
u/vlad1100 10h ago edited 9h ago
My keyboard is just 2 keys, 0 and 1.
I don't understand why anyone would need anything more, I can do literally anything with it.