Heyo
I want to switch to a split keyboard setup, but I really don’t want to spend $400 only to end up hating it. Are there any cheaper options that I can get as a temporary board while deciding?
EDIT: Massive thank you to all the replies I got. All of the suggestions and advice are great and have been very helpful. That being said, I will likely be going for the Momoka Ergo due to it having free shipping to South Africa and includes switches and keycaps. (Switches are extremely expensive here (around $250 for a set of Cherry switches for example))
Check out the keyboards at Beekeeb. You can’t go wrong with the Piantor. If 42 keys is too scary, try the hillside or one of the other big ones.
Don’t forget you can cheap tent any split with some books, sand bags, cardboard, 3D printed parts…
Was worried about stability but yea beanbags would probably work great! Thanks!
https://www.momoka.co/ergo for US$ 180,-?
Heyo. Quick question, I see on the QMK configurator that there are three layers on the Momoka. My questions are:
- Is this true? and
- How do you switch layers? The Momoka site is very bare and their chat has been unattended for a few days.
If you want to contact them, they have a discord server (called momoka), maybe you can try there?
(I had to take a look at the keymap to verify, as I have been using a custom keymap for years.)
Yes, to switch to the second layer, you press and hold one of the FN keys and to switch to the third layer, you press the shift key in addition to that.
They do have a VIA-enabled firmware, in which you can change which keys are used for that in a graphical interface and, if you familiarize yourself with QMK and how to build it yourself (not as hard, as it may sound), you can have a keymap with as many layers as will fit in the keyboards memory and can have all kinds of useful functions.
My keymap for the Momoka has five layers, a key that will activate one layer when tapped and another when held, Home Row Mods (The keys on the home row produce letters when tapped and Shift, Ctrl, Alt and Win/Super when held), etc., etc.That’s cool! I was mainly hoping to avoid needed an external numpad by mapping the numpad onto the right hand for data entry. That’s great! Should fit my needs perfectly. Thanks for all the assistance!
And another thing: All of the keyboards that were recommended to you here use QMK (or KMK or ZMK) firmwares and thus are equally configurable.
You’re welcome. Full disclosure: I did have some troubles with the keyboard, as one of the USB-ports was wonky, but I was an early adopter and they sent me a replacement left half. They are a little hard to reach at times, and seem to concentrate on selling custom keycaps now, but aside from building a keyboard yourself, I doubt you will get one as cheaply as that.
Yea even if I was to build myself the price of switches and caps in South Africa is a joke. I can handle some tech issues. The next cheapest option is around $300 shipped to me to this is a great price with the thumb clusters I wanted. I’m in the Discord now and it’s pretty barren lol. Will have to just place the order and hope for the best!
The Corne is a very popular split keyboard that is very cheap. It requires some level of DIY, but the main board can be had for $33. It can also be made Bluetooth with the nice!nano. You will still need switches and caps, but depending on what you’re after, those can be cheap as well.
I’m obviously very new to the fancy shmancy keyboard world. Do I need to build this thing completely from scratch? Or do they sell ready made ones? The site is a bit intense haha
Hey, we all start somewhere! I ordered mine from keyhive and made the mistake of ordering the DIY version. I usually like to do things myself, but had a hell of a time soldering the SMD diodes on. I would recommend the partially assembled version. Keyhive also lists the other parts you will need. If you order the partially assembled version, you will only need a microcontroller, switches, and caps for a complete keyboard! Keyhive also lists the microcontrollers you can use. Personally, I love the nice!nano. It ads BLE and the battery lasts for quite a while. You will need to solder the microcontroller, but it’s easy to do assuming you have an iron. Let me know if you have more questions!
Ah I see all the Corne kits are sold out. But anyway, I was hoping for a more robust thumb cluster too. The Momoka looks like exactly what I’m looking for, only thing missing is tenting. Thanks for the help though!
