r/ErgoMechKeyboards • u/ThiceBeno • 1d ago
[help] Most budget friendly ergo split?
Hi everyone! I'm a fairly new finder of this sub, but it seems to have been found at an ironic time. Im a software developer and we had a guy start at work that uses a split keyboard, that started my interest, so I was already looking at them.
I've been using PCs regularly for over 20 years since I was 11, and wouldn't you know it my bad habits and awkward typing/mouse angles caught up to my wrists, Merry Christmas right haha... With my recent diagnosis I decided I should seriously look at getting an ergo split to help and maybe a track ball? Problem is most of these options are way out of my price range especially the prebuilt ones and I don't even have the tools to do the DIY ones even if they are cheaper.
So I'm looking for some help. I'd love some suggestions and thought people have on ergo keyboards and mice (if mice are allowed to talk about in this sub?). Anything I can learn to help the pain in my wrists.
Also looking for what's the best option for budget friendly ergo split to help with wrist problems? This time of year is rough anyway with three kids birthday and wife's birthday all within a month of Christmas. Ideally I'd love to be around $100 but seems that is near impossible. Is there any options in that range, or something near by I could save up for (though not ideal for how my wrists are feeling), or does anyone have a decent old one laying around they'd like to part with.
Thanks a ton, you guys seems like a really cool community looking forward to hanging around!
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u/Iuslez 1d ago
I got a royal kludge rk-s70, can be found for ~80$ (I paid more).
Depends on what you are trying exactly to do. "Ergosplit" is quite broad: split / layers/ programmability / thumb buttons / columnar / tenting.
The S70 doesn't have all of those, but it's got the one that I was interested in (split/some programmability/split thumb/tenting). I achieved layers through software
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u/ThiceBeno 1d ago
I'll check this out that sounds very promising for the things I'd like. At least with my limited knowledge overall at this point! Thank you!
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u/DanL4 1d ago
Maybe look at second hand boards? In my opinion the cheapino isn't a good option for a first board. It's got 36 keys, which is fine for many, but not for all. I suggest a 6 column board (cheapino has 5). Home row mods aren't for everyone and they're more or less required for 5 column boards. Take a look at myriocu as an example of what you're getting into with 36 keys.
Good luck!
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u/theTechRun 1d ago edited 1d ago
I use the Cheapino (my first split) without home row mods (I hate them). I went the Seniply route with one shot modifiers (secondary) on the extend layer... and added my own spin on it with thumb keys modifiers (primary) as well.
I think this was easy as a first board because I had to memorize less keys on the base layer and I don't ever have to move my hands from the home row position.
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u/DanL4 1d ago
Looks interesting, and I definitely would recommend this over home row mods for someone taking their first steps with a minimalist board. I know some, like yourself, dive in directly to a 36 key board and manage to make it work. I needed to begin with 6 columns, and to this day (six years later) can't say for sure if it was a step forward or backwards :-)
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u/ThiceBeno 1d ago
Thanks for the input! I'm am a bit nervous about jumping to a 36, but if it helps and it's cheap it may be worth it. Idk. I'll keep looking thanks again!
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u/D_for_destruction 1d ago
Likely, the ergo keyboard the colleague has wasnāt their first. Maybe he has an older keyboard you can buy/borrow as a start?
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u/kynikoi_ K02 | Purpz | CFX 1d ago
Recently I was working on a partial redesign of the ferris sweep and as it seems the K02 and the ferris sweep half swept despite being wireless offer the best bang for the buck
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u/badwolf42 lily58 1d ago
I picked up a sofle kit on ali express for 18 dollars. Switches will cost 30-50 dollars. Caps, 20. Controllers, 15 or so. Iād also spring for millmax sockets for the controllers. 20-30 more dollars i think.
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u/ThiceBeno 1d ago
Did you get all of these off AliExpress?
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u/badwolf42 lily58 1d ago
The switches I got from lowprokb.ca because I wanted the silent linears. The case Iām printing. Caps are available on Ali, amazon, or any keeb site. Controllers I got from Amazon or littlekeyboards, I now forget which. I forget where I got the sockets but littlekeyboards.com has them. Ultra low profile sockets.
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u/Snoo_73402 1d ago
Just got a fully assembled Sofie for 70 from AliExpress. Took a little setup but works great
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u/ineedhelpasap9 1d ago
can you send me pictures? I've got one like that that has vial but couldn't flash it with anything else so I got another corne.
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u/ThiceBeno 1d ago
Any chance you could DM me link? I was looking at AliExpress but only finding ones without switches and caps even though the pictures looked assembled. Very confused there..
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u/Snoo_73402 21h ago
I'm an idiot. In my mind fully assembled meant no soldering. Ive soldered and handwired a few of these so my confusion there. They need switches and caps.
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u/LockPickingCoder 1d ago
When you say "split" do you mean you actually want two separate boards (which is usually what we mean by split) or would a single board with an ergo design work? I'm mostly asking as there are a few under 100 'alice' options at Keychron, which are ok - to - good boards, as well as they do have a split for $140. Not full on column stagger ergos but could be a way to at least give some relief without breaking the bank. Also not a bad way to ease into ergos.
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u/ThiceBeno 1d ago
I'd like two pieces that tent ideally. From what I've gathered this seems like it'd be my best relief setup. I'll check these out though thanks!!
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u/LaufenKopf 1d ago
I got interested in split kbs just like you - a colleague came to the office with a $400 concave-curved split kb. I fell in love with the thingy but there was no way I could spend this much on a kb, especially a first one.
From what I researched there was no "safe" way to get down to under $100, though, at least for me. By "safe" I mean that I wanted buy everything from a single seller because I was already overwhelmed with allt the differntt parts I had to consider and wanted to be sure that everything is compatible and nothing was missing. Preferrably with personalized instructions about how these parts are assembled :)
I didn't find any ready-made kbs under $250.
Not counting inessential extras (trackball, oled screen and plastic cases/plates) I bought a kit that cost me $130 + import taxes, which is a fair price considering the safety I got with it. I was also able to borrow a solder iron. I had never used one before, but with a lot of patience and staying up to 3 in the morning I was able to build a functional keyboard within about 5 days (the last 3 days spent fixing not well solderes parts), literally ending today :D. So my whole research/order/receive/build experience took place in the last 2 months.
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u/ThiceBeno 1d ago
This is kind of what I have seen! Do you mind sharing the link to what you bought in a DM?
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u/LaufenKopf 1d ago
but agian, you have to research options on your own. I looked through some comments here mentioning pre-built kbs for under $100 from aliexpress - I think I've seen them too, but I disregarded them mostly for having too few keys. I didn't want to get much lower than the 58 of my Lily because I didn't feel ready for such a drastic change. Your use case might be different so if you find a cheap pre-built kb that you like - take it!
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u/SnooLobsters6880 1d ago
The cheapest split is probably a Kinesis on Amazon. Itāll do 80% of what the mech keyboards do. Not custom etc, but cheaper. I think 90 or so new but you can find many options from kinesis for cheaper if used.
Thereās some Aliexpress options that are a bit cheaper but are not necessarily working without added work. If itās not a hobby Iād think twice on pursing these as a keyboard.
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u/ThiceBeno 1d ago
I did see the kinesis but wasn't sure about that boxy layout. Also can they do tenting? Didn't see anything about it when I saw them.
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u/SnooLobsters6880 1d ago
Thereās the Kinesis advantage. No tenting. Kinesis edge does have tenting but no columnar split.
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u/MrMoon0_o 1d ago
I haven't built one myself, but the cheapino was the first thing that came to my mind.
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u/lightswitches_ 1d ago
Would love to know this also, not ready to build my own yet but that split is too cool!
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u/Acrobatic_Donkey_748 9h ago
i'd suggest NocFree Lite, its quite affordable and with clean design. Got mine 3 months ago and never regretted it.
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u/averagepoetry 1d ago
My entry was a Corne v4.1 for $120. :) Got it on eBay, the vendor looks to be still there. Youāll need to get switches and keycaps. You can get cheap ones and upgrade later.
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u/ThiceBeno 1d ago
Do you happen to have aink you can DM me? Also any suggestions on cheap switch's and keys?
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u/averagepoetry 1d ago
Sent. No affiliations with vendor. :) The keyboard is also flashed with Vial. You can go to a website (vial.rocks) and configure all the keys in real time, no need to reflash firmware! This was instrumental for me to play with all the settings, layers, homerow mods, etc.
For switches, Iād go to Amazon and get the cheapest red or browns to start. Same for keycaps, just get cheap ones, Iād suggest cherry profile ones to start. If you like the keyboard, youāll end up buying and trying tons laters anyway. Iām many split keyboards in at this point haha. :)
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u/0nikoroshi 1d ago
It's not necessarily the cheapest, but I highly recommend the Keyball39. It has an integrated trackball which is excellent. I'd also suggest the Charybdis, but don't have personal experience with that.
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u/icebreakerone9 1d ago edited 1d ago
To chime in about ergonomic mice, I was having carpal tunnel flare-ups about 8 years ago. Looked into it a bit and decided to get a vertical J-tech mouse (wired). Best purchase I've ever made. Cured my wrist issues, they are inexpensive at ~$17 (bought a few spares), and the original is still running strong. I do a lot of cad work and it's proved to be a literal job saver!
Takes a bit of time to grow accustomed to using the larger arm muscles (you overshoot a lot at first), but once you do there's no loss of functionality. Since then, half of my group has switched over to vertical mice.
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u/theTechRun 1d ago edited 1d ago
Cheapino v2 from AliExpress. That's what I did and I'm very happy with it.
I use a Kensington Expert 55mm Trackball Mouse with it. I've considered getting a split with the trackball built in... But I just can't go back to small balls anymore.
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u/DatsMaBoi 1d ago edited 1d ago
I've recently posted about my 58ā¬ Lily58. Aliexpress PCB & controllers, local open box caps, plus Keychron switches to make it cheap. Within a budget of 40$ you can add a case too. Adding a trackpad within budget is tricky; I'd personally go with a standalone one and go on a dealhunt for used office gear.
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u/ThiceBeno 1d ago
This is a great write up thanks a ton I'll dig into these options that setup looks really nice!
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u/DatsMaBoi 1d ago
You can save a few more bucks by leaving out the screens (4 EUR), and gettingthe cheapest Cherry caps from Aliexpress (5EUR or so). This would save you another 10 EUR, bringing costs down to 48EUR!
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u/Keybug 1d ago edited 1d ago
There's the Perixx PERIBOARD-524B for 40ā¬ on German Amazon, not sure if you can get it elsewhere. It doesn't get cheaper than that.
A little-used Kinesis Freestyle might be another good option - I used one happily for years before I got into mechanical boards. But unless you get into custom mechanical switches, a rubber dome board like the two above can be just as good.
Also, you should be wary of rushing to an option with very few keys. There are many good reasons to keep the number row, for example. See here.
What exactly is your problem WRT mousing? If it's mostly shoulder pain, just switching to a tenkeyless keyboard (not necessarily an ergo) can do wonders. Also consider using a second mouse, trackpad, ... with your left hand to give your right hand a break from time to time.
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u/ineedhelpasap9 1d ago
if you want something cheap but good look for corne v4 in aliexpress, you can find them at around 55$ fully assembled or if you want to choose the switches and keycaps yourself 70-80$
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u/zogrodea 1d ago
You might find the KBDcraft Israfel interesting. It's not a full split but a unibody/monoblock with adjustable split and fixed tenting instead. Just about $60, and requires no unique skills to build (it's just like putting together LEGO). https://kbdcraft.store/products/israfel?srsltid=AfmBOoqkyl6rsfZWLDo-1P4nDgPkouyiiOWAxBF8HFW39uFXlBjMC2HM
I haven't used it but purchased one yesterday and looking forward to it. Maybe you will find it worthwhile too.
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u/alexisdelg 1d ago
The iris kit from keeb.io is pretty easy to assemble, just a few screws and pop in switches and caps, I got the switches from them and the caps from Amazon...
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u/Pitiful-Weather8152 10h ago
These days, there are several split keyboards on Amazon for around $100 (more or less).
They are ājust splitā which is to say they are just like a regular keyboard, just split in two. In my opinion, these keyboards are the best option for a beginner. You get accustomed to the split and you donāt have a huge learning curve.
They donāt have all the programmability and features, but if you read carefully you may be able to get the feature you care about most.
I bought the Kinesis Freestyle 2 on used on eBay. Itās $89 new, but used ones are going for about $40 and sometimes include accessories.
You can buy a basic tenting kit that goes up to 15 degrees. I got the rather bulky freestyle Ascent accessory that lets you tent up to 90 degrees (also on eBay)
It did not have mechanical keys or any type of programmability. I eventually upgraded, but starting with the Kinesis helped ease my transition and helped me figure out what features I wanted in a more expensive board.
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u/kripler7 1d ago edited 1d ago
Cheapest starting point is the cheapinov2. Wired Split with a single controller. It does not have a track ball but you could use mousekey emulation in qmk. If you need a trackball, then look into a keyball or Charybdis.
Cheapino can definitely be under $100 and pre-built from aliexpress. Keyball and Charybdis will be hard to do under $100 pre-built and even if you order everything yourself and assemble yourself I think you'll be over $100.
I use a cheapino with some MagSafe mounts to rotate them into a more ergonomic position and it's been great for me. With the MagSafe mounts you can definitely find an ergonomic sweet spot for yourself.