Most budget friendly ergo split?

[u/ThiceBeno]

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!

[u/LaufenKopf]

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.

[u/ThiceBeno → u/LaufenKopf]

This is kind of what I have seen! Do you mind sharing the link to what you bought in a DM?

[u/LaufenKopf → u/ThiceBeno]

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!