I just started going down this rabbit hole myself after seeing a video of the Dactyl Manuform split keyboard. I'm thinking about getting one now. Is there someone on HN who works fulltime on a split keyboard? How does that work out for you?
I suspect the Dactyl is very comfy but i'm not sure if that still is the case if you use it full time.
The Iris looks great too. So if you have experience with that I would love to hear it too.
I used a normal (Logitech/Microsoft) split keyboard since university, since I was scared when a student a couple of years older than me got RSI and couldn't type for weeks.
These wore out about 2 years ago, and I couldn't find a similar replacement. I bought an ErgoDash [1] instead. It has a few additional keys compared to the Iris. I have one at work and another at home, and to make them more similar to the broken keyboards I 3D printed angled bases. I use them for 99% of my typing.
I should probably have tried a Kinesis Advantage 2 first, but it seemed like too much of a jump.
I'm partway through 3D printing/assembling a Lagrange keyboard [2], which is similar to the Dactyl. I will add the F1-F12 keys to my print, as they're the only thing I miss on my ErgoDash -- if a shortcut in my IDE is Ctrl+Shift+F10, it's nice for it to be that, not Ctrl+Shift+Fn+0.
I switched to the Kinesis Advantage 2 about 9 months ago (https://geekmonkey.org/learning-to-type-dvorak/) and couldn't be happier. It takes quite a while to rewire the brain (at least it did for me) but I feel a lot more confident and a tad bit faster than I was before I switched.
I'm working full-time as a sysadmin on a first-gen Ergodox. It's nice; I can put writing implements between the keyboard halves. Or food. :)
Apart from that, it's just… different. I'm still using normal keyboards on trips to the data center or when doing customer support, but the general day-to-day is done on the Ergodox. When I use normal keyboards/layouts, I have to look at the keys to type, but then I'm almost as fast as on the Ergodox. (Not that I was that fast to begin with, maybe 50–60wpm?)
I'm also using a Majestouch Minila Air at home, which is a regular (i.e. non-split) 65% BT keyboard with Cherry Browns. It also uses the same 'base layout' as the Ergodox (NEO2), but the modifiers are in different positions. From time to time, I also use a laptop keyboard (Thinkpad X1 Carbon), which is close enough to the Minila that it hardly matters.
You get used to it after a while. For what it's worth, I'm 37.
Iris user here. Hate being without it now, it's extremely comfortable. The stagger makes so much sense but it took weeks to get back up to speed.
I use a tall book between the halves for additional tenting height, and have my setup such that my elbows are elevated to compensate for how high off the desk my wrists need to be - not a fan of wrist-rests.
I use a Moonlander full time and I like it a lot. The split layout has more or less completely eliminated the shoulder pain, which for me was caused by sleep injuries (I am an unconscious contortionist) and hunching my shoulders to get my wrists into a comfortable position.
There was definitely an adjustment period, but it was completely worth it for me.
I really like the Microsoft natural ones, but they aren’t really split - just arranged in a way that helps wrists.
I have a couple other mechanical ones, but all monolithic US QWERTY. My favourite among these is a Unicomp buckling spring behemoth with 122 keys, but it is the antithesis of these smaller mechanicals.
I use a dactyl manuform 4x5 with the miryoku layout. I took some time getting used to the key placement and mod taps but it's impressive how little one moves their hands when typing, even for numbers and symbols. Hasn't changed how fast I type though.
