hi, i finally want to have a split ergo keyboard - it’s time. i have no nerves for soldering or searching the parts together piece by piece, i am more the buyer than the builder. the zsa moonlander seemed to fit my wishes very well so far - but the shop based in us/taiwan is quite a problem. not only the customs and what if i really want to return it (not planned, but you never know) - but only getting additional parts like the platforms would rise the final price higher than my budget probably.
are there alternatives shipping from europe? props to zsa team, still, i really like the spirit…
Check https://dygma.com/
They’re based in Spain iirc
i’ll check, thank you!
As others pointed out, the Dygma Defy might be an option when it’s finally available: https://dygma.com/products/dygma-defy
Alternatively, you could look for used ones, but this has the Return (and the parts) issue as well.
I suspect there will be other people like me who probably sell their Moonlander when the Defy is available.
Is there any word on when the defy will be available?
It was pushed back to September but there might be an additional delay. Check out Dygma‘s YouTube channel, they are pretty transparent about updates on their process.
The Moonlander doesn’t have a great thumb cluster anyway, so I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have large hands. Prebuilts that you can get from Europe are (excluding keyboards without thumb keys like the Kinesis Freestyle Edge):
- Dygma Raise, the Defy is delayed again, so it’ll probably take a few months before you can get your hands on one. But I think it’s better to wait if you want to go with Dygma, because column stagger is a large improvement over row stagger.
- Custom build by Falbatech.
- Kinesis Advantage2 or Advantage360. These are the most ergonomic keyboards that you can get in Europe if you are not willing to order something outside Europe (like the Glove80). Lots of ergo shops have them, so you may even be able to try it out in a shop or with a 30/90 day return period if you find a good dealer.
I’ve always been fascinated by the kinesis offerings. I had a stroke last year and am considering a Kinesis keyboard since the fine motor skills in my left hand are quite bad and my therapist thinks something like that might be helpful.
I recently switched to primarily using a Glove80, but the Kinesis Advantage keyboards are great. There is a learning curve, but it is definitely worth it.
Thank you! What are the advantages (pun intended) of the Glove80?
Improved key wells, thumb clusters with more reachable keys, more compact and light (nicer for travel), switch choice, RGB backlight (handy for status report like battery life, active layer, Bluetooth profiles, etc.), function keys (which some people want), uniform key cap profile (can be rearranged when using eg. another layout).
At this point I’m becoming a shill for Kinesis but check out the Kinesis Advantage360 Pro. I bought mine from Zenlap:
https://www.zenlap.eu/kinesis-advantage-2-360Sheesh those prices
Check out bastardkb, a small Dutch company with premades. Not cheap, but fantastic owner and community.
edit: sp