X-Bows Ergonomic Mechanical Keyboard Discussions | Drop

Free Standard Shipping in the US on orders over $99

Showing 1 of 28 conversations about:

X-Bows Ergonomic Mechanical Keyboard

Mech Keys

FULL DISCUSSION

TommySezSoWhat

Dec 26, 2018

I've been using mine, via Kickstarter, for a while now. Frankly, I love it, despite a lot of drawbacks. I've used old MS Natural Ergo keyboards for, well, at least a decade. The old beige PS2 ones. But they're getting harder to find in good shape. So I tried an Ergodox. Really nice idea, and I adapted to the linear letter columns fairly quickly. What I couldn't do was retrain myself regarding all the other keys. I gave it months and could never get the hang of them. That's a problem I foresee for me with most fancy split ergo keyboards, they insist on having the halves mirrored, which eliminates all those keys my decades old muscle memory wants over to the right. The X-Bows splits [heh] the difference. It's got the letters aligned in columns and turned out a bit, while maintaining the keys on the right in pretty much the same locations. While I never got back to full speed on an Ergodox, I was up to full speed in a couple days with the X-Bows. But, remember, that's coming from an old MS ergo keyboard, so the letter positions were only minimally changed for me. There are hefty drawbacks. As other have noted, the letter areas aren't as turned out as they could be for anyone with broader shoulders, which a true split keyboard would allow for. Nor is the keyboard tented at all. Doing either of those would have kept this from ever being produced in the first place. It was all they could do to get these out the door as is and folks who ordered the magnetically attached number pads are still waiting for them. There's no config software for Linux and Mac folks. I doubt it's coming, as the X-Bows team has admitted they lack the ability. That said, I was already used to a keyboard set in generic PC keyboard mode with my Mac, so I'm not feeling the loss of Mac-specific functionality. My wife is using an X-Bows, too, but is sorely missing correctly mapped function keys. There are neither Home nor End keys. I don't use them anyway, so I don't miss them. If you do, though, you will. The Alt key is ridiculously huge, but if you use a Mac, it's a huge Command key and that's just awesome. It's right under the X and C keys, making it the easiest Command key I've ever used. So, functionally, I love this keyboard, but that love is highly dependent on my particular experience and use cases. The keycaps are an issue. I'm not in love with the feel of them. If you disregard the extra keys in the middle, all the keys are essentially 1U or 2U keys and can be replaced with normal rectangular keycaps in those sizes. I'm currently using a "vomit layout" using the results of some PMP grab bags. Photo is attached. It looks simply hideous, but feels really nice. Getting a nice-looking layout would take some doing. I don't think most keycap sets come with 1U shift, tab, and backslash keys. Maybe some Planck sets would work?

Dec 26, 2018

beyondesign

162

Dec 26, 2018

TommySezSoWhat"There's no config software for Linux and Mac folks." Give USB Overdrive a whirl. No idea if it'll work, but it's worth a shot. BTW I have no incentive to recommend it, just a long-time user and fan ;)

Dec 26, 2018

WhiskeyJacks

Dec 27, 2018

TommySezSoWhatjust wanted to ask is there any key caps that are not replaceable due to odd design shape and size? Also have you continue with just this keyboard or do you have others? Either more standard mechanical keyboards or other egro mechanical keyboards. Anyways thanks for any feedback you can give.

Dec 27, 2018

Vote

TommySezSoWhat

Dec 27, 2018

beyondesignThanks for the resource. I'll certainly be giving that a look. There are other mapping programs out there, too, I think. But I don't think we'll ever see one from the X-Bows themselves. Which means no lighting control, near as I can tell.

Dec 27, 2018

Vote

TommySezSoWhat

Dec 27, 2018

WhiskeyJacksThe four center keys would be problematic to replace. The bottom CTRL/Shift keys would rub against that Enter key if they were replaced with normal keys. Maybe a shorter key in place of the Enter? I tried a 2U for Enter and 1U for the others and they rubbed against each other. I haven't replaced the function keys, but they're plain old 1U squares. This is my normal everyday keyboard. I do still have my Ergodox EZ, although it's just sitting in a box waiting to be sold on eBay sometime soon. It's a fine keyboard, I just wasn't able to get used to the the differences with the non-letter keys. And I do still have a couple old MS Natural ergos in storage, just in case. But I use the X-Bows every day, all day.

Dec 27, 2018

Vote

TommySezSoWhat

Dec 28, 2018

TommySezSoWhatAs an experiment, I took a look at replacing the keycaps with the current Godspeed drop. $160 in caps in order to replace them all with a consistently designed set. The 2u ones are the challenge. They aren't common in any layout other than a few vertically-oriented ones in Ergodox layouts.

Dec 28, 2018

Vote

TommySezSoWhat

Jan 16, 2019

beyondesignWe tried out USB Overdrive and it worked great for my wife, moving all the function key functions to their appropriate spots. Thanks again!

Jan 16, 2019

beyondesign

162

Jan 22, 2019

TommySezSoWhatAwesome! Glad it worked out for you :D

Jan 22, 2019

Vote

dvorcol

5375

Keyboard Club Member

Feb 26, 2019

TommySezSoWhat"The four center keys would be problematic to replace. The bottom CTRL/Shift keys would rub against that Enter key if they were replaced with normal keys. Maybe a shorter key in place of the Enter? I tried a 2U for Enter and 1U for the others and they rubbed against each other." Have you tried anything shorter than 2U for Enter? I bet a 1.5U or 1.25U would fit; maybe even a 1.75U.

Feb 26, 2019

Vote