Support for Alternative Layouts
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others. Sculpted-profile The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row. At first there were two The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Apr 23, 2024
I thought that would be my endgame keyboard, but while smooth, the feel was just a bit too light for my taste. And I‘m a huge fan of Cherry Browns. There just didn’t seem to be enough of a distinct tactile bump to them.
Then a short while ago, I got a different keyboard from Massdrop, but chose the 67g Zelios.
Crazy thing is that between the two, the 67g now felt too much on the heavy side. Almost like a crisper version of Cherry Clears, but with a more precise action and a more defined and distinct tactile bump.
The difference in the two Zelios was huge, belying the mere 2g difference in the spec.
Do others have the same experience? I wonder if the feel of the 65g has firmed up since the changes after R1.
I’d like to explore the Zilents, but my experience with both the 65g and 67g Zelios has revealed that neither quite hit the sweet spot for me.
Thanks.
Edit: I went to the website and saw that the 65g have a smooth, long, drawn out bump, where the 62g have a more tactile bump.
As I was thinking the 65g not tactile enough, I may try the 62g, as they are more tactile and also a bit heavier than Cherry Browns, which I like.
So it does seem the different models have different characteristics in addition to just weight.
My set was from R1. Those were the Zelios offered with the the Whitefox keyboard kit the very first time it dropped.
Yeah, they were a lot lighter than I expected. Smooth, but even less of a tactile bump than Cherry Browns, IMO.
I wonder how they feel now. The reported inconsistency is frustrating. We just don’t know what we’ll get.