JimmyTheDoor OP t1_j98a47d wrote on February 20, 2023 at 12:38 AM

Reply to comment by adammilikin in 2023 Keyboard Building Guide. by JimmyTheDoor

There is already mention of smaller layouts and split layouts in the Form Factor section. I didn't want to make this post too long(lol) so some information was condensed.

Do you rock a 40%? If so, can you explain what it's like to daily a 40% for us smaller brained fellows :3 ?

adammilikin t1_j98b79j wrote on February 20, 2023 at 12:46 AM

40s users are objectively the worst (I know because I am one of them) and like to project superiority to hide their insecurities.

But in all honesty, I love typing on my 40s of which I have too many. The initial transition took some time but I would argue the time saved in only lubing one stabilizer and like 3 switches offsets it.

JimmyTheDoor OP t1_j98cvn3 wrote on February 20, 2023 at 12:59 AM

That's true! Didn't really realise that the smaller the keyboard the less time spent on lubing!

On a scale from 1 to 10 how hard was it to learn to use it?

adammilikin t1_j98dj2c wrote on February 20, 2023 at 1:04 AM

EZ 6.9. The worst part was the less used symbols like brackets and colon.

doctorclark t1_j99bicm wrote on February 20, 2023 at 6:10 AM

For me, most of the rewarding part of my 40% has been the ultimate control over what every key does. I agree that 6.9/10 is about the difficulty level of making it my daily, but it is supremely easy to change my keymap in QMK to whatever I need. I have the exact same two keys to do () [] {} <> and / on different layers/Combos, one button that does mid-sentence punctuation , ; : - and one that does end-sentence punctuation .? !

And, yes, the original reason was so I spent less on switches and keycaps LOL

DrawIslandSayGo t1_j98d5c7 wrote on February 20, 2023 at 1:01 AM

Smolbrained 40% split user here. I love it as a daily driver. 5x3 on each side is the most natural feeling typing in the world, never stretching a finger again.

In hindsight, it's more of a 30% with some thumb cluster keys.

BAonReddit t1_j9dd5ni wrote on February 21, 2023 at 2:23 AM

Bit late to reply, but great and informative post!

About 40s, I wrote often about it and this one I hope can be informative enough. Look into my posts/comments history as I mostly wrote about 40s and sub-40s (which I currently main).