The Levinson keyboard is great for a first time build. However, it’s terrible for someone that isn’t used to split columnar 40% keyboards. I’ll break that down a bit.
Split keyboards are literally split into two halves. This can be a challenge for many people that never really learned where all the “home row” keys are by touch. Touch typing is when you don’t need to look at the keys to know where they’re positioned. However, this is a very useful skill for someone that uses a keyboard most of the day. Having it split is nice because you have the freedom to move the keyboard around your desk. Which is great if you suffer from or, don’t want to suffer from, repetitive stress injury (RSI).
Columnar, refers to the way the keys are laid out. The keys are in columns. No staggering about it. Most keyboards you see today are staggered. I like the columnar layout. It feels more natural for my fingers. They just move up and down rather than side to side.
40% keyboards are pretty extreme I’ll admit it. However, there are a lot of keys that I don’t use regularly. Since I’m a programmer, there’s also a lot of keys that I do use regularly that many normal people don’t use. For example, the “tilda ~ “ key I press a lot. This is a shortcut for the home directory in Linux on the terminal. I want that key close to my pinky finger. Having a smaller keyboard means all the keys are closer to my fingers. However I still have all my keys.
Layers are the secret to having all my keys. QMK firmware powers my keyboard. This phenomenal software gives one godlike powers over their keyboard. I have dedicated layer buttons. These buttons let me access all my numbers and symbols. I have all the same keys as a normal keyboard and they’re closer to my home-row! Layers are basically like holding down the shift key to access symbols like the exclamation mark, only they’re fully programmable. I can rearrange all my symbols to be right where I want them.
The levinson keyboard also has a full set of RGB LED lights. This means, I get cool lights to play with through-out the day.
This is a fun keyboard that helps me enjoy being a programmer. In the end, all that really matters is that you enjoyed your life. Anything that gets you a little more enjoyment during your work day is a marginal gain, and in this age marginal gains are where it’s at!
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