Yes, I just paid the £34.61 customs charge. Hopefully will get it delivered next week!
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I hope so too! Keep us updated if you hear anymore and I’ll do the same 
I keep looking at the Drop Planck too, as it has more configuration options on the space bar and the case looks more premium. I have a feeling I might like a configuration like his but with the space base on the right hand side:
I always use my right thumb for space and my natural resting position means my thumb hovers the bottom row in between the H+J… so I am guessing that will be my preferred position but I am staying completely open minded! (You can’t change the configuration on the ZSA’s Planck.)
If I do get a Planck from Drop I will just sell the one I don’t want to keep, and I think a head to head would prove useful for a lot of people - there aren’t really any comparisons for the ZSA Planck with the Drop Planck, at least not where people have had/lived with both.
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Whoo hooo! Mine’s here too - though I haven’t had a chance to open it yet. Can’t wait to test it tho! You used it yet @svilen? What are your initial thoughts?
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It’s really nicely built, very happy with it! And light too, which is great.
In terms of usage… well, I’ll need some time to get used to the layout and format, I’m sure everyone is the same though. I even left the Enter key where it was, so I’m sticking to the default layout, I think it makes sense.
You should plug it in and star customising the firmware, it’s great fun 
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Ah nice! I’ve just noticed there is a macOS update so I am going to start that then go and open the box 
I will probably stick to their default layer to begin with as well, but I will definitely start tweaking it soon! I’l let you know how I get on 
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I don’t think I’m gonna get on with it 
Maybe if I was a touch typist I might feel differently, or if I was someone who didn’t need to use graphics apps where you often need to do things like CMD & + (/-) or CMD + OPT + SHIFT + S etc. It’s only been a few hours though and I know I can create macros etc, but I just get the feeling it won’t be suitable for a number of different reasons.
Must say that it’s very brave of ZSA for focusing on products like these which are going to feel alien to a lot of people to begin with… good job it’s not easy returning them as they’d probably have a lot doing that.
The good thing is at least I am learning what I like and don’t like or what I think I might like, for instance I like this keyboard more when the back is raised (currently using my phone as a prop) and I think I would have been ok with an additional row as my fingers don’t have any issue extending beyond the top row.
I might try Colemak just to really punish myself 
How you getting on @svilen?
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It’s a challenge for sure, but it’s going alright for me. I’ve added macros for things that reqiure a few keypresses, for example |> when writing Elixir. Mouse control is also great.
I think you should customise your firmware and configure it to your workflow, then give it another day or two (it is frustrating for me too). You can browse the public layouts on the ErgoDox site for inspiration, maybe you’ll find something that will make life easier? This is my layout, I’m still working on it but it’s getting there:
https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/planck-ez/layouts/PMwXm/latest/
Actually for me the ortho layout is more difficult that the 40% format, I keep pressing ‘b’ instead of ‘v’, and ‘u’ rather than ‘i’
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Looks good @svilen!
Do you know if there any easy way to get to and stick on dedicated layers? For example could I do something like press a key (say the far left Oryx key) then tap another key (say ‘A’) and it jumps to a specific custom layer (and stays there) and then on pressing escape it goes back to the base layer?
I can see that being handy for jumping to layers for specific apps, or to things like a numpad layer, etc.
I’ve had a quick mess about with layers https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/planck-ez/layouts/xKW6o/latest/0 though as you can see, it’s not very touch typey, but more a way to access specific things. I’ve tried to use colours to indicate pairs/groups too - that’s definitely a bonus of this Planck!
I don’t think I really care too much about having an ortho board tbh (I think I actually quite like that my hands move around) so I think I’m more interested in the various layers, macros and shortcuts. Ideally these would be available from the base layer - which of course means a keyboard with more keys 
I’m still going to give it more of a go tho, but I’m finding it interesting how it’s helping me see what I may/may not like from a daily driver.
I think the same might be true for me! If the layers were easy to get to on a ‘normal’ layout I think that would definitely be more useful for me. I really dislike cramped keyboards, but it was worth trying this anyway - just to be sure (I’ll try it some more over the weekend so I’m not giving up on it already 
).
How was your day 2? 
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I’ve been curious for a 40% keyboard, mainly an ortholinear one. For those that are used to typing on them, how do you find switching between that keyboard and a normal (say a laptop keyboard)?
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I’d be interested in that too Hallski
Personally my feeling atm is that I might have been better off with a Moonlander for Ortho - like Svilen I am pressing the wrong keys and I think part of that is because its ortho AND 40%. Still early days tho…
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I have one of the Keyboardio Model 01s and I had similar issues with ortho on that. But that feels it’s just a matter of getting used to and after that is nicer (for me at least). Part of the reason I never got around to switch to it was that I’m worried it will ruin typing on other keyboards.
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My accuracy has improved a lot after 3 days, and my typing speed too. I’m resisting using my MacBook keyboard, so that helps. It’s all about patience and commitment I think
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I cannot type reliably on a regular keyboard. I have both a Moonlander and Atreus. Switching between the two is fine. But I try to avoid switching to my laptop keyboard if I can.
The fact that I’m not even attempting to keep up what little skill I had on a typical qwerty keyboard no doubt attributes to my poor performance using one. So I think it would depend on if you intend and actually do use them both at least somewhat regularly.
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Thanks for the reply.
It sort of confirmed what I suspected and the main reason I’ve held off so far (apart from the pile of keyboards in my cupboard ).
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After two weeks or so, I would easily recommend the Planck EZ to anyone who has a bit of patience to get used to it. I’m super happy with it.
@Hallski I stilll occasionally switch to my MacBook keyboard, and it’s not a big deal for me. I do get some keys wrong but not a huge problem. Maybe because I’m new to the ortholinear layout, but I can still type on both (although I now prefer the Planck if I’m on my desk).
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Thanks for the follow up (even though my wallet might not benefit…) 
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So… I finally broke down and bought a ZSA Planck, it comes June 1st. I still have the Keyboadio Atreus, but I really wanted something that was easy to configure the same as the Moonlander. It will be nice to use Oryx to configure them both.
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I ended up sending mine back 
I just couldn’t get on with it and (maybe this is true for all mechanical keyboards for me) but it just felt like a significant downgrade from my Apple keyboard. From small things like the feel of keys, to the hue of the white, to the profile. In terms of size it isn’t that far off my Apple keyboard but not having dedicated keys for volume control, brightness etc was just a tad annoying.
I’ve come to the conclusion that there aren’t any perfect keyboards out there, and for me, a mechanical keyboard and their ‘feel’ just isn’t suited to me. It’s difficult to put into words but I just much prefer using my Apple keyboard despite its own idiosyncrasies.
I am hoping this will be good:
Let us know how you get on with yours tho Law!
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