>iPhones have strict shutdown temperatures for both cold and heat. (which make them useless in many outdoor work environments)
Absolutely, I'm in the middle of Saskatchewan where it can get down to -40 and this was my biggest gripe with some of my old iPhones. Weirdly enough my BlackBerries (including my Key2!) managed a bit better. Only major issue I noticed was that capacity would rise when coming into a warmer environ. The Titan seems to be faring pretty well so far this winter, but it also is more battery then phone.
Was always funny walking in and having my phone restart, just to shutdown though.
If you don't mind hacking around and a bit of Jank, you can get the Lineage GSI working on the UniHertz Titan.
Still Android, but you keep the HW Kepboard and the batterylife and build on it is insane. Not nearly as clean as stock or the Key2, but much more freedom respecting.
With light switches and a compact layout it's not too bad for navigation. My default for arrows is LeftThumb+HJKL, so it's quicker and more natural then diving for the arrow keys. I also have overloaded alphas (Ctrl on a or ;, Shift on Z/?, etc) so Ctrl-Shift-Up maps to A+Z+LeftThumb+K. Seems a little bonkers but it only took a few days to adjust to my GergoPlex [0][1]
The bigger issue with adding more keys to the mix is that with heavier switches (35g+) the amount of work/stress done by the hand can be more then a traditional keyboard. But even with heavier switches it's often faster then having to move your hands around the physical board. And once you factor in things like combos you can just map End to something like QW or whatever works for you. Programmable input devices are _really_ weird!
That's exactly why I made Ginny (the small red keyboard in OP)! It's an exercise in insanity, but it does work as a fully functional keyboard powered by ASETNOIP. I could never daily it (too attached to my 36key GergoPlex) but some users are above 130WPM on 10keys!
A better solution is to just have a different physical connector so it's obvious at a glance if you have the correct cables. But that: involves carrying another cable, and kind of defeats the purpose of a unifying connector.
A few months ago I did a passthrough of Wrath Of Chronos, and it really breathed some life into Hexen. It even works for other DOOM wads and can be a fun change of pace to your standard IWAD, give it a shot if DOOM RPGs sound up your alley :)
I think on the right kind of switch it doesn't matter. The idea with a tactile bump is to give your fingers feedback to prevent a bottoming out, but on a lower profile switch that's just not an option (the general consensus is that tactile chocs are a little bit garbage) and you're probably going to bottom them out anyway.
My solution to this is to just use O-Rings on Chocs to soften the bottom out. It's less jarring and gives a bit of mush to a bottom out instead of a hard hit. To some this is heresy though.
That being said, if you're deadset on the feel of a tactile, it's an option.
Skip on the Helix and grab something like the Crkbd (Make sure it's a model where the outer column can snap off) or the MiniAxe, Yushakobo carries both I believe. Also check out the 'Self Made Keyboards In Japan' Discord server as there are tons of boards available to you domestically via booth! Worst case, Yushakobo should have everything you need to get a build done (and even has a wonderful selection of blank keycaps), go hit their workshop! :)
No worries, we spend all day using these devices, the fact that we're not using them in a highly configurable fashion pains me. Make technology work for you, not the other way around
Depends on how you define 'build' here, I'm assuming you mean come to what would become the final design for GergoPlex. That took about a year and a half, my first two designs (Gergo and Georgi respectively) sought to improve on my issues with the ErgoDox (mostly size, PCB-forehead, height, thumb-cluster). After a year of using Gergo and diving into QMK and a failed attempt at picking up stenography, I came up with the idea for a more chord-orientated layout. It didn't take long to get working hardware (as it was a reduction of an existing design), but the layout took about two weeks before everything had settled into it's final place. I did a bit of a write-up over on the blog of how I ended up dailying GergoPlex from a full size 104 [1] and the slow descent into preprocessor madness [2] to make the Combo decorators work. The weird part was tuning QMK so combos like 'we' wouldn't misfire while typing and analyzing my Vim usage to find comfortable places for frequently used chords. (Such as JK for :, WE or UI for Esc, NM for Enter, XC for -, M< for _, etc)
>get used to the layout
At every transitional step I'd say maybe a week? The harder part was finding a keymap that worked for me. But I started with a Sun-Style layout on the ErgoDox and slowly adpated it as I moved to smaller boards. Control is on 'A' (and ';') on GergoPlex for that reason, and the symbols layers are fairly similar. Honestly, just using it in a active chat server for a few hours was enough to get me 90% of the way there.
Every users needs are going to be different, and their layout should match that (it's _why_ you get a programmable keyboard after all!). How you get there is a fiddly endeavour involving lots of flashing and tweaking, but you end up with something ergonomic and deeply personal!
Was thinking that the whole time I was reading this! I actually have my layout optimized for i3/Vim-controls and it's the default for GergoPlex. I used to use xmodmap hacks but I got sick of maintaining changes across/OS's, having it on the keyboard makes it so much easier. Only downside is carrying around a QMK keyboard!
A Key2 is my daily, but there's a backup unlocked Titan running Lineage ready to take over if it dies. Now the question is, once this hardware becomes available will I still need it or will the Key2 power though.
Although being able to load GSIs on the Titan feels amazing!
Tell me about it. I run a keyboard shop out of Canada and just trying to get parcels around is a nightmare near the Can/US border. It's getting to the point where packages heading to the EU/UK are actually arriving before the US counterparts.
Add in the extra shenanigans that is the state of air cargo and different routes opening/closing and it's a very strange time to be trying to manage worldwide shipments.
Absolutely, I'm in the middle of Saskatchewan where it can get down to -40 and this was my biggest gripe with some of my old iPhones. Weirdly enough my BlackBerries (including my Key2!) managed a bit better. Only major issue I noticed was that capacity would rise when coming into a warmer environ. The Titan seems to be faring pretty well so far this winter, but it also is more battery then phone.
Was always funny walking in and having my phone restart, just to shutdown though.