Preonic is probably the goto for 50% ortho. if you already have a 60% case, then boardwalk is probably the best option since it’s made to fit normal 60% cases. I’m not sure about the the XD75, it’s never really been in my radar.
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How soon do you want to try it? The Lumberjack is worth waiting for if there’s another run (or if it’s open source).
I used my Preonic once in a while, but never got used to it (it looks really cool though!). The hand positioning was too close for comfort. The Lumberjack is far and away the more comfortable board between it and the Preonic, and I actually enjoy using ortho now. (There’s always an adjustment period when I switch to and fro from staggered to ortho).
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I want to try! 
I absolutely love me some lumberjack, and your laserjack, fuggedaboutit. A true stunner.
Good point. Maybe the Boardwalk might be decent training wheels for me since I can use a case I already own (and prefer) and it should have similar hand/wrist placement to my staggered 60%. Hmm.
All great advice @korbin73 @sarvopari, thanks again!
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I love ortho. I switched over a couple of years ago, and it took about 3 months for it to feel natural. It took about a year until it was as hard wired into my brain as 40 years of traditional keyboards, but now I never look back. I use mostly Preonic/Planck boards (and similarly styled ones) but also have some cool split orthos and a couple of boardwalks.
I find the hand positioning super comfortable, gaming really easy (WoW, Overwatch, No Mans Sky, etc) and really love the macro’ing etc that you get with any QMK board, ortho or not.
What helped me most was getting a plank to use with my laptop so I was fully ortho for everything for a while, which is like learning a language by going somewhere where they only speak that language. Just worked through the mis clicks, and pretty quickly got back up to and beyond my old typing speed.
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If u want to go high end, you can search the aftermarket for a Atlas / hope u get extra from cannon keys.
I tried the Preonic after a couple of months off using the Planck. And by then the num-row just feelt in the way.
Now I’m fully committed to 4x12, and after getting my hands on a Efreet I sold everything else but I’m waiting for the UD_40 to ship out from Salvun.
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There will be a Lumberjack R2, I just need to get my shit together.
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Well hell, I’m in good sir.
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OLKB FTW
I have a Quarkeys Z40 with neapolitans and I love it. There is quite nothing like setting everything up to your liking from via. I have a 60%, and even though it’s just as customizable, it’s not the same. The grid layout truly makes it feel like you can assign anything to any key and it won’t feel weird.
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