That goes all the way back to the original Cherry G80-1800 boards in the (iirc) late 80s. The idea is to get a more compact layout that preserves some of the advantages brought in by the IBM Model M to make it easier for your hands to find the arrows without looking down. Shifting them down a touch with the gaps to the left and right leaves that trait in place no matter where your hands are coming from.
There are “96%” boards that will keep everything tight-in. I have tried it both ways, and all else being equal I tend to prefer a gap, but some other tactile reference (I sometimes use a single dot of UV resin on the down arrow) will generally be good enough.
Looks great colorwise. I can’t stand the offset arrow keys. Never understand why they don’t make more of them in line with the rest of the keys.
That goes all the way back to the original Cherry G80-1800 boards in the (iirc) late 80s. The idea is to get a more compact layout that preserves some of the advantages brought in by the IBM Model M to make it easier for your hands to find the arrows without looking down. Shifting them down a touch with the gaps to the left and right leaves that trait in place no matter where your hands are coming from.
There are “96%” boards that will keep everything tight-in. I have tried it both ways, and all else being equal I tend to prefer a gap, but some other tactile reference (I sometimes use a single dot of UV resin on the down arrow) will generally be good enough.