Topic: I bought a mechanical keyboard

[hans]

I've been happily using a K380 for quite some time since it's small cheap but holds up well to daily use. But I have finally caved to peer pressure and bought an assembled mechanical keyboard, the Drop Alt (with speed silver switches). I also ended up ordering an SK61(with optical reds) from Amazon to try too (on the cheaper side) as an extra keyboard for my Pi's but we'll have to compare the two when they arrive next week.

I do still have my Ergodox kit sitting in my basement too that maybe I'll start soldering up for use.

What do you guys type on? Anyone else in the mechanical cult?

I kind of want to try a 40% ortholinear board like the Planck too but I might try and get my Ergodox up and running to try that sort of thing out.

[Perspective]

I've always liked the idea of the split ergo keyboards... but for me "B" is a right hand key and they all have it on the left half of the split. I could never get used to that.

[KnuckleBuckett]

Been using this for a few years.

https://www.realforce.co.jp/en/products/realforce_rgb/

Great board for typing.  I have had Razer, Corsair, and even a Ducky. 

[hans]

Knuck, how'd you like the Ducky? The One 2 Mini/SF were in my list to look at but the ones I got were a bit easier to come by, at least quickly.

[KnuckleBuckett]

Ducky was okay.  Nothing like the Duckys I had used in the past.  I am not sure if they became cheap and lazy or that particular model was an odd duck... I didn't keep it long and replaced it with the RealForce which is by far the best I have used to date.

[hans]

Drop Alt is pretty cool. This thing is solid, and the Kaihl silver switches feel really nice and muted, with the exception of the spacebar and return keys that I'll probably have to mod to quiet down a bit.

I already swapped the keycaps out with some XDAS profile ones and I like those better than the cherry ones that came with it. The stock caps were really nice feeling though but I'm currently not a sculpted fan.

I'm liking the 60% thing but it is taking a little bit of time to get used to the lack of the ~ key (well, hidden behind the mod key). I might remap the default to swap it back from the esc.

[micah]

i recently have come to realize the importance of a good keyboard with a solid tactical feel with each key press.  For the past few month I kept getting annoyed because I'd type my password to log in to my laptop and it would say the password was wrong.  It annoyed me to the point where I thought the computer was broken.  It turns out that, because over the past year or so i've developed some peripheral neuropathy and my pinky finger on my left hand has lost a lot of its sensation, I was consistently not pressing the shift key on a capital letter but thinking I did.

On my home computer, its not as bad because i have a more "traditional" keyboard.  Its only a little better though.  I've recently begun searching around to figure out what kind of keyboard I should get to solve this problem.  From all my googling I'm really just more confused about what I need.  Some people suggest a heavy mechanical keyboard with a satisfyingly hard "click" while other (probably more focused on strength issues) are keen on thin keyboards/keypads within minimal key press distance.

Anyway, all that is to say... i have no idea what i really want/need.  And also, diabetes sucks.

[hans]

Micah, I think it's easy to isolate what you're looking for to the group of switches. Do you want a clicky sound when the key is activated or not clickly sound? That's your "blue" category vs (brown, red). Then do you want tactile bump during activation which gets you between brown and red.

Given what's you mentioned I'd say your probably in either the blue or brown category depending on if you want the click.

After you decide the general category, then you can get into force required and travel distance to select the perfect switch.

e.g. I don't like clicky or tactile bumps (although maybe I could get used to the bump) so that puts me in the "red" switch group. Now I look at all of the red style (linear) switches and decide if I want a light tough or heavy touch, or somewhere in the middle. I don't want to have to bang on my keys as I'm used to laptop keyboards and like a light response so I either go with the classic red, or more recently I picked the speed silver for my fancy keyboard since they have less travel and I tend to bottom out my key presses.

I'd probably look for a swappable switch keyboard so you can easily swap them out if you decide to switch later on. They make switch tester grids too that you can find so you can compare the different types without having to try a whole keyboard.

[KnuckleBuckett]

I dig the blues for typing and gaming.

[ober]

Micah, I think it's easy to isolate what you're looking for to the group of switches. Do you want a clicky sound when the key is activated or not clickly sound? That's your "blue" category vs (brown, red). Then do you want tactile bump during activation which gets you between brown and red.

Given what's you mentioned I'd say your probably in either the blue or brown category depending on if you want the click.

After you decide the general category, then you can get into force required and travel distance to select the perfect switch.

e.g. I don't like clicky or tactile bumps (although maybe I could get used to the bump) so that puts me in the "red" switch group. Now I look at all of the red style (linear) switches and decide if I want a light tough or heavy touch, or somewhere in the middle. I don't want to have to bang on my keys as I'm used to laptop keyboards and like a light response so I either go with the classic red, or more recently I picked the speed silver for my fancy keyboard since they have less travel and I tend to bottom out my key presses.

I'd probably look for a swappable switch keyboard so you can easily swap them out if you decide to switch later on. They make switch tester grids too that you can find so you can compare the different types without having to try a whole keyboard.

Jesus I didn't know this stuff went so deep!  Thanks for that explanation!

[hans]

Oh, and then there's the whole thing about keycap profiles. It really can be a rabbit hole of finding your personal preference.

[hans]

Ya, I move quickly on my new hobbies. I bought an Anne Pro 2 as well to have something for hooking up to my Raspberry Pi's since it's wired and bluetooth capable. Also, got some bumble gum keycaps since I've always wanted to have a hacker keyboard without lettering. Actually did pretty well using it. I guess I'm a better touch typer than I thought.

[Perspective]

Interesting   I think I'd do fine on a keyboard without labels, I never look down, except maybe at numbers or F-keys.