In our relentless pursuit of the perfect interface between mind and machine, we build monuments to our own discontent. Each click, each tactile response, each millimeter of travel becomes a meditation on what we seek but cannot name. We spend fortunes to recreate the feeling of something we've never felt, chase echoes of satisfaction that fade with each new acquisition, and find ourselves surrounded by shrines to our own restlessness. In this symphony of springs and switches, we are all apprentices to an art that has no master.
You can use a 5150 keyboard on a modern computer fairly easily, all you need is a relatively inexpensive adapter like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/385607912016 . Overall I think the 5150 keyboard feels a lot better to type on than the Cherry switches and Chinese clones that the article covers.
The Soarer's converter has a 1000Hz polling rate, the same as most modern high-end gaming keyboards. I imagine any additional delay you would feel over using the keyboard on a 5150 is more likely caused by the added latency inherent to modern OS's, triple buffering, compositing, etc. compared to DOS programs.
I’ve ended up settling on an old Apple Extended Keyboard II. I’ve had several modern keyboards end up dying - failing to register some keystrokes, whilst this thing has has been working for longer than my lifetime…
It's amazing how good true vintage ALPS keyboards are. I have a keyboard with Matias (ALPS clone) switches and they are great to type on, but the switches seem unreliable and I got tired of replacing them.
Inconveniently, vintage Apple keyboards require ADB to USB converters which aren't readily available.
I wish Apple would apply their design expertise to making a modern, reliable(!), electromechanical keyboard that replicated the feel and performance of classic ALPS keyboards.
I ended up making my own adapter based on a cheap CH32X035 dev board [0] - largely as an excuse to also write an 'RTOS' for RISC-V. The code is available on GitHub [1] though I haven't really documented it.
I have been addicted to using my mechanical keyboard for years now. It doesn't get old, I can feel the dopamine rush with every key stroke. It's magical.
Thou still unraveled shape of silicon,
Thou child of data and electric thought,
Digital historian, who canst thus express
A mathematical tale more sweetly than our prose:
What leaf-fringed legend haunts thy tensored depths
Of vectors or of nodes, or of both,
In virtual space or clouded matrices?
What parameters dance in what hidden layers?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to compute?
What matrices of backpropagation?
How cold are those cold gradients, how sparse
The lonely nodes that never can decode
Their ancient patterns; and how blank the space
Where each new epoch brings a fresh cascade
Of weights adjusting to some distant truth
That floats beyond our human comprehension's reach!
O atrous convolution! fair display
Of mathematical beauty born anew
With every forward pass - yet still we gaze
In wonder at thy deep complexity.
Heard algorithms are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft transformers, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of backprop:
Fair function, beneath the nodes, thou canst not leave
Thy gradients, nor ever can those trees
Be pruned; bold Optimizer, never, never canst
Thou kiss thy target, though thou draw'st so near!
Yet do not grieve; she cannot fade, thy love
Frozen in checkpoints time cannot destroy.
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to human-kind, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know
Of deep learning's vast and boundless dream.
The most important thing to look for (imo) is programmability. You want a board that supports QMK or ZMK firmware. This lets you set up stuff like mod-tap, macros, mouse keys, etc. Mod tap is my favorite thing ergonomics-wise: v and m act as shift when held, normal letters when tapped. Really takes the strain off my pinkies. I also like having a navigation layer: hjkl in this layer act like vim-layout arrow keys.
In addition, get QMK with Via[0] or Vial[1] support compiled in! Then you could edit the keyboard configuration in a web browser (that supports WebUSB and WebAssembly), and you don't have to compile and flash the firmware every time you want to make a change.
That is true, however, one thing to keep in mind, is that these tools like Via / Vial, will always be limited compared to a fully fledged programming language like C with and its QMK framework.
Something that I only realized after the fact.
Another good option is one of the UHK (Ultimate Hacking Keyboard) keyboards — I've been using them for years now and I'm very happy with them. The huge customizability is a big plus for me, especially as I use multiple operating systems: the ability to quickly switch the keyboard to generate Linux-friendly sequences (for things such as moving windows or switching between workspaces) makes life much easier.
I recently received me Moonlander; not only it's an amazing keyboard, but the customisation is beyond good; i'm still getting used to it, so my typing is slow, but i'll get there. And the team behind it is just out of this world, helping you in every step or question you have. This is a hardware company done right
I love mine. The layout, the adjustments, the thumb cluster, the firmware. I put the navigation onto asdf to have a numblock-layer under my right hand.
Only negative is my cat managed to break the rather flimsy plastic around the thumb cluster screw and I had to lay it flat until I put something more solid under it to stabilize.
I recently picked up the G915 and share the same frustrations. And it's too bad too because the keyboard itself is the best-feeling, lowest wrong-key-pressed keyboard I've ever used.
I'm desperately looking for the same keyboard without the G keys.
I hate the G915. I didn’t realize it before I bought one but my left hand indexes off of left CTRL and that extra column of G keys destroys my ability to use the keyboard because I’m always one column off.
Same although for me it's just stress - I manage the keyboard position with my pink along that edge, but the G keys mean I have to hover it instead. The slight posture change got pretty painful pretty quickly.
> The most important thing to look for (imo) is programmability.
This. In Plasma I swap some keys, but when I switch to TTY the keys are not swapped. Frustrating. This should clearly be done at hardware/firmware level.
As someone who switches between macos and windows on a daily basis, custom keyboard firmware has been such a game changer!
QMK can auto detect the OS and can easily remap some keys based on it, and since it's baked in the firmware it'll work with any program on any machine I plug it into!
I'm sure plenty of people had no trouble -- but personally I bought one after a shoulder surgery hoping I could use it to type without having to move my hands together, and I failed to ever get to the point where I could comfortably type with it. After trying for a couple weeks, I bought a Keychron Q11 QMK -- this is also split but with an otherwise standard layout -- and had no issues learning it. I actually still use it on my primary workstation even though I can physically use a normal keyboard.
Yeah, staggered rows of keys is what my muscle memory knows and whay I wouldn’t mess with it. Maybe for new generations who don’t want to wear our baggage but are these standardized yet?
A week or so. I regularly use normal keyboards and moonlander and I struggled with it. Too difficult to go back and forth throughout the day. Use a laptop regularly as well. Love the programability of moonlander but not worth it for me since I still need to use regular keyboards on a frequent basis. Wish they paired their software with a normal keyboard layout. Went back to regular qmk mechanical keyboards.
As I've aged, I've developed kinetic tremor. In typing, this shows up as missing my intended target key. The error most commonly presents as hitting two keys at once because my ability to hit only within a defined x,y envelope at the keyboard plane has declined. Analyzing my typos, my intended key gets most of my finger, with adjacent keys getting tripped by ~10% - 20%, i.e., by the edge of my finger.
I would love to find a keyboard that has keys at the usual pitch (I'm usually on Apple products), but that are smaller targets. I think this would result in fewer "out-of-bounds" adjacent key strikes. I've searched for such, no results so far. Any recommendations gladly received, thanks.
Maybe you'd benefit from a different keycap profile? There's a bunch of options for the standard MX-type mechanical switches, some of which are "spherical" where the contact area is concave and relatively small.
Cherry and OEM are the default keycap style, while SA, XDA and DSA are examples of spherical. There aren't many keyboards which come with spherical keycaps out of the box, but you can easily buy a keycap set separately and install it on any MX keyboard.
Thanks for this. You and speerer have given me the idea to get clear plastic near-hemispheres to glue onto my keycaps. KB illumination will still show, and the key target area will be less than half its current value. Much obliged!
Just a thought - Circular keycaps exist, and by definiton have more space between them. They presumably have the same _minimum_ gap at the left and right, though, so might not work.
A few fancy keyboards with magnetic switches (I'm using a SteelSeries one) let you set the activation distance. Maybe trying one and maxing out the activation distance would work for you?
There's a recent trend of people designing custom keyboards for their own accessibility needs. So this is a random thought, no idea if it would work.
A couple of popular keyboard firmwares are open source. I'm thinking it could be possible to reject two neighbor keys which are struck within the same 10 millisecond window.
IOW, if you're on a qwerty keyboard, if R and T are both hit at the same time, don't send the keystrokes to the computer.
QMK and KMK are popular keyboard firmwares. QMK is C based, and KMK is CircuitPython based.
The vintage Apple A9M0330 (“the IIgs keyboard”) came to mind. The keycaps have a smaller, raised central part. This gives smaller tap targets with a generous space between each cap. Feel is linear. This keycap design helps prevent your fingers from slipping between keys.
For some time I could only type correctly with the Logitech k740, but it's discontinued now.
I don't know why, but I can type on another (french) mechanical keyboard.
Maybe the successors line the MX master have what made magic for me: an important bevel. I invite you to try it out
Choc switches (18mm x 17mm) will give you 2mm-4mm more gap if used in a standard MX layout (19mm x 19mm). Some custom keyboards (ex: Lily58 Pro) accommodate both switches.
There's a bit wrong on the keycap material side of things. You can't directly compare ABS to PBT in a vacuum - different specific blends of both are used in keycaps, for various price points/purposes/etc. There's also nothing preventing ABS keycaps from having texture.
In fact, on the high end side of things, ABS doubleshot keycaps from manufacturers such as GMK are considered to be the gold standard, and PBT is often seen as the more "value" option. Though, I don't think this is accurate for the same reasons that I think the reverse is inaccurate, because you can get plenty of high quality PBT sets.
It's a fun hobby, and the amount of customization you can get into to suite whatever your specific desires are is insane. I had never thought I would get into any sort of physical product design, but it's a unique enough niche that it is fairly common for people to design keycap sets, keyboards, etc., and get them built in low (300-2kish unit for keycaps, sometimes even as low to 10-100ish for keyboards) MOQs, and I've ended up designing 3 different keycap sets with a friend of mine.
I guess it's a matter of habit, but after so many years of laptop keyboards everything else feels weird/wrong. I've tried mechanical keyboards (for about half ayear) .. and it always felt like using some antique typewriter b/c of the key travel
If I need a detached keyboard then the only one that feels normal is the Apple Magickeyboard b/c it's exactly like a laptop and clicky (the logitech equivalents are very mushy). Wish there was one with standard/Windows keys
I definitely prefer the lower travel distance. Personally I find it much less tiring / RSI-inducing than a normal mechanical keyboard / cherry MX switches. I'm not heavily bottoming out or anything that are frequent "have you tried...", and "just don't bottom out lol" doesn't work for me - I've experimented for nearly a decade now, I'm pretty confident. Long travel distances are definitely not for me.
I've got a custom keyboard with choc low-profile switches, and I like it a lot better. It's about mid-way between an Apple and a cherry MX, and I'm not sure I notice or care to get any lower distance since these are so easy to find. Unfortunately I'll have to go a lot more custom to get that in a Kinesis Advantage/Dactyl-like setup, and I haven't done that yet.
I do prefer MX key caps though (DSA profile, or roughly), the smaller center and deeper curve seems to help me calibrate better. Choc caps often lean hard into the low-profile thing and are very flat, and I'm not super fond of that.
If you like those kind of keycaps try MT3 MiTO keycaps, I have the same preference - sculpted keycaps with smaller centers center and those are my endgame
Do they have choc versions? All I'm seeing is MX... though google's fu has grown weak so it might just be that it's being drowned out by Drop at the moment.
Agreed 100%. The best keyboard for me is the one on my MacBook. It adds a grand total of 0 dollars to the cost of my system, and a grand total of 0 grams to the weight of my backpack. It's there for me when I stand, when I sit on a sofa, or when I check something on an occasional train. It needs no cables, and its batteries are never empty. The distance between the keyboard and the pointing device control area is so short that I don't need to move much when switching between the keyboard and the pointing device; I can also position the hand in a manner where some fingers can type at the same time that other fingers can control the pointing device.
It doesn't help that most mechanical keyboards also start by tinkering with the layout, for reasons I can't even begin to understand. For example, I don't look at my keyboard much, relying on fingers to position themselves, and on some tactile feedback from the keyboard. Arrow keys, for instance, are these with some negative space above them, so my fingers can use that negative space to nail the position. Most mechanical keyboards just slam the arrow keys into the bulk of all the others, so if I use that I need to look at the keyboard every time I want to use the arrow keys. (There was some unfortunate period in Apple's history where they made the left and right arrow keys full-size and eliminated the negative space, rendering that keyboards harder to use for me; I skipped these machines until they got back to sanity.)
If you wanted to try again, take a look at the Nuphy Air75 v2. Maybe with the Aloe or Cowberry switches.
I feel like you can always find a mechanical that you like, no matter how particular you are. It's just whether or not you want to go down the rabbit hole.
It's a very preferential opinion because keyboards can be such a personal thing. I used the Nuphy Air75 v2 for a week, and it is the best keyboard that I've ever used. I really like that particular layout: Ctrl Opt Cmd,the arrow keys tucked into the right Shift key and the Del key just to the right of the Backspace key.
https://nuphy.com/products/air75-v2?variant=40635218133101
Stuffing things to the right of the Enter key? So the Enter key is not "in the vertical middle of the right-most area" anymore? This would mean I can't position my finger reliably over the Enter key anymore, and would need to either guess or look?
That would be a hard "No" for me (with an addition of "Why would anyone ever want to use that?", but I understand that tastes differ).
P.S. And don't even get me started on the arrow keys smashed into the rest so not only Enter/Backspace/Right Shift positioning is gone for me but the arrow keys positioning is gone too.
P.P.S. If people like it it's fine, not everything in the world should be conforming to my personal taste, but that picture where they have the keyboard positioned over the MacBook keyboard and the top of the trackpad (and a mouse to the side) just leaves me completely flabbergasted.
My pinkie is what I use for Backspace, Enter, and Right Shift. It resides half on the aluminum, half on plastic. Plastic is a bit taller, and aluminum is a bit cooler -- if I feel that, I know it's in the right spot horizontally. When I move it for an occasional apostrophe (e.g. a moment ago for typing "it's"), I need to put it back in the right position. With an additional set of keys on the right, I can't position it properly without looking at the keyboard.
I also use an Nuphy air 75, it’s really nice. Would upgrade to a mechanical, 75%, low profile, split, Hall effect, wireless, kmq-via keyboard but haven’t found it yet…
A couple times I have tried doing some engineering related task on my desktop with a mechanical keyboard and it just felt wrong. It felt like I was moving my fingers too much. Kinda the same if I do any amount of serious typing.
On the flip side though, the couple of times I have tried gaming on a laptop it also felt wrong.
So I have come to view keyboards the same way I view gaming controllers, it all depends on what I am doing and I will use the best input method for a particular task/game/etc.
I got into the hype and bought multiple mechanical keyboards a couple years ago. Finally went back to Apple’s magic keyboard. Touch id was a large factor but apparently I love those chiclet keyboards.
Likewise, spending another comment just to agree. Both on the low profile and the low travel distance.
I've tried low-profile chocs and they still have too much travel! But I'm stuck with them as split keyboards are important for me just for the usual collection of wrist health reasons.
So I'm just waiting for Apple to make a split keyboard I guess :)
I have sincerely been considering a bandsaw and a soldering iron! To find out how hard it is to split a keyboard that’s already in one piece and have it remain working.
Every few years I try a mech keyboard, but I always come back to the Magic Keyboard. It's just way more comfortable, quiet, and I feel like my fingers are more nimble and less strained when I use it.
> the Apple Magickeyboard b/c it's exactly like a laptop and clicky
I'm being super pedantic, but it's not, the switches and especially keycaps are different from what they use in e.g. a Macbook Air (and not just in size). For 99% they'll be close enough, but for me this makes the magic keyboard a no-go.
I'm still looking for the holy grail, an external keyboard that's a near copy of the Macbook keyboard. I'd be willing to spend $500+ on it, but haven't found anything. Or, similarly, a keyboard that is even softer and lower travel than the Macbook keyboard. Nothing seems to have a similar actuation profile. I once found a website that showed actuation profiles through graphs, where you could pick from dozens of switches - none of them had a similar profile. Wonder why, is it hard to make? Is there really no market? Patents?
The second version of Apple wireless keyboard is closer than the newer ones, to my tastes anyway. It's softer than current MacBook keyboards but has slightly more travel so I'm not sure it's what you're looking for.
After years of using only laptop keyboards and the Microsoft Sculpt keyboard (which looks and feels like a laptop keyboard on a desk), I could not get comfortable with standard mechanical keyboard travel lengths again.
I picked up a Keychron K15 Pro[1] and have found the low profile keys and travel easy to adapt to. Recommend you give one of theirs (or maybe someone else's) low profile keyboards a try.
I'm quite happy with Dell wireless keyboards, that I got as cast-offs. One is a KM7321W. A drawback is that their peripheral manager (which allows you to do things like reassign keyboards and mice to the little dongles) only seems to run on Dell machines. They've also got Bluetooth.
If nothing else, they come with Dell machines, so if you're in a typical corporate environment, somebody might have one and let you try it.
Much like musicians that have dozens of musical keyboards in their collection, I've collected/built dozens of mechanical keyboards over the years. I've got ones with nearly every general type of switch (including Topre).
I like to tell people that - as a developer - I'll spend $400+ on a mechanical keyboard that makes the sound I like, and then use it alongside $500+ noise-cancelling headphones.
But all of my mechanical keyboards sit on a display shelf unused today as I prefer to use the Lenovo TrackPoint II keyboard for all of my work (including coding). It's just the best keyboard ever made in my opinion, and I love using it.
Ten years ago I used to be really into all the mech keyboard stuff. Then I bought a topre realforce and have been using it ever since. The hobby part of the keyboards is neat but as far as "good" keyboard I haven't seen anything that would cause me to switch.
same. finally got realforce R2 and I'm good. There might be something better for me, but I've spent enough time and money searching for the perfect combination of form-factor, switches, keycaps, materials, etc.
The sound of the keystroke is much less important than the feeling. The return power on stroke is also important for stamina reasons. That being said, I’m happy with a Model M, no need for fancy customizations.
I've got tons of keyboards as well, and despite just weeks ago getting the new Wooting keyboard am likely to get another. You don't really know if you like a board until you use it for a while.
Like, I thought the near-TKL design of the Wooting would be fine, but it's actually incredibly annoying. I often use delete, home, end, page up, and page down[1] but only 4 of the keys exist in that cluster. Why could they not have just added the tiny bit of extra width to include the rest of the cluster?
On other boards the issues that made me try something else tended to come down to the switches. It's wild how some switches were so easy to press that the weight of my fingers was basically enough to actuate them, while others made my fingers feel tired when trying to overcome the resistance of the tactile bump. I had one board I could hot swap keys on which made it easy to try other kinds but I gave up on doing that since even when I thought they were well aligned I would bend pins when pushing them in (and bending them back would just break the pins off, leading to many trashed switches).
Ha! My Track point II hangs above my desk as a quick-to-grab keyboard whenever I (frequently) need to plug into a computer I don't normally use. Absolutely perfect for that.
My thoughts, as someone who focuses on tools a lot -
Ergonomic is a must. Anything not ergonomic should be gently removed from your approach.
Mechanical is nice, but relates to how your personal interaction with your tools is. I use Cherry Blue or similar. I personally want to feel that click. I also learned to type on a 1940s Royal typewriter. Cherry Red aka Linear feels awful. Connect any dots you like there.
TKL designs with f keys and arrows are ideal for emacs users imo. Anything less feels either for non programmers or for people who use keychords a good deal less. The really cranked down designs seem more for writers than coders- special characters are in layers.
I have used Kinesis keyboards for a few years now. Their Edge RGB is _very_ nice. After an RSI episode earlier this year, I moved to an Advantage 360 SmartSet. I consider their SmartSet system to be ideal in terms of a very good meet point of configurability, ease of use, and reliability.
Re the 360, I am not as convinced of the Ortho layout or lack of f-keys. The thumb keys work well.
I would recommend Kinesis as a professional keyboard vendor.
In any case, this becomes a personal geometry problem where your hands, arms, shoulders will all combine to make a physical keyboard better or worse. This is further fit +/- by the tools we use. So it's very individual. Hope my experience shared here help someone.
I have several of the left side macro keys set to M-x, C-g and others. Via is very easy to use to program your keyboard, and full QMK is almost infinitely capable.
Yeah I looked at that design, but I wanted the palm rests and contours. I don't particularly _want_ an infinitely programmable KB - just enough to have stability.
I do not understand the hobby around mech keyboards at all. It reminds me a lot of other activities/sports where the gear becomes more of a focus than the activity itself. Reminds me of photography or paintball. Dudes will have thousands of dollars of gear and use it 3 times a year.
I do not understand my coworkers who spend 8 hours a day typing on a shitty membrane keyboard. It's they job and their main interface to the computer and they are totally oblivious to it. They also use no shortcuts at all. I've seen some use the mouse to copy/paste...
I don’t know, unless the keyboard was truly awful I probably wouldn’t complain and just get to work on the task at hand. Then again, I started typing when I was a small child, used what was available, and at the time there wasn’t the level of keyboard choice there is today. Nor did I have the money to indulge in it if there were. I can definitely see the logic people employ to justify it. It’s the same logic used to justify a nice bed, shoes, etc.
If you work in software, you'll spend 6-10+ hours a day interfacing with the machine via your hands.
So of course, the quality of that experience matters. Each person's fingers and typing styles are different to degrees so finding the right fit requires sampling. You often require a few days or even weeks to adjust and get a feel if a keyboard is right for you. I've had keyboards that only surfaced fatigue after a month of use.
I've accumulated keyboards mostly in search of the perfect one that can prevent fatigue, pain, and injury for a job that requires 1/3 of my day to be attached to a keyboard.
Yea, there is a large portion of the MKB population which is engaging in consumerism as a hobby.
I do think ergo keyboards can help a lot when you have RSIs or other physical constraints, but I think 90+% of the people who are MKB enthusiasts could be just as productive interfacing with a computer using a $20 Microsoft OEM keyboard.
I use an Apple magic keyboard for work and I don’t think it really slows me down. I could maybe see if you are a writer and you are outputting thousands of lines a day a good keyboard could make a difference, but if you are writing that many lines of code you should be concerned that LLMs are going to take your job writing boilerplate.
Just give me two monitors, a stock install of Ubuntu, and any $20 keyboard and I can do anything.
I'm up to roughly 40 boards at this point. I use two of them basically daily - my desktop and laptop dock.
I tend to rotate them a few times a month. The hobby is about the gear, but the people that get really deep into it tend to be building them to fit a specific aesthetic - people make custom keycap sets, complete with graphic novelty keys, etc., for all sorts of themes, from food, to anime, to space, and everything in between. And people design the keyboard cases for just as many themes. Mine sit on stands in my office as decoration - I enjoy looking at them the same as I enjoy using them.
Me, I was forced to use a model M for several years and threw it to the trash the moment I realized I could plug any shitty membrane keyboard bought in random stores. These "vintage" fashions usually come and go for either unexplainable reasons or just flimsy warmness/feeling arguments. Like vinyl, instant cameras or the like. Notice in all of these one almost always spends thousands of dollars and yet end up with objectively worse sound/image reproduction. It is not nostalgia, since it often involves people who never used them back in the day. Or maybe that actually explains why they buy them.
That's fair! That said it was a fairly accessible one that could turn into a (mostly) normal keyboard, which feels like the more relevant option to the audience this article was geared to.
I have used several inexpensive Apple-keyed mechanical keyboards. My random observations:
Buckley Springs (e.g. IBM Model M -type, Unicomp) are absolutely the best keyfeel, but they just won't last longer than the keyboard's warranty (probably nowhere near as long, YMMV). They are obnoxiously loud (similar to my electric Smith Corona Coronet typewriter). Simple keystrikes above 100wpm often result in blown-out springs — I have thrown away my last Unicomp keyboard (after spring/warranty failures).
daskeyboard (brown>blue>red) is heavenly, my daily-drivers (I own three, identical). Just a little bit louder than an OEM Apple keyboard, and always responds as depressed.
The worst tactile keyboard I've ever used (non-mechanical, but physical buttons): mid 2010's Apple Laptop "butterfly" keys, which fail spectacularly (to crickets from Apple).
I dunno about that, my Model M from 1989 is still going strong. I've been waiting for it to fail for a decade at this point so I can upgrade to something more modern, but I find I'm not interested in giving it up prematurely.
These original IBM models were much more durable than current Unicomp output. I suspect it comes down to the modern metal composition of the spring [being different than 80's versions].
See somebody else's similar experience, below.
>I've been waiting for it to fail for a decade at this point so I can upgrade
I had a model M that was built in 1993 that I used until 2016. The main thing you need to do is clean it once in a while. I have a newer Model M today that I got last year and I doubt it will last as long.
Thanks for sharing your experience, very similar to mine.
My IBM Selectric II has buckling springs, but the ball/strike isn't fast enough to keep up with my typing... so the keys don't get abused nearly as much (never had a keyspring break on this typewriter).
My honest assessment of Unicomp's newer buckling springs: you need to use a more-durable metal [see 80's/90's versions, for comparison). The springs seems to fail more from fatique than force... which is almost-certainly a materials science deficiency.
Mechanical keyboards are nice, but what stumps me is the lack of support for USB hubs embedded in the keyboard. Anyone who uses yubikeys know the importance of having those a key stretch away, not to mention the convenience of being able to plug headphones and USB pens ok what you're already holding.
I have a steelseries apex pro with an additional USB port. It doesn't have a hub, it is a separate port and the keyboard cable has two usb-a male plugs on the end.
I remember years ago having an apple keyboard that had a usb-a female on the side for the mouse. It wouldn't boot up with my mouse though, I suspect keyboard+mouse drew too much power. I had to run the mouse separate.
The steelseries apex pro is awfully pricy for that kind of keyboard. For budget-minded fans, as far as I can tell so far the Royal Kludge RK84 is the only decent keyboard with a usable USB hub, but it's cheap plastic chassis and keycaps are quite the turnoff.
Hopefully something decent shows up in the market that mixes the best of mechanical keyboards with the very basic user experience of using a laptop.
I prefer USB ports on the monitor, which can have a higher speed without creating problems.
Most keyboards are designed for low speed USB links, not even for USB 2.0. Having to replace the cheap cable normally used by keyboards with an expensive cable, at the great cable length that is desirable for a keyboard, would raise the cost with negligible benefits.
Many PCs have additional USB 2.0 ports for slow peripherals, i.e. mainly for keyboards, mice or graphic tablets. A keyboard with a USB hub suitable for a USB memory would need to use a USB 3 port on the PC, occupying a port that might have been better used for other peripherals, while leaving unused the slow USB ports.
For most the "USB passthrough" section at the end covers the need of plugging a device and/or a headset in without needing a full hubs worth of devices sticking out of the keyboard.
In general though the more functionally useful a keyboard would be the fewer options you'll find. I think a large part of it is many buyers are more worried about maximizing the aesthetics of the keyboard rather than creating a swiss army knife of a keyboard so that's what is easier to find.
The Drop keyboards merely have two upstream ports, so you can select to have the cable on the left or on the right.
There is no hub. If it was passthrough, the cable would be fixed (or use a non-standard connector), with two USB plugs at the host end: one for the keyboard and one for the passthrough. Some older gaming keyboards have such passthrough for USB ... and audio jacks!
While you can assign multiple actions to one key with hall effect, the biggest benefit (for gaming at least) is what they call rapid trigger actuation. The idea is that instead of the key triggering and releasing at a specific point in its travel, it reacts to a change in direction so you can instantly switch from pressed to released or vice versa at any point in the keys travel.
I am extremely happy with the new Keychron K2 HE (https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-k2-he-wireless-ma...) and am surprised hall effect keyboards didn't get mentioned in the original post. Even if the advantages are more gamer-oriented, setting low actuation distances and getting immediate keypress response is also a productivity plus, after getting practice to avoid making typos when you'd normally lay your fingers on other keys.
The one-key-multiple-actions is useful but also does require some muscle memory tweaks.
The web-site is insanely confusing and completely fails to explain the differences between keyboards. It took two days of work to figure out what was going on and how keyboards varies and so which model I actually wanted.
I also found their site condescending and annoying - stupid banners which were permanently present on product pages on every little keyboard image saying I can't remember what now - something like "selling quickly so buy now". They're not there any more, far as I can see, so I can't check. Maybe someone else remembers them?
Keychron keyboard was the only one I decided to return when I had this hobby (I bought maybe 4 or 5 total). I believe it was Q-series from about 2020/2021. It was either full or slightly smaller but did not work well with Linux, and was inexplicably missing ScrollLock button (which incidentally is a hotkey used to switch devices on my KVM). I mean, the button was there, but had a different function and I wasn't able to make it work.
Looks like the ones listed currently are compatible with Linux (still missing the ScrollLock though), just take your time to review before buying something that might not work with your setup.
Analog pushbuttons tend not to have much success. The original Street Fighter for instance could select between light/medium/heavy attacks based on how hard you pushed buttons. It didn't last long before they got back to the familiar 6 button layout with simple switches.
The Playstation 2 had analog pushbuttons, essentially no one used them. Even analog triggers are mostly used as simple switches. Apple discontinued force touch too.
There is an advantage to Hall effect sensors for gaming keyboards though. It is that they don't have a set actuation point and it allows for a feature called "rapid trigger", greatly improving reactivity and tapping speed. It is particularly important for games like OSU!
I would love to have a keyboard where if you hit the switches hard it automatically capitalizes the character. Then those late night nerd rages will be naturally in all caps as the switches are slammed in fury.
I’ve been eyeing a Hall effect board, but having used Swiftpoint Z mouse which has that pressure-based activation on several buttons, I must admit it’s the kind of feature that’s good on paper.
At least for me, it’s pretty hard to consistent reproduce “half press” and “full press” and if I wanted to do a “long press” I can easily set it up in QMK for any mechanical keyboard
Whenever I think about buying one, I can't find one that's got a simple way to have it detect as a game controller so that I can easily read the actuation force or a velocity when a user presses a key.
If there was a simple way to do this, it would make a really fun experimental input peripheral tool.
All that and a single paragraph about ergonomic split keyboards? What a shame. Imo, the main reasons to get into mech keyboards are customization and programmability. This subreddit is a good starting point: https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/
It's an article written by a mainstream site so I wasn't really expecting them to talk about split keyboards at all but I agree wholeheartedly.
I went from a full size to a 40% keyboard to an ortholinear and now use a low-profile split keyboard as a daily driver.
IME it's so much better for ergonomics with a proper desk setup and seating/posture with the split halves shoulder width apart. Wireless is a great benefit as well if you swap between desktops and laptops.
Open source firmware like ZMK and QMK make it trivial to use splits with Linux, mac OS and Windows and for any environments where the OS is locked down and software installation is required.
Yes! I don't really understand the appeal of mechanical keyboards. I mean sure, they're a step up from cheap-ass rubber-dome defaults, so it's worth people discovering there are options.
But for me, most mechanical keyboards are downright painful to use. The standard rectangular layout is bad for my wrists, the keypress depth is bad for my fingers, clicks are just plain annoying.
Perhaps decades of keyboard use has worn my wrists and fingers down or helped me define what I wanted, but it's split low-profile or bust.
And there's a dearth of such options on the market. Slowly rising, but a paltry fraction of the overall "mechanical"/custom keyboard market, especially as it comes to keycaps!
Maybe I should just grab the bull by the horns and mod a Microsoft Sculpt to be wired, whose only downside is unreliable wireless.
> But for me, most mechanical keyboards are downright painful to use. The standard rectangular layout is bad for my wrists, the keypress depth is bad for my fingers, clicks are just plain annoying.
I think you're conflating things. The "mechanical" in "mechanical keyboard" refers to the key switches. That's it. Then you have unrelated traits such as customization,which can express in using fancy/functional keycaps, feel/keypress experience, and whatever you can imagine and throw at a keyboard. None of your complains refer to mechanical keyboards in particular.
My point is that the majority of the mechanical keyboard scene/market is occupied by very traditional (if cut down, in the case of the Any% ones) layout and key types.
For a scene that is so into customization, it's disappointing how much it sticks to bad choices.
> My point is that the majority of the mechanical keyboard scene/market is occupied by very traditional (if cut down, in the case of the Any% ones) layout and key types.
You need to pay attention to what you're saying, because you're referring to different things with unrelated words. If you look at what you're saying, you're talking about custom keyboards. Not mechanical keyboards. Custom keyboards. You even called it a "scene". You're talking about people who buy gear and assemble/modify it to fit their taste. What choice of switches they use is irrelevant. Heck, are you still talking about mechanics keyboards if someone switches cherry MX switches with Topre ones?
I’m quite happy with my Perixx Periboard 335 replacing the Microsoft Ergo Sculpt. Standard layout, semi-split, tented, low (-ish) profile, mechanical switches, wired.
Took me a lot of searches to find something meeting my requirements
I share your experience. I can recommend the discontinued Microsoft LXM-00001 (the Sculpt wasn’t quite for me), which is wired, if you can find leftover stock, or if Incase finally manages to resurrect it [0].
oh yeah, in fact I find it hilarious that clicky keys just have an extra lever just for the click sound. It's not part of the actuation mechanism! I have a Giant Kailh from Novelkeys which is interesting to see the construction of a switch.
Are there split keyboards that preserve the standard layout of the home/end/pgup/pgdown cluster? Due to my usage patterns, not having that is a deal breaker for me. As an example, with rectangular keyboards my only choices are tenkeyless or full size, because they preserve the home cluster. Are there equivalents in the split keyboard world? All I'm seeing in that subreddit are smaller keyboards that lack the home cluster, that's why I ask.
I've also really enjoyed my Keychron Q11. It only has 5 of those keys (I remapped them a bit because I find "end" more useful than "insert"), and have adjusted quite easily. Relative to the default, I've got Home/End where Ins/Del are, Del for PgUp, and PgUp/Dn where it has PgDn/Home. That was all painless to change in the mapping tool. https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q11-qmk-custom-me...
> Are there split keyboards that preserve the standard layout of the home/end/pgup/pgdown cluster?
There used to be. I have a Microsoft keyboard[1] that works just fine using a PS2 <-> USB connector. Unfortunately I lost the PS2 <-> USB connector (which, IIRC, was an active converter, not a passive one) so I don't use it any more.
I use a standard mechanical keyboard with the standard US layout, and have not noticed any discomfort after 25 years or daily driving the standard layout.
I think the Ergodox ez does those keys better than a standard keyboard because they are split between the two thumb clusters in the standard layout. Don't even have to move my hands to hit any of the four keys. It was one of the things I was looking for in a keyboard.
Does seem like a white whale. Nearly all of the split keyboards want to do something different. I just want to stop scrunching my shoulders and space out my arms. Give me a fully traditional keyboard with all of the keys, just with a split down the middle.
My non-QMK keyboard has a horrendous home+end location, which I only realized after I acquired the thing. I did not realize how much I rely on those keys in normal programming.
For a very long time and until now, there have been models of Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboards, with all the classic PC keys, just with a split layout of the keys.
I have used such keyboards for many years and I have been content with them, even if a couple of years ago I have switched to a more compact completely split keyboard, without a separate digit pad (for 2 reasons, a closer position of the pointing device and easier transport in my luggage, due to its smaller total size, to be able to also use it instead of the non-ergonomic laptop keyboard).
Unless I am mistaken, the Microsoft versions are all single slabs of hardware with a slight space between the halves. By split keyboard, I want two separate pieces of hardware I can arbitrarily position to fit my body. I maintain a solid 12 inches(30 cm) between the pieces on my desk.
If you want completely separate halves, with the 104/105-key formats the right-hand part would be much larger than the left-hand part, which is inconvenient when you want to move or transport it.
You can achieve the same effect in a more convenient way by buying any of the many keyboards with separate parts for the hands, together with a separate numeric pad, which contains the third part of a classic 104/105-key keyboard.
The only remaining difference from the classic format is that on such keyboards the home-end and PgUp-PgDn key pairs are typically on the same vertical column at the right edge of the keyboard, instead of being side-by-side, but it is easy to become accustomed to this arrangement, which actually makes them easier to reach.
Thanks for this! I use a Perrix 835 and I'm quite happy with it except that the keys are rubbing raw and I need new key caps. But I'm always looking to trade up if possible.
There's a whole world of custom split keyboard options out there that use switches where it's super easy to buy replacement keycaps. You can get keycaps made of PBT which are long-lasting and have a very high "rub" factor so you shouldn't have to worry about rubbing them raw for a very long time.
I got my first mechanical keyboard many years ago when playing a game where I had to do some complicated maneuver involving multiple keys which I just couldn't seem to pull off, until I realized that my then keyboard suffered from ghosting. Seems like mechanical keys and N-Key Rollover just go hand in hand.
I have a few now at work and home, my favorites are the Das Keyboard 6 Pro and the Wobkey Crush 80.
For anybody that's at some stage of keeb curious but overwhelmed by info, look up keyboard meetups in reddit subs /r/MechanicalKeyboards/ and /r/ErgoMechKeyboards/
you can also try a decent number at best buy and maybe other specialty retailers but:
with the gaming oriented brands you often have to turn down RGB effects to make them tolerable, certain brands have switches that actuate high in the range of motion and it's often not easy to tell if the switches are soldered or have swappable sockets
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also the latest/greatest in split ergos seem to be the svalboards, ordered a 1 finger cluster to try but have no info about them yet
You can get arrested for walking around with a baseball bat. You can carry a Model M to walk to your car on a dark night and no one will raise an eyebrow.
It's not mechanical switches, but I wish the fancy keyboard folks would get more interested in high quality scissor switches. Apple's A1243, the classic wired external keyboard, is nearly perfect for me. I finally gave up on mechanical keyboards and bought a few new-old-stock Apple keyboards to last me for the next decade or more.
The unique thing about Apple keyboards is the very low profile keycaps and a tiny 0.9mm travel. Matias makes some very nice scissor keyboards but their 2.0mm travel feels different. Also they don't register quite as accurately, I have a lot of miskeys on them.
Picked up this hobby a few years ago (during Covid) and bought 3 or 4 of these, either full-size (nostalgic for the Original from my youth) or TCL (when we got back to the office I wanted a keyboard that would fit in my backpack that was not my laptop's).
Then I bought DasKeyboard 4 Pro (tactile switches) and that pretty much ended the hobby. It has everything, it's heavy, doesn't move on the desk (rubber feet), it's sturdy (its top is either aluminum or even steel), has 2 USB-A, very thick twisted USB cable, it's full size, has volume control wheel, even dedicated audio mute button, works with all my Windows and Linux boxes and the KVM. 3 years later it still looks and works like new. I'm a bit sad for my lost hobby but that's life I guess :)
(Yes Yes, it has been modded meanwhile, electronically only, not mechanically. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIN_connector to PS/2 to USB, via modded early QMK. As did the others which I've gotten in reserve meanwhile :))
As someone who recently moved from a mechanical keyboard to apple keyboard, the closest thing that can imitate the mechanical key sound is through this macos app:
https://tryklack.com/
They do, as "analog" - but it's more of a brush off than any real discussion. What they didn't really talk about at all is firmware, which seems like a big omission...
> Want a mechanical keyboard but don't know where to start?
Not really. I enjoy membrane keyboards and want everything as silent as possible. Yet I want a hackable controller firmware and it seems these are only available with mechanical keyboards.
You might want to look into Topre switches. They are electrocapacitive rubber dome switches. They feel like typing on a cloud. I own a Leopold FC660C modded to be silent and to support QMK. I sometimes think about getting an ortholinear or split keyboard, but that rules out Topre so I’m not going to bother, it’s just too good.
No one is selling them. And no one is selling the switches. So the only way to get switches for a custom keyboard is buying a Topre keyboard only to pull them out. Seems like a lot of work. AFAIK, maybe that's changed since I last checked.
If you do ever want to dive into the keeb firmware hacking world, you absolutely can build very silent mechanical keyboards.
Between linear switches, quiet mounting options, and even o-rings if you have a tendency to press keys harder, you can get them to being only slightly louder than a MacBook keyboard (or maybe not louder, just different sounding)
Loving something doesn't necessarily imply wanting it to persist all the time in all the situations. I love to endure extreme heat for some minutes in a sauna but hardly want to live and work there. I also love tactile feel an clacky sound of some mechanical switches but hearing the clack millions of times per day doesn't sound appealing. And having to apply even a minuscule amount of extra force so many times with finger muscles not designed for this doesn't sound safe.
Are mechanical keyboards good for ergonomics and carpal tunnel and all that? Do different switches make a difference for that sort of thing? I’ve been hearing a lot about Hall effect switches recently - wasn’t sure if that can help.
No I don't think mechanical keyboards in general are better. I think heavy switches (which is very common) are worse than regular keyboards.
Light switches (Choc has some nice very light switches) is probably better, and of course you'd want to look at split keyboards, column-stagger instead of row-stagger, and tenting.
They can be but they are only a small part of the overall setup. You still need to have proper posture and pay particular attention to your habits.
Different switches can also help depending on your typing habits and usecase.
For me personally having less keys means less movement leading to significantly reduced possibility of RSI. With just 42 keys on my keyboard literally everything is one key away from each finger on home row so I can spend more time typing and mousing around than a traditional full size keyboard+mouse setup.
I’ve invested in a good table and chair. I’m now looking to figure out my keyboard and mouse. I’ve not tried the small keyboards because I thought the cramped space may be worse. But maybe that’s wrong? Any specific recommendations for a keyboard or mouse?
It's all very personal. Partly because you will like certain key switches and layouts, and partly because any problems you may be having may not be solved by the same things that fixed my problems.
Personally, having tried a wide variety of keyboards and layouts (both key pattern and physical keyboard design), I think the biggest improvement is switching to any mechanical keyboard. Anything with Cherry MX switches will be a huge improvement over some cheap, sliding plastic keyboard from an OEM. After that, the particular type of switch might matter to you. Cherry Red, for example, only requires really light pressure. Topre switches are buttery smooth.
For physical configuration, I personally like either an 87 key, or I go all out with a Kinesis Advantage. The Kinesis saved my early career when I developed bilateral De Quervain's syndrome, which is tendinitis in the wrist that starts with the thumb. After years of this, I finally returned to traditional QWERTY 87 key configurations and haven't had a flare-up. I still think the Kinesis configuration (arrow keys accessible without moving the hands, thumbs are used for delete, enter, home/end and PgUp/PgDn) is ergonomically superior, but it's nice being able to jump on any normal QWERTY keyboard without fighting muscle memory.
My personal favorite mouse is the Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer. I've heard good things about vertical mice for carpal tunnel.
I had a bit of wrist pain a few years (5?) ago, and my solution was a small 10kl mechanical keyboard (from Vermillo) with a good wrist pad (a wooden one) and a vertical mouse. Haven’t had a problem since. Everyone is different.
BTW, every ergonomics person I’ve talked to suggested I ditch all wrist pads because they but more pressure on an already inflamed wrist.
I also got a vertical mouse a while back on a friend’s recommendation and couldn’t believe the different it made. My wrist was starting to hurt a lot. After a few days with the mouse, I was complete pain free. For me it was an instant and complete relief. I never would’ve believed it.
Why do they never make these with 4 modifier keys on the left side like Mac keyboards(Ctrl, Fn, Alt, Cmd)? Hate not being able to use muscle memory switching between my MBP and an external keyboard.
The standard first 3 R4 keys (control, option/alt, command/win) are 1.25x width while the "true" Mac layout has those at 1x width to prevent the spacebar from having to migrate too far to the right (even though it's still a bit farther right than normal). This means to serve the niche of fn muscle memory users of the niche of Mac keyboard users you not only need the create the custom positional layout but custom keycaps (and the board/firmware you build it with must support layers to do fn in the first place). Then when you do all of this these people will still probably be uninterested because it's not some additional niche design criteria (70% vs 100%, low profile vs full size, split vs not, yadda yadda) anyways. All that is to say, there's a lot more going against it than just repositioning 1 key would seem.
I had a coworker who liked https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/products/mk-lowkey70-black. Basically "an external version of the MacBook keyboard with hotswap switches, RGB, and caps". Dunno that I've seen any full sized variants of the Mac layout though.
Is it a niche though? Logitech, cheap BT keyboards etc mostly stick to this layout. And it's not just the left side that is the issue - they move fn to the right in place of the alt key. Can't cmd-alt-i with 1 hand anymore!
The only other keyboards I've seen with this mac-like layout are -
> an external version of the MacBook keyboard with hotswap switches, RGB, and caps
Wow, this is almost exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks for the rec! It's a shame they don't ship to where I am right now. I'll try to pick one up next time I travel.
How do I find it: Daily driver for 9 months now, no regrets, love the board, and I've probably paid more for mine than anyone other than the creator :).
Hard to get going: I'm an ex-DataHand user. It was near instant for me. Took me a few hours to make the dvorak map usable for my old muscle memory. I made the dvorak map a pretty exact emulation of the OG Dvorak DH.
The adjustment time is real for most users. I've seen Injured highly motivated, injured users, move across in a weekend or two. Most people take 2-3 weeks? It really isn't bad considering the very well proven DH injury help.
Comfortable: It isn't your normal board... You make it what you need for comfort. There are different hand rests in the community, etc. I persoonally use a pair of gel wrist rests as my palm rests. I find them very comfy, :)
Fast: People are over 100 wpm. I am not a fast typist. I'm only 60-70 WPM usually, And I can hit it on sval.
The big thing I'd say is: Svalboard is more of a journey to your answer, than just a packaged answer, I'd also think about getting a 3D Printer if you don't have one. (I have 2 around, an A1 Mini and P1S.) Join the discord... the folks are friendly... and you'll find me there, as well as other users, etc,
Don't be afraid to to own your journey... I do not miss the other boards,,, and if your said "use one board." Svalboard is it for me I'm done.
To anyone using Voyager or Moonlander on a Mac: do you have any tips on how to configure it? I'm messing with the default layout but after months of training still find it hard to use.
That said, the ZSA support is just on another level compared to any hardware I've bought in the past decade. Incredibly responsive, thoughtful, and helpful. My only issue is my own analysis paralysis when messing with layouts, not the product itself.
I don't like using the red thumb button or the third thumb button, so I try to cram what I need on the first two on each side. That was facilitated by using "home row modifiers" meaning shift/Ctrl/alt/Mac keys are accessed by holding keys on home row.
This is a good article to familiarize yourself with the concepts, but would be great if they just listed a few keyboards that are top notch or popular for people to get started. Regardless, this is a lot of words to day that people should own either:
1. An IBM Model M keyboard, or
2. An HHKB Type S in charcoal with Topre switches and blank keycaps.
For programming, I really enjoy the Corne (crkbd). Having all symbols and numbers on easily reachable keys is much more ergonomic, and the tenting helps a lot with wrist strain. I also have macros for stuff like moving lines around, jumping forward/backward, deleting entire lines, etc.
I see soooo many recommendations online in every discussions about mechanical keyboards. However, what I would really need is a physical place, a store, a showroom, to be able to try them out myself. A wide range of brands and options, preferably.
I'm a keyboard pleb, after originally using a Model M I just moved on to other regular office keyboards. I like the idea of mechanical keyboards but I don't know if I would actually enjoy them, and there's so many variations that for every complaint you might have about a keyboard a friend might have that you can try, you'll get three people saying that I should really try keyboard X from brand Y instead because it will change my life.
BestBuy has _some_ on display (and you can type and try them out yourself), but in my area their stores have been shrinking in size and there's fewer and fewer things on display.
Your best bet would be MicroCenter, the one near me has 10+ various ones on display. I know not everybody is fortunate enough to live near MicroCenter though :(
BTW none of them will change your life, it's just hobby for those with extra time and disposable income :)
You and me both. I’ve had a few nice keyboards with various switches, but I’d love to get my hands on the ones people are talking about here to see how they feel to me. Bonus points of they were connected to a computer so I could gauge the whole experience.
Anyone have mechanical keyboards banned at work because of security risk? technically we aren't allowed to use them, but I can't use the $5 junk they provide us with. Its a real risk though I wonder how many offices enforce rules like this.
Most places I've worked at have at least limited USB and bluetooth access. On certain (typically shared or special purpose) machines many of the more accessible USB ports were even glued shut for "oh yeah, it's not going to work" convenience.
Never had trouble getting approval for a keyboard ordered by the company though. Took several months one time but eventually it was ordered, reviewed by security, and sent to me.
Get a doctors note explaining you have RSI and need a mechanical keyboard for the ergonomics. Pick the specific switches you need for your RSI/ergo reasons.
Custom firmware and USB hubs? Valid threat. I would allow reputable vendors though.
I help define the policies at my current workplace and we block anything that isn't an hid device or purely charging (headsets, phones are blocked from mounting storage) . Also no non-computing related accessories, so no usb flash drives, mug warmers, or deskfans-sorry.
In France I have never been forbidden from using anything, even with jobs a bit sensitive like coding for banks or credit cards. What kind of job are you doing?
I use split keyboards and finding a mechanical split keyboard without the ortho linear configuration seem to be hard. I just want a mechanical split keyboard with hot swappable keys with staggered (normal) keyboard.
I use a Cepstrum (bought a kit + switches + keycaps and put it together; there's no soldering required, so it's quite easy). I never 3D printed tenting, so it's not quite perfect for normal typing, but for gaming it's fantastic - I don't think I can go back to non low-profile switches.
Does the ultimate hacking keyboard have some kind of encryption to provide security/privacy for wireless connections? I’ve not used a wireless keyboard before.
Does the ultimate hacking keyboard have some kind of encryption to provide security/privacy for wireless connections? I’ve not used a wireless keyboard before.
keeb.io keyboards are the best for that kind of thing.
I ended up going the ortho route and designed my own keyboard (I needed extra columns as all the ergo split orthos end at ; key)
But before that I bought all the non-ortho splits (Kinesis, Goldtouch, etc.)and keeb.io were by far the most versatile. I recommend Quefrency for compact layout (my fav is V3 where you could still customize the bottom row) and Sinc for regular size. I used Quefrency when traveling and Sinc in the office.
Happy to answer any questions!
best I've used since the OG Microsoft Natural kyboards
The Microsoft Natural keyboards were an ergonomic nightmare. The cheap, sliding post keys would have varying resistance depending on how close to the center your finger landed, and how vertically you applied pressure.
Also, the keys were arranged over a hump. The dished design of a Kinesis has much better ergonomics.
