Searching for the perfect keyboard

I had bought a logitech Carbon tectile keyboard.
It was labelled as robust and was broken after a few months.
This robust was thus only marketing.
Just bought a logitech MX
Curious
 
Yeah the MX Mechanical is 99% perfect for me.
Anyhow someone make the decision that the keyboard does not require a "Print Screen" button which bugs me a bit.
 
For about 20 years I've been using a very nice Unicomp New Model M keyboard—with buckling springs switches—until I have destroyed it by using it on a heated pad 🤦‍♂️ (to keep my hands warm) by which some of it electronics broke. Since then it does not register a keypress (or a key release) here and there (in about 1 in 5000 keypresses). So now I had to buy a new keyboard.

If I had the money and a more understanding wife, I would have probably ordered a New Model F (by modelfkeyboards.com). However, with about half the budget, I decided on a Keychron Q6 Max ISO, after a collegue at work let me type on his for a day. It feels ok, although I don't like that they squeezed a rotary knob into the place for the function keys. I am looking forward to play a little bit with the keyboard's QMK firmware (the new modelf F would also be QMK-based).
 
I don't need to switch switches. So the feature from keychron is not needed for me.
Also in comparisons Logitech MX is consired better.
As for non mechanical keyboard i currently use a Logitech K540
 
My perfect keyboard is actually quite simple: soft touch, quiet, with white characters on a black background. And of course, it has to be cheap — nothing fancy.

Right now I'm using an HP 150 Slim Keyboard, and I'm thinking about switching to an HP 405, mainly because it has a soft feel and white backlighting, which I really like.
 
elgrande said:
Anyhow someone make the decision that the keyboard does not require a "Print Screen" button which bugs me a bit.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Apart from "Print Screen" I almost never used this buttons before.
Since I switched to FreeBSD I'm using them all a lot - except "Pause." Don't figured out for what to use this one. (For "pause", duh! Yeah, but to pause what? Mediaplayer -> space bar) And it really irks me, when I have to use a KB that does not have those, or they are not placed where I'm used to have them.


model_M_keyboard-88241275.jpg
 
I find myself liking the 65% keyboard, as I have limited desk space. At one point, I had to use silent red switches because the noise bothered my wife, but since we've moved, I've been able to use brown switches. As I use mpv a lot I needed (wanted?) arrow keys.
And, on this one at least, I can use the tilde by just hitting shift as opposed to having to do something with the function key. It's hot swap which is always nice in case I want to try out different switches. And, surprisingly inexpensive.

mechanicalkeyboards.com

Ducky One 2 SF RGB LED 65% Double Shot PBT Mechanical Keyboard

10 additional PBT Double Shot colorful keycaps (Random color) Perfect for One 2 Mini users that want dedicated arrow keys, delete, page up, and page down All new petite bezel design Detachable USB-C cable 3528 SMD RGB LEDs 1000Hz polling rate May come with a random bonus "Year of" zodiac...
mechanicalkeyboards.com mechanicalkeyboards.com
 
scottro said:
brown switches
Click to expand...
You and me both! 😂
Those are hard to get!
scottro said:
mechanicalkeyboards.com

Ducky One 2 SF RGB LED 65% Double Shot PBT Mechanical Keyboard

10 additional PBT Double Shot colorful keycaps (Random color) Perfect for One 2 Mini users that want dedicated arrow keys, delete, page up, and page down All new petite bezel design Detachable USB-C cable 3528 SMD RGB LEDs 1000Hz polling rate May come with a random bonus "Year of" zodiac...
mechanicalkeyboards.com mechanicalkeyboards.com
Click to expand...
That one looks very nice! Not only you can chose which kind of switch you want, but its backlighting actually lights the key-caps! Very nice indeed!
😧 MOMMY! Can I get a new keyboard, please! I know mine is just a year old. And yes I already still have six almost brand new high quality ones unused in the attic. But I really - really - need this one! All the cool kids have one. And I cannot do any reasonable writingwitoutitsea? 😂

Thanks for the tip! 👍
 
Alain De Vos said:
Keychron Q6 Max QMK/VIA looks interesting.
No idea how it compares to Logitech MX ?
Click to expand...
As far as I understand it (I only scan through such bog roll pages with marketing blabla roughly - could anybody please invent a motor for the mousewheel, please!) it comes as kind of a self-assembly kit, or can be ordered assembled. Anyway there are several kinds of switches to be compatible with them.
It comes with 22 RGB lighting modes? For what? What in my eyes actually would make sense was you could control every single key's light individually - so, for example, depending on vim's mode the color changes, and only the available function keys are highlighted... something like that. But having just a colorful rainbow lighting in my eyes is a useless tinker toy for kids trying to show off with computer modding instead of computer skills.

However, to answer you question:
I don't know. If you chose the Cherry swithces, there ain't no difference. And the others I don't know. Can be better, can be worse, can be equal to Cherry - don't know.
Anyway, since the feeling of the tactile feedback of different switches is a very individual, very personal experience, all I can recommend is: You need to test it yourself. Alas in "radio shacks" are only the most common brands (Logitech, Cherry, HP, Microsoft, Razer, etc.) in the showrooms you may hack on to test their feeling, so you may end up like me, having several, pretty good, but not fully convincing keyboards in the attic. :cool:
 
I ordered following keyboards ( i'm a geek collectioner ).
I tell you which one is best when received.
- Logitech K540 (non mechanical)
- Logitech MX
- Keychron Q6 Max QMK/VIA (Gateron Jupiter Banana)

Note, keychron Q6 keyboars have a known spacebar problem . :(
 
For those into building their own keyboards, there's Glorius. They sell various keyboards, switches, keys, and the like. I had one, wound up giving it away--it was a TKL and I decided I wanted the 65%.

www.gloriousgaming.com

Custom Mechanical Keyboards, Gaming Mice, and PC Gear

Elevate your gaming setup with high-performance gear. Discover custom keyboards, gaming mice and accessories that have cutting-edge technology, expert reviews and insider tips. Join our community of passionate gamers and unlock a realm where greatness awaits. Your journey to gaming excellence...
www.gloriousgaming.com www.gloriousgaming.com
 
A brand that hasn’t been mentioned yet in this thread: Leopold. I got their FC980M model five years ago but only had it for a year or two before a spilled beer caused the Z-key to start chattering :-( which is a such a small issue but makes it completely unusable even if it otherwise still works. I oughta see if I can fix it.

My clumsiness aside, the build quality was excellent, much better than the Ducky One I had to fall back to, and I fell in love with the non-standard Cherry 1800 layout the FC980 used. A more compact layout, slightly larger than a TKL, but with a full numpad! Unfortunately that specific model is kind of hard to find nowadays, I think--atleast in basic black or beige colors and not something garish--and Leopold is one of the only manufacturers who made prebuilts with that layout. You could pick from wireless or wired, Cherry switches or Topres. It was perfection.
 
Common Cherry keyboard problems include
connectivity issues, unresponsive keys, or incorrect input, often caused by low batteries or poor connection for wireless models, and dust or debris for all models.
 
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