Peripherals Mechanical Keyboards

I’ve never quite figured out the mass produced boards getting that expensive, for that price you could pick up a Keychron/NK65 (or any other board in the £150-200 range) and then customise it with switches and keycaps to get the feel, sound and style that works for you.

 

I used to love MX Clears. iirc, they had a graduated spring, so I swapped them for Black springs - which sort of made them a heavier Brown.

 

I love my silent black switches (Gateron Ink V2s), though I've picked up some of the Cherry 'nixxie' switches and wants to give them a go soon. The won't be silent, but people seem to rave about them.

 

Three days of touch-typing practice on the Glove80 and it's.... er.... yeah.... it's not going well!



Haven't even covered half of the letters yet! Keybr seems to introduce new letters slowly, only when it thinks you've "learned" the previous key.



Gonna keep pressing on with it though. It's incredibly uncomfortable to try and touch type on a regular staggered keyboard, but if I try and use the Glove80 instead of a regular keyboard it takes me so long that it absolutel drives me crazy!

But... I am trying to overcome about 38 years worth of muscle memory, that isn't gonna happen in three days!

 

@BeauchN ,carrying this on where it should be...

I have now looked at the Keychron K2 v2, which is pretty much the equivalent squashed layout on my cheap board. With shine through caps, it could work for me.
The version with an Alu case with RGB is out of stock, so I'll keep an eye on the site for availability. **EDIT ** Keychron have none, but I can get it from keyboardco with reds off the shelf...
That Zoom 75 looks great, but way over budget and I'm not sure about GBs yet.
The GMMK Pro and Keychron Q1 may work too, but the K2 is in pole position.

 

TheKeyboardCo also carry a lot of Keychrons in stock. You have to look carefully at the description though, because they're not categorised as well as on the Keychron site.

 

@Arboreal If you’re comfortable buying from their international site, they have the UK ISO alu frame version in stock… clicky

It’s only blue switches available from the look of it, but they’re hot-swap…

Edit: sorry my bad, forget that, it’s not the hot-swap version that’s available

 

@Arboreal, it looks like the K2V2, hot swap with alu frame is in stock and available from The Keyboard Co through Amazon here.

I read the description twice this time, so hopefully I'm right!

 

'Tis a fiver cheaper on The Keyboard company's own website.

 

New switches!



Before:



After:



First time I'm ever using linear switches, I've always used either tactile or clicky. It's a little bit of a weird feeling, and initially I was definitely missing the tactile sound... but I think I'm starting to prefer the sound of this now. The switches themselves feel beautifully smooth, the factory lube is defintiley doing something even if it isn't as good as a DIY job!

Pleasantly surprised so far!

Next on the list: some gaudy pudding caps

Perservered with this for another couple of days before I realised that it's going to take a lot more than a couple of weeks with a loaned keyboard to un-learn 35+ years of muscle memory! So it'll shortly be going back to @Gareth Halfacree. I'm going to look into building my own ergo/split ergo keyboard, either from a kit or customise one of the bajillions of designs out there. Won't have fancy stuff like aluminium cases, dampening foam, etc, but I'm not averse to designing and ordering my own PCBs and I've currently got 73x Gateron Blues left over from updating my K8.

 

OK, so I've fitted the pudding caps and it turns out that the backlight in the Keychron K8 isn't actually all that strong!



Defintely look better with the lights down a bit though.

 

That K8 is looking good @Byron C!
Nice to see how they look once you get away from the grey keycap set.

I did find a special deal on a Keychron Q1 ISO barebones, which was tempting at £70, but it didn't grab me sufficiently.
I think the Keychron K2v2 is a better bet with the condensed layout and North facing LEDs.
I'd go for the alu case version with hotswap Reds and RGB.
Having seen how the right keycap set can set it off, I'll be saving my pennies for one as keyboardco have them in stock.
With wireless options it should be able to replace my Ducky TKL and Cooler master 65%

 

As a perennial loather [and breaker] of mech kb's i've found myself giving them another look... Esp as they seem to have dropped in price at the cheaper end to be comparible with membrane gaming/office fodder....

Is there any way of reliably navigating the mind-bending choice paralysis that is switches and the like?


In more simple terms, if you were me and looking for a keyboard that is -

Full sized [no numpad = no interest, i use it enough that not having one would annoy the **** out of me]
Not low profile [you hand me anything even remotely resembling a mac kb and i will beat you to death with it]
Doesn't sound like a hyperactive toddler with cheap ballpoint pen so no - *clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky**clicky*... mainly so other people aren't wanting to beat me to death with the kb
Not the price of my entire computer.

Keychron seem to crop a lot... both in terms of people swearing by them and in terms of people swearing at them [inconsistent build quality mostly by the looks of it], but that doesn't help narrow down the 19 bajillion switches all with increasingly ludicrous names... switchco chartreuse mongoose tells me basically nothing... not that 'it's [a] red' is much better tbh...


Or should i stick to ol' reliable, but somewhat disposable, K120s

 

I've been pleased with the 2 used Ducky boards I picked up.
The One2 TKL with standard red switches and arrrgeebees is great.
I'm thinking of buying another smaller Ducky SF (65%) for LAN nights.
I've looked at Keychron, and like the idea of the K2V2 75% with an aluminium case, but not enough to throw money at it yet!

 

i would second the recommendation for ducky...
I have a zero and shine 5, but with browns, and i love 'em.

If you want to avoid the clicky, then maybe reds would be a good starting point...

 

If you don't want to be lit up like Blackpool in the Autumn, I can happily recommend Filco Majestouch 2. My TKL is rock solid after 4½ years.

 

Any Argee Bees will likely be set to the nice shade of 'off'...

Do any of these come in proper keyboard size though... i explicitly do not want a tkl or whatever%...

 

Apologies, I misread your numpad comment on my phone...

Yes, Ducky do full size standard keyboards. The one in my office is full size model with brown (tactile, but not clicky) switches and a blue backlight that I do like.

Since owning a couple of backlit mech boards I do prefer illuminated keys, but have no interest in unicorn puke or special effects.

 

Another must have... must be UK / ISO layout... but that's more a key cap thing from what i gather... the underlying gubbinz doesn't matter as much as most can be remapped via QMK or VIA or similar