We all know it because we all think the same about our own system: You have the world's best IDE (or text editor) running on the only operating system that matters to you, carefully hand-crafted toolchains allowing you to develop and distribute ten applications at the same time, and you even have an adequate display attached to it so you can see ALL the things at the same time. That's all that is important anyway. Everything is perfect, right?
Well, have you ever thought about which keyboard to use? If you are happy with whatever comes with your computer or whatever is hyped in your particular community (looking at you, reddit!) without thinking about why you do that, you might want to spend a second thought on it.
Being a developer (it is safe to assume that most people reading this on DEV are developers), the one thing you need to produce is text. Yes, even your smartphone/tablet/smartwatch can produce text. But would you do serious development on it without any additional input hardware attached? Probably not, because their integrated "keyboards" are crap for anything that's longer than an average tweet.
In my (non-professional - I'm not a keyboard maker) opinion, a good keyboard for developers must have these properties:
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A sane form factor.
Most people I know don't really use the "ten-key" block most of the time, which is fine. There have been keyboards without one for more than three decades - but that's as far as you should go.
Yes, "modern" approaches like this one may be optimized for one special thing, but you probably will do more with your keyboard than that one special thing - and you should ask yourself if it's really worth the additional design price tag to be unable to type blindly for months. We're talking about productivity here, not about collecting lovely gadgets. 🙂
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A sane layout.
This is actually closely related to the form factor.
You grew up with one (usually QWERTZ/QWERTY/AZERTY) and you can probably use it at a reasonable speed at adult age. We all heard the stories about the Dvorak, Colemak and even more obscure layouts which would magically make you type 942 words per minute. But they most certainly won't - and you will probably have major problems using other people's computers once you unlearned your home layout.
It is probably not worth it.
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A good keyfeel.
Yes, there are differences in how keys feel. Your typical flat laptop's built-in keyboard will feel very different from an old IBM PC's one, not just because of the height of the keys. You will make more or less typing errors depending on two factors: The size of the keys (I, for one, can't type on most laptop keyboards without an embarrassing amount of errors) and the switches under those keys, requiring very different weights and sometimes even "travels" to register a pressed key.
Again, a good keyfeel is one that fits your fingers. Don't go ask other people about which kind of keys they'd recommend to you. They will just scream their own preferences over each other and you will not have a qualified answer. Try as many as you can. You have friends, coworkers or relatives which have a different keyboard than you? You see a keyboard in a shop or in the scrapyard which you haven't tried before? Excellent. Try it!
The best keys are those which have a good grip and are hard enough to press (most cheap keyboards feel like pressing a sponge and that will hurt your fingers badly over the years), but not too hard. There is an obvious difference between 20 grams and 80 grams. Your fingers will feel even little differences.
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A decent build quality.
Don't worry. I don't say you should grab one of the late 70s/early 80s all-metal keyboards which will survive the next atomic war. If you haven't got one of those yet, you probably don't want to afford one anyway. (Or do you?) But remember that a keyboard is a device which is basically (lightly) hammered by you for hours every day. Having keys which feel awesome does not help you when the case is falling apart. Touch the case. Can you bend it? Does it make noises when you can? If it does, you'd better try another.
I will not recommend any keyboard which "fits you all". There is none. My current personal preference is pictured above only because I finally figured out how to add a picture here. 🙂
I hope I could inspire you anyway.
Top comments (141)
I hate my MacBook Pro keyboard so much. Never again.
Well, it does have a configurable bar for extra keys... and recent MacBook Pro keyboards (one of my coworkers has bought a new one) have a lovely crisp sound. But yes, laptop keyboards mostly are a PITA.
At least Apple still allows you to connect external keyboards. Who knows for how long? ;-)
The touch bar is cute and some applications do neat things with it (the volume slider for one example) but I wound up disliking it a lot because the mutability and lack of texture mean you have to look down at it in order to use it.
Exactly! There's no physical feedback and no pattern on the position of actions which means that you need to look at it every time, which means you're better off learning keyboard shortcuts.
It's a nice add-on but probably beta tested on users.
I don't even hate the touchbar that much. I like it for some things. But the keyboard itself is soooooooooo fragile to dust and dirt. It is always having some issue.
They must have fixed this on the latest version but I just feel like I'm losing confidence in this hardware ecosystem. I'm considering have a work desktop and a home desktop and maybe a toy MacBook or some other notebook computer as something I only use in special circumstances.
They should start selling OSX to other hardware makers :P
I don't have an iphone so I can't speak to the notch but there's the 3.5mm headphone jack debacle, losing the magnetic power clip and USB-A ports, the touch bar, the Speak & Spell caliber keyboard... It all adds up to Apple possibly being the worst thing to happen to Apple hardware. I got a new MBP when I joined my current company earlier this year and have been wishing I'd asked for a Linux laptop instead ever since.
@rhymes if you just want to run OSX -- you do know about the hackintosh people right?
I'm actually thinking, after 8 years of Android phones to switch to an iPhone. They seem to be a little more secure. Also Apple products hold their value better, if resold, better. I'm still not 100% convinced because of the price of the phone but I'm seriously thinking about switching now that my Nexus 5X seems to have reached its "programmed obsolescense" silvery years
Anyhow, digressions aside, a lot of the high end phones have gone Apple's route: some have added a notch and most of them have removed the headphone jack. The next Google phone (due in October) is headphone jack-less and looks like this for heaven's sake:
To tell you how much Apple has an impact there's an actual category called: Best Android Phone With a Headphone Jack in 2018 going around tech websites.
It's the dumbest thing ever :-(
The magsafe removal doesn't make sense, I'm so sad about it. I've tripped in those cables so many times and I think my Macbook Pro lasted 6 years also thanks to the magsafe.
I think it wasn't true all the time. I think it has to do with the absence of a ceiling for how big Apple can become (briefly the first trillion dollar company in human history which speaks more about us than it speaks about Apple). They became massive, quality was bound to get lost in the process. A proof of the value of the hardware in the past (aided by the power of the brand obviously) is my own experience with Macbooks: I had my first one for 3-4 years and sold it for half of its value. The current one I had it for 6 years and its not that much of a slog and I never had any significant problems. The battery isn't that great anymore and I replaced the hard drive with a SSD but still, the laptop is solid.
Apple shifted its main hardware business to sell iPhones and probably Macbooks were... neglected.
The current lineup is not great, hence my worry.
Not really, but having had a Mac for 12 years made me lazy. I definitely do not want to go back to the days (sometimes fun I admit) of figuring out if this or that is compatible that other thing or to have to build my own computer. I use the laptop also for "non dev stuff" (read Adobe programs) and I need something that just works :D I will have a look nonetheless, thank you!
I would consider switching to Windows if... no I'm joking. It's not for me.
I hate smartphones so when my venerable flip phone (approximate battery life most of a month) finally bit the dust a couple years ago I got the cheapest, crappiest Android phone I could find with the reasoning that I wasn't going to want to actually use it anyway. It suffices. Maps are good to have, I guess. But the upshot is I'm not really worried about what goes on at the high end of the market even when it makes its way to the lower.
As for the rest -- who knows, with Valve getting into WINE development and releasing Proton 2019 may be the year of Linux on the desktop after all! 😂
Ah ah "the year of linux on the desktop", where have I heard that already :D ?
In the meantime Linux won on the servers and on the phones
I'm sure you know this, but OSX is heavily tied to apple hardware. When you make a "hackintosh" you basically wind up having something that isn't as useful as a linux machine... At least that's the word on the street, from people that have done it. If you run OSX on anything other than apple hardware, you lose most of the benefits. Heck, even windows is releasing (or has released?) a linux OS for IoT stuff...
"They should start selling OSX to other hardware makers :P"
Because that worked out sooooo well in the 90s when Apple nearly went out of business ... (and maybe that was your point, I didn't detect the necessary level of sarcasm if that was the case ;) )
Apple sold OSX to other hardware makers in the 90s?
"The Scully years". As Microsoft took off, Apple tried a lot of stuff to keep up and most of it failed big time.
Apple went in the other direction with Jobs + iMac, iPod, etc. and eventually shot to 1 trillion.
As much as it sucks for us sometimes, it's worked like magic for them.
Yeah, this hackintosh thing seems to be cool but I feel like it's way better to buy any equivalent laptop to a Macbook Pro whatever model and put Linux on it :-)
I read the tutorial and a troubleshooting guide and it seems you can't use USB 3 properly with High Sierra nor you can use APFS (well, this might be fine by me :D) nor you can use SSD TRIM settings. Also you have to get lucky not to get a specific combination of GPUs and audio controllers otherwise you need patches that might or might not work.
Definitely too much hassle :-D
No it wasn't sarcasm at that level. I wasn't secretly rooting for Apple demise. I think it was a completely different era though. A completely different Apple with a market capitalization that was way lower than it is now.
There's probably zero interest for them to do it but it might work in theory. I'm sure that on paper they could go to a few hardware makers, sign deals for a very few models with top of the line specs and work in tandem to create such laptops but there's no apparent reason, it's a lot of work with a very unsure outcome, they have more cash than a few nations on earth so they don't need to do it and also their focus has shifted to mobile devices, which is one of the reasons why we're complaining about the diminished quality of their computers :D
Apple licensed Mac OS to "clone" manufacturers in the 90s, yes. They haven't done this with OS X, but it's not called that anymore, either. It's just "macOS" now (for a couple years, I think). Point being, that Apple lost revenue, it did not reinvigorate them, and people were associating Apple's brand with cheap hardware.
Leaving all the arguments about the virtues of free software to one side, Apple is a "closed shop", and that's why they've become the first trillion dollar company. They don't stand to gain anything by licensing macOS to third parties, as much as we might wish it so.
I would have no issues with using Linux for work, other than the fact that I work for a very large "Microsoft shop" even though I almost never touch Windows in any capacity, and work almost entirely with Linux.
But the rest of the company does not, so I am forced to use a platform that runs Microsoft Office (mainly because Skype for Business is required), and at least macOS is UNIX.
Learned another thing today. Thank you!
One could argue about that. Sure, macOS is certified to be allowed to wear the UNIX trademark like it was a badge, but for (us) purists, the only Unices left are AIX, HP-UX and Solaris - with Solaris, sadly, having the brightest future.
I thought the *BSD's counted as true Unix as well?
Not anymore. They were forced to remove the last bit of original Unix code around 1992. Their degree of POSIX compatibility is varying.
I really like the touchbar on my Macbook, especially with Intellij adding support for putting the run/debug buttons (or anything else you want) in it. But the actual keys are terrible, and I'll never forgive Apple for taking away my physical escape key.
Try Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000, one of the best keyboards ever made in my opinion. I have been using flavors of the MS Natural for the past 20+ years both professionally and personally with very good results.
The new Macbook Pros seem to have a lot of oddities :D
The vast majority of the time I use my MacBook Pro 2017 with two external displays and a mechanical keyboard. Personally, I find the Touch Bar more of an annoyance than an awesome feature, especially when typing while laying down (accidentally hit it a lot). There's no such thing as a modern, lightweight, portable laptop with a good keyboard, so for me it's not really an issue.
I had a Razer Blade that I thought was a modern, lightweight, portable laptop with a good keyboard, until I figured out that they only last like 6 months without contracting a variety of annoying issues.
So I resorted back to a MacBook Pro 2017 (sans-touchbar) that I use with a similar setup to yours so the keyboard isn't too much of an issue.
I would beg to disagree. I love the 2017 MacBook Pro keyboard, such less travel, and the keys are just so comfortably placed for my fingers. My palms rest very well next to huge beautiful trackpad, gestures for which in MacOS are brilliant, I hope Ubuntu or any other Distro for that matter implements the laptop trackpad like they have.
The crispy clicks the keyboard makes, makes me want to keep typing more and more (Childish, I Know :P).
I know there are some dirt issues, but in the year that I've been using one as my daily driver, I haven't faced any yet.
You are not alone!
A 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard wouldn't last for a month where I live. 🙂
Same here. I'm surprised they released it — no one I've talked to, even casual users, has liked the feel.
Same here. I was duped into buying this piece of junk (it cost me over $5,000) and that is the last time.
I use a Microsoft Sculpt out of necessity. I had used a plain square mechanical for years until I started getting RSI a few years back. I tried to power through the pain at my current job until it just became too much. The first consideration when choosing a keyboard should be your long-term health.
Is Microsoft the only maker of this type of keyboards are there any other makers?
Plenty of companies make ergonomic keyboards. I found this one by searching Amazon for "ergonomic keyboard". It actually has poor reviews so I imagine that there are much better (and probably more affordable) alternatives out there.
I get pain sometimes too but I had a hard time with the ergonomic keyboard. I probably am doing something wrong. But as it was said above, long term health wins.
If you can't place a ruler from your forearm to your knuckles; you will eventually be in for pain caused by wrist problems.
I used to use just a keyboard with the back feet up and after 15 years ended up with pain bad enough that I had trouble driving my car. After I flattened the keyboard and started using a wrist rest to keep my wrists flat, the pains have gone away. If you can use a "bent" keyboard, you will eliminate the side to side bending as well which causes so many people problems.
Remember: The original typing position taught in schools (when it needed to be taught using mechantical typewriters) was to keep your wrists flat. This was originally because you needed the muscle power to press the keys, but they were inadvertantly eliminating one of the potential RSI points. When you get "lazy" and rest your wrists on the table, the angle starts damaging the nerves going through the wrist bones.
Does it help? To me, it looks like it would make my productivity hide under the table. :-)) I honestly haven't tried an ergonomic keyboard yet.
It took me a few weeks to fully adjust to it and my productivity has actually increased a bit since my wrists don't become sore after a few hours.
I have the same keyboard, it takes sometime to get used to but I get less strained
I don't quite agree with your argument on the form factor and the key layout.
About four to five months ago, I made the switch from AZERTY to BEPO, and it's not that long to get used to it.
I spend some time doing exercises (maybe half an hour per day), to learn the home row and the main keys, without looking at the keyboard (touch typing). Then I printed the layout that I put next to my screen, and just used that as a reference when I switched using only bepo. To be frank, the first two weeks I typed really slowly, then it for better, and now I can type reliably without looking at my keyboard.
Then I got a ortholinear split keyboard (so all the keys in a grid, and the keyboard in two parts). The switch was really easy, as you already know which finger goes for which key, and it's even more straightforward since everything's on a grid.
Also, those kind of keyboards come with the great advantage that you can do what you want with the firmware on it (it's called qmk firmware), so it's up to you to decide how you put your modifiers. For example, I noticed I only used my left thumb to press space, so I decided to assign the two keys under my right thumb to return and backspace, so I make minimal movement to access those keys I use often. Also, you can decide to map your function keys to every functionality you want, so I put the directional keys vim-like, on the right home row.
The existence of a "home row" is a historical misunderstanding. There never was a "home row" - it was a later explanation for placing your fingers where the arrow keys were before there were arrow keys, i.e. in the 1970s. Your nav block should probably be named the "home row" today ... ;-)
I am not a good idol for which keyboard to buy and which layout to use with it. I never learned to use ten fingers to type. But I still won a typing contest at school, so that's OK for me. To each their own!
I never heard of BEPO though.
Bepo is a layout made on the same methodology as Dvorak, but for French, with a good placement of characters often used by programmers (semicolumn, brackets, curly brackets etc.). It has quite a good community around it, so it's not that hard to find help on how to make your software behave well with bepo (for example, vim configuration).
For the home row, there might be no historical meaning behind it, but it means all my keys are at most 2 keys away from my fingers, so I'll take it as it is.
But of course, to each their own, if you can type fine without all of that, and don't have any risk of problems with your wrists, then it's all good :)
That's still where my arrow keys are.
Why aren't yours?
Because I have actual arrow keys and I don't use vi/Vim.
Great post, I use a 2014 Macbook Pro keyboard at work and I actually really like it. I have a Corsair mechanical keyboard at home and I honestly can't get on with it, I make a lot more mistakes with that keyboard than I do with my Macbook.
I'm tempted to purchase a new keyboard soon but I don't know what I would get, I love the customisability of some of the mechanical keyboard like Pokers etc. but if the feel is anything like my Corsair then it's not going to work well for me.
Also the newer Macbook keyboards feel really odd to me and I don't think I would be able to use that comfortably.
Sounds like you maybe like lower travel, low profile mechanical keyboards (like me) hexgears X1 Kickstarter, Unfortunately it ended today, but “cooler master” and others are releasing very similar models at the end of the year
That looks awesome, I'll definitely investigate low profile mechanical keyboards! Thanks.
Interesting. For me it is the other way around. I love my Corsair Strafe on my dekstop but I cannot get used to the flat keys with lots of spacing around on the Macbook.
On the other hand I am really fast on the Microsoft Surface Pro keyboard where there is almost no space between the keys.
Undoubtedly you've discovered that the keyboard you like is based on the size of your hands. The width of the palm, and length of fingers makes some keyboards better feeling than others. As mentioned in the article, your personal preference is everything.
One thing to note: Once you find "the perfect" keyboard, try and figure out WHY it's perfect. Is it key spacing, is it key sizes, is it the vertical travel, and is it the noises (lack of noise) it makes that makes it perfect. If you can pin down those things, then it's much easier to purchase a notebook/keyboard over the internet without trying it.
Hmm, most (good) mechanical keyboards allow easy layout changes by moving keys around. I never had a Pok3r though.
The Unicomps have two-piece keys, you can remove/exchange all keycaps without removing the keys themselves, maybe that's an option for you? ;-) (Yes, I really like mine.)
The poker allows for some customization, but you cannot get full control unless you change the firmware, which has risks.
For example, right alt and space makes the fn, pn, right control and right shift behave like arrow keys, and this behavior cannot be changed. However, this combination is for the character _ in bepo, which you type pretty often while coding, so that causes frequent problems.
It's not so much the layout that I like the customisability of as the case, keycaps, colours, cables etc.
A lot of the stuff you see on reddit.com/r/mechanicalkeyboards looks great and really appeals to me but after my experience not really finding my Corsair mechanical keyboard usable I'm hesitant to invest the money in one.
Indeed. Cable choices are quite rare, sadly. :-( It must be too expensive to make them removable...
I'm rather clumsy when handling anything that's hardware, so I'm out from most of the stuff on reddit. :))
My favorite keyboards:
The Apple keyboard is especially noteworthy, since it is the only keyboard that Apple has ever made that doesn't suck. Not only doesn't suck, but is actually impressively good. Unfortunately, ADB has gone by the wayside.
The Apple M0115 and the Acer 6011 both used Alps mechanisms.
Buckling spring gives "clickety-click". Alps mechanism is more of a "tickety-tick".
Razer uses their own keyswitch mechanism, which is intended to mimic Cherry MX Blue switches. I like Cherry MX Blue switches, too. I have a few keyboards with them, but I'm not currently using them day-to-day.
Of the ones above, the IBM, Unicomp, and Razer I'm using day-to-day. On my MacBook Pro, I use a Razer keyboard. Yes, I use a keyboard on a laptop. I detest the MacBook Pro keyboard; but then again I detest almost all Apple keyboards, with the one exception noted above (which is a fabulous keyboard, albeit the size of a battleship).
Full disclosure: I'm an unabashed Apple fanboy, but I am not a fan of their keyboards, or their mice. They may be pretty, but they're not functional. Form should follow function.
The Model M does. The Model F gives "clickety-PING!". 😊 (Too annoying for me, sadly.)
I see we have similar preferences though. How old is your Unicomp? I bought a PC122 two weeks ago, replacing the cheap Cherry I mentioned in another comment, and the case, while being made from incredibly sturdy material (good old IBM stuff...), has its problems. (I posted a review here.)
I have six Model M keyboards, and seven various Unicomp keyboards (all buckling spring, all USB), and four Razer keyboards. I have a lot of computers that I'm actively using.
The Unicomp keyboards I have are between 3 months old to 20 years old. I've had two of them wear out on me (not included in the seven). I've had two Model M wear out on me (not included in the six). And by "wear out" I mean they're heavily worn out and no longer function and are not salvagable.
I've never used a Model F. Maybe that's a good thing. :-D
I do not have any of the 122-key keyboards originally designed for mainframe terminals, but I have used them in the past on mainframes.
I do miss the WHACKETY-WHACK of the Teletype Model 33. ;-) I don't think solenoid based keyboards will make a comeback, though.
Neither have I, but I have read and YouTube'd a lot before spending so much money. Unicomp seems to be the only chance to have a buckling spring keyboard without the "20 years of heavy usage" tag, and they don't make Model Fs - and the "new" Model Fs are far from actual Model Fs, except the switches, probably. Buckling springs seemed to be exactly what I was hunting for. I will see if I'll ever switch back again. (I never had Alps - but I'm much too late for that anyway.)
I deliberately chose the PC122 model though. I quite love the look and it is awesome to have 16 additional "macro keys" (F13-24 plus four on the left side) on Windows. I'm still undecided what to do with them all. You only have so many media keys to use. ;-)
Good!
You might want to read the thread on the new Model Fs – those are so very close to the original that they are probably even more "Model F" then the old ones ever were ;)
Seriously, though: The guy who makes them is commited to make them as true to their ancestors as humanly possible; it's amazing.
I have read about them.
But I respect the creator for his commitment anyway. :-)
Not sure what you mean with the Model M layout, but the size is an understandable point – I like my small keyboards, but I can fully understand the desire for an F122.
The price is… well, it's a lot – but you get something for it that might last decades ;)
The Model M layout is what you still use today, with the size and placement of Ctrl, Alt, Return et cetera. I should better name it the "AT layout", probably.
See this comparison.
If anyone wants more information about Mechanical Keyboards, I highly recommend checking out the /r/MechanicalKeyboards subreddit, and following people like Cassidy Williams aka Cassidoo or Suz Hinton who are involved and/or share information on MKs and the community.
Mechanical keyboards are very personal, are a great hobby, and often can be a worthwhile investment– especially for us professionals and hobbyists who write code all day :P
My collection of keyboards:
Leopold FC750R, MX Clear switches, w/ EnjoyPBT 9009 keycaps
Vortex POK3R, Cherry MX Clear switches
Ducky One 2 Midnight, Cherry MX Blue switches
Hello Geoff, I'm looking to buy same keyboard and keycaps (Leopold fc750r / enjoypbt 9009) and came across your post. (My first mechanical keyboard) Do the keycaps fit this keyboard well? I've read some posts on other message boards that the modifier (and other) keys don't type as nice as with the stock keycaps.
Hey Joost!
I have not had a single problem with keycaps fitting on my Leopold, or really any other problem; I love that board to death and recommend it to anybody.
It's a fantastic board to start out with, and frankly I have little desire to adventure out to other layouts or styles because it is such a quality piece. It's not super customizable, but it's on par with most other TKL boards.
EnjoyPBT9009 specifically, I really enjoy the set. (I'm typing on my POK3R with that set on it now!) The quality is good for the price, and specifically when I had it on my Leopold, the keys had a certain pleasant "bounce" to them.
Thx Geoff, that sounds really good, I'm going to hunt down the two-tone white Leopold, it seems to be out of stock at the moment (in Europe at least - I live in The Netherlands). I can wait if it is for something as nice as this keyboard! I have just now received the blue/grey version, but returning it because I find it much too dark. But it is a thing of beauty, and so solid.
Edit: Geoff, can I ask you one more question... I really like those windowed caps lock keys. Do you know: does the one from EnjoyPBT work with the leopold led?
Unfortunately, I believe those windowed caps do not fit due to the type of position the Leopold's Caps Lock uses. (otherwise, I'd have mine on too!)
That surprises me. So the windowed keycap has different shape than the non-windowed keycap?
Good to know. On pictures it looks the same, just with a led window.
Your Ducky One 2 is gorgeous!
Sincerely,
A fellow /r/mk user
Hello geoff, which keyboard is better ? the Ducky one 2 or the FC750r they both cost 125$ and i really like RGB but if the leopold is that much better then ill go with it. Thanks
Hey inmeyal! I prefer the Leopold for the price. The construction is definitely sturdier and it has more of a classic look, in my opinion.
Hope this helps :)
Couldn't agree more. That's why I'm going to give an unsolicited plug to my daily driver: Ergodox EZ. Mine is modded with custom switches cannibalized from a set of mx blues (the stems) along with special-ordered 67 gram switches.
One of these days I'm going to build (or preferably buy - what can I say I'm comfortable with how bougie I've become 😉) a dactyl manuform
If you think that your editor, your compiler, your language, your browser, or even your OS is the tool you use the most while coding, you're wrong - it's your keyboard. Invest in it!
Yeah, I think this is me in the not-too-distant future.
Apple, for a while, had the best OS and the best hardware, and together it was pretty awesome. But their attempts to "innovate" in this regard have been total flops in the past couple years.
It took me a while to become totally disenchanted but I think I'm there.
I didn't know that Apple used to ship their computers with Linux :P
Alright, I'll show myself out.
Some people bring up typing speed when they talk about different layouts, but the primary benefit of anything non-qwerty is the reduced hand strain and consequently reduced risks of RSI.
Look up the Workman layout for example, their homepage has a ton of great information and statistics about the different layouts.
You also won't forget QWERTY. And if you're rusty, 99% of all keyboards have the QWERTY layout printed on them so you have your cheatsheet right there.
I invested in a mechanical Das Keyboard with blank keys. I challenged myself to blind type with 10 fingers (I also went from azerty to qwerty). That was hard at first, for months, but it got better and better until I finally outspeed my old (but fast) "4 fingers" way of typing. More importantly, I can now focus on the screen while typing, and I feel more relaxed.
Regarding the brand, it's quality but I wasn't that impressed for the price I paid (around 230 $) and I would surely buy a cheaper one if I had to.
The DKB4U was my first mech keyboard. It's great but heavy (not made to carry around), and I feel the keys are wiggly on topic, when I compare it with my other keyboards (pok3r and home made Viterbi). So now it gathers dust in a cupboard.
Wow so I think we have the same...
Mine is also taking dust on a bookshelf, except I put it into its original cardboard package (so it won't take too much dust, which is pretty visible on a black color keyboard by the way)).
The main reason for me is I'm off in a foreign country for one year. So I left my dear desktop computer and this keyboad. I'm now using a small laptop instead, more convenient when traveling.
I have one of the new (with touchbar) Macbook pro, and the keyboard is such a pain, it's really hard to distinguish keys by touch (plus no physical escape and function keys). I think I'd carry my 60% keyboard if I had to travel for more than a month abroad, since it's quite light
This thing to me it's really bonkers. You spend a lot of money on a computer and the thing you have to use all the time to input commands to it is the thing they messed up the most.
-_-
I have kinda a unique keyboard
the base board is a corsair K65, it doesn't have a numpad on the side (i use up top more). But what you've probably noticed is that all the key caps are blank and white, I really like the look and feel of them but the main thing is that I'm the only person in my house who can touch type, so no one else in my family is able to login to my computer. Unless they want to use the onscreen keyboard with the mouse for a few hours.
I am the proud owner of a CODE Keyboard with MX Blue switches, and I absolutely adore it! It's everything I ever wanted in a keyboard: great tactile response, excellent key texture, great layout, backlit, with superbly intuitive media keys.
Personally, I type at 100 WPM, at 98% accuracy. I spend a large majority of my life typing, as a programmer, author, teacher, manager, IT, and (recently) typesetter. This is the absolute most comfortable keyboard I've ever used.
Now that I see they offer a UK layout AND a TKL board this has become a lot more interesting!
Got a cheap Chinese blue switch mechanical keyboard for daily use.
Worth every penny. Typing feels great, Super durable. 💖
I had a cheap Swedish blue switch mechanical keyboard for daily use. It was the reason why I added the "decent quality" ... great keys don't help you if your case sucks.
I am pretty happy with mine. The case is hard af, no bending at all.
What is the name of the manufacturer? I might be interested.
Rapoo, Mine is v510 model. The cheapest one.
Hmm, hard to find in Europe (for a reasonable price). Amazon.de has many Rapoos, but not this one. According to the US price tag ($30-$80?) it might be reasonable for me to keep an eye on the usual lists...
Thank you. :-)
Random question: is Amazon the defacto online store for just about everything in Europe, like it is here in the States? We still have retail-and-online stores like Fry's, Best Buy, Walmart, etc. but Amazon definitely dominates the market here.
We had Walmart for a while, but they went away. For food "and stuff", Germany has deli stores similar to France (although ours are smaller). There are some tech chains and a few book chains, but nothing even remotely as big as Amazon. We don't have an offline Amazon though.
Here in Bangladesh, it costs about 3600BDT. Which translates to around 42 USD.
I've been using the Kinesis Freestyle 2 for Mac for many years and am a big fan. It is a "weird" keyboard though as it is split into two halves that are connected by a wire. Keeps my wrists nice and straight so I find it comfortable, the key feel is nice and it has several Mac-specific keys built in.
Big big fan of this keyboard! I've only been using it for a little while now, and I love the split key feeling. I also have the raisers and the palm rests (link), and I'm used to that format since I used the Microsoft Sculpt keyboard before.
I don't use the other buttons too often -- probably because I'm not used to it -- but I like that they're an option. Only thing I don't like about the keyboard, I often find myself missing the
quotekey and hittingEnter/Returninstead, but I think that'll come with time.I use my happy hacking pro keyboard 2 for everything. Granted I don't game but for programmers that use vim its great. It only takes about a week to get used to the arrow keys, but trying to go back to another keyboard that doesn't have a control key where capslock is will never ever happen for me.
Wouldn't remapping be cheaper?
I do that on my other keyboards but I spend 8-10 hours a day programming every day 200$ is not that much considering i use it more than I do my car. My other main keyboard is the unicomp with same layout except arrow keys but I don't see it on there website any more. I have about 12 keyboards now to and its still my favorite.
I see. :)
Yep, Unicomp tends to rearrange their catalog. A lot of people are still waiting for the promised TKL though.