Whats your favourite keyboard?
- Thread starter kingteeb
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Associate
- Joined
- 24 Jun 2020
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- 32
After trying many keyboards over the years I now use the following:-
Gaming: SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL
Work: RealForce R2 PFU TKL
Love the switches on the Apex, beats anything from Cherry hands down, is great to type on also.
My favourite however is the RealForce, just beautiful to type on nothing comes close.
Gaming: SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL
Work: RealForce R2 PFU TKL
Love the switches on the Apex, beats anything from Cherry hands down, is great to type on also.
My favourite however is the RealForce, just beautiful to type on nothing comes close.
Man of Honour
I use an "ancient and pretty crappy" Microsoft SideWinder X4
never felt any reason to upgrade. Mechanical keyboards are OK, just I don't really feel they offer much benefit.
There isnt a sinigle keyboard that does it all so I have to have 2 as above.
For work: Microsft Modern with Touch ID - Think mac quality and type feel, its the best typing keyboard I know.
For play: Ducky Shine 7 Year of the Dog edition. (Actually love the aesthetics of this board), on the lookout for a year of the goat or another white special edition for the wife but they rarely come up and are super expensive when they do.
For work: Microsft Modern with Touch ID - Think mac quality and type feel, its the best typing keyboard I know.
For play: Ducky Shine 7 Year of the Dog edition. (Actually love the aesthetics of this board), on the lookout for a year of the goat or another white special edition for the wife but they rarely come up and are super expensive when they do.
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If your considering getting new keyboard, what are your requirements/preferences?
Meaning possible budget?
Mechanical keyboards get fast expensive.
And do you care about noise?
Most mechanical switches fail to give damn about noise and some retro switches even add extra sound effect to mimic ruckus of mechanical typewriter.
If all you've used is membrane (and Sidewidner with its lowish profile is probably toward quieter end) you would probably be shocked by noise of average mechanical keyboard.
Heck, already behaviour is vastly different in most mechanical switches:
- Membrane/rubber dome switch has clear initial resistance to overcome before key starts going down.
And press is registered only during bottoming. - Mechanical switches again have actuation point halfway down the travel.
And they have the lowest force/resistance at top position with highest force before bottoming.
And needing to avoid that consciously is way bigger drawback than claimed advantages of mechanical switch.
Best keyboard for gaming etc is simply the one you feel familiar with.
Again linear switch with more clearer force before actuation point has quite high bottoming force...
Which can easily make it tedious to keep bottomed in gaming.
So unless getting chance for extensive testing would recommend not even considering linear switches.
Non-linear switches have some increased resistance in early part of travel before actuation point, followed by drop in force until it again increases before bottoming.
That makes them more familiar in feel and easier to get used to.
Then there's other physical aspect:
Overall size etc.
Sidewinder is nice clean looking lowish profile keyboard without any chunky look/feel under your fingers.
Huge majority of mechanical keyboards are lot thicker and would feel different also because of that.
Logitech's new low profile GL switch based G815 is rarity in mechanical keyboards with almost comically low profile:
https://theawesomer.com/logitech-g915-g815-mechanical-keyboards/536576/
That switch (except for "clicky" version) is also among the quietest mechanical switches.
And non-linear tactile version shouldn't require much learning.
I use an "ancient and pretty crappy" Microsoft SideWinder X4
I loved my old Sidewinder X4, shame I managed to spill a bowl of cereal on it twice. I was able to clean it out properly the first time with no lasting damage but after the second I couldn't save it. It lasted 3 years without any issues before I killed it (those cereal dumps were within weeks of each other) and I haven't had another keyboard last a year without issue since (with none of those issues caused by me).
Soldato
I only buy Duckyshine KBs these days
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 May 2010
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- 12,755
Don't understand how you could have a keyboard for both work and gaming, swapping them about would get on my nerves
I've just set my laptop up so it's docked with my Ducky today and shared with my desktop, but I'm not looking forward to trying to use it for work because it's a One 2 Mini so I'm on the lookout for something that can replace that'll do both work and gaming but it seemingly doesn't exist
I've just set my laptop up so it's docked with my Ducky today and shared with my desktop, but I'm not looking forward to trying to use it for work because it's a One 2 Mini so I'm on the lookout for something that can replace that'll do both work and gaming but it seemingly doesn't exist
Man of Honour
I'm surprised I haven't had similar incidents, I have a cereal at the PC problem and I'm not afraid to admit it
The thing is a tank, it's been smashed about in bags across the world for 9 years and still works flawlessly. At £26.99 I think it might actually be the best bang for buck part of my system
Now I feel guilty for not giving enough love. I have the x6, the media controls have NEVER worked properly and the whole thing is just feeling very tired. I think i've had it for nearly ten years... I mean, i am pretty impressed that it is still working!
Bad durability of membrane/rubber dome is really overhyped issue.
My last such keyboard was also around decade old and only problem was key cap markings (WASD etc) starting to be really worn out.
Oh yeah,WASD markings died a looong time ago. But honestly the keys are more responsive than my mushy mac keys on my <1 old ****** butterfly keyboard
IIRC Apple has downgraded keyboards quite a few times and isn't reliable brand for good keyboards.
And membrane/rubber dome doesn't mean automatically bad keyboard.
While I've met some horrible jelly feeling (combined with very low profile bad key cap design) keyboards I never had problems with Keytronics and Logitechs I had.
And while Keytronics were usual high profile having keyboards last Logitech was pretty low profile keyboard, like those MS Sidewinders.
Logitech's G815 is really the first mechanical keyboard getting to similar level of profile.
Soldato
Really like my Corsair Strafe RGB Blue that OCUK had on offer for £90 three years ago.
Used every day and it still feels like new.
Associate
I've been using a DuckyOne 2 (60%) for the past three months and it's brilliant once you get used to not having the arrow keys or number pad.
I do think these look great, but it feels a little out of my price range
49 key Magicforce with Gateron Brown switches
Footprint smaller than most laptop keyboards
I use it as daily driver for software development. Not good for gaming, too many games need direct access to num row and F keys.
The layout deserves a prize. Very usable with just a single Fn layer.
AND it keeps arrow keys and pgup pgdn, which most compact layouts ditch
Footprint smaller than most laptop keyboards
I use it as daily driver for software development. Not good for gaming, too many games need direct access to num row and F keys.
The layout deserves a prize. Very usable with just a single Fn layer.
AND it keeps arrow keys and pgup pgdn, which most compact layouts ditch
49 key Magicforce with Gateron Brown switches
Footprint smaller than most laptop keyboards
I use it as daily driver for software development. Not good for gaming, too many games need direct access to num row and F keys.
The layout deserves a prize. Very usable with just a single Fn layer.
AND it keeps arrow keys and pgup pgdn, which most compact layouts ditch
That thing is tiny! Looks nice, but not sure I could cope without a dedicated num row