Any keyboard aficionados *not* using mechanicals?

[Deleted member 68110]

Are there any good non-mechanical options?

Since returning to decent spec desktop PC use I bought myself a Corsair Strafe mechanical keyboard (with Cherry Red silent keys).

It's been flawless in use for the 3 years I've had it but I'm clumsy typing with it, and don't really game like I had thought I might when I purchased.

My wife uses the machine but misses her old Apple keyboard, with keys you barely touch to register an input.

Is there a decent half-way house option?

 

[Deleted member 68110]

Thanks for all the replies. Some great leads there.

I'm not sure really, unless you get some weird unusual spec thing, then I've found keyboards now really fall into full depth or chiclet, with little that lies in the middle ground.

I've lost my mechanical keyboard to the boy who wanted all the RGB on it for his machine. I liked the 'feel' of the keys but I cant say that I was all that great at typing on it, and that I was better typing on the old apple keyboard chiclet design from the iMac I had before.

Due to covid, I had to setup my desk as a pseudo hotswap desk with my desktop and my wife's docking station for her work laptop, sharing the same display and keyboard/mouse. To facilitate the sharing, I bought a Dell Premiere Wireless Combo (KM717). It has a 2.4ghz dongle for normal wireless, but also has 2x bluetooth connections. so you can have it registered to 3x machines at any given time. You select which is active by sliding a switch on the keyboard itself or button on the mouse. Works brilliantly. Mouse is a bit rubbishy if you're used to gaming mice. Overall, the wife loves it, and I like it too.

Its a chiclet design and very very like an Apple keyboard. I would definitely say I type faster and more accurately on it than the mechanical one of old. It also looks and feels quite premium too.

Maybe something to look at / consider.

Thanks. This is probably top of the list currently - looks decent and a good price.

Razer has a membrane one if you have a look at some of those. Has a more tactile feel of mechanical and lower profile.

I need to do some more reading up on this one.

I would like a mechanical keyboard but they're just too loud, in my research even the quietest switches are still a bit noisy and you have to pay a lot for the quietest ones.

I work from home typing late at night and also gaming, ended up getting a Kensington Advance fit, full size, but low profile keys keyboard with media buttons and uses very quiet, laptop style scissor switches. Been quiet for work and still good for gaming, a budget option as well.

Like you say, the price is right for this. Thanks. I'd not considered Kensington as a possible brand.

YES! So I'm a big fan of mechanical keyboards but I decided to try a non-mechanical keyboard. I got the Steelseries Apex 5 and it is absolutely amazing! It comes with per key rgb lighting, an oled screen and is a full size keyboard for just £89.99! (RRP of £119.99 but they go on offer regularly) It is the best keyboard I've ever used. It isn't as loud as a true mechanical keyboard but the keys are the best feeling keys I've ever typed with. Seriously! Just look at all the reviews on youtube, some youtubers call it a "piece of artwork". If you are looking for a new keyboard then this would definitely be the one I recommend the most!

That looks really nice but need to read up on the keys - they look similar to my cherry red silents, and I'm after something with less travel/lower profile.

I'm okay with either browns or apple chiclet keys, spongy membrane can go to hell.

Can you elaborate? Are you saying all membrane keys are spongy and unpleasant? Are there any chiclets other than Apple to consider?

 

[Deleted member 68110]

Just to update the thread with what I went with...

After a Prime Day of ordering, I ended up looking at:-

• Arteck 2.4G Wireless Keyboard Stainless Steel Ultra Slim Full Size Keyboard
• Kensington Wireless Keyboard - AdvanceFit Slim Full Size USB Keyboard
• Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Desktop - Black

I would have looked at the Logitech MX Keys too but it was out of stock.

All keyboards I received were decent and would have done the job well.

The Artech was very minimal and the steel bottom gave it a premium feel. The sides of the keyboard felt slightly sharp - but this was through design rather than any problem in finishing and quality.

The Kensington was a great recommendation. Both the Artech and the Kensington were "as new" from a well-known seller that offers a marketplace for that grade of goods - and both were £20. For that price the Kensington was a fantastic bang-for-buck option.

I ended up going with the Microsoft Designer keyboard though. It is a lovely minimal piece of design (without any visible branding, which I like) and its aesthetics won it the prize. At £65 it is a slightly ridiculous choice, and it features no backlight which I rate highly (and which the Logitech MX offers) and the mouse it comes with looks good but I find it unpleasant in use. It feels cheap compared to the Corsair Harpoon I ended up going with in a similar Prime Day exercise to test mice that I undertook.

The Logitech MX Keys keyboard looks like it would meet my wishlist of features more closely but (IMO) it doesn't have the same style as the Designer, and it's out of stock everywhere.

On a side note - this exercise sent me down a bit of a spiral and I decided to order a Keychron K3 -Ultra-slim Compact Wireless Mechanical Keyboard as well - this looks fairly interesting: a mechanical keyboard designed to be as low-profile as possible...

 

[Deleted member 68110]

Ugh. just to add another update (for everyone dying for more news).

Sent the Microsoft Designer back - it connects via Bluetooth which was a pain at login - and that put me off. Also, I realised I am too partial to backlighting to give up on that, so I ended up going with @rG-tom 's recommendation - the Logitech MX Keys.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and IMO it's not quite as nice as the MS Designer on that score, but it matches my MX Master mouse (for extra tart points) and I like the way you can set up the keyboard and mouse to switch between 3 devices at the press of a button. The backlighting has a fair bit of bleed, which doesn't really bother me, but it works well, and is light-sensitive which is a nice touch.