Ask HN: How is your experience with a mechanical keyboard?

I looked at the K6 for a long time, and ultimately decided on a K8 instead. The unusual placement of the arrow keys on the K6 would just mess with my finger memory, and probably cause more problems than it solved :)

Currently awaiting the K10 to be available in a Nordic layout, and then it will probably replace my Ducky One 2. The K8 is MUCH quieter than the Ducky One 2, despite both being blue switches, though the Ducky has MX keys, and the Ducky has Gateron.

And yes, i will probably go for Red switches instead of Blue this time. Blue has it's charms, but i find the key travel more of a help than the tactile feedback.

i have this keyboard and on the back of it is written a 1995 date so this is 26 years old and works perfectly. https://qphs.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-e3231584b18e9b509d1a1...

well a "TVS" branded one but repaired it a couple years ago and has been running fine. people do complain its "loud"

I caught a stack of Model M's from a school in 1993; spent some time refurbishing them all, and had them to use up until a couple years ago when the last one died. I could have refurbished again, but I chose to buy a new Unicomp USB model M instead, and that has been serving quite well since. I'm rough on keyboards and mice: skin condition and constant minor bleeding.

I've used DEC vt220 and 320 terminals, their keyboards were better than average but not all that; IMO. the keys were a bit smaller and the whole thing more compact, I'd say. They're nothing like the build quality or repairable.

People used to speak well of Northstar keyboards back when, i didn't care for them. I had a Victor AT keyboard form that era that I wore out utterly.

The model M clicky noise isn't all that bad. I have only had complaints on a couple occasions, woke the wife up once with a spate of typing she swore sounded like someone shaking a spray paint can.

I don't know about boosting productivity but the mechanical keyboards I've used have been much more comfortable than the mushy rubber dome keyboards or those extremely thin apple keyboards that feel like you're just mashing your fingers into a metal plate. I've never compared typing speed across keyboards but I definitely do feel more confident that my keypresses are going in the order I intend when I can feel the click of the switch actuating. Also I've found I'm able to type much longer without shoulder/wrist/arm pain when I use a split keyboard with the two halves spread shoulder-width apart.

I've used a Rosewill RK-9000 (basic full-size keyboard) with Cherry MX Brown switches since around 2013 and have had to replace a couple switches but otherwise it has served me well. A friend spilled diet coke all over it early on but disassembling it and washing all the plastic parts in soapy water and the pcb in distilled water was enough to clean that. It still works wonderfully but either I've gotten used to more tactile switches or the browns in it have gotten less tactile in the last 8 years.

A few years ago I got a Matias ErgoPro with quiet click switches to use at work. I love the split profile and the layout with the bigger left ctrl key and the right ctrl key on your right thumb. Unfortunately a few switches started giving me problems: they'd either keep sending keypresses even though the key was not held down or they'd not send keypresses when I press them. I've heard lots of people have similar issues and I think there was a bad batch of switches or something. From what I've heard Matias is really good about customer service and will replace your keyboard but I wanted to have extra switches to use on diy projects anyways so I just bought a bag of 200 switches and replaced them myself. I'm tempted to have a go at writing some custom firmware to turn the hard-coded shortcut keys into real macro keys. The switches are super quiet but still feel clicky which made this perfect for work.

Most recently I picked up a Tex Shinobi kit with green switches which are extremely loud (especially on the metal plate in that keyboard) but feel good. The keyboard is laid-out like classic ThinkPad keyboards and even has the little red pointer nub. I don't use it too much now since my work keyboard is at home. (Also my partner is always home and it really is loud so I tend to just use it for when I've got a laptop hooked up to a television and this keyboard in my lap where it won't resonate as much as on a desk.)

I would be lying if I said they made me more productive but they are very satisfying to use. Make sure you get a full size one.