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Ask HN: What are some good keyboards?

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Re: Ask HN: What are some good keyboards?

#41

Post by ridiculous_fish »

thebeastie wrote: post #22
ridiculous_fish wrote: post #10

What sort of keyboard are you looking for, for what use? It might help by sharing your favorite keyboard, and what you like about it. Some of the features to consider (by no means exhaustive): 1. Width: 60%, TKL, or full-size 2. Height: Normal or low-profile 3. Key layout: Ergonomic, ortho, staggered 4. OS-friendly layout: Mac or Windows 5. Switches: clicky, tactile, linear 6. Misc: RGB, programmable keys, wireless P…

I very much like my Lenovo thinkpad laptop keyboard. I like the compact layout, proportion and sturdiness of it. Do you think I’d be happy with the Keychron?

That is indeed very compact. I like compact keyboards too. You didn't mention gaming so I'm going to assume you don't care too much about that.

If you live near a Best Buy, pay one a visit, they usually have keyboards on display which you can type on. I suggest trying at least the following:

1. Logitech MX Keys Mini. This provides a very nice laptop-like typing experience.

2. Logitech G815/915. This is a "gaming" keyboard with low profile mechanical clicky ("blue") switches.

Based on that, you can decide if you care about mechanical switches or not. If you really like the low-profile clicky feeling, the Logitech are great, but wide compared to your Thinkpad, and also expensive (>$200). Keychron has narrower versions with lots of customizability. There's some other vendors too, here's a list [1].

If you prefer the laptop-like typing experience, the MX Keys and the new Mini variant are very popular, for a good reason.

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/hotiws...

Re: Ask HN: What are some good keyboards?

#42

Post by moh_maya »

avereveard wrote: post #38

There's a lot of expensive suggestions, but one great work keyboard is the Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000, it's becoming hard to find at is original price, but you can find a good used one for 20 bucks

I use the Microsoft sculpt [0]

It is a membrane keyboard, not mechanical, but it works well for me. The numpad is separate from the main keyboard, so that works well too.

It is wireless - which is a good thing and a bad thing. Good because it is convenient, bad because unlike the logitech M series, if you lose the usb radio, I don’t think you can order a replacement, so the keyboard becomes useless.

[0] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/microsoft-sculpt-ergonomic...

Re: Ask HN: What are some good keyboards?

#43

Post by Kirr »

TrispusAttucks wrote: post #18

If you just want a great keyboard and don't want to learn a new layout or form factor and don't want to build your own I present the best mechanical keyboard. [1] FILCO Majestouch Ninja - Cherry MX Browns Make it yours with a nice pack of keycaps.[2] If you're not sure which Cherry MX switches to get read more about them here [3] and search for comparisons. I hate reds. I love blues. My wife's ears hate my blues. Now…

+1 to FILCO, just want to add: Pick one with the letters printed on the sides of keycaps, not on top. This way they last longer. (BTW, my favorite switches are black, then red, I hate browns).

Re: Ask HN: What are some good keyboards?

#44

Post by organsnyder »

I've really enjoyed using my Ultimate Hacking Keyboard. It's helped me get over a lot of wrist pain, and I love how customizable it is (every key can be customized to send any scancode, macro, mouse, etc.). I also have the touchpad and extra key modules.

Not cheap, but I use it for ~8 hours every workday.

https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/

Re: Ask HN: What are some good keyboards?

#45

Post by geuis »

https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/keyboards/mx-keys-wi...

This is a problem I was struggling with until recently.

Specifically, I prefer low profile keyboards like the Apple magic keyboards. The problem I was having is that I wanted a low profile keyboard and mouse that I could easily switch between my Mac laptop and windows desktop.

I looked for a kvm for months that would address my specific needs for mouse/keyboard and 2 monitor setup (1440p gaming displayport / 4K uhd usb-c).

I finally found the Logitech MX keys and mouse combo. It's low profile and feels good for me. Plus it specifically has built in device switching. For monitor switching I just manually change the inputs as needed.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good keyboards?

#46

Post by learn_more »

Apple Magic Keyboard. Glue 4 cut-in-half ear plugs to the bottom as feet/shock absorbers.

The minimal key travel is very efficient for fast typing and the added feet absorb shock when you bottom out if you bang hard.

I've been doing this for about 10 years -- works great.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good keyboards?

#48

Post by Mondialisation »

Short answer:

If you wanna play games, consider a mechanical keyboard, else consider a flat laptop-like keyboard.

Long answer:

I used to believe that mechanical keyboards have to be better because most people praise them and they are more expensive, but it really is a matter of preference and use case. I bought myself a corsair mechanical keyboard and I really didn't like it besides for playing specific games. A laptop keyboard always felt the best to me. They are flat, so your wrist is always in a correct position while with mechanical keyboards i'd find myself having to bend my wrist backwards despite having a small pad. They are extremely responsive, you get instant feedback from the keys, and I mean instant because it takes less effort and distance to trigger each key. As a result they also make typing faster in my experience. So unless you're in for gaming or have a good pad, i'd say you really don't need it.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good keyboards?

#49

Post by smoldesu »

thebeastie wrote: post #22
ridiculous_fish wrote: post #10

What sort of keyboard are you looking for, for what use? It might help by sharing your favorite keyboard, and what you like about it. Some of the features to consider (by no means exhaustive): 1. Width: 60%, TKL, or full-size 2. Height: Normal or low-profile 3. Key layout: Ergonomic, ortho, staggered 4. OS-friendly layout: Mac or Windows 5. Switches: clicky, tactile, linear 6. Misc: RGB, programmable keys, wireless P…

I very much like my Lenovo thinkpad laptop keyboard. I like the compact layout, proportion and sturdiness of it. Do you think I’d be happy with the Keychron?

This is a very extreme and stupid suggestion, but... https://tex.com.tw/products/shinobi?variant=16969883648090

Re: Ask HN: What are some good keyboards?

#50

Post by roldie »

I highly recommend Xah Lee's site (recommended on a previous HN keyboard thread). [0]

I personally have the X-Bows, and like it quite a bit as a starter ergo keyboard. [1][2]

I've also backed the Glove80 on Kickstarter (after learning about it on HN!) as a deeper dive into ergo. [3][4]

[0] http://xahlee.info/kbd/keyboarding.html

[1] http://xahlee.info/kbd/xbows_keyboard_review.html

[2] https://x-bows.com/collections/keyboards

[3] http://xahlee.info/kbd/glove80_keyboard.html

[4] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/moergo/glove80-the-incr...

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