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Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

nickjanetakis.com

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Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#251
post #243
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it may just be that the article is written around the links, rather than the links inserted into the article. Sure you might not bother buying the keyboard after clicking through but the affiliate link is tied to you for x days, so they'll get a bit of cash of anything you buy in that time. Why is it a problem if it doesn't cost you? It costs you the time to read it. Disclosing acknowledges this potential and…

I don't think you can make that assessment just by looking for affiliate links or notices. What if you found a 2k to 5k word article on something you really wanted to know about and maybe buy. Also what if that person spent 5,000 hours over 5 years building up their site and only 5% of the posts on their site has an affiliate link for something. Would you discard that post as trash / scammy because they happened to d…

Please do note the difference between me answering "Why does it matter?" and a review of your article. I have made no comment on this specific article.

I don't make the assessment by looking for affiliate links. I make the assessment on undisclosed affiliate links, which I believe the article was at the time. It's one of many things that could indicate an article written around affiliate links and nothing is perfect.

You've since added disclosure so it's a moot point now :)

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#252
post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if I had to buy something off amazon, what would I be searching for? (Gamer & programmer, preference quiet keys)

If you want to buy one right this second, get the Vortex Race 3 with Clears. They sound and feel fantastic, and the aluminum case with the DSA PBT keycaps makes for a great build quality overall. If you want to spend some time deciding, we should go over what kind of keyswitch and what kind of layout you want. This [1] is a pretty good overview of the different kinds of layouts (60%, tenkeyless, fullsize) and linear…

Well that's 2x vortex recommends. Bit more than I'd usually spend on a keyboard though...

Size aside do the tenkeyless have any other advantage?

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#253
post #251
post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you can make that assessment just by looking for affiliate links or notices. What if you found a 2k to 5k word article on something you really wanted to know about and maybe buy. Also what if that person spent 5,000 hours over 5 years building up their site and only 5% of the posts on their site has an affiliate link for something. Would you discard that post as trash / scammy because they happened to d…

Please do note the difference between me answering "Why does it matter?" and a review of your article. I have made no comment on this specific article. I don't make the assessment by looking for affiliate links. I make the assessment on undisclosed affiliate links, which I believe the article was at the time. It's one of many things that could indicate an article written around affiliate links and nothing is perfect.…

Ah true. Yes there was no disclosure before.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#254

It looks like the tops of the keys are completely flat. As someone who did a lot of typing on XT clone keyboards when they where common, this wouldn't be comfortable to me. I like some curve to the tops of the keys. Thinkpads have that feature for me.

It's hard / impossible to tell from the images but there's the tiniest amount of rounded concave to the keys.

When I look at it from the side you can see the keys sink towards the middle, but it's a lot less than other keyboards where this feature is more distinct. It's much less than the Thinkpads.

Thanks for the tip though. As I was writing the post I was thinking about what other characteristics there were of keyboards and I never thought about that one.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#255
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, no offense to the author, but this article read like one written by someone who really doesn't know much about keyboards. There is a whole slew of different silent, non-clicky, tactile and linear switches to choose from, as well as sound dampening o-rings.

I think this article is written from the perspective of a satisficer- it sufficiently meets the requirements he cares about. This is the perspective of most consumers for most of the goods we purchase. It's good to get a well-considered perspective from somebody that isn't deep into the "enthusiast" category of keyboard purchasers.

The whole deal with mechanical keyboards feels to me a lot like putting too much emphasis on the rig without real justification. Sure extremely skilled people do need the extra performance in some circumstances, but chances are the rig is not used by extremely skilled.

And have seen it in a lot of fields and I've actually been culpable of it:

* competitive sailing: I've done quite a bit of dinghy sailing and regattas in my youth (Optimist, Laser, 420), I was always a bit frustrated because as I was not very good, I never had the best boat allocated. But in truth, as long as your dinghy is somewhat water tight and your set of sails are not blowing-up when a strong wind occurs, you are set, at least for a regional and even national level (one of my trainers actually won a national championship on a garbage dinghy that was laying around abandon in a parking lot).

* music (guitar): I've spent countless hours on forums arguing about guitars, amps, effect pedals and things like that. Today I own a Fender Telecaster (Made in Japan, not a US one), a Les Paul Classic, two tubes amps (one I've built, the other I've repaired). All that is far in excess of my actual skills. And I've seen far worst than me, I've literally guitarists barely able to play (like not being able to play 4 cords in rhythm) with 5000$ guitars and 3000$ amps.

* photography, I've seen people with 5000/6000$ (and more) worth of hardware (like Canon 7D or 5D + 2.8 80-200 IS USM + a few other lenses) not being able to frame correctly a picture. And personally, I'm far from good but I do own a second hand 5D (mark I) and a 17-40 L, and the best set of picture I've ever taken was with an old analog AE-1 with a 1.8 50mm lens that cost me 80 bucks during concert.

* mechanical keyboard: I do own a few mechanical keyboards despite the fact I'm barely able to type without looking at my keys (and I've tried to learn several times to type correctly without success using klavaro), and having a very slow word per minutes. I spend more time reading and thinking than typing so in the end, it doesn't matter that much.

Clearly, I'm not the worst at it, but I'm definitely culpable. That being said, having a nice and expensive rig do provide for more pleasure in a lot of cases (ex: between a 150$ and 1500$ you do feel a difference, the touch is not the same, the wood vibration are not same, etc), and it's completely OK to allow yourself these small pleasures.

However, acknowledging these small pleasures as such is important, a cheap guitar is fine, a cheap camera is fine, a cheap keyboard is fine, etc, no need to be pedantic about it. In the end, it rarely matters that much.

PS: cheap mechanical keyboards are actually kind of horrible, I've a 30/40$ one with MX browns copies, the thing is really annoying with key presses resulting in two or three letters being typed, shift+char not always working properly or sometimes a key press resulting in nothing.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Memory Express has a pretty good selection, I'd try there.

I was at a ME not long ago; I tried my hands on everything on display; they all make a sound. Some are good about not making a sound when the switch goes down, but the key makes a sound when bouncing back up, if your finger is completely off it. Space bar keys are particularly bad. A keyboard isn't silent if the space bar isn't.

Is there a specific reason you need to buy in person? If you need to get a feel for the switches beforehand, many online retailers have switch samplers for about $15 USD. That being said, those don't cover spacebars.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Memory Express has a pretty good selection, I'd try there.

I was at a ME not long ago; I tried my hands on everything on display; they all make a sound. Some are good about not making a sound when the switch goes down, but the key makes a sound when bouncing back up, if your finger is completely off it. Space bar keys are particularly bad. A keyboard isn't silent if the space bar isn't.

You seem determined to be disappointed so I don't think I can help you. People in the mechanical keyboard community obsess over the sound; what you're asking for is like asking car enthusiasts for a silent car.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#258
post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to buy one right this second, get the Vortex Race 3 with Clears. They sound and feel fantastic, and the aluminum case with the DSA PBT keycaps makes for a great build quality overall. If you want to spend some time deciding, we should go over what kind of keyswitch and what kind of layout you want. This [1] is a pretty good overview of the different kinds of layouts (60%, tenkeyless, fullsize) and linear…

Well that's 2x vortex recommends. Bit more than I'd usually spend on a keyboard though... Size aside do the tenkeyless have any other advantage?

For me, tenkeyless allows me to keep my mouse much closer to my keyboard which is significantly more comfortable. It's somewhat common to have long-term shoulder injury from using a fullsize keyboard and mouse intensively, like for gaming: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/a5ques/has_anyone_...

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#259
I've always been a fan of mechanical keyboards, I just think I type faster and better with them. I had an old Zeos that I used for many years, until my wife insisted I remove it from our shared home office because it was too noisy.

For a few years now I've been using a Microsoft 600 which seems very similar to the Amazon Basic, including the price range.

Re: Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard

#260
post #209

Author here. A lot of people commented here saying it's questionable not to mention I happened to use an affiliate link. I want to thank those people for bringing that up. My intent wasn't to deceive anyone and I hope my HN comment history (98% of what I post here are comments on other people's stuff) separate me from yet another affiliate blog spammer. I just pushed an update to my site that now includes a little sn…

Isn't it required by Amazon Affiliate to have a warning on ALL pages that link back to Amazon using affiliate tracking? Isn't it also required by federal law as well?
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