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FYI: The author of this is "not a home row typist", not mentioned in the article. YMMV if you touch type.
Touch typing and home row typing are different things by the way. My hands aren't on the home row but I do type by touch. I don't look at the keyboard except for a few weird key combos.
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Touch typing and home row typing are different things by the way. My hands aren't on the home row but I do type by touch. I don't look at the keyboard except for a few weird key combos.
Not according to my typing teacher. :-D
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You can also get a better microphone. I use a Logitech G Pro keyboard, which sounds (to my ears) roughly the same as MX Browns, but I use a supercardioid dynamic microphone (the sE L7, which for my money is the best dynamic microphone you can buy until you get up into the ElectroVoice RE320 territory) on an arm. It's got a tight enough polar pattern that I don't even need headphones because my desk speakers don't fee…
I do have a few studio microphones and a high end (apogee ensemble) audio interface. But, that setup is even less convenient than wearing a headset. I appreciate the suggestion though... if I am going to record or broadcast any keyboard sessions that require some polish then I'll definitely isolate my voice with a pickup pattern.
I have a bunch of studio mics, too, but I've found that teleconference is easier with a cheap but tight-pattern dynamic. Check out the sE V7. It's tremendous for exactly that.
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no, this guy is just selling his cheap keyboard via amazon referal link. and "if they ever stopped making it, i'd buy a few if them!"
You're quoting things out of context. I only said that because it was something I did almost 20 years ago with the Logitech Wingman mouse when it was officially labeled as no longer being produced.
this is an ad. notice the referal link at the bottom. if a keyboard actually matters to you, please look for unbiased information. a couple of suggestions that aren't just meant to net me a few bucks: - tenkeyless reduce wrist strain (a full size keyboard forces your hands further apart than is natural). if you need a numpad you can always add one. - consider a backlit if you work at night. - mechanical keyboards ten…
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It’s not my personal cup of tea, but one keyboard that should meet your requirements (and is a whole lot nicer to type on than the Amazon keyboard, assuming you are willing to pay a lot more) is the Topre Realforce, http://www.realforce.co.jp/en/products/R2SA-US4-IV/index.htm... https://amzn.com/B07K9CH5WS
At a glance all I see is that it's missing a bunch of media keys and is $350 instead of $15. But ignoring price, what improvements will I see vs my existing keyboard? At a non-competitive level, the human level is likely dictating how many WPM I can type. At 80 WPM, upgrading to this keyboard won't turn me into a 120 WPM typist. Maybe I'll gain a few WPM but that's not the bottleneck for delivering code on time. Also…
You said:
> 6+ hours and hundreds of comments later I went through the comments and I still haven't seen anyone post a single mechanical keyboard that matches my requirements at any price point.
I was just offering one keyboard which does as far as I can tell satisfy all of your requirements. (The previous $250 version of this keyboard is about the same as this $350 one; the differences aren’t IMO worth the difference in price. You could probably find a used one for $150, if not less.)
Here are some of the features that make the Topre board nicer than your Amazon board:
- The actuation point is about halfway through the stroke instead of at the very bottom, meaning you don’t need to mash the key all the way down to get it to reliably actuate. Once you get used to this you can type with much lighter and springier finger movements, and (a) dramatically reduce the amount of shock on your finger joints, reducing both fatigue and long-term damage, while (b) improving your typing speed.
- Having taller keycaps on the further-away rows of keys compared to the home row makes them easier to reach by extending the distal joints of the fingers instead of moving the hand. It is in my opinion inexcusable for keyboards not intended for laptops to be flat across the top. Additionally, the keycaps have a curved top shape which helps the fingers find them.
- The switches have what many people find to be a more pleasant tactile response (this is subjective, and I prefer other keyboards, but those do not satisfy your other criteria). I would expect the 45g Topre keys to need less force than the Amazon board, but I haven’t ever seen measurements of that one. (Some people prefer heavier switches; Topre also makes a 55g version. Some people prefer very light switches; Topre also makes a 30g version.)
- In particular they have a nice bit of bounce on the upstroke which will help your finger to release the key just by relaxing the flexors instead of needing to fire your finger extensors. This will (a) reduce fatigue, and (b) improve speed and accuracy.
- The Topre keyboard is likely more uniform from key to key. Most - I would expect the Topre “silent” board to be quieter than the Amazon board, but I haven’t spent much time with either one, so you’d have to test that yourself. Personally I like much louder keyboards.
- The Topre keyboard is much more robust; the switches use capacitive sensing to tell when the spring has been depressed, instead of relying on an electrical contact, so they should not wear out even after tens of millions of keypresses.
- The Topre keyboard has larger rubber pads on the bottom, probably made from a nicer material. It should slip less than the Amazon board (being heavier also helps with this). It also has nice sturdy feet if you want to adjust the tilt.
- The switches are very stable and smooth, with tighter tolerances. The keyboard is much more rigid and solid feeling. Overall it feels like a well engineered product instead of a flimsy toy. Many people find joy in using well made long lasting tools, but YMMV.
- The keycaps are made of a sturdier type of plastic, and use dye sublimation printing. The letters will never wear off, and even the surface texture should remain through decades of serious typing.
- The electrical components inside the keyboard are more expensive and less likely to fail. You’d have to test latency, etc. for yourself, I haven’t extensively evaluated either of these keyboards.
- The keyboard supports full n-key rollover (this is unlikely to matter for routine typing).
> how is your recommended keyboard different than a run of a mill $50 mechanical keyboard
The switches feel substantially different. The keycaps are made from a different type of plastic. The case is sturdier. The switching mechanism is more reliable.
But keyboard preferences are subjective. Personally I like many $50 keyboards better than this $350 one. I was just looking to satisfy your criteria.
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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?
Not sure if you're joking or not - are there really federal laws about affiliate links?
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At a glance all I see is that it's missing a bunch of media keys and is $350 instead of $15. But ignoring price, what improvements will I see vs my existing keyboard? At a non-competitive level, the human level is likely dictating how many WPM I can type. At 80 WPM, upgrading to this keyboard won't turn me into a 120 WPM typist. Maybe I'll gain a few WPM but that's not the bottleneck for delivering code on time. Also…
You seem very determined to be disappointed by this whole discussion. If you completely close yourself to new possibilities, nobody can force you to consider them. You said: > 6+ hours and hundreds of comments later I went through the comments and I still haven't seen anyone post a single mechanical keyboard that matches my requirements at any price point. I was just offering one keyboard which does as far as I can t…
When it comes to the life span of the keyboard, how easy are they to clean?
With this Amazon one, I seriously spend about 30 seconds every 2 weeks wiping it down with a small towel and it's as good as new in terms of cleanliness.
I'm not a neat freak but I do know that build up of whatever can definitely play a role in how the keyboard feels over time and full size keys tend to collect a lot more debris over time.
Also if you don't mind, what would be 2-3 recommendations in the $50 range where quietness and overall "this feels great to type on" are the biggest goals?
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You seem very determined to be disappointed by this whole discussion. If you completely close yourself to new possibilities, nobody can force you to consider them. You said: > 6+ hours and hundreds of comments later I went through the comments and I still haven't seen anyone post a single mechanical keyboard that matches my requirements at any price point. I was just offering one keyboard which does as far as I can t…
Thanks for the detailed response. When it comes to the life span of the keyboard, how easy are they to clean? With this Amazon one, I seriously spend about 30 seconds every 2 weeks wiping it down with a small towel and it's as good as new in terms of cleanliness. I'm not a neat freak but I do know that build up of whatever can definitely play a role in how the keyboard feels over time and full size keys tend to colle…
If a keyboard sits on a very dusty garage shelf for 20 years with no cover, sometimes dust works its way inside the switches; cleaning that out is a lot more complicated, requiring desoldering and disassembling all of the switches. Don’t do this to your keyboard, and watch out for the condition of decades-old used keyboards.
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Personally I like very loud clicky keyboards, like the IBM model F or anything with clicky Alps SKCM or SKCP switches (from the 1980s–early 90s).
If you can find one in good condition and don’t mind an adapter, I quite like the Apple Extended Keyboard II from ~1990 which is reasonably quiet (likely louder than the Amazon board; if you want to further reduce the sound you could open up the case and fill the empty spaces inside with some kind of padding – I know people who have successfully damped sound with sheets of drawer liner or felt).
Tactile Cherry MX switches (or any of the many MX clones) with added o-rings or other padding are reasonably quiet. I’m not really the person to ask though. Again, filling empty spaces inside the case can do a lot to damp the sound.
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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?
Not sure if you're joking or not - are there really federal laws about affiliate links?