So thinking of a new keyboard....

[Lakov_Sanite]

but I'm drinking a tasty 12yo rum and thinking this might not be a good impulse buy...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823816010

Thoughts?

[Venkman]

Man those old school mechanical keys. I know some love them. I just can't help thinking it'd take hours to press each key. And that I'd be ripping them off as my finger collides with the sides of them as I move between keys.

I have this Razr one. Favorite of every one I've ever had. No frills so I don't get accustomed to functions I don't have on any other computer I use. Enough key travel to know I'm hitting but not enough to feel like it's taking forever. Keys haven't begun to wear even with a almost 10 hours of use per day between me and the kids. Has all that bloatware utility shit I suppose some people like but which I'll never install. Some type of toolbar app so I can change the LED color or something? Really?

[schild]

Das Keyboard Ultimate

http://www.daskeyboard.com/daskeyboard-4-ultimate/

[Evildrider]

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/illuminated-keyboard-k740?crid=26

This is what I have been using for the last few years and love it.  I used to have some fancier gaming ones, but with a Razer Naga I have no more need for them. 

[Stormwaltz]

I'm still trying to figure what my next will be after last week's beer explosion. Timely thread. :)

Aside from the mere fact of glowing, my biggest need is that the letters have to remain legible despite constant pounding. After writing on my current one for a couple of years, everything but the Q, Z, and Y has mostly worn away. (Despite twenty years of practice, I still can't touch type worth shit.)

EDIT: clarified

[Phildo]

A blank keyboard, Schild?  That is so absolutely perfect for you.

[schild]

I've had one for uhhhhhh 4-5 years now.

[Fabricated]

I got some razer l33t gaming abomination for a huge discount a while back and it was a piece of shit. I am now using a $10 basic logitech keyboard and it's awesome.

[Rendakor]

I've had the Logitech G510 for a few years now and love it.

[Pennilenko]

I've had the Logitech G510 for a few years now and love it.

Same experience here, same length of time.

[Setanta]

I've had the Logitech G510 for a few years now and love it.

I updated mine to a Corsair mechanical but TNH, I prefer my G510.The Corsair's lit keys reflect off the monitor due to the design, I never had that issue with the Logitech.

[MisterNoisy]

I've bought, used and traded on a bunch of fancy macro-capable keyboards, but I'm back to plain old boards with mechanical switches now.  At home, I've got a Rosewill RK9000 hooked up to the 'big box' (also available in a backlit version for $10 more) and a Cooler Master Quickfire Rapid tenkeyless on the LAN-party box.

Both are about as inexpensive as mechanical boards get (~$80, often on sale for less), the keycaps wear well (and are replaceable) and are pretty fantastic (and clicky/tactile thanks to Cherry Blue switches), but at work I use  a Unicomp Customizer, a clone of the old Model M.  It's not as well-built as the original, but it's still solid and has the buckling spring switches that made the Model M unique.

[Numtini]

I use the same Rosewill at work with brown switches, which my officemates noticed, but weren't irritated by. Another cheap option is monoprice, which has several including a really basic with blue switches for $60. At home, I have a Ducky Shine III which has pink LEDs and a ludicrous number of silly backlight modes and a snake on the space bar. They are really solid keyboards and are available in less tacky versions, but the only place you can get them in the states is mechanicalkeyboards.com.

I hated the DAS. Too shiny. Oddly clunky frame. I don't know if I could do the Corsair in the OP. The light leaking out from the bottom is definitely different.

As I said in the other thread, I was having some pretty horrible finger pain before I got a mech and it virtually disappeared within a few weeks of switching.

[Samwise]

I'm on my second Das Keyboard for my work computer.  Had the first one for maybe 6 years before some of the switches started to stick -- probably fixable but I just free cycled it and bought the latest model, which is a little nicer anyway.

Wouldn't use one for gaming though -- WASD is a very different use case from touch typing.

[calapine]

but I'm drinking a tasty 12yo rum and thinking this might not be a good impulse buy...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823816010

Thoughts?

Some more questions:

A) You linked a mechanical keyboard. Is that what you want or are you looking more generally?

B) Do you know about the different types of Cherry switches in m. keyboards (there is brown, blue, black, red and clear) and if so, which do you want? (This might narrow down the choice of k., not all are avaible with all switches).

C) Do you want a) an illuminated keyboard? b) a non-illuminated? c) Either, depending on price.

[schild]

I'm on my second Das Keyboard for my work computer.  Had the first one for maybe 6 years before some of the switches started to stick -- probably fixable but I just free cycled it and bought the latest model, which is a little nicer anyway.

Wouldn't use one for gaming though -- WASD is a very different use case from touch typing.

I use mine for gaming. You get used to it so fucking fast.

[Signe]

I need a new keyboard, too.  I blame stupid games.  Right now I'm using this horrible thing that I found in my sister's attic.  It's made of cardboard, I think.  It's so light my cat can push it off the desk, and he does.  I can't afford anything too pricey so I bought a factory refurbished G510 for $25.  Hopefully it'll even work and maybe last a few years.  When I get frustrated the keyboard is what I smash first.  I used to be worse.  One time I got so pissed off I dumped my Amiga out my third story bedroom window and broke the porch roof.  :(  Yes, I have worry stones.  I throw them.  I wish I still had my old IBM keyboard.  It was made of cement and was so heavy it could kill whoever is standing beneath my window.  And, yes, I'm right over the porch. 

This is how I feel while posting this: 

[Engels]

I just picked up the Corsair 70 originally linked, and its quite nice. Its a cherry red mx mechanical, which means that its a slightly softer mechanical than most. I used to have a Thermaltake black cherry mechanical and that was nearly unusable for any games where you have to sustain a key down for a period of time (such as "W" for forward). This is more easy going, but its still a bit of a drag due to the key's resistance against being depressed.

The build quality looks good, and its as responsive as I could have hoped for.

Now, that said, I would not like to use it as a regular typing keyboard, since the keys feel a bit cramped after using a IBM Model M at work.

[Hoax]

Anyone have any first hand experience with Topre switches?

[murdoc]

I got some razer l33t gaming abomination for a huge discount a while back and it was a piece of shit.

I did the same thing and am finally trashing the stupid thing. The g510 looks good to me.

[Engels]

Ya, I bought a razer keyboard and it was broken within a fortnight. Their mice are good tho. Love my deathadder.

[Lucas]

Back in 2006-07 I owned a Razer Tarantula KB + a Razer Copperhead mouse; yeah, as far as precision and general "feel" goes, razer mouse are great, but KB is nothing special, IMO. A standard size logitech KB is more than enough for me; BUT, I would spend some money for a nice piece of KB design (something elegant, aluminum, maybe illuminated, but just with basic functions, no l33t setups or key placements).

[Signe]

Logitech made an aluminum keyboard and it's ugly as fuck.  The problem is the plastic keys on the metal base look dumb.  There's one from Australia that looks a bit better but I only saw a picture a few months ago so I'm not sure if it really looks that nice or is any good.  I had a Razer keyboard, too, and didn't like it, although I almost always have a Razer mouse these days.

[WayAbvPar]

Anyone have any suggestions for ergonomic keyboards for gaming? I bought a new MS keyboard recently, but would love one with more bells and whistles like programmable keys, etc for gaming. However, I was forced to use a ergo keyboard when I started working at my current company, and can now no longer use a flat keyboard for shit.

[Trippy]

https://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage-pro-for-pc-mac/

http://matias.ca/ergopro/pc/

https://www.trulyergonomic.com/store/index.php

Haven't used any of them.

[schild]

Anyone who uses Ergonomic keys should really consider getting an IBM Model M off Ebay or a Unicomp Model M replacement: http://pckeyboard.com/page/UKBD/UNI0P4A

AFAIK, carpal tunnel wasn't a thing when everyone was on buckling spring keyboards and ever since switching to mechanicals, I've had zero hand pain (as have many others) regardless of how long I type. Also, this sort of keyboard teaches you to type better as you fall into an audible rhythm. Eventually you can hear typos. You become one with the keyboard. It is an extension of you.

Ergo keyboards are gross and weird and I'm not sure they actually for real help rather they just rearrange where your pain will be found.

Quiet Key keyboards are the fucking devil though.

Edit: That said, ergonomic keyboard for gaming? Doesn't seem like it would be a thing. Or at least a good thing. Gaming wants the opposite of that shit and the industry has moved in the opposite direction inching ever so closely back to Model Ms.

[Goreschach]

Anyone have any suggestions for ergonomic keyboards for gaming? I bought a new MS keyboard recently, but would love one with more bells and whistles like programmable keys, etc for gaming. However, I was forced to use a ergo keyboard when I started working at my current company, and can now no longer use a flat keyboard for shit.

Why bother getting a programmable keyboard? AHK is free and can emulate all that functionality on just about any input device.

[NiX]

Anyone who uses Ergonomic keys should really consider getting an IBM Model M off Ebay or a Unicomp Model M replacement: http://pckeyboard.com/page/UKBD/UNI0P4A

AFAIK, carpal tunnel wasn't a thing when everyone was on buckling spring keyboards and ever since switching to mechanicals, I've had zero hand pain (as have many others) regardless of how long I type. Also, this sort of keyboard teaches you to type better as you fall into an audible rhythm. Eventually you can hear typos. You become one with the keyboard. It is an extension of you.

Ergo keyboards are gross and weird and I'm not sure they actually for real help rather they just rearrange where your pain will be found.

Quiet Key keyboards are the fucking devil though.

Edit: That said, ergonomic keyboard for gaming? Doesn't seem like it would be a thing. Or at least a good thing. Gaming wants the opposite of that shit and the industry has moved in the opposite direction inching ever so closely back to Model Ms.

I used to think were crazy with the way you talk about mechanical keyboards until I got a Das Keyboard as a going away present from my last job. I've been using it for just over 2 years and it makes me hate every other keyboard I use and I did start to notice that I could hear mistakes when typing.

[Engels]

I use a Model M for work and I love it, but I'm hesitant to recommend it for gaming because the spring action is a bit tougher than most. However, if you are used to cherry black switches, then go for it.

[WayAbvPar]

https://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage-pro-for-pc-mac/

http://matias.ca/ergopro/pc/

https://www.trulyergonomic.com/store/index.php

Haven't used any of them.

Yeah, I think I will just buy 9 more MS keyboards for the same price 

[naum]

AFAIK, carpal tunnel wasn't a thing when everyone was on buckling spring keyboards and ever since switching to mechanicals, I've had zero hand pain (as have many others) regardless of how long I type. Also, this sort of keyboard teaches you to type better as you fall into an audible rhythm. Eventually you can hear typos. You become one with the keyboard. It is an extension of you.

Untrue.

Carpal Tunnel was "a thing" even way back in the prehistoric early 90s, when fellow coders were clanging away on IBM mainframes and Unix boxes and early DOS/Windows boxes.

Though I think I will try Das Keyboard.

I experienced some carpal tunnel/cramping issues that went away when I switched to a trackpad (not 100%, but most of my computing work/gaming now). I don't use all the gestures, but in a short time, it became natural, that now using a mouse feels clunky (initially, all was smooth except there was a curve with drag/drop, getting comfortable with thumb anchoring). Probably wouldn't work for FPS/RTS games (though I haven't tried), but works fine with all the strategy games.

[ajax34i]

Why bother getting a programmable keyboard? AHK is free and can emulate all that functionality on just about any input device.

Because the vertically-aligned pad of keys on the programmable keyboards (G510) makes it easier to play games than a reprogrammed qwerty layout, AND, you can switch between activating your abilities and typing normal text in the chat windows without having to deactivate your reprogrammed autohotkey stuff.

The G510s has a wristpad, but the qwerty keys are not in the ergonomic layout.  I find it much easier on my hands because my hands are on the keypads rather than in the qwerty area, but still it's not ergonomic.  The only solution I can think of is a regular ergonomic keyboard + a separate programmable gamepad placed to the left of it.