Keyboard for work

[frosty]

I use my Unicomp Model M at work.  Granted I am by myself in my office.  But my co-workers tell me when they walk by my door, they listen for my typing to know if I am in my office or not (as my seating position is behind a partition where I cannot be seen from the door).

That's the thing - with a noisier keyboard people can tell when you are working or not (particularly if your work involves typing).

WASDWASDWASDWASDWASDWASDWASD SPACE SPACE SHIFT SHIFT WASDWASDWASDWASD.

boss comes in, alt-tabs to work, click a few times, types a bit. boss leaves, alt-tab

cycle repeats.

dun dun dun

[dgreekstallion]

Just looked at some of the Topre prices. Damn.

[dgreekstallion]

What do you guys think of the Type Heaven? I know it's out of stock but the price appears to be fairly reasonable.

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=topre_keyboards,1&pid=za0100

[Hypersphere]

What do you guys think of the Type Heaven? I know it's out of stock but the price appears to be fairly reasonable.

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=topre_keyboards,1&pid=za0100

I haven't tried it, but from what I have read, this seems to be another case of "you get what you pay for." On the other hand, there are a number of positive reviews. Take a look at the pros and cons in the reviews.

BTW, I have tried out the Kul ES-87 with mx clears that I received yesterday. I like many of the features of the keyboard, but I found that clears are not for me. So far, I have tried blues, browns, greens, blacks, and now clears, and I have yet to find a Cherry mx switch that I like. The RF 87u 55g is in a completely different league and much better to type on than any Cherry mx board I have tried.

[dgreekstallion]

What do you guys think of the Type Heaven? I know it's out of stock but the price appears to be fairly reasonable.

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=topre_keyboards,1&pid=za0100

I haven't tried it, but from what I have read, this seems to be another case of "you get what you pay for." On the other hand, there are a number of positive reviews. Take a look at the pros and cons in the reviews.

BTW, I have tried out the Kul ES-87 with mx clears that I received yesterday. I like many of the features of the keyboard, but I found that clears are not for me. So far, I have tried blues, browns, greens, blacks, and now clears, and I have yet to find a Cherry mx switch that I like. The RF 87u 55g is in a completely different league and much better to type on than any Cherry mx board I have tried.

Thanks for this, I appreciate your feedback.

Apparently I'll just have to take the plunge of a Topre, it appears...

[jacobolus]

Apparently I'll just have to take the plunge of a Topre, it appears...

Try it out first if you can, or you might be really disappointed. I’m personally completely uninspired by any of the Topre switches I’ve tried. (I’m also not a huge fan of Cherry MX.)

Once you’ve tried a bunch of keyboards and have a good idea what you like and don’t like, people can give more useful advice.

[HebrewHammer]

What do you guys think of the Type Heaven? I know it's out of stock but the price appears to be fairly reasonable.

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=topre_keyboards,1&pid=za0100

I haven't tried it, but from what I have read, this seems to be another case of "you get what you pay for." On the other hand, there are a number of positive reviews. Take a look at the pros and cons in the reviews.

BTW, I have tried out the Kul ES-87 with mx clears that I received yesterday. I like many of the features of the keyboard, but I found that clears are not for me. So far, I have tried blues, browns, greens, blacks, and now clears, and I have yet to find a Cherry mx switch that I like. The RF 87u 55g is in a completely different league and much better to type on than any Cherry mx board I have tried.

Thanks for this, I appreciate your feedback.

Apparently I'll just have to take the plunge of a Topre, it appears...

If you can find a Fry's or an electronics store near you that might have mechanical keyboards, just go in, try out some switches and see what you like. It's not the same as using the keyboard and having it for a few days, but it gives some experience to help figure out what a person may like.

I don't really know of any stores in the US that stock topre besides EK, trying out topre beforehand may not be totally possible unless you can borrow a topre board.

I've been using MX blacks for a very long time and had gotten a MX brown board a few months ago. For me, the switches felt too light and gritty, I preferred the cushiony feeling the blacks gave me.
I also learned I prefer heavier switches.

[dgreekstallion]

Yeah I've been to Frys and tired out a few mechanicals. I initially bought a board with reds, and wasn't too satisfied. Finally went on to Model M's and lastly an F and now those are my bases for comparison.

[Hypersphere]

Today I tried a Kul ES-87 with Cherry mx reds. I liked reds better than I thought I would. However, they feel a bit scratchy, and the Costar Cherry stabilizers feel mushy. The board improved by putting on a set of dye-sub thick PBT caps and Buna 50A-R O-rings. However, it is not in the same league as the IBM Model F or Topre-switch keyboards, such as the HHKB Pro 2 or RF 87ub 45 or 55g. I might keep the Kul around as a means of using my collections of Cherry mx keycaps and to provide some variety, but when I want real quality, I will opt for the IBM, HHKB Pro 2, or Realforce boards. However, when thinking about a board for work, the Kul with reds and O-rings is relatively quiet, but so are the Topre-switch boards. At home, it is fun to use my IBM XT -- music for my ears only.

[SpAmRaY]

Today I tried a Kul ES-87 with Cherry mx reds. I liked reds better than I thought I would. However, they feel a bit scratchy, and the Costar stabilizers feel mushy. The board improved by putting on a set of dye-sub thick PBT caps and Buna 50A-R O-rings. However, it is not in the same league as the IBM Model F or Topre-switch keyboards, such as the HHKB Pro 2 or RF 87ub 45 or 55g. I might keep the Kul around as a means of using my collections of Cherry mx keycaps and to provide some variety, but when I want real quality, I will opt for the IBM, HHKB Pro 2, or Realforce boards. However, when thinking about a board for work, the Kul with reds and O-rings is relatively quiet, but so are the Topre-switch boards. At home, it is fun to use my IBM XT -- music for my ears only.

I thought the KUL had cherry stabilizers?

[Veridis]

Yeah I've been to Frys and tired out a few mechanicals. I initially bought a board with reds, and wasn't too satisfied. Finally went on to Model M's and lastly an F and now those are my bases for comparison.

Currently using a realforce 87u 45g uniform, even when I'm going all out and playing typing games, I'm still quieter than all the other 6 people in my giant cubicle with dell/acer membrane keyboards. So a silenced model would not really be necessary.

I was using MX Browns previously but with the browns, I have to have some restraint unless I used o rings. Sometimes you just want to hammer something out quickly. Didn't really like MX with O rings.

(I'm a programmer.)

[rowdy]

Today I tried a Kul ES-87 with Cherry mx reds. I liked reds better than I thought I would. However, they feel a bit scratchy, and the Costar stabilizers feel mushy. The board improved by putting on a set of dye-sub thick PBT caps and Buna 50A-R O-rings. However, it is not in the same league as the IBM Model F or Topre-switch keyboards, such as the HHKB Pro 2 or RF 87ub 45 or 55g. I might keep the Kul around as a means of using my collections of Cherry mx keycaps and to provide some variety, but when I want real quality, I will opt for the IBM, HHKB Pro 2, or Realforce boards. However, when thinking about a board for work, the Kul with reds and O-rings is relatively quiet, but so are the Topre-switch boards. At home, it is fun to use my IBM XT -- music for my ears only.

I thought the KUL had cherry stabilizers?

Probably why they feel mushy!

[dgreekstallion]

Still haven't got a work keyboard yet.. I will eventually.

[Hyde]

Topre Type Heaven, decently quiet and feels nice and won't break your wallet. 

[asgeirtj]

Today I tried a Kul ES-87 with Cherry mx reds. I liked reds better than I thought I would. However, they feel a bit scratchy, and the Costar stabilizers feel mushy. The board improved by putting on a set of dye-sub thick PBT caps and Buna 50A-R O-rings. However, it is not in the same league as the IBM Model F or Topre-switch keyboards, such as the HHKB Pro 2 or RF 87ub 45 or 55g. I might keep the Kul around as a means of using my collections of Cherry mx keycaps and to provide some variety, but when I want real quality, I will opt for the IBM, HHKB Pro 2, or Realforce boards. However, when thinking about a board for work, the Kul with reds and O-rings is relatively quiet, but so are the Topre-switch boards. At home, it is fun to use my IBM XT -- music for my ears only.

I thought the KUL had cherry stabilizers?

Probably why they feel mushy!

KUL has cherry stabilizers. Hypersphere, check out the clip mod for cherry stabilizers, they are supposed to make them better.

[shut up]

Browns are probably good if you need quiet, Of course I'd be "That guy" who shows up with a Model M and hammers away at it all day.

[dusan]

I have a Topre Type Heaven and a Cherry MX black keyboard (Asus Echelon) at work.

When I type slowly, the MX black makes more noises because the sound of bottoming out is harder, compared to the Topre.

When I type fast, the metal sound of the upstrokes on the Topre become unbearable, while the MX black is completely quiet, probably because linearity and stiffness (60g) both help keep me from bottoming out.

[jbondeson]

We have a couple people at the office in the open dev room with MX Browns and no one seems to really care. I'm sure if you were one of those people who bottomed out on every keystroke you'd make quite a bit more noise.

Hell, I used to use Blues in cubes... which would explain why everyone around me had closed cans around me.

[randomist]

I used a full size Filco with o-ring modded MX Browns in my office for over a year, I got the occasional "That's louder than mine." but it wasn't really a complaint, they were just interested in why I wasn't using the Dell POS (use whichever anagram interpretation you prefer) keyboard everyone else has. I mostly work from home these days and commute in for meetings, so I brought the Filco home. I just received a Ducky mini with MX Blues that I'll be carrying with me, we'll see how that goes. I wont be damping this one I don't think. Then again at least one of the guys in that office spent hours at a time stood next to some loud motors in the lab, Maybe other offices are more noise sensitive than mine.

[Hypersphere]

Today I tried a Kul ES-87 with Cherry mx reds. I liked reds better than I thought I would. However, they feel a bit scratchy, and the Costar stabilizers feel mushy. The board improved by putting on a set of dye-sub thick PBT caps and Buna 50A-R O-rings. However, it is not in the same league as the IBM Model F or Topre-switch keyboards, such as the HHKB Pro 2 or RF 87ub 45 or 55g. I might keep the Kul around as a means of using my collections of Cherry mx keycaps and to provide some variety, but when I want real quality, I will opt for the IBM, HHKB Pro 2, or Realforce boards. However, when thinking about a board for work, the Kul with reds and O-rings is relatively quiet, but so are the Topre-switch boards. At home, it is fun to use my IBM XT -- music for my ears only.

I thought the KUL had cherry stabilizers?

Probably why they feel mushy!

KUL has cherry stabilizers. Hypersphere, check out the clip mod for cherry stabilizers, they are supposed to make them better.

Yikes! I must have been asleep when I posted this. Indeed, the Kul has Cherry stabs. And they are mushy. BTW, I am going to sell the Kul.