Anybody keep 2 keyboards on their desk at one time?

[Pr0grammed]

NT

[PotatoTM]

I used to do this when I had more desk space (and probably will again soon once I clear some stuff out), I had 1 bord with silent switches and 1 board with regular switches. I’d use the regular board 80% of the time and switch to the silent one when in call/meeting.

[fohat.digs]

I sometimes have a PS/2 keyboard leaning against the wall behind my monitor in case I want to boot to another OS and BIOS doesn't recognize the Soarer's Teensy quickly enough.

[powwu]

Occasionally I will. I keep my keyboards in a drawer next to my desk, so it's not as if I can't just put it away haha

[downtownHippie]

Not normally, but I keep my HHKB (lite2) on hand for when I need a diagnostic keyboard for a system in the house that might not have a keyboard (never try to do work on one of those multimedia keyboard things...)

[-Jerry-]

I keep two, a 60% for usual stuff and a 96% for work that has a little softer of a bottom out if I’m working on a board all day.

Granted, it’s because I’m working from home - I’d have the 96% on my desk at work if I weren’t at home.

[yui]

i did because i had 2 pc but i kept on using the wrong one, so now i just unplug it from the laptop to the tower when i need to use the tower (also using remote desktop limited the number of time i need a keyboard on the tower)

[Maledicted]

I have routinely had a random rotation clicky keyboard on top of my desk, and my trusty old K70 with MX reds on the dedicated keyboard tray. Recently ... I have mounted a VESA keybaord and mouse tray to one of my two arm-mounted monitors flanking either side of the primary display, so I could go up to 3 and even 4 if I mounted the second tray mount I purchased but haven't installed. lol

I figure at least one could come in handy with working on other people's computers. That's my excuse anyway. I have used a third keyboard with my gaming rig there as well though.

[cheesy_jones]

I have four, all of them neatly shelved, two each stacked, below two monitors. They're each slightly different:

• Matias Tactile Pro - awesome and tactile, really groovy when I want to bash away loudly. The Mac-specific keycaps are wonderful when I need a quick alternative character and I can't remember the key combo;
• Unicomp Spacesaver M - great keyboard for data entry (don't like it as well for typing long stretches). I take it out when my fingers crave awesome, as long as it's not for too long;
• Azio MK Mac USB - for working in the dark—my only backlit keyboard, and oddly satisfying, even though the Kailh browns it comes with aren't tactile, in spite of the claims; and
• Matias Quiet Pro - marketed as analogous to the old Apple Extended Keyboard II—it isn't anything like those old keyboards as I remember, but it's fabulous and best of all, very quiet. I use it when I'm on conference calls.

[tp4tissue]

ERgodox counts as 2 keeb.

[Maledicted]

I have four, all of them neatly shelved, two each stacked, below two monitors. They're each slightly different:

• Matias Tactile Pro - awesome and tactile, really groovy when I want to bash away loudly. The Mac-specific keycaps are wonderful when I need a quick alternative character and I can't remember the key combo;
• Unicomp Spacesaver M - great keyboard for data entry (don't like it as well for typing long stretches). I take it out when my fingers crave awesome, as long as it's not for too long;
• Azio MK Mac USB - for working in the dark—my only backlit keyboard, and oddly satisfying, even though the Kailh browns it comes with aren't tactile, in spite of the claims; and
• Matias Quiet Pro - marketed as analogous to the old Apple Extended Keyboard II—it isn't anything like those old keyboards as I remember, but it's fabulous and best of all, very quiet. I use it when I'm on conference calls.

The AEK II could come with wildly different switches (including even Mitsumi switches) depending on country of origin, date of manufacture, etc. I think Matias was probably targetting the SKCM cream damped switches, specifically, when creating their dampened tactile switches.

Do you find the dampened tactiles to be scratchy at all? I have found some boards with them that feel relatively smooth, and some that feel scratchy (mostly newer ones, including brand new). There's the obvious thing with wear, but it seems to be more than that. I'm starting to wonder if the reason may be that the older ones literally had many slightly different components. I swapped clicky guts into a mini pro just this weekend and I noticed that the gray sliders were a different shade from the latest production dampened tactile sliders (maybe just yellowing with age a bit), the contact leaves were made of a different material and/or had a different finish, and that even the springs had a different finish. The modern clickies and linears are as smooth as glass, and the same sliders feel smooth with the clicky leaves. The tactile leaves feel smooth with the undampened sliders. It is weird as heck.

[Sintpinty]

No not like i have desk space anyways

[AuthenticDanger]

Yeah, I keep my Lunar on a Kickstand in the corner. And I have 2 macropads on the desk as well.

[bliss]

I (plan to) use one TKL with Zilents (HMKB w/ GMK, in the making) for programming and editing, and a Ducky with Cherry MX Speed Silvers and PBT blanks for pure text entry.

And of course a macropad as well when using one of my 60%s.

[Rob27shred]

Yep, i sure do. No real reason why other than I like to be able to change it up from time to time & have gotten used to having 2 boards on my desk at all times LOL!

[cheesy_jones]

Do you find the dampened tactiles to be scratchy at all?\

I haven't noticed scratchiness on my Matias Quiet, in fact the keyboard I have is maybe too smooth.

[Crazy Designers]

thats literally me... im testing my custom keyboard [cyberboard] and have a normal keyboard to make comparisons

[-Jerry-]

thats literally me... im testing my custom keyboard [cyberboard] and have a normal keyboard to make comparisons

When it comes to new keyboard designs, especially ones as chonky as the cyberboard, it's actually really helpful to have a size comparison, haha.

I was showing it to my wife yesterday (we were talking about cool weights and she was saying it's silly because you can't see them - so I showed her something you CAN see) and her question was how big it really was.

[Riverman]

The AEK II could come with wildly different switches (including even Mitsumi switches) depending on country of origin, date of manufacture, etc. I think Matias was probably targetting the SKCM cream damped switches, specifically, when creating their dampened tactile switches.

Do you find the dampened tactiles to be scratchy at all? I have found some boards with them that feel relatively smooth, and some that feel scratchy (mostly newer ones, including brand new). There's the obvious thing with wear, but it seems to be more than that. I'm starting to wonder if the reason may be that the older ones literally had many slightly different components. I swapped clicky guts into a mini pro just this weekend and I noticed that the gray sliders were a different shade from the latest production dampened tactile sliders (maybe just yellowing with age a bit), the contact leaves were made of a different material and/or had a different finish, and that even the springs had a different finish. The modern clickies and linears are as smooth as glass, and the same sliders feel smooth with the clicky leaves. The tactile leaves feel smooth with the undampened sliders. It is weird as heck.
[/quote]

I'm sure they must have been targeting the cream damped switches, but they really failed miserably, in my opinion.  They made a decent switch, and I enjoy them on their own, but they're kind of crappy when you compare them to a real cream damped switch in an AEK II.  I've owned quite a few AEK IIs over the years, including a brand new one back in 1990, and I've been lucky to have never had a switch get scratchy.

I don't ever keep two keyboards on my desk, but I often have two keyboards at my desk.  Sometimes I can't decide if I want to use a Topre or a Cherry board, so I have a couple of options.  I'm sure my coworkers think I'm nuts for constantly swapping keyboards.  I used to use an AEK II with an iMate at work, but now I sit by a window, and I don't want my last remaining AEK II to yellow more than it has.

[Maledicted]

The AEK II could come with wildly different switches (including even Mitsumi switches) depending on country of origin, date of manufacture, etc. I think Matias was probably targetting the SKCM cream damped switches, specifically, when creating their dampened tactile switches.

Do you find the dampened tactiles to be scratchy at all? I have found some boards with them that feel relatively smooth, and some that feel scratchy (mostly newer ones, including brand new). There's the obvious thing with wear, but it seems to be more than that. I'm starting to wonder if the reason may be that the older ones literally had many slightly different components. I swapped clicky guts into a mini pro just this weekend and I noticed that the gray sliders were a different shade from the latest production dampened tactile sliders (maybe just yellowing with age a bit), the contact leaves were made of a different material and/or had a different finish, and that even the springs had a different finish. The modern clickies and linears are as smooth as glass, and the same sliders feel smooth with the clicky leaves. The tactile leaves feel smooth with the undampened sliders. It is weird as heck.

I'm sure they must have been targeting the cream damped switches, but they really failed miserably, in my opinion.  They made a decent switch, and I enjoy them on their own, but they're kind of crappy when you compare them to a real cream damped switch in an AEK II.  I've owned quite a few AEK IIs over the years, including a brand new one back in 1990, and I've been lucky to have never had a switch get scratchy.

I wouldn't know, I can't say that I have ever felt dampened cream switches, much less ones in good shape. I have almost snagged a few boards that most likely had them in them, but never have yet. The best of the dampened tactiles from Matias that I have felt have been pretty nice, maybe not Topre nice, but they're quieter than my stock 87u. Not a tactile guy anyway.

I don't ever keep two keyboards on my desk, but I often have two keyboards at my desk.  Sometimes I can't decide if I want to use a Topre or a Cherry board, so I have a couple of options.  I'm sure my coworkers think I'm nuts for constantly swapping keyboards.  I used to use an AEK II with an iMate at work, but now I sit by a window, and I don't want my last remaining AEK II to yellow more than it has.

You use Topre and Cherry interchangeably?  MX clears, maybe?

Yellowing just gives it character. I think some of the most tempting ancient buys for me have always been those boards that look like they've seen everything the world has to offer ... and have survived.

[treeleaf64]

Yes, yes . All the time.  ..

Now I only have Novatouch on my desk

[funkmon]

I do but not for any real reason. I just get lazy when I'm switching them out to test something or I get a new keyboard. Like right now, this is my desk.



For those following along, that's my cheap space saving keyboard underneath the XT. I was using that a while back just to play with it as a spacesaver since I discovered that I like the XT layout. I then went back to the XT with the international keycaps, and I just got my AT that I overpaid for back in the mail after the guy who sold it to me fixed the spacebar so I'm making sure everything is okay on it still.

But this isn't normal, per say. I usually just run a rotation of a Model M and a Matias, though I've become a bit numbed to the ear cancer that is Models F lately, so I might drop the Model M from the rotation and go to XT -> Matias back and forth. I keep them in boxes in the closet.

[Maledicted]

I do but not for any real reason. I just get lazy when I'm switching them out to test something or I get a new keyboard. Like right now, this is my desk.

Show Image

For those following along, that's my cheap space saving keyboard underneath the XT. I was using that a while back just to play with it as a spacesaver since I discovered that I like the XT layout. I then went back to the XT with the international keycaps, and I just got my AT that I overpaid for back in the mail after the guy who sold it to me fixed the spacebar so I'm making sure everything is okay on it still.

But this isn't normal, per say. I usually just run a rotation of a Model M and a Matias, though I've become a bit numbed to the ear cancer that is Models F lately, so I might drop the Model M from the rotation and go to XT -> Matias back and forth. I keep them in boxes in the closet.

I think I must be an ear cancer enthusiast. It is good to see the Model F growing on you.

[el_murdoque]

I have a JJ40 with blank keycaps. This proved to be a handful for almost everyone else trying to use my machine.
So I keep  a full sized Wooting Two close by for those that need a more regular means of entering text.
 

[-Jerry-]

I have a JJ40 with blank keycaps. This proved to be a handful for almost everyone else trying to use my machine.
So I keep  a full sized Wooting Two close by for those that need a more regular means of entering text.

Ha!

I had an Iris split-ortho board on my desk at work for a while. It had blank DSA caps and was in Colemak Mod-DHm.

Funnily enough, nobody ever tried to use my PC.

[Leslieann]

I do quite often, probably half the time there's a spare keyboard or laptop on the desk for one reason or another.

[jackrabbit]

I love having 2 on deck! I use the tada68 with gat silent inks for work and coding, and the corsair with low profile cherry reds for games. I'm even thinking of making a left-half-only quefrency or similar with lightweight switches for FPS games to give my mouse more room for movement...

[Maledicted]

I love having 2 on deck! I use the tada68 with gat silent inks for work and coding, and the corsair with low profile cherry reds for games. I'm even thinking of making a left-half-only quefrency or similar with lightweight switches for FPS games to give my mouse more room for movement...

  For Corsair representation.



The number row will also be metal, eventually.

Is the Razer mouse near its keyboard rival intentional?

[-Jerry-]

The number row will also be metal, eventually.

How's that metal to type on? I've always thought it would be rather cold and harsh on the fingers.

[jackrabbit]

The number row will also be metal, eventually.

Is the Razer mouse near its keyboard rival intentional?

Those metal keys look gnarly! Where'd you get them?

And yep, I like being a walking contradiction of brand wars. Lol, I just chose the Razer mouse because it feels best in my hand, plain and simple. It's about the only Razer peripheral I like...not a fan of their keyboards, but man do their mice fit my hand well. And the Mamba wireless is very lightweight, and was on sale for $45 at Walmart recently.

[jamster]

I haven't regularly run two keyboards since I stopped ripping apart computers for work or a hobby, so when I did have two boards, one was usually draped over the open computer chassis.

These days, the only times I have multiple keyboards is because my WFH setup is a laptop with an external board (so it really doesn't count) or as a strictly temporary solution (e.g. I was setting up a Pi last night so had it attached to a little wireless Logitech keyboard/mouse).

I'm sufficiently happy with my main keyboards located at computers around the house that I don't have any inclination to swap them around. In fact, most of my keyboards are as close as I can get their switch types- all reasonably tactile mid weight (Topre 55, Ergo Clear 65, Outemu Silent Sky 68).

[-Jerry-]

I haven't regularly run two keyboards since I stopped ripping apart computers for work or a hobby, so when I did have two boards, one was usually draped over the open computer chassis.

I had an unlimited supply of membranes at work that were the sacrificial ones for the draping... or when I was configuring robots, haha

[jamster]

What's the chassis in the second image? Front mounted power supplies suggests back-to-front airflow, which is unusual, especially as there looks like an optical media bay at the front as well.  I guess it might actually be nicer to stand at the exhaust end of a server though if you're working in a frigid datacentre.

Edit: I see a smaller power supply at the back too, so now I am totally confused.

[-Jerry-]

What's the chassis in the second image? Front mounted power supplies suggests back-to-front airflow, which is unusual, especially as there looks like an optical media bay at the front as well.  I guess it might actually be nicer to stand at the exhaust end of a server though if you're wo rking in a frigid datacentre.

Good eye! It wasn’t a server blade, just a rack mount PC. It’s the brains for a machine that fabricates carbon nanotubes and other nanocarbon materials. Really just a fancy printer, haha.

Edit: the ‘power supply’ at the rear is just a standard fan with a power cable extension that runs up the left of the case to reach the PSU at the front

[_rubik]

I used to, but I recently added a USB switch to my desk so I can easily flip peripherals between devices. It's an absolute game changer.

[Kitty Stark]

Is the Razer mouse near its keyboard rival intentional?

I had a Razer Deathadder for almost 6 years that sat beside my Corsair board for the last 3 lol, I never really thought about it until I read this. Now that I have Corsair RAM and a Corsair mouse, it's only fitting that I'm getting rid of my keyboard, right? 🙃

[-Jerry-]

I used to, but I recently added a USB switch to my desk so I can easily flip peripherals between devices. It's an absolute game changer.

KVMP’s really are the best when it comes to managing multiple machines - I’ve got a four connection one at work and the only downside is that it’s massive and the cables are hard to tidy away. Thank god for desks with cable trunking gantry things.

[Maledicted]

The number row will also be metal, eventually.

How's that metal to type on? I've always thought it would be rather cold and harsh on the fingers.

Feels fantastic to me. I don't think that this building has had much in the way of air condition since I installed them, so I can't really comment so much on temperature, but the feel is great (to me), and the box navies I put in the board were already hilariously pingy, the ping has increased to the point that it even reverberates to a degree. When people talk about harshly bottoming out on keyboards though, I don't understand where they're coming from. Once I get used to any switch, I don't think I ever notice typing to be particularly jarring, and actually quite like everything pretty stiff in that regard. If I go from these to MX reds, then it sucks until I get used to it again, but then it is fine.

The number row will also be metal, eventually.

Is the Razer mouse near its keyboard rival intentional?

Those metal keys look gnarly! Where'd you get them?

And yep, I like being a walking contradiction of brand wars. Lol, I just chose the Razer mouse because it feels best in my hand, plain and simple. It's about the only Razer peripheral I like...not a fan of their keyboards, but man do their mice fit my hand well. And the Mamba wireless is very lightweight, and was on sale for $45 at Walmart recently.

I got them from Aliexpress. I think Banggood has them as well though. I could have sworn I had seen a space bar once too ... somewhere. They're nice and thick and chunky, I think they even somewhat lessen the force required to actuate these box navies due to their weight. lol. Now that I think of it, they must have significantly increased the weight of the keyboard in general. They've apparently been around a long time, and some people didn't like them years ago because they had begun to oxidize after a few months. I don't think that that's a risk with these newer ones as mine seem to all be coated in something, maybe a hard acrylic clear coat. Which is another consideration. They're completely smooth (which I love), with no home bumps. I'll probably add bumps with hot glue, but I know some people love their matte PBT.

If that mouse doesn't feel like a $5 Amazon mouse from a brand that will be gone in a month, then $45 sounds like a good price, especially if they fit you better than any others. My impressions of my friend's old MMO mouse were far from good, but I imagine they're not all like that.

Is the Razer mouse near its keyboard rival intentional?

I had a Razer Deathadder for almost 6 years that sat beside my Corsair board for the last 3 lol, I never really thought about it until I read this. Now that I have Corsair RAM and a Corsair mouse, it's only fitting that I'm getting rid of my keyboard, right? 🙃

I have never used a Corsair mouse, but I very seriously looked at them. I have an old EVGA Torq X10 still (on which the fancy red paint on the side buttons has all but de-materialized on), which doesn't fit my gigantic hand at all even when the gimmick knob is set to its largest size. I have a Rosewill mouse I bought mostly to keep in my laptop bag with my gaming laptop (came with a cable tie on the cable) that cost something like $35 on sale that's seriously the nicest mouse I have ever used. I wish they hadn't gone out of production soon after, I would have bought more. I need to compare it to one of the nicer Corsair FPS mice.

Whatever works, works.

The very first RAM sticks I ever purchased were something like a 1x1 2GB kit of DDR (yes, no number following DDR) Corsair memory, back when heat spreaders on your RAM was a cool new thing, so they were literally just the cheap plain sheets just glued onto the RAM chips. I'm pretty sure one of those sticks went bad before too long, but one is literally still in my first desktop computer.

[ddrfraser1]

Always

[rgleas]

I keep a loud keyboard and a less-loud keyboard on my desk all the time. Depending on time of day and what I'm doing my Model F can get too loud, especially around naptime and bedtimes.