Build a Practical / Popular Mechanical Keyboard that doesn't already exist

[ShakeR]

The title says it all.

It may not be possible with all of the different brand and models out there already, but I'm curious if you've ever found yourself searching for a keyboard that you thought 'should' exist but doesn't.

Form Factor:
Switch Type:
Frame Color / Build / Material:
Keycap plastic / color:
Your sales price:
Key rollover:
Other features (as many as you want):

Yes, we also have 'Build your Dream Keyboard' thread

[mkawa]

talk to unicomp, fund a new proper BS SSK design

achievement unlocked

oh and for extra credit make sure the design can fit their resistive trackpoint mechanism

[FoxWolf1]

Form Factor: TKL with Media Keys.
Switch Type: ALPS clones: rather fond of the tactile non-clicky blacks (type III, I think) in my D07. If those aren't available (and hence not "practical"), type Is are still okay, though not as nice. Type IIs (XMs) would be a last resort.
Frame Color/Build/Materials: Black ABS. Branding should be subtle.
Keycap Plastic/Color: Black ABS, white lettering.
My Sales Price: $64.99.
Key Rollover: 6KRO (via USB).
Other Features (here's where it gets interesting): IDI or similarly powerful onboard scripting/programmability, TrackPoint(tm)-style pointing device with 4-5 buttons located below the spacebar.

The idea is to make a decently affordable keyboard that, at the same time, has, as a USP, the ability to put a lot of input power at the user's fingertips, available with minimal hand motion required. I found that, when using a MacBook Pro with an external mouse connected, a lot of the time, I wound up using the touchpad anyway, because it made a lot of common commands readily available (through gestures) and was always close to the keyboard. A TrackPoint-ish device plus IDI-style onboard scripting would offer even more of the same advantages, since you could define whatever gestures you wanted and then implement them through the TrackPoint (and/or keys) without ever taking you hand away from the keyboard.

I'll be putting a slightly nicer variant up on the "Dream Keyboard" thread in a bit.

[ShakeR]

All gold.  Keep em coming.

[whiskerBox]

Ant Farm keyboard! Seriously would it be that hard.

[ShakeR]

Ant Farm keyboard! Seriously would it be that hard.

Ha! Where does the practicality come into play with this?

[demik]

Form Factor: hhkb size
Switch Type: plate mounted greens, 65g blues
Frame Color / Build / Material: red alu, hhkb layout
Keycap plastic / color: topre-ish black on dark grey pbt dye subs
Your sales price: 130
Key rollover: 6kro
Other features (as many as you want): detachable cable, programmable, only made for me! (jk )

[funxion]

Form Factor: TKL
Switch Type: Cherry MX and Topre
Frame Color / Build / Material: PCB-Mounted / Stainless Steel Case with Sharp Corners
Keycap plastic / color: Stainless Steel Key Caps with Transparent Windows for all Characters
Your sales price: $150
Key rollover: 6KRO
Other features (as many as you want): White LED-lit PCB (visible beneath key caps), Customizable (any RGB code) and Detachable (clip-on) LEDs on Each Switch

If only this would happen...

[Djuzuh]

Form Factor: Between TKL and hhkb/poker
Switch Type: brown plate mounted
Frame Color / Build / Material: Alu and acrylik
Keycap plastic / color: blank whatever color matches the rest, and standart size so easily switcheable
Your sales price: less than 200$
Key rollover: 6kro
Other features (as many as you want): Programmable, bonus point if detachable cable, maybe even some modularity, to add features oneself?

[asura]

Form Factor: 60% or smaller something like a num-lock to turn the QWERTY row into 123456, and a F-lock to turn the QWERTY row into F1F2F3F4F5F6, either locking or hold.
Switch Type: tactile with or without click, blue or stiffer.
Frame Color / Build / Material: Mate black or bare metal brushed or bead blasted / an "upside down" case, a plate - with easy opening cutouts - with a "skirt" and no upper / aluminium, one of the lightweight magnesium alloys would be cool but they come with machining issues... so a standard alloy's fine
Keycap plastic / colour: None
Your sales price: £200-220ish?
Key rollover: 6KRO
Other features (as many as you want): Full sized USB B connector, USB3 hub - 2 port, a key-cap puller and integral clip on the underside preferably so the puller sits flush in a cut-out, a matching aluminium lid 4 steel pins on the lid with matching recesses and magnets in the base, a programmable layer...

[whiskerBox]

Ant Farm keyboard! Seriously would it be that hard.

Ha! Where does the practicality come into play with this?

Seriously this thing would be amazing image the resistance a bunch of ants that are able to lift 50x their own weight could provide.




Come on guys lets beat the Koreans to this one.

[Findecanor]

Mechanical gaming keypad.

Form factor: Left hand only. WASD cluster + surrounding keys.
Switch type: Cherry MX Brown, Red och Black.
Frame colour: Black
Keycap plastic: Double-shot ABS black and transparent. Backlighting.
Sales price: Lower than full-size mechanical gaming keyboards. $65 maybe.
Key rollover: 6 keys over USB.
Other features: Joystick or D-pad. Scroll wheel. Wrist rest. Adjustability.

There exist several gaming keypads with rubber dome switches, there exist numerous fullsize gaming keyboards with Cherry MX switches, and a couple of guys on this board have modified their own Belkin Nostromo to have Cherry MX switches, yet the combination does not exist to buy.
I would not be very interested in buying myself (except perhaps to get two, and mod the other one to use for the right hand  ), I have just been expected to see one.

[FoxWolf1]

So here's my latest idea for a relatively practical/cheap keyboard design:
Form Factor: TKL with a TrackPoint, browser forward and back keys next to up arrow, Fn in place of Caps Lock, media controls on and around WASD, quick launch functions on 1-5.
Switch Type: PCB-mounted Cherry MX. I'd like MX Black, personally.
Frame: Black ABS.
Keycaps: Black ABS, lasered, with secondary legends pad-printed on the sides, Noppoo-style.
Rollover: NKRO.
Other features:
-"Fake plate"-- well, you see, I like the ease of modifying and maintaining PCB-mount keyboards, but I don't like how exposed the PCB is. So the solution (on the cheap) is a "fake plate" made of plastic: basically, a piece of rigid-ish plastic, with raised portions to cover the sides and tops of the switches (like an Azio Levetron Mech4/5's plate) for increased waterproofing, but without anything that the switches actually clip to. That way, you get liquid/dust/crumb protection for your PCB (and switches, too, which is better than a normal plate, even), but if you open up the keyboard and take off the fake plate, everything is readily accessible.

Sell it for $100 or so, though I suppose you could justify going even higher on the basis that there isn't much out there with a TrackPoint.

Edited to add: I have a whole thread full of theoretical keyboard ideas linked in my profile. Wouldn't say any of them are my "ideal"-- not yet, anyway-- but any feature ideas in them are free for the taking.

[Burz]

See my post in the other 'anything goes' thread for an ergonomic board with Matias switches. The specs I gave are actually quite practical.

[Polymer]

Form Factor:  TKL or something between TKL and 60%
Switch type:  Some type of Ergo Clear...Something needing more force than browns but not much more (so maybe 50-60g) Cherry or Matias Quiet  Switches.  Plate mounted.
Frame:  Anodized Aluminum but almost anything solid is fine.
Keycaps:  PBT PBT PBT...Dye Subbed for more variety if possible.
Rollover:  6KRO is fine. More is ok too but not if it makes it more expensive.
Cost:  Less than 150. 

[ShakeR]

This thread makes me want to add an R&D department and develop an in-house brand.  <-- sounds very expensive though

These ideas are great.  Hopefully we can at least pass them on to the powers that be and see if we can make some a reality.

I'm seriously brainstorming how to make an ant farm keyboard.

[damorgue]

A keyboard with the same layout as the KS Mini Noppoo Choc Mini, and LZ MX Mini, but in ISO.

(If possible, add a separate numpad which matches the main keyboard in shape.)

[Vectivus]

The title says it all.

It may not be possible with all of the different brand and models out there already, but I'm curious if you've ever found yourself searching for a keyboard that you thought 'should' exist but doesn't.

Form Factor:
Switch Type:
Frame Color / Build / Material:
Keycap plastic / color:
Your sales price:
Key rollover:
Other features (as many as you want):

Yes, we also have 'Build your Dream Keyboard' thread

I spent eons trying to find a keyboard that met these specifications, and ended up just hacking something together starting from a Filco.

Form Factor: FULL-SIZE GOD DAMN IT (none of this TKL/miniature ****)
Switch Type: MX Black/Red (linear)
Frame Color / Build / Material: Black, metal (aluminum/other?)
Keycap plastic / color: PBT, black, dye-subbed (or double-shot, if that becomes possible!)
Your sales price: name it. As long as it's less than four digits.
Key rollover: NKRO
Other features (as many as you want): not backlit, no media keys, no other bull**** features of any kind

[davkol]

Form Factor: 75% (the same layout as Noppoo Choc mini, but with dedicated Insert instead of Pause/Break, and standard-sized spacebar (possibly make left Ctrl&Alt smaller to keep AltGr as far to the left as possible))
Switch Type: Cherry MX Red/Clear, phantom-like plate to make lubing and replacing springs easy
Frame Color / Build / Material: durable, minimalist case in matte gray (color doesn't really matter, though), preferably not metal because of portability
Keycap plastic / color: PBT, color contrasting with case color, front-printed lettering
Your sales price: around $100
Key rollover: NKRO through full-speed USB (like on the CM Storm QF Pro), no ugly hacks like on the choc mini
Other features (as many as you want): fully programmable (using open-source software), optionally ISO layout, detachable microUSB cable, decent LEDs like on the SS 6Gv2 (in other words: not extremely bright blue)

If GH75 ever happens...

[ping111]

Okay guys, I'm gonna throw a wrench into this game, since we're inventing stuff:

The INFLATABLE TOPRE.

Using a switch on a macro program or something, you can actually use an onboard pump to pump air into or suck air out of Topre membranes to customize the resistance!

As you guys are the Topre experts, what do you think that kind of technology could make?

[JPG]

Form Factor: 65%(see http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=38847.0) this gives just enough keys for arrows, page up, down, home, end, del
Switch Type: Cherry MX (ergo clear?) If just 1 switch and economical, I would choose browns, but I would like to see blacks also. Also, PLATE MOUNT, and the best would be a design that would let us open switch without desoldering (would need to specify that it is done to the user's own risk and not under warranty, people would understand the risk but be happy to have this option if well explained, well I hope!)
Frame Color / Build / Material: durable simple case (grey/charcoal or black). ABS for cost, but Acrylic could be very nice
Keycap plastic / color: Best would be PBT, but for the cost ABS would be ok (Black on grey or white on black), preferably different color for mods (Wyse style)
Your sales price: around $100 (+- 20$ depending on options provided, up to 150$ if all included)
Key rollover: 6KRO+ (at least 6) on USB
Other features: Full LED backlit (rectangular led preferably), programmable

[ShakeR]

I love this thread...

[lazerpointer]

The title says it all.

It may not be possible with all of the different brand and models out there already, but I'm curious if you've ever found yourself searching for a keyboard that you thought 'should' exist but doesn't.

Form Factor:
Switch Type:
Frame Color / Build / Material:
Keycap plastic / color:
Your sales price:
Key rollover:
Other features (as many as you want):

Yes, we also have 'Build your Dream Keyboard' thread

form factor = TKL (to me it's the absolute perfect form factor. why would you want anything else?)
switch type = Buckling Spring or clicky Alps variant.
case material = Brass!
keys = Zinc coated aluminum! Or just aluminum or pewter works as well. (black or dark gray options.)
price ~ $300
key rollover = NKRO
additional features = pull out (right side) touchpad / buttons, similar to existing external touch pads. (obviously USB ports, and LED options would be great.)

Side note;
does Ducky have a patent on the reactive lighting mode??? I really, REALLY love that feature.... and now I've sold my last Ducky