First post, long time keyboard lover...at least when they're not crap.
I was 'one of those' running IBM k/bs with AT and PS2 adapters in the office, clicking away happily, then tried an original DAS blank, decided I like the key legends then found Unicomp and killed a handful of those over time (mostly due to the lovely habit of working remote/from home a lot and eating at the desk..they DO say you can send a kb back in for cleaning, but they were NASTY...so haven't taken 'em up on it yet!
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So...I'd gotten SO used to the Unicomp full-size that it never even occurred to me to look for a TKL k/b until I ordered one for one of our architects at work. As I HAVE had repetitive stress induced injuries in the past, I'm ALL about ergonomics, using a Logitech trackman wheel forever, have an Aeron at home and ergo human at the office, keyboard trays properly set up, etc...but just never realized how much 'extra movement' I was doing with a full-size board until I saw the aforementioned TKL at work.
Being so used to the IBM, cherry switches never really got a rise or second look out of me in the past. I bought a few misc. Cherry KBs for datacenters and server consoles, but never specified a specific switch type, etc., nor really cared much for them other than 'should last better than the random Dells.'
So, off I went looking for a TKL not for gaming ,but for typing, and typing, and typing some more. Razor, CM Storm, etc. etc. all came and were passed by in the research phase. HHK is interesting, but still rubber dome, and for the $, I didn't feel like racking up $1K in 'let me try them all' at this point in time. I almost bought a WASD 'standard' TKL, but then had almost expected the backlighting due to coming across all the 'gamer' keyboards in my research, then came across the code 87/TKL. I also picked up a Matias Ergo Pro, figuring one of the two might be 'the one' to replace my trusty-but-not-quite-as-beefy-as-original-IBMs Unicomps, which don't come in TKL versions.
After much agonizing, I went with the MX Greens. The Coder KB has the slight advantage, AFAIK, of coming with the o-rings installed as part of the price, plus the backlighting, otherwise it's pretty much the WASD TKL AFAIK. Why greens? Activation force vs the Unicomp/Model Ms. Blue was my 'fallback' if I couldn't find anything suitable in Greens...but figured I'd start with the closets I could to my buckling spring.
So...it arrived. Slightly annoyed I can't get a Mac or Linux key, but at least they leave the command key blank on their layout, and you can swap the Alt and Command key and a few others via DIP switches.
Initial Impressions: It's reasonably hefty. It's click-ish, more or less sounds pretty similar to my Unicomps, even with the o-rings installed. I DO use a ten key somewhat often, mostly when paying bills or occasionally for Excel work, so that bit's strange, although I picked up a USB mechanical 10-key add-on, and just slide it forward when I need it - not as good as the IBM 10-key layout etched into my brain, but just couldn't find one matching the layout, so I'm slower on the extra 10-key still, but...oh well.
The Unicomp by comparison is...'deeper' sounding. I wasn't to say the Code87 w/Greens has a bit more pressure to activate. It's not excessively more, but it is more. It feels 'kind of the same' but not entirely vs the IBM or Unicomps..probably 'close enough' for most people wanting to expand their options beyond Unicomp. I AM happy I got the o-rings, as I type reasonably quickly and have been doing it for years, but my hands overlap, cross, and do some bad things, on top of which I generally do indeed bottom out the keys MOST of the times.
Overall, I like the layout and the keyboard. I can type on it all day long, although I MIGHT consider giving the blues a try sometime. The LED backlighting and the 'translucent' keys are nice, other than I'm unaware of being able to find matching keycaps anywhere. I like the front-etched extended key legends (e.g. media keys), although one ding is those are etched and don't allow light through like the rest of the keys.
By comparison to the Ergo Pro, I like the key feel of the MX Greens a LOT better at the moment...the Ergo Pro seems to feel barely mechanical at all and is much lighter, with very little 'click' to it. I'm committed to giving the Ergo Pro a fair shake, as it seems to be made well, but I'm unsure if I like the key feel...and while I thought I had ordered the 'regular force, make noise' version, I'm starting to question it.
Thumbs up so far on the code87 overall. Very little I don't like about it overall, really.
