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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: DamienG on Sat, 26 January 2013, 15:33:40
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So, given it's going to be a while before I have the parts to assemble my Phantom I thought I'd offer to get a keyboard for my wife as she needs one for her office.
First off we looked online at keyboard layouts (romantic, I know) - liked the idea of less-than full-size but wants a numeric keypad (she spends too much time in Excel). Best keyboard layout looks to be the CM Quick Fire TK. I haven't seen any others that drop the arrow key section and go with the numeric keypad - am I missing any? Looks like the phantom couldn't do this as the numeric pad is 4 across, not 3.
Next step was Fry's to have her test some switches to see if she preferred blue, brown or red. My money was on the (currently hard to get on the TK) brown but she complicated the situation a bit by preferring black switches on the Mionix Zibal 60 and Azio Mech5 they had.
The final result will have white keycaps so the question is:
Do I go with the CM Quick Fire TK and a donor keyboard and swap over all the switches or is there something else with a similar format to the TK?
If I change the switches what's a good donor keyboard?
[)amien
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Here's what you should do....
Get an mx blue tkl, prob cm quickfire, for $55 from amazon, it says out of stock, but you can still order it at that price on the "right side of the page" where it says ships in 2-4 weeks.. amazon restocks really fast, so you'll likely get it before then.
then get the 'adesso" numpad for $32 on Amazon. and Swap in Black switches on that..
Unless she's VERY sure that she wants black switches for her main,, don't get it......
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She definitely doesn't want Cherry blues for her main keyboard. She's tried my DAS keyboard and hates them plus her small open office would be drowned in the noise.
As for adding a numeric pad onto a tenkeyless - it would be just as large as a regular keyboard then.
[)amien
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A couple alternatives to Tk that are similar are Plum 96 and Cherry G80-1865/1800. Both of these are also PCB mount so are much eaier to switch mod if you choose.
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www.elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,tenkeyless&pid=fc200rlab
I think this will suit her quite well. It has a more professional appearance compared to the gamer-esque Quickfire.
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www.elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,tenkeyless&pid=fc200rlab
I think this will suit her quite well. It has a more professional appearance compared to the gamer-esque Quickfire.
Unfortunately is missing a numeric keypad and if I add a separate one it's no smaller than a regular keyboard.
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www.elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,tenkeyless&pid=fc200rlab
I think this will suit her quite well. It has a more professional appearance compared to the gamer-esque Quickfire.
Unfortunately is missing a numeric keypad and if I add a separate one it's no smaller than a regular keyboard.
Oh, I see...Then, I don't think she'll have too much of a choice other than the TK you've mentioned. If she's not okay with that, then she may as well get a full-sized keyboard.
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Okay, so reduced-size but WITH numberpad? Let's see...
-Quickfire TK, as mentioned.
-Plum 96: similar to QFTK. Comes with MX Black by default, which may be good for you, but is also PCB-mount, so easy to change.
-Tt MEKA (with no G or anything): same width as the above, but has arrow keys tucked underneath Enter, so you can use them and the number pad at the same time. Once again MX Black.
-Cherry G80-1865: Has all the keys of a full-size (I think), but kinda squished together to make it narrower.
This is off the top of my head...there might be more out there that can be found with some digging.
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-Plum 96: similar to QFTK. Comes with MX Black by default, which may be good for you, but is also PCB-mount, so easy to change.
That looks like it might be an ever better option as it already has white keycaps too. PCB-mount will probably be okay. Now I just need to find out where to get these from!
Thanks!
[)amien
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-Plum 96: similar to QFTK. Comes with MX Black by default, which may be good for you, but is also PCB-mount, so easy to change.
That looks like it might be an ever better option as it already has white keycaps too. PCB-mount will probably be okay. Now I just need to find out where to get these from!
Thanks!
[)amien
talk to qtan he should be able to get you one.
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How about a G80-11900? It's 19" wide, so narrower than fullsize, but longer.
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Honestly I am pretty sceptical to someone wanting to get Blacks unless they REALLY like them. They aren't an easy switch to get used to and can get tiring very fast. That being said I am typing on some right now, but I feel slower on this than I do on my blues by a fair amount. I normally type an average of 75 wpm on typeracer on blues, but only 68 wpm on blacks. Of course there are plenty of advantages. Although the main one I can think of is how much quieter they are than any other cherry switch. Especially if you put O-rings on them.
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How about a G80-11900? It's 19" wide, so narrower than fullsize, but longer.
11900 is a good call. If she is used to trackpads and uses excel a lot, the close proximity of trackpad and numblock could be ideal.
Otherwise go for an 1800 or plum96 though she may get annoyed having arrows and numbers layered with the latter. The meka has a big ass enter iirc which will be hard to source an alternative for if you want to change out caps.
Wildcard option would be poker/race and a separate numpad but then she has to get used to a fn layer and getting blacks/modding if needed will be harder.
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Honestly I am pretty sceptical to someone wanting to get Blacks unless they REALLY like them. They aren't an easy switch to get used to and can get tiring very fast. That being said I am typing on some right now, but I feel slower on this than I do on my blues by a fair amount. I normally type an average of 75 wpm on typeracer on blues, but only 68 wpm on blacks. Of course there are plenty of advantages. Although the main one I can think of is how much quieter they are than any other cherry switch. Especially if you put O-rings on them.
You gotta practice ;D
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Curiously I feel faster on my MX blacks than blues - maybe the novelty, maybe the keycaps, dunno.
But I can see that they would be an acquired taste, particularly for people who do not have inherently strong fingers.
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Curiously I feel faster on my MX blacks than blues - maybe the novelty, maybe the keycaps, dunno.
But I can see that they would be an acquired taste, particularly for people who do not have inherently strong fingers.
To me it feels like when I go to Blues from Blacks, I type waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too hard and it feels really awkward.
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But I can see that they would be an acquired taste, particularly for people who do not have inherently strong fingers.
She played viola for a long time.
[)amien
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Unless Blacks are in a Korean keyboard they will have the resale value of a rock. [ask me how i know] :(
Some rocks are very expensive!
If you go with PCB mount you will have easy swapping options.
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Yeah going to go for the Plum 96 - she likes the wireless option so that's Korean and PCB mount I believe.
Just waiting to see if qtan can score me one.
[)amien
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No answer from qtan so tried AliExpress and BuyChina as both had listings for them.
Alas both suppliers on both sites were actually out of stock of the white with black stems. One gave me a lot of hassle to cancel and kept trying to persuade me to go with a different combination (he shouldn't have listed it in-stock).
Still searching!
[)amien
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She definitely doesn't want Cherry blues for her main keyboard. She's tried my DAS keyboard and hates them plus her small open office would be drowned in the noise.
As for adding a numeric pad onto a tenkeyless - it would be just as large as a regular keyboard then.
[)amien
I do not agree that the numpad would make it as large as a normal keyboard. The beautifull thing about the numpad independant from the keyboard is that you can put it where u want, not next to your keyboard, and on the side you prefer. So it's not the same as having them in one keyboard.
Also, well you could look at the GH60 and GH60pad (or whatever the official name). Not cheap, but then you can choose what u want! (and not available yet, but soon if I can rely on the comments of the thread).