Where to get a Colemak mechanical keyboard (cheap?)

[semisight]

Hello Geekhack!

I'm new here. I've used the past few days to research mechanical keyboards, and have come to the (easy) conclusion that my current one sucks (it's a cheapo verbatim) and that
I should try one of these mechanical keyboards that you seem so passionate about.

My dilemma is this: I'm learning Colemak. While I've found some otherwise good deals, they're all marred by the fact that I don't want to spend lots of money on a keyboard that has a qwerty layout that I'll never use again. I found WASD's site, but they only offer cherry red/black, and I'm not a gamer (I'd prefer blues/browns).

So the question is: where can I find a less expensive but solid colemak keyboard? (or if not, a blank one would work too I guess).

Thanks,
semi

[Tony]

For Colemak I use Ninja keycaps on my Filco mechanical keyboard since Colemak keycaps is quite rare.

For Unicomp you have an option to get Colemak keycaps for your SpaceSaver.

Geekhack have keycap groupbuy which has options for doubleshot Colemak keycaps. Here is some pictures of them from Culinia on Colemak forum.

Link: http://forum.colemak.com/viewtopic.php?id=1209

[nar]

WASD is restocking on the browns and the blues in April so if you wait till then you can buy it there.

[stingrae]

Hello Geekhack!

I'm new here. I've used the past few days to research mechanical keyboards, and have come to the (easy) conclusion that my current one sucks (it's a cheapo verbatim) and that
I should try one of these mechanical keyboards that you seem so passionate about.

My dilemma is this: I'm learning Colemak. While I've found some otherwise good deals, they're all marred by the fact that I don't want to spend lots of money on a keyboard that has a qwerty layout that I'll never use again. I found WASD's site, but they only offer cherry red/black, and I'm not a gamer (I'd prefer blues/browns).

So the question is: where can I find a less expensive but solid colemak keyboard? (or if not, a blank one would work too I guess).

Thanks,
semi

Ideally shouldn't your endgame be typing without needing to look at the keyboard?

No one it seems makes a keyboard with a plugnplay colemak so you are using a keyboard layout on the OS. So either I suggest getting in on some groupbuy or buying a set of pbt blanks.

[fossala]

I think unicomp in the past have made custom boards (controller wise).

[Input Nirvana]

Blanks look great. Once you get used to it, other keyboards look goofy with all the big letters and numbers everywhere

[semisight]

Blanks are the end goal. As a computer science student, I'm not sure I'll be able to handle the loss of productivity right now. I'm already typing at 15-20 wpm hahaha.

[Agiel]

Trust me. Relying on keycaps to learn touch-typing is counter-productive and will only hurt you in the long run by giving you bad habits. If you really can't remember where the keys are I suggest you bring up an on-screen keyboard or print a sheet to put in front of your keyboard.

Keeping the standard keycaps can also be helpful if you ever need to type something in QWERTY, since learning a new layout is almost guaranteed to mess with your head and make you forget where the keys used to be (especially if you go cold turkey like I did).

Now, if you want Colemak keycaps for the coolness factor then I'm all for it. Personally I prefer blanks, but I've lost count of how many times I wish I had Colemak keycaps so I wouldn't have to switch back to QWERTY when letting a friend use my computer.

[Tony]

Qwerty Ninja keycaps would be a compromise for Colemak users. So you can type without looking at keyboards, but if someone wants to sit down at your computer and type some lines, they can.