Hey folks, I'm looking for two new keyboards.
One for work and one for home.
I've gone around a few best buys and demo'd the keyboards. Not quite sure what to get.
I prefer Razer or something American. Needs to be long lasting.
The office keyboard will need to be on the conservative side though, none of those graphics designs, however.
Do you use the number pad often? If not I recommend a Filco TKL (TenKeyLess, they don't have the numpad), for both home and office, since it takes less space than a full size board and promotes better ergonomics by allowing the mouse to be closer to the normal area of the keyboard. If you need the numpad, then the full size Filco boards will do the job. For your home board a Ducky Shine 3 is also a good option if you like LED backlighting. They also come in full sized and TKL.
How do you like the switches to feel? Do you like to have some tactile feedback when typing? Do you prefer the keys to click when actuating? How strong do you want the resistance to be when pressing?
There are 3 main types of Cherry MX switches and 2 main resistance strengths:
Linear - no tactile feedback when the switch actuates, just a smooth movement from top to bottom, with the switch activating halfway down.
Tactile - the switches have a bump on the stem which can be felt as more initial resistance with a sudden reduction at the switch actuation point.
Clicky - there is a bump similar to tactile switches, but the reduction in force is more pronounced and they make a high-pitched "click" when actuating. They need to be almost completely released to reset the "clicker", so the actuation and release points are different (hysteresis).
MX Reds are linear and soft, Blacks are linear and hard.
MX Browns are tactile and soft, Clears are tactile and hard with a more prominent bump which starts earlier in the press.
MX Blues are clicky and soft, Greens are clicky and hard, Whites are clicky and hard with a softer click sound.
Some say the feeling of typing on the clicky switches is best, since the click gives you good aural feedback of when the switch actuates and the sudden drop in resistance gives good tactile feedback at the same time.
Favourite switch type is a very personal thing, though.
I like Browns and Clears (especially Clears with aftermarket 62g springs since they're softer than the stock ones, but retain the nice large tactile bump of the Clear stem) since I like having tactile feedback, but don't like the clicky sound of Blues and Greens. I also don't like the hysteresis of the clicky switches, particularly for gaming, but it's not really noticable for just typing.
Good luck with your keyboard purchasing.
