that you all are a horrible influence?
I was totally happy, bombing along on my Apple aluminum and then I happen upon this site. Got myself to thinking that I wanted a better typing experience. Now I am a full blown addict.
I never actually did an intro post, so I figured I might as well do a confessional. From meek to geek, one keyboard at a time...
I did a lot of research on GeekHack before I decided to do anything. If I was going to spend the money on a good keyboard, I wanted to make sure I was getting something perfect for me. A co-worker has a Filco with blue mx switches at the office, so I was able to try out his. I waited for a sale on ncix.ca and then got a Filco M2 TKL with brown switchs for my home keyboard. I had been eyeing the CM QFR TKL at the same time (mainly cause it was not expensive).
I lasted about two weeks with the Filco at home before I was looking for a keyboard for work. I was able to get a QFR for $50 on sale, so I got it cause I thought it would be good enough. It had blue switches which I wasn't too keen on, but I figured it was better than what I had. At about the same time I got a set of pbt caps from imsto for my Filco at home.
I was happy. The Filco at home with browns was a dream. The pbt caps felt great. Great experience all around. I loved getting up in the morning and getting into code right away because it just felt so good. Life was good...
That lasted about 8 months. I happen to have a great job which allows me to work from home about half the week. I started to notice that I just didn't want to go to the office anymore. Especially on days when I knew I had to get a lot of coding done. At that point I knew that the blue switches at work just weren't working for me. My main complaint with them is the behaviour at the actuation point. On the way down, you get the click and the actuation of the switch at the same time. But on the way back up, you can pass the actuation point without passing the tactile bump. So you can actuate the switch many times with only a single tactile click. Every time I type two of the same letters back to back, I would always press to the click, then release and press again. But the key would not come above the click, so the second press would not click. I would always register in my mind that "the key didn't press" because I didn't get a second click, so I would press it again and then have to backspace. Also, I found that after typing a whole day on blue switches, my hands would get really tires. So I decided that it had to go. Luckily another co-worker was loving this keyboard because every day I worked from home I let him use it.
So now I was on the hunt again. I knew I loved brown switches, but I had never tried reds and thought I might like them. One of the things I love about brown switches is the light key pressure. I thought reds might be a really nice switch for me because of their light key pressure. Back to ncix.ca and I got another great deal on a Filco Ninja 104 with red switches. I don't mean to keep promoting ncix.ca, but they often have sales and sometimes free shipping. I got this 104 keyboard for $109 which is a pretty good price for a Filco IMO. I got the 104 this time because I often work with IP addresses and the num row was starting to annoy me. I have to admit, a 104 keyboard is just too damn big, but w/e.
In this whole process I realized that I had lost touch with my good ol' friend GeekHack. I started checking in more often and posting now and then. Getting in on some group buys. Having a laugh at some of the randomness. I have been around a lot of different forums and I have to say that the community you guys have built here is awesome. There is enough crazy, but with a nicely moderated air of calm and level headedness. There is so much knowledge here and so many people who are truly kind and generous.
The problem with this is that I keep running into new things that I think. "Damn, that would be awesome..."
So now I am on a quest for the perfect 60% board (i think). I end up traveling a bit for work, so being able to take an awesome small keyboard with me would be great. Also, I am interested in seeing if I can put together a better setup for work with a smaller keyboard and a num pad on the left and the mouse on the right of the keyboard. But in the 60% market there are some trade offs. Mainly the arrow keys for me. I think that I should be fine as long as I can do arrow keys with only my right hand, so I am very interested to try an HHKB Pro 2. I love some of the design decisions they made with that board, but I have never tried topre switchs and I have no idea if I will like them. I know that right now, my favourite switch is mx browns. Also, if I can live without dedicated arrow keys still remains to be seen. The GHpad might be the perfect addition to the HHKB at work because I get a num pad and the option of dedicated arrows if the Fn layer arrow keys don't cut it on the HHKB. I love what they are doing with the GHpad. So smart... Another reason this community is awesome...
So here I am. Considering dropping close to $300 on a keyboard with a switch I have never tried, in a format I have never tried.
Look what you guys have done to a completely rational person.
Dat wallethack OP!!!
