I mean, once you open the conversation to 65%, why not consider 75%? Or a TKL? I find that unless you are using a mech board with something intrinsically small like an iPad (or maybe a laptop), there are no compelling reasons to discard keys just to save space.
Going to have to disagree strongly with this. There are a plethora of completely valid reasons that a small keyboard is in fact superior to a large keyboard in a variety of circumstances. Let's just take the simplest case of a TKL first. If you never use the number pad, why would you have it? Unless you do numeric data entry or a lot of calculatoring on your computer, I can't imagine the number pad gets used. If it's not used, it's not needed. But, let's look at it differently, not just as a case of "it isn't worse if this is missing."
- By removing the number pad, you gain back desk space, which you can use for other things.
- By removing the number pad, you are able to bring the mouse closer to the keyboard, thereby improving ergonomics and convenience.
If space is at a premium, superfluous stuff is always worse.
I do understand the whole "why have it if I don't use it?" argument. I'm sure that's why some people gravitate to 60% boards as their main drivers. Why have keys they have no use for staring at them all day, right?
Well even though I don't use every single key on a full-size board, they still do serve an aesthetic purpose. They show off a beautiful keycap set better than a smaller board. There is simply no way, for example, that a TKL or 60% board can display a Space Cadet set in all its glory. In fact, nothing short of a 108-key board will do, as far as I'm concerned. And I don't buy keycaps sets that aren't worthy of a full 104-key display platform.
And the space saving argument is one I just never understood when talking about the desktop computer environment. You'd think there was a sudden shortage in basic desk space in the world. As if one day we all woke up and suddenly there was no room for our mice. The truth is that full-size keyboards have been getting smaller over the years, thanks to narrow bezels and less empty space between key sections. If anything, modern keyboards have been freeing up desk space without sacrificing keys. There was room enough for a mouse back when everyone was using their Model Ms, and there's more than enough room for a mouse today with keyboards like a Filco Majestouch-2 or a Varmilo VA108.
I think what has happened is that we've become so accustomed to mobile computing nowadays that the current generation of computer users can't abide a typing platform any larger than a laptop's. I am probably a dinosaur in this respect. I'm not a novelist or a blogger or a student. I have no need for mech keyboards to be small and portable. And the smaller they are, the less useful they are to me; this Pok3r I am typing on is only useful to me for writing forum posts, and so that's pretty much all that I do with it.
