I just wanted to post up about my short journey with my new keyboards. A little over a month ago I was getting fed up with my Apple Aluminum keyboard. It was nice for a scissor switch board, but it was starting to wear out and I was having some finger joint pain from using it for long sessions. I started out on my search for something to replace it with and found this site. From there the journey really started!
After reading up about all my options out there and price points I decided to start with a blue cherry board. I was not thrilled with that one, and wondered what else I could be missing so I decided the heck with it and bought three more boards. The following are my observations of each.
1) Adesso MKB-135b - Blue Cherry. Initially I liked the click and I liked the force needed. I was typing pretty poorly when first starting to use it, but after a few days started to get into it more. However, there were a couple of things I did Not like that ultimately made me send it back. First was the overall quality of the board. The legends were sloppy, the case looked like it was not put together well, and I just did not get a good overall feeling about the 'board. Since this was my first mechanical I thought it was rather pricey and I was not happy with the cost to quality ratio as I saw it. Second, and the killer for me was the sound! At first I liked the clicks. After some extended typing sessions I decided that the high pitched clicks were really starting to get to me! I just did not like the sound after all.
2) Keytronic 3600U. Rubber Dome. This is one of their "ergo" boards with the multiple key weights. I really wanted to try a Topre out, but could not swallow the price needed. I found a couple threads here that said the Keytronics were a fairly close facsimile of what a Topre would feel like. I have to say that I LOVE the Topre "thock" sound and was hoping for a little of that. Got the 'board in and I hated it. I really did. The weighting was heavier than anything I had ever used before. I think the Ripometer reading I got was close to 90 or 100gm on some keys. Off center hits resulted in a binding feeling. I just liked nothing about it. The space bar felt like I was hitting lead. The only slightly redeeming quality about it was the shape. That I could live with. I also have to mention I let my wife try it out and she liked it. She normally types on a laptop or a cheap Dell at work.
3) Das Professional S - Brown Cherry. This is tied with my current favorite keyboard to type on. I immediately liked it. I had some slight issues with how light the keys were and making typos like mad, but after a few days I can just glide across the keys. I am still learning how to not bottom out so hard, but that is coming along as well. I am not bothered by the gloss finish or the font, and I got a nice educator discount on it. I really have no complaints at all about this board.
4) Unicomp Spacesaver - Buckling Spring. This is the second board that is tied with the Das for typing fun. Seems like an odd couple to me at first with one being the light, quiet Brown Cherry and this being the loud, heavier BS 'board. I just like it a lot. It is so much fun to type on. I happen to like the sound of it quite a bit. It does not bother me at all unlike the high pitched clicks of the Blue Cherry switch. The feedback is second to none on the keystroke. My only complaints are minor. One is the aesthetics of the board are not the best. The one I own is black with black, blank keys. That helps out in the looks dept for me, but it is still rather blah and kind of cheap looking. The second minor complaint just cant be helped - the Noise. I can only use the board when I dont need to worry about noise. When I am just flying along the racket is quite loud! Even so, I do find when I get the chance I love to pull it out and type away for as long as possible.
So there it is. My short journey from a scissor switch to an addicted keyboard lover in one month. I will have to admit I still use the Apple (or a Logitech K120) when I have to be super quiet. I dont like using either and only use them sparingly. Sometimes it just cant be helped. I think I would still like to try a Topre out and if I can find a deal on a used one will probably bite the bullet. For now I am quite happy to type away on my Brown Cherry and BS keyboards.
btw - just for reference, I just type. No gaming, no programming, or anything else. All my keyboards are just typed on...
