Looking for a durable keyboard for lots of typing

[mail2345]

I've been looking into a mechanical keyboard recently, as I've been allowed to use a school laptop to type up my work(handwriting disability). I've lurked on the forums for a bit.

I'll be using this for typing up essays and such, a some programming, and a bit of gaming(however I probably won't need NKRO).

The keyboard needs to be durable, as it will be travelling quite a bit.

Sound may be an issue. I'll be typing in a classroom environment, however the class is pretty loud already.

Price is a huge issue. Something under a hundred dollars would be fine, but shipping is also a problem(Hawaii shipping is variable, Unicomp's shiping was 34 dollars, verses Newegg's 20 dollars).

I've been considering the Rosewill RK-9000, as they are apparently re branded Filcos, which seem durable.

Any suggestions?

[Cheese101]

Model M is the king of durability.

[bugfix]

Or a Unicomp Customizer/Spacesaver but it would come at 103$ as you've pointed out.

[keyb_gr]

TBH, a full-sized Model M or Customizer would seem a little large and heavy for being lugged around on a regular basis. They're not that robust either. Quite noisy, too.

The Rosewill seems like a more attractive option, being more compact and a plate-mounted mechanical with nice build. That would still be noisy though.

I'd look out for a Cherry G84-5200 series board (LCMEU suffix for US layout). These use ML keyswitches which are quite OK in terms of feel, have reasonable dimensions without getting all too cramped in the alphanumeric area, and weigh barely more than a pound.

If that seems a little too much of a compromise, I'd look for a tenkeyless board with browns. Price could be a problem here though.

[NimbleRabit]

I'd just be sure to listen to some audio of browns if you're thinking of going with a tenkeyless brown board.  I don't know exactly how loud your classroom is, but I have trouble imagining a brown board being quiet enough for a classroom while a teacher is talking.  At least to me, in that situation being as quiet as possible seems like easily one of the most important factors.

[keyboardlover]

I'd just be sure to listen to some audio of browns if you're thinking of going with a tenkeyless brown board.  I don't know exactly how loud your classroom is, but I have trouble imagining a brown board being quiet enough for a classroom while a teacher is talking.  At least to me, in that situation being as quiet as possible seems like easily one of the most important factors.

This is important. Cherry blues and buckling springs will certainly be too loud and I would think plate-mounted browns would be too. PCB-mounted browns would be a safe bet - but you'd have to find a Cherry (or Compaq MX11800) on ebay. IMO they're really nice to type essays on too.

Edit: My personal recommendation would be a clean MX11800 on ebay. They are nice and compact and great to type on with PCB-mounted browns.

[NamelessPFG]

What about Cherry MX Clears? They may be more difficult to get a hold of, but it seems like they'd be quiet enough in operation. (Not that I would know, because three switches on a numpad is a far cry from actually using a whole keyboard loaded with them.)

For quietness, it's either that or Topre, which is guaranteed $200+.

[keyboardlover]

I thought of clears, but I know of no "portable" keyboard with them PCB-mounted or plate-mounted). There is a POS board you can find on ebay, but they can come with either browns or clears so I would recommend contacting them ahead of time and requesting a board with your choice of switch. They will pull the keycaps and check for you.

[theferenc]

Too bad you put that price limit in place, or you could get a HHKB, or one of those brown "Poker" keyboards from China (after shipping, they seem to be over $100 from what I've seen).

Maybe see about a noppoo, or a cherry g80?

Oh, and portable with clears: Deck. But again, expensive.

[keyboardlover]

Or a tenkeyless Realforce for that matter! But due to the price constraint, I stand by my MX11800 recommendation.

[theferenc]

Fair enough. But the Decks at least are much less expensive than an 86/7 key realforce.

And wasn't there a TG3 82 key with clears floating around? Those aren't usually as expensive as the decks.

[mail2345]

After hearing the sounds, a blue seems okay, but I'll stick on the side of caution(don't want to pay shipping twice).

How do the ML switches in the G84 compare to the MX 11800's switches?
I couldn't find much information, besides that MLs are slimmer.

[Lanx]

ml's suck compared to cherry mx's but are way better than mushy membrane. i wouldn't use a ml4100 as a daily driver tho.
Point, i have 2 ml4100's in the house 1 for the htpc one for the fiancee so they are viable.

[elef]

After hearing the sounds, a blue seems okay

The recordings misled you. The blues are way too loud to be ever used in a classroom.
In fact, my plate mounted browns are also too loud if you type the way I do, bottoming out most of the time and hitting backspace and enter hard. Maybe pcb mounted browns would be quiet enough if you type softly withouh bottoming out, but if you mash on the keys, even PCB mounted browns would require *very* tolerant classmates.
Mechanical keyboards are LOUD. They are also durable, so as long as you don't do ridicuous things like drop them from knee height regularly, you don't need to worry about that. I would say you should look for a light and silent mechanical keyboard, not a durable mechanical keyboard. They are all durable enough if you use a case for transportation, but most of them are too loud.

[keyboardlover]

Fair enough. But the Decks at least are much less expensive than an 86/7 key realforce.

And wasn't there a TG3 82 key with clears floating around? Those aren't usually as expensive as the decks.

Both the Deck and TG3 82 keys are only available with cherry blacks which would not be a good choice for typing essays.

Quietest option would be a scissor switch board, like Ripster's $19 DealExtreme HHKB killer.