How did you decide on a daily driver?

[oddsratio]

And how often do you switch?

I've been debating which keyboard to keep as my primary device. Right now I'm working on a Filco Brown (104-Key). I really like the smoothness of the keystrokes and feel like this should be my workhorse.

I've been trying out a friend's Blackwidow for a few days and have really come to admire the crispness and heaviness of blues. Side note- I really like the fat keys on that board, but hate the font.

I have a pre-order for a poker blue, so I'm debating whether to keep this arrangement, where I use brown most of the time and use blue as my portable board and for when I need a change from the browns. My other option is to sell off the Filco to fund a Blue 104 (I can't have two) and switch my poker preorder to someone with browns.

For those with multiple boards, what factors about how you used the board affected your choice for your main keyboard? I'm mostly a typer, very little gaming-- an hour or two a week at the most.

[ricercar]

I change keyboards multiple times daily. Right now I'm in a harsh click mode, and the daily driver rotation is

IBM M13 - whenever
XArmor U9BL - nighttime
Scorpius M10 - daytime
Apple Extended II - MacOS X, sometimes Windows7

However, I always come back to my Kinesis Contoured. Always.

[daerid]

I'm trying out my reds for the weekend (left my Browns at work). So far I'm kinda digging the reds, but I'm not totally sold on them for my daily driver. Honestly, I think I like my tenkeyless brown for everyday typing/coding. However, for gaming, I gotta use the reds. Not sure what I'm going to do about my DK w/ blues tho. I'll prolly keep it for when I'm feeling crunchy.

[hyperlinked]

My hands decided on my daily driver for me. I've been a fast typist my entire life and the decades of too many keystrokes had caught up to me. By the time I found this site, I was switching through several rubber dome boards a year and using speech recognition software to do anything that wasn't work related.

When my hands first started giving me problems, the first thing I did was go out in search of the last keyboard I had that felt comfortable to me. It was an ALPS board that was no longer being made, but I found a bunch of them for sale online. I bought five of them only to discover that while they were better than rubber domes from Logicrap, those too were hurting my hands now. They felt nicer, but it still hurt so I started searching for other kinds of keyboards and ended up here.

I lurked on this site for a few weeks to read about different switches and went for a Filco Brown 104-key because I wanted the lowest actuation force possible without having to pay up for Topres. When I tried out the Filco, it was easily the most comfortable keyboard I've ever had for my hands. It didn't cure my wrist pain, but it allowed me to type a lot longer with less discomfort. The story would have ended there, but you don't hang out on this site without developing a burning itch to try everything you possibly can so I took the keyboard tour and ended up owning everything in my sig and more.

I fell in love with buckling springs again, but my hands weren't so keen on them so I could only use my Model M's for a few hours at a time for kicks. When my wrist flared up again, I decided to spring for a Realforce 103U. That's been my daily driver since. It's got the soft touch that I like about the Browns, but it has just a little bit of the snap you get out of the buckling springs. It was the best of both worlds for me. I've barely used anything else besides my Topre board in the past year. This board is so "it" for me that everything else just feels wrong now. I pulled out one of my Model M's and it lasted 30 minutes because it felt clumsy in comparison to the RealForce and the loud clicks were annoying me.

The only other "keyboard" I use on any regular basis is my iPad. I've been pleasantly surprised that I can touch type on a touchscreen with very little discomfort even when my wrist is sore.

[godofdeath]

through messing around with different boards and learning about the combos you can make with stems and springs

[reaper]

And how often do you switch?

 
Whenever I got a new keyboard.  If not then it's rotation.

[oddsratio]

Yeah, after the poker arrives, I think I'm going to swear off this site for a while, otherwise I'll be convinced that I should have a couple more boards in rotation.

[False_Dmitry_II]

Whenever I got a new keyboard.  If not then it's rotation.

Precisely the same for me. I'll use one for a good while, and I sometimes decide to switch.

[noodles256]

topre are my coding keyboard of choice. gaming is dependent

[bionicroach]

Topre FTW.  This week, anyway...

[domin8r]

A work I switch back and forth between my Model M and my Laser keyboard. They are both really nice but different and still not sure which I prefer.. Maybe I'll keep switching back and forth.
And at home I use a Dell AT102W since it also does a decent job with gaming..

[calavera]

I switch whenever I feel like it. Used the realforce for daily driver for four years but now I'm switching to different ones randomly.

[Tony]

Wow, what a luxury. I stick to my Filco at work and come back with my old faithful Compaq MX 11800 at home.

[gilgam]

one keyboard a day keeps doctor away.


So i switch keyboards everyday, people think i'm a little bit weird.
One common switch cycle is brown, red, topre in the morning, then black, clears and Buckling spring in the afternoon.
I need many hours for my fingers to wake up.

[hyperlinked]

Yeah, after the poker arrives, I think I'm going to swear off this site for a while, otherwise I'll be convinced that I should have a couple more boards in rotation.

Sorry, we hear that all the time. It's already too late. You'd better start figuring out how many tomato sandwiches and how much ramen you're going to be eating to save money to buy a worthy keyboard collection.

[Tony]

Wow, you guys are octopus monsters.

[Zet]

I'm trying out my reds for the weekend (left my Browns at work). So far I'm kinda digging the reds, but I'm not totally sold on them for my daily driver. Honestly, I think I like my tenkeyless brown for everyday typing/coding. However, for gaming, I gotta use the reds. Not sure what I'm going to do about my DK w/ blues tho. I'll prolly keep it for when I'm feeling crunchy.

 
daerid, is this cause when you are gaming, you are inevitably going to bottom out, and you prefer the reds, but when you touch type or program, you try not to bottom out and the tactile feedback on the browns is the only thing that allows you not to?

I'm asking this since today my first mech keyboard arrives, and it's the same Filco M2 104 with reds that you seem yo have, and I want to know the input of others about this switches/board for typing/coding since I already know that for most, that for gaming they feel it's the best switch.

Thanks!