I'm looking for a decent keyboard for use with a PC. I used Sun type 4s and 5s for years so something along those sorts of lines is what I'm after.
I've browsed through the info and reviews on this website and found lots of interesting information, so now I'd like to hear whether anyone has any comments, ideas I have not thought of, etc.
Summary of my general needs and preferences (in no particular order):
- I touch type, not as well as I should, but reasonably well, and would be using the keyboard for various sorts of text entry, not gaming.
- I'd prefer black as everything else is.
- I'd prefer quiet rather than too loudly clicky.
- I never use the number pad, never use the function keys, and rarely use any of the page up etc keys.
- I like a unix layout (ctrl next to A) but do that through key mapping anyway.
- I only use unix and have no use for a Windows key nor most of the other keys that surround the space bar.
- I don't want or need "multimedia kyes" nor any usb or other sockets.
- I don't need it to be wireless.
- I don't want (cannot afford) to spend too much money.
- I'm in UK.
Based on the above, I think the Happy Hacker Pro would suit me well but it is too expensive and not available in UK anyway, and having it shipped would make it even more expensive.
I realise I am going to have to compromise, so here are some thoughts:
I have seen a couple of similar (to the HH) keyboards available via ebay that use various Cherry MX switches, and are ok buys at about £60, I would want to be sure they had an Esc key that was single press as I use it a lot. They seem to have a lot of characters on the keys and I would prefer fewer. Main issue is that there is a very strong likelihood that I would end up having to pay so much for shipping and import duty and costs that they would end up costing double the advertised price.
Cherry MX browns would maybe be a good choice because of being quieter than blues.
There is a Filco Tenkeyless with MX browns but it costs about £120 which is too much for me.
Cherry G80-3000 is available, apparently, with various switches, though almost all I see for sale have blue.
Cherry G80-1800 stacks the page keys over the number pad which at least saves some space, though I cannot find out what sort of switches it has.
The best buy seems to be a Cherry G80-3000 blue from Amazon for just over £60 inc postage - several reviews say the keyboard is made of relatively flimsy plastic but it is a lot cheaper than something like a Filco or a Das.
The G80-3000 is available with blank keys which I would not mind trying, though they are significantly more expensive than the standard model and I have only found them with MX blacks. and the concensus seems to be that the blacks are better for gaming than typing.
If I buy the basic Amazon Cherry I could always try a set of Filco blank keys, which would still be cheaper than getting the one that comes with them - would they fit?
Any suggestions or opinions welcome!
