Help me find my dream keyboard so I can stop looking...

[disperse]

This is really taking a toll on my productivity.

My dream board's specs:

• tenkeyless: I like the look of the 60% boards but, as a programmer, often use the function keys
• Either no or a small lip around the keys:  Basically nothing for me to rest my hands on
• Cherry MX Brown Switches:  I like the blues in my das keyboard but want to try something with a similar feel that is a bit quieter
• Very subtle backlighting if any: Just something so I can see the keys in a dark room, without lighting up the room
• Not glossy: the das gets dirty so quickly
• Dark but not black key caps: I love the look of this keyboard (an espresso / cream color scheme would be great):

So, this probably doesn't exist but I'd love to see your suggestions.

Thanks!

[keymaster]

Leopold FC700 with MX Browns. It comes standard with thick PBT keys. It, however, does not (nor really need) backlighting.

[disperse]

Leopold FC700 with MX Browns. It comes standard with thick PBT keys. It, however, does not (nor really need) backlighting.

Show Image

That looks nice, I even like the color of the keycaps (although I suppose it is compatible with custom caps if I wanted to customize it).  Why does it have a light on the F5 key?  Also, is this available for sale anywhere?

[MKULTRA]

Leopold FC700 with MX Browns. It comes standard with thick PBT keys. It, however, does not (nor really need) backlighting.

Show Image

That looks nice, I even like the color of the keycaps (although I suppose it is compatible with custom caps if I wanted to customize it).  Why does it have a light on the F5 key?  Also, is this available for sale anywhere?

Actually the spacebar is incompatible.  I believe F5 turns off the windows key possibly?

You'd have to get someone from Australia to proxy it over most likely.

[Hyde]

This is really taking a toll on my productivity.

My dream board's specs:

• tenkeyless: I like the look of the 60% boards but, as a programmer, often use the function keys
• Either no or a small lip around the keys:  Basically nothing for me to rest my hands on
• Cherry MX Brown Switches:  I like the blues in my das keyboard but want to try something with a similar feel that is a bit quieter
• Very subtle backlighting if any: Just something so I can see the keys in a dark room, without lighting up the room
• Not glossy: the das gets dirty so quickly
• Dark but not black key caps: I love the look of this keyboard (an espresso / cream color scheme would be great):

Show Image

So, this probably doesn't exist but I'd love to see your suggestions.

Thanks!

They will have a group buy on KMAC Happy in a few months.  However it will most likely cost you $300 just for the case and PCB, and you have to purchase the switches and keycaps on your own.  So if you don't have experience with soldering it can be a bit tricky.

Sounds like at the current moment the closest would be a KBC Pure.  Or if you don't mind 75% size you can go for KBC Race.

And if you can let go of the backlit then KBC Poker or HHKB would be good choices too.

[alaricljs]

Don't just look at the pic and assume that's what he wants.  If you read, what he actually wants is a TKL with keycaps similar to the picture.

[disperse]

I'm actually fairly comfortable with soldering and DIY.

Not all that comfortable with a $300 price tag though...

If there was a DIY kit for a tenkeyless with a good Solidworks plan I might consider getting a local CCD shop to cut me a keyboard case out of wood (walnut would be nice).   But I'll have to lurk on the 'Build together' forum to see about that...

[mechanisch]

• tenkeyless: I like the look of the 60% boards but, as a programmer, often use the function keys
• Either no or a small lip around the keys:  Basically nothing for me to rest my hands on
• Cherry MX Brown Switches:  I like the blues in my das keyboard but want to try something with a similar feel that is a bit quieter
• Very subtle backlighting if any: Just something so I can see the keys in a dark room, without lighting up the room
• Not glossy: the das gets dirty so quickly
• Dark but not black key caps: I love the look of this keyboard (an espresso / cream color scheme would be great):

Perhaps a Choc Mini?  Has the Function Keys you need, is smaller than a tenkeyless, comes in Cherry MX Brown switches, has a very minimal lip, and is not glossy.  However, it does not have backlighting, nor does it come with non-black keycaps and I'm not sure your aftermarket options for them.

[CPTBadAss]

Leopold FC700 with MX Browns. It comes standard with thick PBT keys. It, however, does not (nor really need) backlighting.

That looks nice, I even like the color of the keycaps (although I suppose it is compatible with custom caps if I wanted to customize it).  Why does it have a light on the F5 key?  Also, is this available for sale anywhere?

The spacebar is incompatabile with most sets. You'll have to mod it or get lucky and find one. The F5 LED is a windows key lock. If you hit FN+Windows, it turns on the LED and disables the key.

I bought mine in the classifieds. Not sure if that happens often but in my 2 month stay, it's the only one I've ever seen.

[Skull_Angel]

Ducky Shine 2 TKL and order a separate set of backlit keycaps (Ducky currently has several different colors of their backlit keycaps).

Seems to fit what you're looking for and I'm surprised noone's mentioned it. The lip at the bottom of the board's casing is a pretty standard size, but on the sides it seems smaller than most others as well. Ducky's backlit keycaps are much higher in quality than others you'll find as well. The backlighting has different lighting modes as well brightness levels too.

[disperse]

Perhaps a Choc Mini?  Has the Function Keys you need, is smaller than a tenkeyless, comes in Cherry MX Brown switches, has a very minimal lip, and is not glossy.  However, it does not have backlighting, nor does it come with non-black keycaps and I'm not sure your aftermarket options for them.

I like the size of this one a lot.  It looks a lot like a compact keyboard but it has the function keys.  I'm not sure how I feel about having 'Poo' written on the front of my spacebar though.



The light in the Caps key reminds me that I generally switch Caps with Escape (I'm a Vim user.)  I wonder how that would work with the lights in the Caps key.

[disperse]

Ducky Shine 2 TKL and order a separate set of backlit keycaps (Ducky currently has several different colors of their backlit keycaps).

Seems to fit what you're looking for and I'm surprised noone's mentioned it. The lip at the bottom of the board's casing is a pretty standard size, but on the sides it seems smaller than most others as well. Ducky's backlit keycaps are much higher in quality than others you'll find as well. The backlighting has different lighting modes as well brightness levels too.

Looks nice.

Is the brightness of the LEDs configurable?  It would be nice to put the keyboard in low / no LED mode.

I see Ducky has a keycaps page but only see white and black keycaps as an option.  Brown keycaps with pink LEDs would be a great combination.

[L4yercake]

I believe they have 5 brightness levels and an On/Off mode. Not sure if its just on the YOTD edition but it should also have No LED on Function Row setting.

[Skull_Angel]

Ducky Shine 2 TKL and order a separate set of backlit keycaps (Ducky currently has several different colors of their backlit keycaps).

Seems to fit what you're looking for and I'm surprised noone's mentioned it. The lip at the bottom of the board's casing is a pretty standard size, but on the sides it seems smaller than most others as well. Ducky's backlit keycaps are much higher in quality than others you'll find as well. The backlighting has different lighting modes as well brightness levels too.

Show Image

Looks nice.

Is the brightness of the LEDs configurable?  It would be nice to put the keyboard in low / no LED mode.

I see Ducky has a keycaps page but only see white and black keycaps as an option.  Brown keycaps with pink LEDs would be a great combination.

On the lowest lighting setting: in a well lit room you can barely tell they're on; in darker settings you can clearly see them, but they have a soft illumination to them, not a glaring shine.

If you haven't checked, they also have many popular colors for the LED backlighting too.

Ducky has the basic Black backlit keycaps as well as Grey and Purple, but they are kind of hard to find atm because they sell out quickly; I think they have more colors planed for the future too though.

[disperse]

Ahh, I can't believe I missed this group buy:

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40175.0



This looks great, not crazy about the plum but I love the white on brown with the large lettering.

[disperse]

Has anyone put the shine grey ABS keycaps on a Ducky Shine 2?

http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=228

Do these let the light shine through in the same way as the black keycaps that come with the Shine 2 do?

[disperse]

The yellow/orange lights look nice:



Out of stock though.

[tjcaustin]

If you're ok with blues, I have a Ducky YoTD with blues and non ducky keycaps for sale.

[alaricljs]

Has anyone put the shine grey ABS keycaps on a Ducky Shine 2?
Do these let the light shine through in the same way as the black keycaps that come with the Shine 2 do?

Looking at the pic, yes these are clear legends that will show the backlight.

[Skull_Angel]

Page 31 from the [H]ard|OCP Mouse and Keyboard pics thread has an example of the Grey Ducky Shine keycaps along side the stock black.

[disperse]

Page 31 from the [H]ard|OCP Mouse and Keyboard pics thread has an example of the Grey Ducky Shine keycaps along side the stock black.

Thanks!  I think I would have put the gray keys on the alpha keys in the middle and left it black around the edge.

Now that I've seen the custom coffee key caps I think I'm going to hold off on the Ducky.  Is it true that the space bar isn't easily customizable?

[tp4tissue]

GH60 is coming.. and it's going to be the best thing since sliced bread.....

[disperse]

GH60 is coming.. and it's going to be the best thing since sliced bread.....

60% keyboards look awesome.  But I really don't think I could do without function keys and cursor keys.

[disperse]

So, I'm coming to a conclusion that my dream board is the Leopold FC700 with custom coffee/cream doubleshot or vintage DSA Retro keycaps.

Unfortunately, the FC700 is hard to come by and I missed the boat on the keycaps.  Time to start lurking in the group buy forum...

[disperse]

What do people think of the Vortex KBT ONI PBT as compared with the Leopold FC700?

They have them in stock here: http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=203

[morpheus]

Ahh, I can't believe I missed this group buy:

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40175.0

Show Image

This looks great, not crazy about the plum but I love the white on brown with the large lettering.

Wow, I'm loving the retro look. Made me do a double take. It reminds me of those old school typewriter keys.

[tp4tissue]

I like DSA.. But not the "brown"

[OnTheBrink]

I was extremely pleasantly surprised at the Ducky Shine 2's quality. You can see my thread her with a brief video:

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40745.0

Also, the backlight features are a ball!

[ktownhero]

Show Image

What do people think of the Vortex KBT ONI PBT as compared with the Leopold FC700?

They have them in stock here: http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=203

I very much like the look of that keyboard, and happen to be in the market for a new tenkeyless myself.  Any word on the quality/reputation of Vortex KBs? 

[disperse]

Show Image

What do people think of the Vortex KBT ONI PBT as compared with the Leopold FC700?

They have them in stock here: http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=203

I very much like the look of that keyboard, and happen to be in the market for a new tenkeyless myself.  Any word on the quality/reputation of Vortex KBs?

Yeah, the one thing I don't like about the look is the "KBtalking" enter key.  I'm not sure about PBT keys.  I guess they're preferrable to ABS and the laser etching should last.

I don't see any leds for the caps lock or num lock but I guess they could be underneath the keys.

I've also been looking at this Ducky DK9087G2 PRO TKL PBT:



It has laser etched PBT keys that should last forever.  The light on the Caps key isn't ideal for me (as a Vim user I switch Esc and Caps Lock).

[1839cc]

I immediately thought of the Leopold FC700, and that KBT looks pretty good to me too.

[Tranquilite]

Ahh, I can't believe I missed this group buy:

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40175.0

Show Image

This looks great, not crazy about the plum but I love the white on brown with the large lettering.

You can still get in on this if you are quick, because unpaid extras are currently available. You can even get non-plum modifiers.
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40950.0

[disperse]

Ahh, I can't believe I missed this group buy:

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40175.0

Show Image

This looks great, not crazy about the plum but I love the white on brown with the large lettering.

You can still get in on this if you are quick, because unpaid extras are currently available. You can even get non-plum modifiers.
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40950.0

PM sent!

I don't have the tkl yet but I'm hoping you'll be able to tell me what kits I need to cover me if I for most tkls.

[disperse]

OK, now that I (hopefully) have the dsa alpha, tkl, and spacebars on the way I need to start thinking about a keyboard to put the keys with.  I really like the white body of the mock-up.

So now I'm looking for a keyboard that comes in white with Cherry MX brown switches and will work with the DSA keys.

Would the Noppoo Choc Mini 84 work with the DSA keys?

[lazerpointer]

The WASD V2 will meet your specifications and it is to be released soon I think. I saw a release time of Feb / March last I checked..

Plus a lot of the boards I see people recommending have evil Cherry stabilizers. Evil!!

[1839cc]

I like Cherry stabilizers. Of course, they don't really make a difference on medium weight or heavy switches.

I can see how some might prefer Costar on blue/brown/red switches.

[disperse]

The HPE 87 is likely the least expensive option for a white keyboard:



Cheap caps, but that doesn't matter because I'm getting the DSA double-shots.  I believe the HPE 87 has costar stabilizers and reviews well.  I'm not crazy about the logo, I may try to remove or replace it at some point.

[disperse]

The WASD V2 will meet your specifications and it is to be released soon I think. I saw a release time of Feb / March last I checked..

Plus a lot of the boards I see people recommending have evil Cherry stabilizers. Evil!!

That's good to know!

The V2 is going to be TKL?  If they have a 'barebones' version of the V2 I can save some time and simply put on the DSA key caps.

[disperse]

The WASD V2 will meet your specifications and it is to be released soon I think. I saw a release time of Feb / March last I checked..

Plus a lot of the boards I see people recommending have evil Cherry stabilizers. Evil!!

"New estimate release date of V2 keyboards: May 2013"

Looks like the V2 release date was pushed back.  Also, it will likely only come in black and, with the dark DSA keys, I'm thinking a white / off-white would look nice.

[lazerpointer]

That sucks.

It will be a back lit board by default, and they have a keyboard customization wizard on their site. Do not underestimate the WASD

[disperse]

The white KBT Race would look pretty sweet with the Brown key caps:



Doesn't seem to be available anywhere and I'm not sure the delete key would work (there might be a mod kit but I'm not sure it's available).

[schizrade]

OP, I have has the same quest as you. The perfect keyboard for a Sysadmin/Network Engineer in my case.

I found this in a thrift store the other day:



So far it is the best of both worlds. MX Browns, full keyboard function, compact size. Key overlays suck.


The quest continues.  )

[disperse]

OP, I have has the same quest as you. The perfect keyboard for a Sysadmin/Network Engineer in my case.

I found this in a thrift store the other day:

Show Image

So far it is the best of both worlds. MX Browns, full keyboard function, compact size. Key overlays suck.


The quest continues.  :))

That's a beast!  I wouldn't mind using that at work.  I try and do without my mouse as much as possible and an integrated trackball wouldn't be too bad once and a while.

I'm looking for the computer for the den area so it has to look nice and (sorry Compaq)...

[schizrade]

OP, I have has the same quest as you. The perfect keyboard for a Sysadmin/Network Engineer in my case.

I found this in a thrift store the other day:

Show Image

So far it is the best of both worlds. MX Browns, full keyboard function, compact size. Key overlays suck.


The quest continues.  :))

That's a beast!  I wouldn't mind using that at work.  I try and do without my mouse as much as possible and an integrated trackball wouldn't be too bad once and a while.

I'm looking for the computer for the den area so it has to look nice and (sorry Compaq)...

In that case get an Apple board or one of the knock offs. They look great.

That or a board with no markings at all, blacked or whited out.

[simkev]

This is really taking a toll on my productivity.

My dream board's specs:

• tenkeyless: I like the look of the 60% boards but, as a programmer, often use the function keys
• Either no or a small lip around the keys:  Basically nothing for me to rest my hands on
• Cherry MX Brown Switches:  I like the blues in my das keyboard but want to try something with a similar feel that is a bit quieter
• Very subtle backlighting if any: Just something so I can see the keys in a dark room, without lighting up the room
• Not glossy: the das gets dirty so quickly
• Dark but not black key caps: I love the look of this keyboard (an espresso / cream color scheme would be great):

Show Image

So, this probably doesn't exist but I'd love to see your suggestions.

Thanks!

OMG!
What keyboard and case is that?

[Xenderwind]

This is really taking a toll on my productivity.

My dream board's specs:

• tenkeyless: I like the look of the 60% boards but, as a programmer, often use the function keys
• Either no or a small lip around the keys:  Basically nothing for me to rest my hands on
• Cherry MX Brown Switches:  I like the blues in my das keyboard but want to try something with a similar feel that is a bit quieter
• Very subtle backlighting if any: Just something so I can see the keys in a dark room, without lighting up the room
• Not glossy: the das gets dirty so quickly
• Dark but not black key caps: I love the look of this keyboard (an espresso / cream color scheme would be great):

Show Image

So, this probably doesn't exist but I'd love to see your suggestions.

Thanks!

OMG!
What keyboard and case is that?

https://www.originativeco.com/kmac-happy