Looking for lightest touch keys

[vreetech]

Hey. I was wondering what are the lightest touch / shallowest travel keys around? I’m in the market as I’ve been doing a lot of typing as of late and my current “Generico Crapio £10 from Amazoneo” is really annoying me. I prefer a really light touch and low travel distance (even finger touch weight would be ideal). I’ve tried a few different keyboards in the past inc mechs (Red, Blue & Brown) but am not a fan. Also been looking into all sorts of keyboards and researching switch types myself but there’s no substitute for asking people in the know. Any recommendations?

Cheers

[CPTBadAss]

There's a 30g Topre available. That's all I can think of for super light actuation, easily obtainable boards.

[pixel5]

Reds are pretty darn light... the only thing I can recommend to you is thin air...aka, a touch screen.

[Tarzan]

There's also the uber-light switch mod you can do on Cherry G81-7000 keyboards.  Removing one of the two springs makes it super light actuation, The_Ed has some modded keyboards for sale.

Yes, these are MY switches, not MX, but the spring-ectomy also removes the "typing on a dead octopus" feeling.  Like MX Blacks with 25Mn springs.

(Just don't do what I did, and grease the switches...     )

[terrpn]

There's also the uber-light switch mod you can do on Cherry G81-7000 keyboards.  Removing one of the two springs makes it super light actuation, The_Ed has some modded keyboards for sale.

Yes, these are MY switches, not MX, but the spring-ectomy also removes the "typing on a dead octopus" feeling.  Like MX Blacks with 25Mn springs.

(Just don't do what I did, and grease the switches...     )

you gotta link?

[Tarzan]

There's also the uber-light switch mod you can do on Cherry G81-7000 keyboards.  Removing one of the two springs makes it super light actuation, The_Ed has some modded keyboards for sale.

Yes, these are MY switches, not MX, but the spring-ectomy also removes the "typing on a dead octopus" feeling.  Like MX Blacks with 25Mn springs.

(Just don't do what I did, and grease the switches...     )

you gotta link?

I don't know if he has a current ad in the Classifieds, but you can reach him via PM, just reference the MY switch keyboards. 

[Findecanor]

Note that these are actually full-travel keyboards, but each key will actuate half-way down the stroke.

[Tarzan]

Note that these are actually full-travel keyboards, but each key will actuate half-way down the stroke.

That's a good point.  If the requirement for short key travel is more important, it might be worth checking out one of those little Cherry G84 boards.  They bottom out pretty hard, though, and the actuation force is relatively high, IIRC.

[hoggy]

Comfort do a keyboard with 20g activation - but the ergonomics are shot. 


http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47272.0

For even lighter keys - take a look at

http://mykeyboard.co.uk/

[uzoc]

Hey. I was wondering what are the lightest touch / shallowest travel keys around? I’m in the market as I’ve been doing a lot of typing as of late and my current “Generico Crapio £10 from Amazoneo” is really annoying me. I prefer a really light touch and low travel distance (even finger touch weight would be ideal). I’ve tried a few different keyboards in the past inc mechs (Red, Blue & Brown) but am not a fan. Also been looking into all sorts of keyboards and researching switch types myself but there’s no substitute for asking people in the know. Any recommendations?

Cheers

That's the same question I had, and the answer for me was "not in the mechanical keyboard world".
But I just re-capped? my Razor Tournament with Cherry G81 keycaps.
I found out that that the shorter stems of the G81 keycaps provide (or seem to provide) quieter and shorter travel (I added rubber 0-rings also, so that helps).
If you like or want shorter travel and light touch you might like my everyday typer, the Microsoft Arc. They have them on EBay for $15 used.
Short review: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47874.msg1024459#msg1024459

   
 

[vreetech]

Thanks for the reply's so far, really helpful! I've been lurking for a while but didn't want to post in fear of asking what maybe silly questions (at least to more experienced people).
 

Comfort do a keyboard with 20g activation - but the ergonomics are shot. 

Show Image

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47272.0

For even lighter keys - take a look at

Show Image

http://mykeyboard.co.uk/

The comfort board looks... yer. 20g activation and a short throw is good but that setup and the ergonomics I may have to pass. I think the other one is out of my league but defiantly an interesting read

while it might be blasphemy to some people on this forum, I am thinking that perhaps you should consider a chiclet.

that's low, silent, tactile, inexpensive, compact.

I don't like mechanical keyboard just because of the noise they makes, although I like the touch and the response of the keys. I also think the keys are very high. Also, I like compact keyboards, like the HHKB2, and not the tenkeyless keyboards.

With all that characteristics, I was thinking to change to a scissor switch keyboards.
Is there any keyboard that can be silent, with the keys not very high, compact, with reasonable price and have good response to touch like the   Cherry MX brown or blue?

I agree with berserkfan, I have not been able to find anything more quiet, less key travel and ergonomic (very little for my taste, just a little curve) keyboards than membrane type, and cheapest (of course). My all day user is the Microsoft Arc: http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/p/arc-keyboard/J5D-00001
The only drawback for me is the small arrow keys (in a single key no less) and hard to see greyed out lettering for both the black and white versions (but that's an easy fix just buy yellow large keyboard stickers $5 on EBay and done).

(Attachment Link)

The ark looks good. Anything with a low activation force and a short throw is what im after. Are there any "laptop" style keyboard about? I know Logitech do a lot of scissor keyboards but they have a longer stroke than a typical laptop (3.2mm instead of 2mm or whatever). Thanks very much for everything so far again!