Things you thought you would like but didn't

[jeffgran]

Since I've been getting more into keyboards, I've noticed that my first thought about what I would want seems to often be wrong.  A few of examples:

1. I thought I would hate clicky (blue) MX switches, but they ended up being my favorite switch. They're not as loud as I thought and feel the nicest to me.
2. I thought I would like the uniform DSA profile keycaps but now, although they look nice, I think they suck to type on because of the fact that they are all uniform. If you get the "sculptured" DCS keycaps you get a poor man's version of the curved keywells on a kinesis and it's more ergonomic and easier to type on.
3. I thought I would like the stiffness of stock clear MX switches but after typing on them for a few days, my pinkies hurt. They are definitely too stiff for prolonged usage, for me at least.

Just wondering if others have similar experiences and thought it might be fun to share them here.

PS Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans.

[tbc]

MX greens.  I thought they would be like 1.75x a blue, but they turned our to be closer to 3x.  ignore the specs; I'm talking about feeling.

[SpAmRaY]

I hate costar stabilizers and I'm not real crazy about pbt caps.

Thought they would both be awesome.

[noisyturtle]

MX blues. A combination of factors made me not like the switch. The board I own with blues is a Pure, and it's clicks just pale in comparison next to my F AT which I owned before and made it (the switches) come across as weak if that makes any sense. It's like, is that as loud as you can get? Where's my ultra satisfying capacitive resistance? That combined with it's 60% layout which I just never warmed up to made me not like blues in general.

[Awful]

I thought I would love mx blues. I grew to hate them. I even borrowed my ex-girlfriend's Ducky recently to try them again, and yep. Still hate them.
I thought I would hate mx browns, but they're my favorite!
I thought mx whites would be awesome, quieter blues, with heavier springs because I bottom out so hard.. I was mistaken.
I thought I would never get into a CC sale! I was pleasantly surprised!

...I really hope I like the Topre switches... considering I just ordered a HHKB and an extra set of caps for it..

[Findecanor]

White Alps: Clicky/tactile, but in the wrong way.

[Moosecraft]

Ergo clears, they felt great at first but after topre its just awful. Now its all topre and linears for me.

[tuxsavvy]

I never have owned a Topre board let alone getting a Type-S at that. I thought the keyboard might still make some sounds during typing. I somewhat didn't mind the fact that if there was any noise coming out but with my HHKB it sounds insanely quiet.

Every time I go about using my HHKB I can't help stop thinking apart from the keys feeling a little mushy (but retaining firmness) and the fact that it almost really seems like I am using a cheap $5 membrane keyboard when obviously I am not. I would never deny the feeling of typing on it is nothing short of great but at the same time it somewhat feels to good to be true for Topre switches to be defined as mechanical switch even though most still would argue that it is, etc. The eerie silence on the Type-S sort of makes me doubt even though I don't like to think of it as that.

Now with that being said and done, I sort of want to really try out Cherry MXs because I guess there's a part of me that still doesn't mind the clicky sound of what mechanical keyboards are meant to be. Call me old school but at times staring at the ALPS keyboards that I have and me wanting to use them at times (but cannot due to some reasons) and to somewhat start to lose the feeling of typing on a clicky keyboard (no, I meant a proper mechanical type of click keyboard).  I guess now that other part of me wants me to dig my wallet out on Cherry MX.

Overall I have no qualms with Topre but to think that my HHKB could be this quiet is just outrageous to me.

[alosec]

a white keyboard

the keys are slightly off from the case and it looks odd

going to fix it by vinyl wrapping / painting the case this christmas

(fc660m)

[quickcrx702]

45g Topre.  Glad I bought the 55g first or I would join the rest of the Topre haters instead of having mostly unused MX keyboards.  Speaking of MX, I thought I would like MX reds, but ended up hating them.  Luckily you can swap the red springs with clear springs, and end up with blacks and ergo clears

[terran5992]

MX red

[obesecatfish]

Cherry MX Blues. I tried them on a display blackwidow, and liked them, so in the summer, when I was in singapore, I bought a shine 3 with blues. After typing on them for less than half a day, I began to really hate them, and I found the click really annoying. I gave it to my friend the next day.

Also, MX browns.

[Neo.X]

Matrix layout. At first, I thought it's a great idea because it reduces the finger moving, but I made too many mistake typing on it, probably just need a  learning curve

[Photoelectric]

MX red

Same here.  But 62g linear, which is slightly more springy, is nice with low profile thick PBT and skinny o-rings.

[davkol]

I used to love scissor switches, but when I got Apple Aluminium and Lenovo SK-8835 a while ago, I couldn't use them, because the plate mounting hurt my fingers.

Otherwise, mostly mouses, not keyboards have disappointed me. For example, I fell in love with Logitech M500, smooth scrolling was wanderful and I really liked the shape and materials... but I got mild RSI from clicking on that mouse.

[hungryfingers]

I thought I would like MX browns, but they just felt like reds with a granule of dirt embedded inside, that was being crushed upon key depression.

Wound up liking both reds and blues. Quite the dilemma. Leaning a towards the reds, since I vastly prefer how they feel in WASD movement games.

[Puddsy]

Topre

[davkol]

I thought I would like MX browns, but they just felt like reds with a granule of dirt embedded inside, that was being crushed upon key depression.

Wound up liking both reds and blues. Quite the dilemma. Leaning a towards the reds, since I vastly prefer how they feel in WASD movement games.

I've found out that browns feel good when broken in and lubed properly, but that's too much work.

[BucklingSpring]

KBT Pure Pro 60% layout.

[davkol]

Foldable keyboards and super-compact BT keyboards in general. I though I'd carry it everywhere with me and take notes on it instead of bringing a laptop to school. It didn't work in the end. I always had trouble pairing it with any of my PDAs... the only one that worked reliably was Nokia SU-8W, which was kinda meant to be used with Nokia N800, but it was weirdly staggered (even more than usual). I wasn't able to type on it in the end, especially after getting used to non-staggered layout.

[swill]

Topre

+1

Really too bad. Gonna use it till I build my new board though.

[swill]

KBT Pure Pro 60% layout.

What about it bothers you?  That layout is the leading contender for the 60% board I plan to build.  Interested in your experience.

[Glod]

heavier springs like dark grey, stock whites, stock clears, and even stock blacks. 45g and 55g korean custom springs FTW!

[JoeUser]

MX Blues. Not because I don't like the click or clack but because I'm using SMK's now and prefer them much more. Just like Blues in a way except they feel more "mechanical" I guess and seem to have a more pronounced click.

[Fullcream]

MX Blues. Can't stand typing on them. Every single other clicky switch feels much better to me

[BearManJim]

Another for MX blues. Inconsistency with the tactility and clickiness - some were so defective they felt linear.

[lilky]

MX reds. I thought they would be nice, light, and soft, and they were, but I was just making way too many typing errors when typing on them and I couldn't get used to them. In my opinion, typing on reds feels like a dream, but just too inaccurate.

[Puddsy]

KBT Pure Pro 60% layout.

My favorite

[neunelfer]

Siig Minitouch with White ALPS. While it can be fun to type on, it can get pretty tiring pretty quickly.

[calavera]

60% layout. I love the idea of being compact and simple but I just need dedicated function rows and arrow keys.

[neunelfer]

I forgot to add browns, I've heard descriptions that it feels like there is a grain of sand stuck in the switch and I would say that is pretty accurate.

[ideus]

60%. I tried one for a year and given up this month in favor of a 66%. I really wanted the 60% to work for me because I love its aesthetics. It was I shame I need the dedicated arrows so bad.

[metalliqaz]

+1 for DSA profile caps.  Won't be buying another set of those...

I definitely didn't like Monterey Blues as much as I was led to believe I would.

I have to mention MX Red switches.  Started with browns and they are still my favorite.  I can handle blues and clears, but reds just have no life in them... at all.

[gh_pp]

Fullsize keyboard - I have no idea TKL would be so much more ergonomic without the numpad. If I knew I would have get rid of all my full size boards MANY MANY years ago.

realforce 87 - I thought it will be the be all end all keyboard, it's very good no doubt but the medium thickness keycaps, the slow debounce (compared to mx) just make it less than ideal.

mx blue - For some reason the clickyness make it feels less "solid" and it wobbles compared to other mx, I hate the blues on the das.

mx green - I figure the heavier spring will make the wobbliness goes away but it's worse than blues in other ways. Its tiring even I just use pg/pd & arrows for browsing documents.

dvorak or any non-qwerty layout - The increased efficiency is an illusion, unless you're a writer and only use word processing software. Most of the software out there assume a standard QWERTY layout when they design w/ usability in mind. Ctrl-C Ctrl-V Ctrl-X, HJKL vim navigation etc. I spent a year with dvorak and although my typing speed increased, I didn't get my work done any faster because of all the customization that I had to do with my editors and software to make my computing experience not suck.
Same reason I stay away from GH60 and specifically HHKB layout.

blank keycaps - I can touch type just fine but I didn't realize how often I use one hand to hit the keys while using the other hand with the mouse.
Without the muscle memory (two hands with index on F & J) I can't really hunt the correct key I want

Still need to find a keyboard with clear to complete my evaluation of all common mx switches.

[Sai]

MX red

Same here.  But 62g linear, which is slightly more springy, is nice with low profile thick PBT and skinny o-rings.

hey, thats my set up in my poker except that i dont use o-rings.  )

what i hate is Mx Browns.

[tbc]

mx browns are a waste of plastic.  everyone would be happier if all those production lines were switched to clears.

[justnits]

i thought i would love mx brown before typing on any mkb. but i love mx blue and they are my favourite switch in the galaxy.
i thought i would love blue led backlit keyboard (ducky shine 2) but my eyes hurt when i look at them, directly or indirectly. got a white led backlit and love them to bits.
i thought i wouldn't like/buy ABS keycaps after knowing about ABS and PBT keycaps. but after trying out and seeing SP's RA 2.0 keycaps on one of my friend's board...i hate ABS? where did u hear that?

[terran5992]

mx browns are a waste of plastic.  everyone would be happier if all those production lines were switched to clears.

Is there really any diff between them?

[SpAmRaY]

mx browns are a waste of plastic.  everyone would be happier if all those production lines were switched to clears.

Is there really any diff between them?

Huge difference.

[ideus]

Fullsize keyboard - I have no idea TKL would be so much more ergonomic without the numpad. If I knew I would have get rid of all my full size boards MANY MANY years ago.

realforce 87 - I thought it will be the be all end all keyboard, it's very good no doubt but the medium thickness keycaps, the slow debounce (compared to mx) just make it less than ideal.

mx blue - For some reason the clickyness make it feels less "solid" and it wobbles compared to other mx, I hate the blues on the das.

mx green - I figure the heavier spring will make the wobbliness goes away but it's worse than blues in other ways. Its tiring even I just use pg/pd & arrows for browsing documents.

dvorak or any non-qwerty layout - The increased efficiency is an illusion, unless you're a writer and only use word processing software. Most of the software out there assume a standard QWERTY layout when they design w/ usability in mind. Ctrl-C Ctrl-V Ctrl-X, HJKL vim navigation etc. I spent a year with dvorak and although my typing speed has increased, but I didn't get my work done any faster because of all the customization that I have to do with my editors and software to make my computing experience not suck.
Same reason I stay away from GH60 and specifically HHKB layout.

blank keycaps - I can touch type just fine but I didn't realize how often I use one hand to hit the keys while using the other hand with the mouse.
Without the muscle memory (two hands with index on F & J) I can't really hunt the correct key I want

Still need to find a keyboard with clear to complete my evaluation of all common mx switches.

Good tip about non standard layouts. I always wonder what would be typing with other layouts, but you are totally right, most SW assumes qwerty.

[Fullcream]

Siig Minitouch with White ALPS. While it can be fun to type on, it can get pretty tiring pretty quickly.

I agree, that is why I take the click leaves out of White Alps, noticeably reduces the required force although makes the switch linear. Or leave click leaves in and shorten the spring.

[spremino]

1. Cherry browns: they felt too light, thus my hands were always tense to avoid firing a key by accident. I'm used to rest my hands over the keys -- an ergonomic tip I had read somewhere -- and I've never had any problems with other keyboards.

2. Chiclet keys: they felt good because of their very short travel, until I bought a Thinkpad, then I realized how horrible they were. A fellow geekhacker had told me that already, but when you have yet to see the light with your own eyes... Since modern Apple keyboards had started to use them, I thought they were the next big thing.  Riiight!

3. I thought I would like the stiffness of stock clear MX switches but after typing on them for a few days, my pinkies hurt. They are definitely too stiff for prolonged usage, for me at least.

Me, too.

4. My first IBM Model M: I pressed the keys without hearing any click, then I removed a key cap and... the horror! Rubber domes! It was one of the few models with rubber domes instead of BS.

5. A Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000: the space bar made such a dull annoying sound, and the Enter key was so tiny on its ISO version.

6. Filco Tenkeyless: key caps were shiny within weeks. WTF! I had paid almost 150 bucks for that keyboard.

[Beca]

Browns. I had them on my first keyboard and loved them at first. After a while, I couldn't get over how linear they felt and opted for blues/clears instead. I still can't type on them for more than 5 minutes when I try my friend's board.

[daerid]

1. Oddly enough, browns. Before I got into Topre they were my favorite switch by far. Since coming back from Topre (grudgingly... the ErgoDox is just too good), Browns now make my fingers hurt due to bottoming out. After getting used to clears, I can't stand the lack of tactility.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

I too would have to say browns.  Too light, not tactile enough for my heavy typing style...

[Dude]

Full sized keyboards.  Now that I'm on a TKL, it's so much better and more ergonomic.

Also - Leopold keyboards.  I was very unhappy with how quickly the lettering started wearing off and also how quickly it shined.  I'm on a Realforce now, and couldn't be happier with the build quality.

[Phagocytosis]

I accidentally got shipped mx blues instead of browns and I am eternally thankful.

They are ghetto greens now!

[swill]

Haha, so much hate for browns.    I didn't like reds (i need different spring in linear) and I don't like blues.

I am currently picking browns over topre.  WHAT!?!

Gotta try clears still...

[terran5992]

Haha, so much hate for browns.    I didn't like reds (i need different spring in linear) and I don't like blues.

I am currently picking browns over topre.  WHAT!?!

Gotta try clears still...

Hi five

 I hate reds

[Phagocytosis]

Hi five

 I hate reds

it's not the same without that bump :[