I've been lurking for a while as I decided on a keyboard. I used to game extensively but haven't for years. I work full time as a software developer and also do freelance work so I do a lot of typing. recently my hands have been sore after particularly heavy coding days and I managed to realize the keyboard I was using was pretty stiff.
A friend recommended mechanicals and it took about a month to be convinced it was worth the money. After typing on them I was sold. I wanted blue because it's such a throw back in sound/feel but I work in a corner office with two others and didn't want to drive them crazy so I got browns. My purchase was the CM Quickfire XT (has the ten key which I use pretty frequently so I didn't want to lose it). The difference between my current keyboard and this one is quite simply astounding. I haven't put enough code time in on it yet to see if there's a difference but based on how my hands are feeling my problem might be solved.
I have a couple of questions for everyone, as I'm new to this realm.
- Is there a way to re-map the keys on this keyboard so that the super (windows) key can be switched with Alt to match Mac? I work in .Net development at work but at home I do a lot of Python and have been starting iOS so it'd be handy to be able to switch between those realms.
- The spacebar...not sure what I don't like about it but it has kind of a weird feel. I'm still trying to figure out what it is. I have noticed I only hit the spacebar with my right thumb. But I don't know. I don't like it. I might need to switch it out. It feels almost flimsy to me. So I'm wondering if there's a spacebar that would give a heftier feel to it without changing switches or anything like that.
At any rate, I love the form and have really enjoyed seeing all the unique things people come up with. I have a feeling my first purchase might be the blue/white vortex keys (
http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=773) from MechanicalKeyboards.com.
I have had this keyboard for all of 15 hours and I'm already considering buying a QFR in blue to keep at home. So I guess that's a "good" sign.
At any rate, it's very nice to meet everyone and I look forward to continuing to lurk and get some insight.