Mech Keyboard for wife at work

[les_garten]

I am looking for a good quality mech KB for my wife at work.

Requirements

1) Price $75-$150 approx
2) LEDs not required
3) Definitely not RGB
4) MX Brown feeling switch
5) Reliable and durable
6) Full size US Keyboard type layout
7)  This is for typing, not gaming, use in her office at work, no moving around required
Would prefer a non gaming "look" all things else being equal

I just discovered this forum(geekhack) and it's awesome, right down my alley!

[SpAmRaY]

My first choice would be a type heaven, they often can be found a little cheaper but I didn't see any currently, there are a couple on ebay from elitekeyboards

https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=522

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Topre-Type-Heaven-104key-Keyboard-47-/252401195237

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Topre-Type-Heaven-104key-Keyboard-46-/252409060549


If you just have to have MX Brown then this leopold

https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1571

[fohat.digs]

I didn't realize that Type Heavens were $100 less than Realforce.

I have not yet bought a Topre because I want to wait for a full-size Realforce, 45g or 55g non-variable, and they never seem to go on sale.

[chuckdee]

There's a wide variety of keyboards that fit that criteria.  I don't use full size keyboards anymore, but two that I can recommend from use of their TKL variants.

http://www.amazon.com/CM-Storm-QuickFire-XT-Mechanical/dp/B00EQV0W02/

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Backlit-Mechanical-Keyboard-920-007857/dp/B01CDYB8F6/

Both have some gaming influence in styling, but are muted IMO, with the CM only having the logo on the back, and the logitech having the logo and circular F buttons and media keys.

There are also the Das keyboards, which I thought about getting in TKL, but didn't.

http://www.amazon.com/Das-Keyboard-Professional-Mechanical-DASK3MKPROSIL/dp/B008PFDUW2/

http://www.amazon.com/Das-Keyboard-Professional-Soft-Tactile/dp/B00JG01QTY/ (A small bit out of your range)

I've never used WASD keyboards, but people swear by those also.

http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/

There are many other options (and many people with much more experience with this than I), so I'd suggest just looking around.

[romevi]

What about for your wife at home?
And shame on you for having more than one wife. Leave one for another guy!




What's with all the Snake Plissken avatars?

[les_garten]

What about for your wife at home?
And shame on you for having more than one wife. Leave one for another guy!




What's with all the Snake Plissken avatars?

LOL,  made my day!

[les_garten]

There's a wide variety of keyboards that fit that criteria.  I don't use full size keyboards anymore, but two that I can recommend from use of their TKL variants.

http://www.amazon.com/CM-Storm-QuickFire-XT-Mechanical/dp/B00EQV0W02/

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Backlit-Mechanical-Keyboard-920-007857/dp/B01CDYB8F6/

Both have some gaming influence in styling, but are muted IMO, with the CM only having the logo on the back, and the logitech having the logo and circular F buttons and media keys.

There are also the Das keyboards, which I thought about getting in TKL, but didn't.

http://www.amazon.com/Das-Keyboard-Professional-Mechanical-DASK3MKPROSIL/dp/B008PFDUW2/

http://www.amazon.com/Das-Keyboard-Professional-Soft-Tactile/dp/B00JG01QTY/ (A small bit out of your range)

I've never used WASD keyboards, but people swear by those also.

http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/

There are many other options (and many people with much more experience with this than I), so I'd suggest just looking around.

How about the Filco Majestouch?

[Moistgun]

What about for your wife at home?
And shame on you for having more than one wife. Leave one for another guy!




What's with all the Snake Plissken avatars?

Killing it with the **** post. I love it! made me lol.

I would have recommended something else but type heaven sounds like a deal.

[les_garten]

What about for your wife at home?
And shame on you for having more than one wife. Leave one for another guy!




What's with all the Snake Plissken avatars?

Killing it with the **** post. I love it! made me lol.

I would have recommended something else but type heaven sounds like a deal.

Feel free to recommend on McDuff...

Somebody else does Snake!  Let me at 'em!

[chuckdee]

There's a wide variety of keyboards that fit that criteria.  I don't use full size keyboards anymore, but two that I can recommend from use of their TKL variants.

http://www.amazon.com/CM-Storm-QuickFire-XT-Mechanical/dp/B00EQV0W02/

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Backlit-Mechanical-Keyboard-920-007857/dp/B01CDYB8F6/

Both have some gaming influence in styling, but are muted IMO, with the CM only having the logo on the back, and the logitech having the logo and circular F buttons and media keys.

There are also the Das keyboards, which I thought about getting in TKL, but didn't.

http://www.amazon.com/Das-Keyboard-Professional-Mechanical-DASK3MKPROSIL/dp/B008PFDUW2/

http://www.amazon.com/Das-Keyboard-Professional-Soft-Tactile/dp/B00JG01QTY/ (A small bit out of your range)

I've never used WASD keyboards, but people swear by those also.

http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/

There are many other options (and many people with much more experience with this than I), so I'd suggest just looking around.

How about the Filco Majestouch?

I've heard some people talk very nicely about it also.  But there's something strange to it, if I'm remembering correctly.  I was looking at the TKL, but that's the reason it had fallen off my radar.

http://www.amazon.com/Filco-Majestouch-2-Keyboard-FKBN104MC-EB2/

[klennkellon]

How about a Matias Quiet board?

PC layout: http://www.amazon.com/Matias-Quiet-Pro-Keyboard-PC/dp/B009ZRR92G/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1465034733&sr=1-1&keywords=matias+quiet+pro

MAC layout: http://www.amazon.com/Matias-Quiet-Pro-Keyboard-Mac/dp/B009ZRR8R2/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1465034733&sr=1-2&keywords=matias+quiet+pro


Matias Quiet Clicks feel like beefier MX Browns, much more tactile and much cleaner/smoother. Furthermore they're among the quietest switches you can get besides Topre but a bit cheaper.

[SpAmRaY]

The biggest reason I didn't like the matias board was the super shiny case.

But it's an ok board. I used one briefly a while back.

[les_garten]

The CM Storm QuickFire XT looks like a great KB for the $$

[xtrafrood]

Full sized Ducky PBT keyboards seem to be pretty damn durable without all the aesthetics of some boards in the same price range. Quite a few of them in stock over at Mechanicalkeyboards.com

What about for your wife at home?
And shame on you for having more than one wife. Leave one for another guy!




What's with all the Snake Plissken avatars?

 )

[derb2k2]

What about for your wife at home?

 ) )

I think you might need to take into consideration the amount of noise that some of these make. Type Heaven included, mechboards may have undesirable sounds!

[les_garten]

What about for your wife at home?

 ) )

I think you might need to take into consideration the amount of noise that some of these make. Type Heaven included, mechboards may have undesirable sounds!

I just recently discovered and got into this "keyboard" thing.  I can't believe how many good keyboards I have thrown away just recently including an IBM "M".  I just thought oh, well, all AT, PS-2, ADB, Silicone Graphics, SUN Type 5's, gotta go cause I'm done with those.  We are forever on USB...

I did keep one Sun 5c, some Keytronics, a Mitsumi, some Sun 6's because they are USB for the most part.

I also have a Wyse serial terminal keyboard that goes with a little monochrome monitor that I have let go of yet.

The Wyse, I discovered today is Cherry Black.  I bought that console terminal sometime around '98-99.  It's handy to get cosole kickback from a serial port.

I let my wife smack on the Black keys today and the first thing she said was it was too loud.  But then compared to some of the Rubber domes and it was about the same noise really, so she re-assessed and said it was ok.

The keyboards I'm kinda crying over tossing are the IBM M and an old AST Premium 286 keyboard.  They were both awesome, but I felt AT interfaces were no longer gonna be appreciated by me.  I had used them with PS-2 connectors but just thought we're finally done with those.  I also threw out an IBM XT with 10 MB HD last year.  Still booting to Windows Version 1.0...

Wish I had found this forum sooner.  I have the Sun 5c that someone may like on this forum for trade.  It is in awesome shape.  I kept it because it had not really been used.  I used to have the NTI adapters for them but don't anymore.

[TeeBaginDragon]

Not sure what kinda work your wife does, but personally I love the CODE keyboard (i have the TKL but same concept).  Build quality is good, there are white LEDs that have 7 levels of brightness and they have all sorts of switches for it.  I work as an engineer coding all day and this keyboard is quite comfortable.  It comes up on massdrop pretty frequently if you wanna save a lil money

[les_garten]

Not sure what kinda work your wife does, but personally I love the CODE keyboard (i have the TKL but same concept).  Build quality is good, there are white LEDs that have 7 levels of brightness and they have all sorts of switches for it.  I work as an engineer coding all day and this keyboard is quite comfortable.  It comes up on massdrop pretty frequently if you wanna save a lil money

She does Medical Office management stuff and billing.

Needs 104 keys.

I like the the look of the WASD keyboards as well.

The Cherry Blacks on the Wyse have too heavy an action for her or me.

I think we would both like the Topre or MX Browns.

I think I'll sell or trade that Wyse keyboard, it seems it's worth something and is basically new.  I bought it new in the late 90's and only used it to crack into Livingston Portmaster Terminal servers and Cisco Routers when the Telnet Passwords were lost.  Probably has 500-1000 keystrokes on it.

[TeeBaginDragon]

Not sure what kinda work your wife does, but personally I love the CODE keyboard (i have the TKL but same concept).  Build quality is good, there are white LEDs that have 7 levels of brightness and they have all sorts of switches for it.  I work as an engineer coding all day and this keyboard is quite comfortable.  It comes up on massdrop pretty frequently if you wanna save a lil money

She does Medical Office management stuff and billing.

Needs 104 keys.

I like the the look of the WASD keyboards as well.

The Cherry Blacks on the Wyse have too heavy an action for her or me.

I think we would both like the Topre or MX Browns.

I think I'll sell or trade that Wyse keyboard, it seems it's worth something and is basically new.  I bought it new in the late 90's and only used it to crack into Livingston Portmaster Terminal servers and Cisco Routers when the Telnet Passwords were lost.  Probably has 500-1000 keystrokes on it.

Well the CODE comes in a 104 key variant (http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/code-keyboard/code-104-key-mechanical-keyboard-1364.html), I just happen to have the TKL.  Personally I would get a switch tester if you are not sure on what switches to get.  I started on MX reds and needed something with feedback so I thought browns would be best, and was fortunate enough to try a co-workers keyboard with MX browns and I thought they were weak, so I took a chance with MX clears and its been good.  If I could go back and do it again I would get a tester and then I would know right away which switch to get.

[supamesican]

Topre type heaven would be my first choice, smooth soft switches with a nice springy and almost trampoline feel. more tactile than brown and far better than any "tactile" cherry switch or compatible http://www.amazon.com/Topre-Type-Heaven-104-key-Keyboard/dp/B00DGJALYW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465149557&sr=8-1&keywords=type+heaven

matias quiet click more tactile than topre and quieter than even rubber domes, feels about as good bit in a different way. http://www.amazon.com/Matias-Quiet-Pro-Keyboard-PC/dp/B009ZRR92G/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1465149569&sr=8-5&keywords=matias+quiet+click

its rgb and a gamer board but the romger g switches on the new logitech mechanical boards are still quite nice and still better than cherry tactile and not too bad in a price http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Mechanical-Gaming-Keyboard-920-006385/dp/B00N3OELPU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465149587&sr=8-1&keywords=logitech+romer+g

[les_garten]

You guys that use the Topre keyboard.

Where is the actuation point compared to the tactile bump?

Do you have to bang to the bottom?  That's one of the reasons I am looking at MX Browns.

[abjr]

What about for your wife at home?

 ) )

I think you might need to take into consideration the amount of noise that some of these make.

This is true. Wives can be very noisy 

[les_garten]

OK, update time


I got a Type Heaven from EK for my wife at work.

The wife at home...

I don't let her use the computer...

 

[QuincyJones]

this is the only keyboard your wife at home needs to use:

[xtrafrood]

this is the only keyboard your wife at home needs to use:

Show Image

Never have I ever witnessed a microwave oven with the words 'Microwave Oven' written on the front of it. That boggles my mind..

May your two wives be fortunate enough to never have to operate such a redundant device ^-^

[pab]

this is the only keyboard your wife at home needs to use:

Show Image

That's really f'ing offensive dude.

[romevi]

this is the only keyboard your wife at home needs to use:

Show Image

That's really f'ing offensive dude.

For real.

Not every woman doesn't know how to cook.

[Air tree]

this is the only keyboard your wife at home needs to use:

Show Image

Quality male dominated forum post.

10/10

[appleonama]

this is the only keyboard your wife at home needs to use:

Show Image

That's really f'ing offensive dude.

For real.

Not every woman doesn't know how to cook.

 :p  :))

[Floody]

this is the only keyboard your wife at home needs to use:

Show Image

[rowdy]

this is the only keyboard your wife at home needs to use:

Show Image

Never have I ever witnessed a microwave oven with the words 'Microwave Oven' written on the front of it. That boggles my mind..

May your two wives be fortunate enough to never have to operate such a redundant device ^-^

You made me go and look - our microwave doesn't say that on the front, but there is a button labelled "Microwave" that you need to press before you can specify the cooking time.

[xtrafrood]

this is the only keyboard your wife at home needs to use:

Show Image

Never have I ever witnessed a microwave oven with the words 'Microwave Oven' written on the front of it. That boggles my mind..

May your two wives be fortunate enough to never have to operate such a redundant device ^-^

You made me go and look - our microwave doesn't say that on the front, but there is a button labelled "Microwave" that you need to press before you can specify the cooking time.

A button is ok but to have a label on the microwave that serves as some sort of company logo? I smell counterfeit :))