Looking for recs on chiclet profile gaming keyboard

[mxico]

I've been buying/using the standard Apple Mac keyboard for gaming purposes for about 7 years and I purchased a Corsair Strafe Silent to test out mechanical keys for once and don't enjoy the high profile keys and "giant" travel distance I have to navigate now. The finger fatigue is real and it's still alot noisier. I accidentally spilled some soda on my Strafe the other day so I'm shopping for something new again.

I absolutely adore the Apple keyboard for gaming aside from these very important gripes I'm looking to remedy:

1. I have to replace every 1-2 years as the keyboard face wears down (the plastic actually erodes) so I'd like to be able to replace keycaps
2. Some clumsy games require me to press two keys at once and mechanical switches are much more accurate for registering this
3. I want to buy a keyboard that lets me easily open it up and mod/clean so I don't have to be tossing keyboards in the landfill, just replacing keyswitches as needed. OK with paying for boutique keyboards on this end (WASD, CODE, Tesoro, etc), or even custom

Was searching for quite some time last night on chiclet profile mechanical keyboards but they don't seem to exist.

The lowest profile keyboard with the shortest travel distance seem to be the Tesoro Gram but even its Agile Switch has a 3.5mm travel (http://tesorotec.com/project/gram-spectrum-mechanical-gaming-keyboard/) compared to the Cherry MX 4.0mm travel, and I've already decided that's too much for me. I've looked at the Razer Ornata but it isn't truly mechanical at all, it's completely dome with a fake mechanical sound actuator in the housing; I might as well go back to the Apple.

So I'd like to get some recommendations on a keyboard that's closest to feeling like an Apple keyboard, but that's mechanical and easily moddable. Will pay up to $200 for foreign keyboards even, if they're close to matching my needs.

[Tactile]

You haven't gotten many responses because the keyboard you want doesn't exist. You are describing a scissor switch keyboard with discrete switches - so you can change/replace them individually - and interchangeable keycaps. There is no such keyboard, just due to the nature of scissor switches.

You mention the switch travel a couple of times but keep in mind that, unlike scissor switch and rubber dome keyboards, MX switches and their clones don't need to be bottomed out to register. They typically actuate at 2mm travel and the ones labeled "speed" switches require even less travel in order to actuate. Cherry have all the specs. A lot of people add O-rings in order to reduce the total travel and that might be for you. The O-rings install in the underside of the keycaps. It's a modification which is easy to do, inexpensive, non-destructive, and easily undone if you don't like it.

There are other switches out there - Cherry ML & MY (ML is short travel, very similar to a scissor switch), Alps/Matias switches, Logitech Romer G, etc. but if you insist on the full modularity and versatility you have described in order to replace individual switches and caps - and have a wide variety of switches and caps to choose from - a keyboard with Cherry MX switches or one of the work-alikes such as Gateron, Kailh, etc. is the only choice.

[mxico]

Tactile, thanks for your response, I expected this much and it's fine.

My search for the perfect keyboard will be a journey I will enjoy and you might see where I'm going with this.

Do the CODE or WASD's use MX and ML's interchangeably then? Is there a model that will take O-rings better? Is there a favorite board amongst users here that can take Cherry MX/ML, Gateron, Kailh, etc... you know... a board with a high amount of compatibility for mounting a variety of switches so I can test a bunch without buying a separate keyboard each time?

So basically, looking for my first modder-friendly keyboard at the moment.

The Corsair Strafe's top cover was a real POS and I had to break the entire thing off to get to the keys to clean them because the tabs were way too tight, I do not want to go through that again.

[Tactile]

No ML switches for you. Those are not MX compatible. You won't find any boards using them, anyway. Even Cherry don't use them in very many boards.

O-rings will work on any MX (or clone) board.

Here's a board which doesn't cost very much and lets you swap switches without soldering. This might be good to start with 'cause you can try different switches (Matias or Alps won't fit, just the others) quick 'n' easy.

[Tactile]

Here's another board which features solderless switch swapping.

[mxico]

I've got myself a solder station, are there better keyboards?

I don't mind paying up to 200 if it's going to last me quite some time.

And thank you so much for your recs, it's getting me really excited to be a part of this community; I'm a complete interface nut

[Tactile]

Filco, Ducky (Once you go quack you never go back!), WASD, Leopold are the usual suspects. Varmillo (did I spell that right?) seems to be pretty popular.

If you are planning to desolder & swap switches I'd recommend getting a non-backlit keyboard - at least for the first one. Dealing with all of the LEDs is not fun and basically doubles the work and time because every backlit switch now has four solder points to deal with (two for the switch, two for the LED) instead of two. You can do it, of course, but I was thinking that for the first one any mods will happen faster if you don't need to deal with the lights.

I have a WASD keyboard and I like it a lot but the way the case is designed it's difficult to open without marring it. The top and bottom halves meet in the middle around the edge and using a tool to work in there to unhook the inner clips can leave scars. Other boards like Filco, Ducly, etc. have the top completely cover the board and the insert-pry-unclip operation takes place on the bottom where any marks won't show.

The Ducky One has a fantastic feature set for the price. Leopold have some sort of sound absorbing mat inside which, I guess, mellows the sound. Filco are legendary for quality but lots of folks think they are a bit stale today with no backlighting, macros, or even volume control keys.

I'm sure other folks will have ideas, also.

[Findecanor]

There should be quite a lot of models of gaming keyboards with somewhat low-profile keys with rubber dome/membrane switches, but I have never seen chiclet or even scissor switches. I don't see as many as I used to because mechanical are so popular.
The Razer Cynosa looks like it could be like an Ornata without the clicker in every key but there is still little info about it and I have not tried it. They are also still quite thick.

One reason why mechanical keyboards are popular among gamers is because of the rollover - which requires a diode for each switch. Mech keyboards are mounted on PCBs where those could be mounted easily where as rubber-dome keyboards have membranes... The Razer Ornata however does have a membrane connected to a PCB that supplies the diodes. I don't know of any other membrane keyboard that does that. It would be interesting to see a teardown of the Cynosa...

Both Havit and Sharkoon now have low-profile mechanical keyboards with switches from Kailh, and I find it likely that it is actually the same manufacturer ("Dare-U"?) behind both so you might find the same with yet another brand.
They seem to be thinner than the Tesoro Gram Spectrum but the keys are still a little bit contoured. Kailh also has some even thinner mechanical switches but I have not seen any keyboard with those yet.

[Krakob]

Did you check out Kaihl's low profile switches? E.g. https://www.novelkeys.xyz/product/kailh-low-profile-switches/
I think there's also a version with even shorter throw that's currently exclusive to some OEM.

Drawbacks are of course limited PCB support and limited keycap choice. You could either handwire or make your own PCB. Make sure to look out for others who've done the same!

[mxico]

Thanks for the amazing responses.

Really gave me a feel for the scene's layout and looks like there's tons of opportunity still for innovation on the ol' 104-key. Those non-solder keyboards are really nice and I'm hoping to pick one up as my next board.

I've gone ahead and went for the Ducky One (preferred it to the two-tone One 2's design), 104-key, white backlit, black bezeled, Cherry MX Silver keyboard as my starter. Some red O-rings will probably give me the tactility I'm looking for and bring me closer to that Apple keyboard feel; a bit tired of their product-obsolesence policy. Really wanted one of the Ducky One RGB offerings but looks like they were way too popular and way too long ago.

[mike-y]

Looks like you found yourself a nice "starter" pack

I was going to post that there actually is a chicklet style gaming keyboard, but you don't have the option of swapping keys and switches.  it's the Razer Deathstalker:

https://www.amazon.com/Razer-DeathStalker-Expert-Ergonomic-Programmable/dp/B009SJR28W

I haven't personally used one, but it looks like something you might be interested in.

Otherwise, if you are interested in reducing the keytravel on your ducky keyboard, you can get some O-rings and put them under the caps.  The fat clear ones can reduce travel by like 2mm, and are pretty cheap.

https://www.amazon.com/ThreeBulls-120Pcs-Dampeners-Keyboards-Dampers/dp/B01N75JL0F/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1514941494&sr=1-3&keywords=keyboard+o+rings