minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
For what it’s worth, it almost definitely has a space bar. Two of them. Small boards like this are usually set up so a tap on certain keys (like the “return” and “shift”) gives you one input (space), while holding them gives you a different input (return or shift).
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Just received my keychron C2 and man, is this thing nice to type on. Got the brown switches. Also I didn't realize it when I bought it but it has all the RGB, which I love. I think I might have to get a pad for the space bar though, it clunks pretty solidly.
hmm I got a keyboard with red switches but I think I should have gone for blacks, the smooth actuation feels right but it's too easy to accidentally press a key while resting my finger on it.
ah well I don't have a bunch of money to spend more than the price of the original keyboard just to get some new switches for it, I'll get used to it
Yeah, I had a keyboard with Cherry reds that I used for a while, and I learned that linears are absolutely not for me. Well, the very first thing that I learned was that I rest my hands on the keyboard all the time, without even noticing it. The second thing I learned was that my hands are heavy enough to actuate Cherry reds without any explicit pressure. It was very frustrating.
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
If cherry reds are too light for you, that’s just a good excuse to pick up some Gateron Black Inks!
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
I picked a low profile keyboard because it was most similar to the ergonomics I was used to but that might have been a mistake, seems like there's not a lot of options for low profile mechanical switches compared to the normal size keyboards. Not sure if gateron low profile switches are even compatible with cherry low profile switch sockets?
Or rather this keyboard seems to use these https://deskthority.net/wiki/TTC_KS32_series
I'm not sure they're even removable, I thought they were because it came with a tool for that though
I got clears because they didn't have any Shine 7s with reds (silent or not) or blacks. I got sorta used to it, but definitely have accidental presses from time to time. I definitely would prefer reds and maybe blacks, although blacks do take some getting used to if you do a lot of typing.
My work keyboard has browns (with dampeners) and my wife still gets annoyed if I'm doing a lot of typing. Maybe I should try a keyboard with silent reds and if I dont like it...well, guess i just need to buy more.
do you lot have any recommendations for hot-swappable full size keyboards? internet search just gets lots of SEO'd fake review astroturfing sites.
The Glorious Mechanical Keyboard in full size is one of the only ones that immediately comes to mind. It’s very good, though!
wow I hate their branding, "Glorious PC Gaming Race" jesus christ can you not invoke nazis for one minute gamers
other than that it looks like what I want but oof, I don't want to give them money
BahamutZERO on
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
edited February 2022
Yeah, their branding is duuuumb, and based on the tired Reddit meme. Mostly because they literally started out by selling mouse pads and shit with the meme printed on it. But to their credit they’ve been working on moving away from it and rebranding themselves as just “Glorious”. I believe they officially changed the name of the company last year.
Another option would be Keychron, though. Their K1 is a full size Bluetooth board with hotswap and the C2 which is the K1 without Bluetooth, but also hotswappable.
They also have the K4 which is a 96% board with hotswap.
Just be sure you pick the right one because I believe they also offer cheaper non-hotswap versions of all those.
minor incident on
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
yeah I really prefer having the full 104 key layout
This is unfortunately the hardest layout to get anything custom/customizable in. I looked for about 2 weeks before I just got my wife a DROP Shift last year.
If you could tolerate a separate numpad, you could do a TKL + separate numpad.
why are mechanical keyboard people allergic to full keyboards?
A couple of reasons! Most people just don’t need or want a full board. The vast majority of folks never touch the numpad, and a lot of people never really use F-keys for that matter. And with the ability to assign function layers, you can get basically every key on a full size keyboard in a smaller form factor.
The other big reason is that outside of the big companies, mechanical keyboard manufacturing is a relatively small niche and it costs a lot more to manufacture a bigger board with more switches, more caps, etc. and it’s not a risk many companies wanna take, for what is essentially a small subset (full keyboard fans) of an already small niche (mechanical keyboard nerds).
For my work board, for example, I use a 75% board and have a separate numpad, since I spend a decent chunk of my day typing in IP addresses. I get all the features of a full board in a smaller footprint, with more versatility.
Edit: to be clear, I’m not saying you’re wrong for wanting a full size board, just that in this niche, you’re unfortunately in the minority.
minor incident on
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
I havent gotten one, but I did find the Everest Max intriguing. The Num pad is detachable and clips to either side, which seems great for left hand numeric keying with a mouse.
why are mechanical keyboard people allergic to full keyboards?
A couple of reasons! Most people just don’t need or want a full board. The vast majority of folks never touch the numpad, and a lot of people never really use F-keys for that matter. And with the ability to assign function layers, you can get basically every key on a full size keyboard in a smaller form factor.
The other big reason is that outside of the big companies, mechanical keyboard manufacturing is a relatively small niche and it costs a lot more to manufacture a bigger board with more switches, more caps, etc. and it’s not a risk many companies wanna take, for what is essentially a small subset (full keyboard fans) of an already small niche (mechanical keyboard nerds).
For my work board, for example, I use a 75% board and have a separate numpad, since I spend a decent chunk of my day typing in IP addresses. I get all the features of a full board in a smaller footprint, with more versatility.
Edit: to be clear, I’m not saying you’re wrong for wanting a full size board, just that in this niche, you’re unfortunately in the minority.
And it’s not even the PCB or switches/stabilizers driving this either as many of these super premium boards are CNC machined from solid chunks of metal. Adding another ~300 cc of metal that needs machined away ain’t cheap material or time wise.
Edit: what I’m saying is a full size board made the way many of these would run like $700+ just for a case/PCB. My current board is TKL and was about $400 for the same, and I’ve seen models peak above $650 before.
Soggybiscuit on
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I’ve got an original Eighty, but starting price on these are $459.
Straight from their website:
ELEGANT MINIMALIST DESIGN. CRAFTED WITH CARE.
Each Eighty starts its life as a solid block of 6063 aluminum, which is then precision machined to a sleek, angular form. Every case then undergoes numerous steps of extensive hand polishing, sandblasting, and anodization for a pleasant satin texture that’s built to last.
Edit:
None of what they say there is even close to inexpensive. Keyboards are bespoke items now. Like the difference between a case with full RGB everything and a case with just a window.
That being said, my keyboard was stupid expensive but I have no plans on getting anything else. I love the way it types and sounds and it was perfect for me.
Soggybiscuit on
Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
The Shine 7 is pretty good for a full size solid metal (zinc alloy) body. Got good thunks and feels pretty solid with all the standard RBG stuff you would expect from Ducky.
But yeah the group buys and custom stuff is all smaller profiles which I really have little to no interest after a lifetime of 100% keyboards. Even the TKL I bought last year got replaced after a month or two.
I use a couple of different 96% boards, a Keychron K4 v2 (at work) and Iquinix F96 (at home), and the size form factor are excellent. I've had issues with Drop MT3 keycap sets not having everything I needed leading to having to buy additional add on sets, but sets from anywhere else has not had that issue. The Iqunix is a noticeable higher quality keyboard than the Keychron but it damn well better be for double the price.
I do wish the Iqunix had hotswap but I'm happy enough with Cherry Browns. If I really want to use different switches I can find someone on Reddit to desolder and resolder in something different for around $100 plus the cost of the keycaps. There is a new F97 that has hotswap, a bigger battery, and 2.4ghz wireless but that's not worth $300 to me right now (and likely never will be).
Yeah, I had a keyboard with Cherry reds that I used for a while, and I learned that linears are absolutely not for me. Well, the very first thing that I learned was that I rest my hands on the keyboard all the time, without even noticing it. The second thing I learned was that my hands are heavy enough to actuate Cherry reds without any explicit pressure. It was very frustrating.
I like linears, but you described why I cant use them.
Yeah, I had a keyboard with Cherry reds that I used for a while, and I learned that linears are absolutely not for me. Well, the very first thing that I learned was that I rest my hands on the keyboard all the time, without even noticing it. The second thing I learned was that my hands are heavy enough to actuate Cherry reds without any explicit pressure. It was very frustrating.
I like linears, but you described why I cant use them.
Hence why I go for really light tactile
what kind do you like? I was looking at browns for these very reasons
I'm using Drop's Halo Trues, and I'm finding them pretty much perfect for myself. I used Zealios 65g tactiles before, and found them to be much too light for my tastes.
An aside: At the time when I ordered them in 2016, the Zealios were one of the most sought-after and highly-regarded switch types in the community - the main praise came, apparently, from the stem having an incredibly smooth surface, decreasing the friction between the stem and the housing and creating for a very smooth and pleasant keystroke. Since then, I've seen the number of switch types kind of explode, both in the number of brands making switches and in the types of switches being made. I can't remember the last time I saw a post on r/mechanicalkeyboards where someone mentioned Zealios.
Also, was wondering what type of switch feels the most comparable to how a membrane key feels when it actuates, the way it takes a bit more force to start actuation than continuing to the bottom out or holding the key down, and has a bit of a pop as the membrane dome collapses and pops back up as the key is released. Tactile type switches I assume? I measured the actuation force of my old membrane keyboard with a stack of coins and a kitchen scale and it seems like it needs 60 grams to start actuating, so if I want to have roughly that feel I might want MX clears rather than browns?
Also, was wondering what type of switch feels the most comparable to how a membrane key feels when it actuates, the way it takes a bit more force to start actuation than continuing to the bottom out or holding the key down, and has a bit of a pop as the membrane dome collapses and pops back up as the key is released. Tactile type switches I assume? I measured the actuation force of my old membrane keyboard with a stack of coins and a kitchen scale and it seems like it needs 60 grams to start actuating, so if I want to have roughly that feel I might want MX clears rather than browns?
Yeah, tactile switches would probably be the closest feel. Lots of choices in that force range as well. The Halo True switches jungleroomx mentioned are actually in that range and would probably be a good fit.
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
Yeah, I had a keyboard with Cherry reds that I used for a while, and I learned that linears are absolutely not for me. Well, the very first thing that I learned was that I rest my hands on the keyboard all the time, without even noticing it. The second thing I learned was that my hands are heavy enough to actuate Cherry reds without any explicit pressure. It was very frustrating.
I like linears, but you described why I cant use them.
Hence why I go for really light tactile
what kind do you like? I was looking at browns for these very reasons
Lubed browns.
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
Also, was wondering what type of switch feels the most comparable to how a membrane key feels when it actuates, the way it takes a bit more force to start actuation than continuing to the bottom out or holding the key down, and has a bit of a pop as the membrane dome collapses and pops back up as the key is released. Tactile type switches I assume? I measured the actuation force of my old membrane keyboard with a stack of coins and a kitchen scale and it seems like it needs 60 grams to start actuating, so if I want to have roughly that feel I might want MX clears rather than browns?
here's a keyboard lore question for y'all: with regards to ghosting and N-key rollover, why do they not simply design keyboard circuitry with an isolated circuit for each key to signal on, rather than the matrix of shared circuits for rows and columns that leads to false key activation signals when you press too many? Cost-cutting I guess?
e: oh or is that literally how n-key rollover keyboards work
No, all (other than maybe some very unique outliers) will be a matrix. The reason to use a matrix is it reduces the number of input points the microcontroller on the keyboard has to have. The comparison would be 104 inputs vs 20ish for a full size keyboard.
Drop used to have the ENTR as a full sized model but now I don't see it on their site. Granted it may be my mobile browser not converting the pages right.
Drop used to have the ENTR as a full sized model but now I don't see it on their site. Granted it may be my mobile browser not converting the pages right.
Posts
might need to make my next KB C64 themed
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
ah well I don't have a bunch of money to spend more than the price of the original keyboard just to get some new switches for it, I'll get used to it
Or rather this keyboard seems to use these https://deskthority.net/wiki/TTC_KS32_series
I'm not sure they're even removable, I thought they were because it came with a tool for that though
My work keyboard has browns (with dampeners) and my wife still gets annoyed if I'm doing a lot of typing. Maybe I should try a keyboard with silent reds and if I dont like it...well, guess i just need to buy more.
mechanical keyboards are apparently a minefield
The Glorious Mechanical Keyboard in full size is one of the only ones that immediately comes to mind. It’s very good, though!
wow I hate their branding, "Glorious PC Gaming Race" jesus christ can you not invoke nazis for one minute gamers
other than that it looks like what I want but oof, I don't want to give them money
Another option would be Keychron, though. Their K1 is a full size Bluetooth board with hotswap and the C2 which is the K1 without Bluetooth, but also hotswappable.
They also have the K4 which is a 96% board with hotswap.
Just be sure you pick the right one because I believe they also offer cheaper non-hotswap versions of all those.
The Drop CTRL is tenkeyless, so doesn't satisfy the "full size" requirement, but I do like it very much.
The Drop SHIFT has a numpad, but it's not a regular standard layout (I think this is called an "1800 layout").
Those are also available in floating-key and high-profile variants, plus you can buy them without switches, without keycaps, etc.
This is unfortunately the hardest layout to get anything custom/customizable in. I looked for about 2 weeks before I just got my wife a DROP Shift last year.
If you could tolerate a separate numpad, you could do a TKL + separate numpad.
I found these pretty quickly:
https://kbdfans.com/collections/20-diy-kit/products/gb-kbdpad-mkii-mechanical-keyboard-ki
https://drop.com/buy/gk-gk21s-abs-wireless-mechanical-numpad-kit
You could pair them with any of the TKL boards available.
A couple of reasons! Most people just don’t need or want a full board. The vast majority of folks never touch the numpad, and a lot of people never really use F-keys for that matter. And with the ability to assign function layers, you can get basically every key on a full size keyboard in a smaller form factor.
The other big reason is that outside of the big companies, mechanical keyboard manufacturing is a relatively small niche and it costs a lot more to manufacture a bigger board with more switches, more caps, etc. and it’s not a risk many companies wanna take, for what is essentially a small subset (full keyboard fans) of an already small niche (mechanical keyboard nerds).
For my work board, for example, I use a 75% board and have a separate numpad, since I spend a decent chunk of my day typing in IP addresses. I get all the features of a full board in a smaller footprint, with more versatility.
Edit: to be clear, I’m not saying you’re wrong for wanting a full size board, just that in this niche, you’re unfortunately in the minority.
I havent gotten one, but I did find the Everest Max intriguing. The Num pad is detachable and clips to either side, which seems great for left hand numeric keying with a mouse.
And it’s not even the PCB or switches/stabilizers driving this either as many of these super premium boards are CNC machined from solid chunks of metal. Adding another ~300 cc of metal that needs machined away ain’t cheap material or time wise.
Edit: what I’m saying is a full size board made the way many of these would run like $700+ just for a case/PCB. My current board is TKL and was about $400 for the same, and I’ve seen models peak above $650 before.
I’ve got an original Eighty, but starting price on these are $459.
Straight from their website:
Edit:
None of what they say there is even close to inexpensive. Keyboards are bespoke items now. Like the difference between a case with full RGB everything and a case with just a window.
That being said, my keyboard was stupid expensive but I have no plans on getting anything else. I love the way it types and sounds and it was perfect for me.
But yeah the group buys and custom stuff is all smaller profiles which I really have little to no interest after a lifetime of 100% keyboards. Even the TKL I bought last year got replaced after a month or two.
I do wish the Iqunix had hotswap but I'm happy enough with Cherry Browns. If I really want to use different switches I can find someone on Reddit to desolder and resolder in something different for around $100 plus the cost of the keycaps. There is a new F97 that has hotswap, a bigger battery, and 2.4ghz wireless but that's not worth $300 to me right now (and likely never will be).
I like linears, but you described why I cant use them.
Hence why I go for really light tactile
what kind do you like? I was looking at browns for these very reasons
An aside: At the time when I ordered them in 2016, the Zealios were one of the most sought-after and highly-regarded switch types in the community - the main praise came, apparently, from the stem having an incredibly smooth surface, decreasing the friction between the stem and the housing and creating for a very smooth and pleasant keystroke. Since then, I've seen the number of switch types kind of explode, both in the number of brands making switches and in the types of switches being made. I can't remember the last time I saw a post on r/mechanicalkeyboards where someone mentioned Zealios.
Yeah, tactile switches would probably be the closest feel. Lots of choices in that force range as well. The Halo True switches jungleroomx mentioned are actually in that range and would probably be a good fit.
Lubed browns.
Topre.
e: oh or is that literally how n-key rollover keyboards work
So clicky
https://drop.com/buy/drop-entr-mechanical-keyboard
Still there.