If you just want a great keyboard and don't want to learn a new layout or form factor and don't want to build your own I present the best mechanical keyboard.
[1] FILCO Majestouch Ninja - Cherry MX Browns
Make it yours with a nice pack of keycaps.[2]
If you're not sure which Cherry MX switches to get read more about them here [3] and search for comparisons. I hate reds. I love blues. My wife's ears hate my blues. Now I use browns.
I have owned many many keyboards and built a couple too and I honestly believe that FILCO is the best consumer mechanical board or at the very least my favorite :)
EDIT: You notice I picked a TKL (10 key less) unless your an accountant or mathematician num pads are highly overrated and take up valuable desk real estate.
> EDIT: You notice I picked a TKL (10 key less) unless your an accountant or mathematician num pads are highly overrated and take up valuable desk real estate.
And if you're right-handed they move the mouse further away, which is terrible for RSI.
The Filco is a fine keyboard indeed. Good recommendation.
I like the 96% layouts (100 keys) - similar size to a TKL, but still has the option of using the number pad. I much prefer typing lots of numbers with the number pad, and I'm no accountant or mathematician.
Note that for people who are used to and prefer the short travel of laptop keyboards, they should check out mechanical keyboards with choc switches rather than the much longer travel MX switches.
+1 to FILCO, just want to add: Pick one with the letters printed on the sides of keycaps, not on top. This way they last longer. (BTW, my favorite switches are black, then red, I hate browns).
If you wanna play games, consider a mechanical keyboard, else consider a flat laptop-like keyboard.
Long answer:
I used to believe that mechanical keyboards have to be better because most people praise them and they are more expensive, but it really is a matter of preference and use case.
I bought myself a corsair mechanical keyboard and I really didn't like it besides for playing specific games.
A laptop keyboard always felt the best to me. They are flat, so your wrist is always in a correct position while with mechanical keyboards i'd find myself having to bend my wrist backwards despite having a small pad.
They are extremely responsive, you get instant feedback from the keys, and I mean instant because it takes less effort and distance to trigger each key.
As a result they also make typing faster in my experience.
So unless you're in for gaming or have a good pad, i'd say you really don't need it.
Your experience is like saying "I bought a Prius and decided I don't like electric cars". A Corsair gaming keyboard is far from the best the mechanical keyboard world can offer.
I’ve been using corne (40% ortho split) for software development for over a year now. It is most definitely the way to go. Having common symbols ()<>{} be on a layer on the home row is so fantastic for typing speed.
3 months on Corne and Colemak. Dont attempt if you just started a new job, dont ask me how I know.
The only benefit for me is I started to appreciate keyboard macros (built in/QMK, or AHK), IDE custom snippets, and gaming mouse macros (navigation mainly eg: goto implementation/definition, booarks, etc).
It made me a slightly better dev because I now take advantage of these features
That makes sense. I recently got a keyboard with configurable layers, but I'm using mostly standard qwerty to start out, adding custom bindings one at a time. I think I'll try out your suggestion, would you mind sharing more details of your configuration?
Ortho makes sense if you touch type. I sort of hover above the keys using 3 digits on each hand to do most of the typing (with supplemental pinky usage, but never ring finger). It isn't Mavis Beacon approved, but I can bang out about 70wpms this way.
When I got an Ortho keyboard, I tried to learn to touch type, but it was quite slow. Eventually I learned to hover-type on that too. I love the look and sound, but not much more than that.
The biggest problem with using an ortholinear keyboard is that sometimes I want to just work on my laptop and for a while My typing speed on a regular qwerty keyboard slowed way down and had a lot more typos. Now I can mostly go back and forth.
This is my suggestion too. I had a Kinesis, switched to keyboardio and am really happy with it. There is a learning curve, and you feel quite unproductive at first, but you learn quickly and once comfortable, they are better than anything else I've tried.
100% this, I have a zsa moonlander and it was one of the best purchases I ever made. The adaptation period was really frustrating, but I can’t see myself ever going back to a traditional keyboard.
Good entry point for people coming from the "traditional" keyboard world -- particularly those who don't expect to invest a lot of time in things like learning radically different layouts, heavy use & customization of layers, etc.
I love the HHKB Pro 2 Type-S (topre) https://youtu.be/CmvB7FOgyxk not for everyone. I like torpe switches. Reminds me of the old apple iie keyboard (alps switch); probably my favorite keyboard ever https://youtu.be/zwgas6McpoQ
X-Bows is a great keyboard. It's the cheapest one that has multiple keys for thumbs. But it is very wide for my hands. Reaching = and | keys are very difficult. I'm looking for a more compact alternative. [0] is a great resource for comparing sizes of keyboards.
I've been using a CODE keyboard [0] for the last five years or so. Been pretty happy overall, the only complaint I could have is that some of the paint is wearing off on well used keys.
It is a traditional layout, no split, nothing like that. But I have personally found that I only get sore wrists and fingers when I let the room temperature get too low, so I keep it warm and my keyboard choice seems to have no effect.
I too have been using the CODE keyboard. Got mine in 2015. Been very happy with it. I chose the 87-key board with Cherry MX Green switches for their IBM Model M feel and sound.
This is a problem I was struggling with until recently.
Specifically, I prefer low profile keyboards like the Apple magic keyboards. The problem I was having is that I wanted a low profile keyboard and mouse that I could easily switch between my Mac laptop and windows desktop.
I looked for a kvm for months that would address my specific needs for mouse/keyboard and 2 monitor setup (1440p gaming displayport / 4K uhd usb-c).
I finally found the Logitech MX keys and mouse combo. It's low profile and feels good for me. Plus it specifically has built in device switching. For monitor switching I just manually change the inputs as needed.
I've had my Leopold FC660C for I think 5 years now, it was very expensive but completely worth it IMHO. Capacitive sensing is just so much better than electrical contacts, due to the programmed in hysteresis, chattering just isn't a thing with Topre. I put the Hasu controller in it too and made my own custom layout with QMK.
If I was looking at getting a new keyboard I would also consider hall effect and optical key switch design keyboards.
Readit News
[1] FILCO Majestouch Ninja - Cherry MX Browns
Make it yours with a nice pack of keycaps.[2]
If you're not sure which Cherry MX switches to get read more about them here [3] and search for comparisons. I hate reds. I love blues. My wife's ears hate my blues. Now I use browns.
I have owned many many keyboards and built a couple too and I honestly believe that FILCO is the best consumer mechanical board or at the very least my favorite :)
[1] https://www.amazon.com/FILCO-Majestouch-Ninja-Cherry-Keyboar...
[2] https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cherry+mx+keycaps
[3] https://www.cherrymx.de/en/blog/cherry-mx-switches-at-a-glan...
EDIT: You notice I picked a TKL (10 key less) unless your an accountant or mathematician num pads are highly overrated and take up valuable desk real estate.
EDIT: Check our https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/ for inspiration ... but beware ... it can turn into a bit of an addiction.
Good Luck!
And if you're right-handed they move the mouse further away, which is terrible for RSI.
The Filco is a fine keyboard indeed. Good recommendation.
If you wanna play games, consider a mechanical keyboard, else consider a flat laptop-like keyboard.
Long answer:
I used to believe that mechanical keyboards have to be better because most people praise them and they are more expensive, but it really is a matter of preference and use case. I bought myself a corsair mechanical keyboard and I really didn't like it besides for playing specific games. A laptop keyboard always felt the best to me. They are flat, so your wrist is always in a correct position while with mechanical keyboards i'd find myself having to bend my wrist backwards despite having a small pad. They are extremely responsive, you get instant feedback from the keys, and I mean instant because it takes less effort and distance to trigger each key. As a result they also make typing faster in my experience. So unless you're in for gaming or have a good pad, i'd say you really don't need it.
The only benefit for me is I started to appreciate keyboard macros (built in/QMK, or AHK), IDE custom snippets, and gaming mouse macros (navigation mainly eg: goto implementation/definition, booarks, etc).
It made me a slightly better dev because I now take advantage of these features
I had to learn touch typing, but it was well invested time.
When I got an Ortho keyboard, I tried to learn to touch type, but it was quite slow. Eventually I learned to hover-type on that too. I love the look and sound, but not much more than that.
The biggest problem with using an ortholinear keyboard is that sometimes I want to just work on my laptop and for a while My typing speed on a regular qwerty keyboard slowed way down and had a lot more typos. Now I can mostly go back and forth.
edit: meant Kinesis
I personally have the X-Bows, and like it quite a bit as a starter ergo keyboard. [1][2]
I've also backed the Glove80 on Kickstarter (after learning about it on HN!) as a deeper dive into ergo. [3][4]
[0] http://xahlee.info/kbd/keyboarding.html
[1] http://xahlee.info/kbd/xbows_keyboard_review.html
[2] https://x-bows.com/collections/keyboards
[3] http://xahlee.info/kbd/glove80_keyboard.html
[4] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/moergo/glove80-the-incr...
[0] https://jhelvy.shinyapps.io/splitkbcompare/
It is a traditional layout, no split, nothing like that. But I have personally found that I only get sore wrists and fingers when I let the room temperature get too low, so I keep it warm and my keyboard choice seems to have no effect.
[0] https://codekeyboards.com/
This is a problem I was struggling with until recently.
Specifically, I prefer low profile keyboards like the Apple magic keyboards. The problem I was having is that I wanted a low profile keyboard and mouse that I could easily switch between my Mac laptop and windows desktop.
I looked for a kvm for months that would address my specific needs for mouse/keyboard and 2 monitor setup (1440p gaming displayport / 4K uhd usb-c).
I finally found the Logitech MX keys and mouse combo. It's low profile and feels good for me. Plus it specifically has built in device switching. For monitor switching I just manually change the inputs as needed.
If I was looking at getting a new keyboard I would also consider hall effect and optical key switch design keyboards.