Mechanical Keyboards...

Unless you're doing macros you should be able to just turn the lighting off, write to the keyboard memory, and uninstall; media keys are a base windows feature and need no driver.

My gaming rig has a K70 and iCue regularly starts using 100% of one core all the time and has to be restarted. I can't wait for my Drop Shift to get here so I can get rid of it.

Even Razer Synapse seems good by comparison.

 

Wait, does iCue actually have to be running for your macros to work? I've never used any Corsair or Razer stuff, but that seems like a weird way of doing things. I use a Max Falcon board; it's software tool flashes your macros & rgb configurations onto the board so that you can use it with any computer.

 

Certainly my capslock->ctrl remap stops working without the software present, and that's technically a macro.

It might also vary by keyboard model.

 

Well this sucks! I started poking at mechanical keyboards a bit more. It was pretty frustrating at first, but hey, let's try this. I'm now well and truly stuck in what looks like a pretty deep rabbit hole. I have a small hoard of durock stabilizers, TX springs, gateron yellow and black switches, 205g0 lube, brush, soldering station, films and probably a few more bits. I entered a group buy for a heavy metal keyboard and for ePBT ivory keycaps. What's next? The very long wait. Why didn't anybody warn me?

Oh, and I need a color-matched USB cable...

 

Here is my keyboard I am using at home. Kinesis Advantage 2. I have updated keycaps from keycaps.sh, which replaced the generic ABS with a much higher quality PBT plastic keycap. I really am enjoying the look of the grey homerow, and the blank keycaps. Getting used to blanks was not hard, but YMMV. This has silent reds, which I prefer. I find the browns to be slightly scratchy when using, so I much prefer the silent reds. I found the upward stroke to have a metallic ping noise resonate throughout the keyboard due to it being hollow, so I bought some noise dampening foam and opened up the keyboard and laid in inside. Now it has a very satisfying tac rather than a ping.

I am going to be using this for awhile, I really enjoy the ortholinear key layout, but it makes typing on my regular layout keyboard at work a bit difficult, so I am thinking about buiding a Dactyl Manuform, but that won't be for awhile. I really do enjoy the thumb cluster, and found it very beneficial. Anyone else has any experience or prefer ergonomic keyboards?

 

Thinkpad P series keyboard > MX Brown for me.

 

have you opened it up to see the guts? I'm curious how it's all wired. I don't see how a curved keyboard is done without handwiring.

 

I have, I'll open it up again (only 5 screws) and upload some pics shortly

EDIT: Don't have time to open mine up today, but here is a pic from online of someone elses open showing the board. @Cspirou

 

@dncnexus - thanks! I was always curious what they did for curved boards and the curved PCB is pretty awesome! I couldn't even clone that if I wanted to.

 

I know a guy who built a Dactyl— he was cutting the copper out of PCBs to get the curve, in the most ridiculous process ever.

 

^You might as well just hand wire by that point

 

I too am a fan of the Thinkpad keyboards. The newer generations have less travel, though still have mostly the same feel. I hope they don't go much thinner though.

 

That's why current Thinkpads > MPB IMO. The new magic Keyboard is not as good as the earlier unibodies. Market your new toy, but for me it is such a downgrade. Good thing I don't need a new MB anytime soon.

If you like extremely short travel then MB is the one for you.

Btw, for me the P52 (work machine) feels great. They need some pressure and I like that. You can type really fast, the travel is good.

I am getting a t4XXs later for portable use so I can compare which keyboard is the best.

 

I'm looking to build a Dactyl soon. The cases are slightly too big for the majority of hobbyist 3D printers, which is a bit unfortunate as commercial printing services are a bit expensive.

It'll definitely be hand wired though, and I'm sure it'll look like a mess.

 

I have a nice Das Keyboard and a Vinpok Taptec on other machines, but I wouldn't give up my old IBM Model M for anything...

 

Logitech (laptop style key switches) K470 >> Cooler Master with Brown Switches. Hard to find anything with Blue switches. I can definitely type faster on that Logitech...

 

Leopold FC900R comes with cherry blues if you want it.

Or a GMMK and swap in the clickies you want, mx blues are some of the worst.

 

Tell me which ones I need (non Cherry) if I strongly prefer Blues ower brown. I need that concrete feel and actuation point.

-- --
This one I am also going to bring to work at times, the Logitech because it is damn comfortable to use.

 

Most popular are the Kailh Box switches or Aristotle clones like the Outemu Phoenix.

The BOX switches use a click bar, which is easy to manufacture from different wires, so you can get some really pronounced click-related tactile events - they come in a lot of varieties with different springs & click bars.

Afair Phoenix only come in 2 spring weights.

Both of these types of switches click both ways, mind you.

Community seems to have given up on cherry-style click jackets, so if clicking on the downstroke only is important to you, mx blues is all you've got.

At least until/if ZealPC manages to make Alps-style click work in an mx switch, and they've been working on that for a while. And Zeal switches are like, more than a dollar each.

I mean, there's also weird stuff like the novelkeys sherbet, which is a linear with a clickbar where all of the tactile event comes from the clickbar, but they aren't something true clicky fans are building keyboards with from what I see - mainly for people like me to have a fun enter key switch.