
9 great mechanical keyboards for coders - Chocolator
https://insights.hpe.com/articles/9-great-mechanical-keyboards-for-coders-1707.html
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samfriedman
One thing I rarely see discussed in any detail in mechanical keyboard roundups
is a noise comparison. For a tool for "coders", many mechanical keyboards can
be pretty disruptive to your coworkers if you're using it in a workspace
without a closed door.

My favorite switches for typing (and thus, coding) are MX blues. Unfortunately
these are also the loudest, with a distinct click at each key activation. You
can purchase small rubber rings that act as dampeners on each key, but this
also changes the feel of the keyboard.

I'd pay well for a solution that lets me have both the tactile experience I
enjoy _and_ the sound level I need to use a mechanical keyboard at work. Until
then it's bog-standard rubber domes for me.

~~~
dsp1234
Cherry MX come in a spectrum on both tactile and auditory (clicky) feedback.

MX Blues are tactile and clicky.

If you want tactile, but not clicky, then you would want an MX Brown. You can
feel when the actuation happens, and as long as you don't bottom out the keys,
they are silent. Many DasKeyboard models come with a choice of Blue/Brown, but
other manufacturers have them as well.

Here is a site that has an explanation of the various colors:

[http://www.keyboardco.com/blog/index.php/2012/12/an-
introduc...](http://www.keyboardco.com/blog/index.php/2012/12/an-introduction-
to-cherry-mx-mechanical-switches/)

~~~
hfourm
Brown + dampening rings should be plenty for an office environment

Edit: another thing that helps is having the keyboard on a oversized mousepad,
to dampen the vibrations from keyboard -> desk

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vvanders
No Das Keyboard?

How can I be leet without a blank keyboard[1].

(I've owned two standard(clicky, and silent) of them over 3 jobs and both are
still going strong)

[1] -
[http://www.daskeyboard.com/daskeyboard-4-ultimate/](http://www.daskeyboard.com/daskeyboard-4-ultimate/)

~~~
sudhirj
I have a Das Ultimate - look really cool, but the switches started failing at
random recently. I then found out they don't use Cherry switches, but another
unproven brand. Either I'm just unlucky or they need better switches.

I picked up a CODE keyboard with Cherry MX Greens that works great. The greens
are a little harder to type than I expected, but I'm used to them now and
quite happy with them.

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dustball64
By far my favorite "mechanical" keyboard is the Topre Realforce 104u[0]. When
I initially purchased it, I thought it was the biggest waste of money. Over
the span of about a month, maybe I broke it in or maybe I just got used to it?
But it essentially felt like I was typing on buttery smooth pillows. It's not
sensitive until you actually try to type on it. And it just feels so good.
Like no other keyboard I've ever had.

I would honestly recommend it over every other mechanical keyboard I've had
(blues, reds, clears, browns, the hi-profile version of the topre).

[0] [https://www.amazon.com/Realforce-Keyboard-English-Layout-
Xf0...](https://www.amazon.com/Realforce-Keyboard-English-Layout-
Xf01t0/dp/B00B5SEHN2/)

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fulafel
The elephant in the room for most programmers in the world is the non-us
layout making common PL punctuation like /{}[]* etc convoluted faraway
unergonomic combos. The world needs an extended layout with extra keys for
those, approximately in the US positions.

Experience shows that switching between layouts is not appealing for most.

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sushisource
Topre switches are the best ever, and they get no love in the fervent
mechanical keyboard community. It's just "cherry cherry cherry" ad nauseum
with the occasional model-m imitator like the ones in this article.

Do yourself a favor and get a Realforce keyboard. It's typing nirvana.

~~~
badlucklottery
>Topre switches are the best ever

Do you know of a decently built and split design keyboard that uses them? A
quick googling didn't show anything. I'd be willing to give it a shot but I'm
not going back to a one piece keyboard for anything.

~~~
ashark
Offtopic(ish), but do you mean like the MS ergonomic keyboard split-but-one-
piece, or actually two separate pieces? If the latter, what do you like about
them?

~~~
badlucklottery
>do you mean like the MS ergonomic keyboard split-but-one-piece, or actually
two separate pieces?

The MS ergo keyboard isn't wide enough for me but I'm not against a one-piece
design. I just recently switched to a Kinesis Advantage2 (split-but-one-piece)
at home but I have a straight two-piece keyboard at work. The width I keep the
two-piece at is a bit wider than the Advantage but it's not enough to bother
me.

>If the latter, what do you like about them?

The main issue for me is that I'm 6'6" and have broad shoulders. Normal
keyboard layouts cause me to roll my shoulders dramatically so I can get my
hands on the home keys. This caused some shoulder pain issues in the past when
I had code-heavy weeks. Split configuration seems to have fixed that
completely.

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mamcx
I'm building one semi-based in the MS Ergo.

This is my layout:

[http://www.keyboard-layout-
editor.com/#/gists/75c4808455c07a...](http://www.keyboard-layout-
editor.com/#/gists/75c4808455c07affbad9b1911c6fe6a5)

Note how it have some punctuation for coding more easily reachable.

I'm trying to figure out how bend it to match the MS Ergo.

I request a custom keycap set from
[http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/keycap-
set/1...](http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/keycap-set/104-key-
cherry-mx-keycap-set.html) with custom icons, colors (for the limited set
available, but enough) and text.

Hopefully I can start the build soon. Waiting for the plate now...

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emilecantin
A challenge I had in choosing a mechanical keyboard was the availability of
105-key (ISO) layouts in North America, as I prefer the Canadian Multilingual
layout. Apparently, such keyboards are mostly sold through European resellers,
even when they're actually made in the US (looking at you, DAS).

In the end, I went with a Unicomp, and I'm very happy with it.

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goalieca
The world needs more ergonomic and mechanical keyboards. My fingers love
Mechanical but fingers and wrists love ergonomic. Kinesis is quite steep in
price (500 Loonies).

Anyone got any favourites?

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CrankyBear
I still Love my Avant Stellar, but since they're long out of production, this
is an excellent intro to what's available today and not hidden away on eBay.

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skocznymroczny
I used to use a mechanical keyboard (blue switch), but I found it too stiff
and it hurt my wrists. I switched back to Logitech K120 and couldn't be
happier.

