
Code Keyboards - scotch_drinker
https://codekeyboards.com/
======
quarterto
For people who want an ISO layout, custom keycaps or greater choice of
switches, the WASD V2 is identical to this except without the backlighting
(how often are you at your desk with the lights off?). I've owned one for a
year and it's been fantastic.

[http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/mechanical-k...](http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/mechanical-
keyboard/wasd-v2-104-key-custom-mechanical-keyboard.html)

~~~
JoshTriplett
I don't understand the attraction of backlighting in "programmer" keyboards.
Seems like it would only benefit people who look at the keyboard. Which
explains why it's popular on consumer laptops, but not why any computer
professional would want it.

~~~
cozuya
I wouldn't think so either until I received my first one - its surprisingly
useful. In fact my current backlit mechanical keyboard is one of my favorite
purchases in the past few years for me - for something I use so much, spending
$100-$200 is as much of a no-brainer as a great office chair.

~~~
grimgrin
You didn't explain what makes it so useful, though.

Because I'm a touch typist I keep my back-lights toggled off.

------
Splendor
I would really love a mechanical keyboard in the split ergonomic layout of a
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic keyboard. Something about that shape feels right
to me, but most mechanical keyboard either use a standard layout or something
radically different (I'm looking at you Ergodox).

~~~
dlgeek
You should look at the Kensis Advantage, though it may border on too
"radically different" for you. It takes a bit of getting used to, but everyone
I know who has one swears by it (myself included).

~~~
detaro
How well can you switch to a "normal" keyboard? I worry that with some of the
more extraordinary designs switching between them and my laptop or a random
keyboard at university would be annoying.

~~~
emodendroket
I haven't owned a Kinesis but I've owned and used Japanese keyboards (which
have a different layout for many of the symbol keys) and various ergonomic
keyboards and found being able to switch between them isn't such a big deal.

------
afarrell
I really want someone to make a mechanical keyboard with a nub mouse. Even
with xmonad/amethyst, I still can't stand having to take my hand off the keys
to move a cursor.

Until someone does do that, I'm going to stick with a Lenovo USB keyboard. But
when they do, I'll be the first to buy, especially if it has n-key-rollover
for plover stenography.

~~~
midgetjones
The TEX Yoda looks pretty good for this: [https://www.massdrop.com/buy/tex-
yoda](https://www.massdrop.com/buy/tex-yoda)

~~~
afarrell
On mobile that link redirects to a generic landing page, but thank you.

Web marketers take note. If you redirect from a product page to a landing
page, you are making it harder for people to give you money and harder for
people to spread the word about your products.

------
bensherman
I have one, and I love it. It's loud, feels great and the dipswitch settings
on it make me not have to worry about any software to make it work exactly as
I like.

The backlighting on it is also perfect.

I don't DVORAK, but the included keypuller makes it simple to swap keys around
if you are so inclined.

Buy one.

~~~
cbd1984
> the included keypuller makes it simple to swap keys around if you are so
> inclined.

You know what would be nice? If the keyboard had enough intelligence to read
the keycaps and modify which codes it sent based on which keycaps are attached
to which switches.

OS key remapping tends to vary from 'xmodmap' to 'worse than xmodmap', in my
experience. It would be nice if the stupidly obvious thing worked for once.

~~~
detaro
Normally keys are scanned group-by-group digitally, but Cherry recently came
out with a keyboard that uses analogue readout of the key matrix. They now put
different resistors at each switch and measure the voltage (so they save
delays introduced by the scanning and can sell it as "super fast" to gamers …)

If they put the resistors in the keycaps and managed to get stable contacts to
the switches below working, one might be able to get a feature like that in
hardware.

But allowing to reprogram the keys in the keyboard controller probably is
easier. Longer initial setup time, but how often do people change their
keyboard layouts?!

~~~
cbd1984
> Normally keys are scanned group-by-group digitally, but Cherry recently came
> out with a keyboard that uses analogue readout of the key matrix. They now
> put different resistors at each switch and measure the voltage (so they save
> delays introduced by the scanning and can sell it as "super fast" to gamers
> …)

Interesting to imagine most keyboards are that primitive.

It's also interesting to see gamers continuing to push technology forwards.

> But allowing to reprogram the keys in the keyboard controller probably is
> easier. Longer initial setup time, but how often do people change their
> keyboard layouts?!

It's worth it if the setup is obnoxious enough, and, well, this is something
which _should_ be possible, and it's annoying that it hasn't been done yet.

~~~
indrax
There needs to be a utility that will set the keymap for you, given a photo of
your keyboard.

~~~
detaro
That's actually a really clever idea. Secondary levels take manual work of
course, but the basic principle should be viable, especially if you have a
"default" layout photo to compare.

------
MrDosu
What makes this different to the keyboards with the exact same feature set
that are established for years and years already (Filco, DAS, happyhack...)?

~~~
touristtam
The Code name as far as I can tell. Got three different cherry red/black 87
keys (AKA tenkeyless), including a Filco and a cheapo chinese one. And I can
not see what this one bring to the table.

This is the keyboard Jeff Atwood was talking about I think:
[http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-code-
keyboard/](http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-code-keyboard/)

~~~
MrDosu
I was genuinely curious as this keyboard propped up a couple of times in
different places over the last weeks. But it seems there is no innovation
here, just one more for the pack.

------
rbadaro
It's a pity it is only available in US layout. I can't get used to that small
Enter key having used ISO layout my whole life. I personally use a Filco with
MX Browns and am really happy with it.

~~~
lstamour
I can understand why you'd call the US Enter key small, but speaking as a
Canadian who often has to pick between US and "Canadian Multilingual"
keyboards, it's the international Enter key I call small -- I'd much rather
have an enter key that's longer in the home row so my pinky doesn't have to
reach as far. Of course I'm also the type to prefer Caps Lock as Backspace and
I use Colemak. And it's hard to adjust to a new way of typing when you're used
to another keyboard. Still funny to see this -- I make a point of only buying
or recommending the US layout for ergonomics, myself...

------
rckrd
I have been an owner of the 87-key version for 4 months. Cherry MX.

My observations: The keyboard itself is heavy and feels nice. I love the lack
of obnoxious branding. The backlight is actually pretty useful and has a few
settings for brightness. I primarily use this one at home, but I've considered
getting another one for the office. Would recommended.

------
thebouv
Wow, guess I'm just weird for liking the flat keys of a Apple keyboard.

I need to get my hands on one of these mechanical keyboards just to see what
I'm missing I guess.

~~~
odonnellryan
I have a CM Storm with Blues, and it really is awesome (as awesome as getting
a new keyboard can be!) You should buy one for the ~60-70 USD if you're
interested, worst-case you have a new keyboard (probably one that is known to
be reliable), best case you're a whole lot happier typing!

~~~
MetaCosm
The CM brand sort of surprised me. I am a keyboard snob and didn't really
consider them as they are marketed as a "gaming" keyboard. Then I saw they had
a "Hybrid Capacitive" (read: Topre) keyboard, which is my absolute favorite
switch type -- but this had a unique spin, Topre + Cherry Caps...

I was able to get my hands on one, and it felt perfect... tenless, nkey
rollover, topre, cherry mx keycaps, removable cable and built like a truck
(thing is like 2 pounds).

~~~
odonnellryan
Yup! Pretty good for the price, too. TKL is actually a minus for me, but given
how much I like the keyboard I got over it ;)

~~~
MetaCosm
Additional benefit of the TKL: office friendly with included dampeners, first
mechanical(ish) I feel non-rude wanting to use in a shared office environment.

Just realized I didn't mention the actual keyboard, too much inside baseball
on this thread I guess -- you knew what I was talking about at least, the
Novatouch TKL:
[http://gaming.coolermaster.com/en/products/keyboards/novatou...](http://gaming.coolermaster.com/en/products/keyboards/novatouchtkl/)

It is interesting that in the time since I purchased it, they toned down the
gaming aspect in the marketing.

------
melling
Anyone have one of these? I'm in the market for a mechanical keyboard. Noticed
they have several switch options. From what I've been reading, Cherry Browns
are the ones they most people seem to go with.

~~~
cantankerous
I have one with Cherry Greens. Have been loving it so far. I prefer a really
heavy action and this pretty much gets me there. The keyboard is solid, like
really heavy. It's nice to finally have one that doesn't feel like a piece of
cheap plastic. It's my first mechanical keyboard, so I may not be a good point
for comparison.

~~~
aeroevan
I also have one with greens + o-rings (I work in a shared office environment)
and love it.

Some people may think the greens are too heavy, but I love the weight behind
the keys.

------
simendsjo
I've been using TypeMatrix 2030[1] for about four years. While not a
mechanical keyboard, it still feels much like it. Together with the Programmer
Dvorak[2] keyboard layout, I cannot really think of a better "code keyboard".

[1]
[http://www.typematrix.com/2030/features.php](http://www.typematrix.com/2030/features.php)
[2]
[http://www.kaufmann.no/roland/dvorak/](http://www.kaufmann.no/roland/dvorak/)

------
ksk
Could someone explain what makes this a "code" keyboard? I was expecting to
see a keyboard with some actual ergonomics to help reduce wrist strain.

~~~
emodendroket
It's being hawked by Jeff Atwood. That's the only reason.

------
jarin
I've got the one with the Cherry MX Clear switches. It feels overly "springy"
when you first get it, but if you're a heavy typer it's pretty excellent to
type on once you get used to it. It's also quiet enough to use in the office,
and the backlight is very nice to have. One protip: you will definitely need
to get a wrist rest for this keyboard, since the front edge is about an inch
off the desk.

At home, I use a Das Keyboard with Cherry MX Brown switches, because they're
more responsive for gaming and the Das Keyboard has dedicated media buttons
and volume wheel.

Before that, I had an Aivia with Cherry MX Brown switches, which had a lot of
the advantages of the Das Keyboard but had a very annoying light in the corner
(although it might be possible with some hackery to turn it into a useful
status light, as it changes color). It did have USB and audio passthrough
though, which the Code and Das Keyboard do not have.

------
CyberDildonics
Filco with reds or browns are the greatest regular (non-ergonomic) keyboards
I've used by a huge margin.

~~~
darkFunction
Got a Filco with browns, and dampening O-rings. It's really loud though. I'd
like something quieter, the Cherry Clears sound good.

~~~
sp332
Have you tried putting a small towel under the keyboard? It seems like a
little thing but it made a big difference at my desk.

------
UweSchmidt
Fair enough, looks like a nice product.

As I'm not looking for a new keyboard I was just hoping for some innovation in
keyboard layouts. The thing has the same damn keys like every keyboard out
there. How about something that actually makes coding more efficient. Maybe an
extra row of keys below F1-F12, for language-specific keywords or code
snippets.

Programming requires me to deal with abstract and unintuitive concepts all the
time ... which are then broken down from programming constructs, to words, all
the way to the individual letters which I have to type in one by one.

But maybe keyboard design has already reached perfection and all that remains
is choosing green or brown Cherry keys.

------
egonschiele
Some people have these at work and seem to love them. I really love my Kinesis
keyboard though...once you get used to it, it really is easier to type on.
Plus you can map any key to any other key, which is great.

~~~
lallysingh
Assuming that you mean the Advantage, the brackets were always awful. I gave
it up for a HHKB

~~~
subsection1h
When you say that the "brackets were always awful", are you referring to their
placement? If so, the Kinesis Advantage is programmable, so why didn't you
relocate the brackets?

~~~
lallysingh
Yup, the placement. but where would I put them? The keyboard wasn't full of
space.

------
drfrank
I don't need the numeric keypad; I'd rather have that space for my mouse. But
I do need an ergonomic angle between the left and right sides.

I've been waiting for such a keyboard for 15 years.

~~~
meritt
There are plenty of ergo/split keyboards without numeric pads.

[http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/p/sculpt-
ergonomic-d...](http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/p/sculpt-ergonomic-
desktop)

[https://www.trulyergonomic.com/store/index.php](https://www.trulyergonomic.com/store/index.php)
(mech switches too)

[https://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/freestyle2-for-pc-us/](https://www.kinesis-
ergo.com/shop/freestyle2-for-pc-us/)

[http://www.goldtouch.com/ergonomic-
keyboards/](http://www.goldtouch.com/ergonomic-keyboards/)

------
johntaitorg
Cherry MX Green? Clear? I think these guys are being different for the sake of
it.

I really don't like any Cherry switches. They are for point of sale terminals.

I'm saving up for a Realforce (Topre keys). My little Happy Hacking Lite has
excellent (non-Topre) keys, though I don't know what's under the key caps.
Some sort of high quality membrane technology.

~~~
MrDosu
Keyboards are very personal and imo more expensive is not necessarily better.

At home I have a DAS MX brown, but at work I'm using a <10$ IBM 7953 rubber
dome one and it beats the MX's (for me) for progging by a mile.

------
bigfaceworm
Yawn!

I've been using my HP c3753a for 18 years now (same layout as these, great
feel and sound (similar to IBM M)). If it ever dies, I'll just use the backup
I grabbed 10 years ago.

It's kind of like buying new antique furniture. I'm sure the keyboard is solid
and will last, but I've got the original...

~~~
touristtam
One major drawback with this one is the connection. Unless you have hacked it
to have a USB connection ....

------
arielweisberg
Cooler Master Storm QuickFire style keyboards (available with or without
backlight and TK) are 90$ at Amazon. They are asking a lot of coin for
features I wouldn't use.

I use a Kinesis Advantage so I haven't gotten around to buying one for myself,
but I want it every time I do something with it.

------
davorb
Just throwing a shout out to Unicomp, in case anyone is looking for new a IBM
Model M-type keyboard, with bulking spring switches.

They're also working on a new ten-keyless model that should be out "soon"...

[http://unicomp.com/](http://unicomp.com/)

------
vhost-
I have one with Green switches and I love it.

I took out the o-rings because they made it too gummy. It was very stiff for a
bit when I did that, but I got used to it and now I can play games of CS:GO
and code on it just fine.

I recommend it, it's simple, small and feels solid.

------
_ZeD_
" Is the CODE keyboard available in ISO layouts? No, we currently only have
the CODE available with the standard US ANSI layout. We do not have plans for
an ISO layout, but we will try to come up with a solution for that in the
future."

sad

------
theVirginian
I have one with MX Clears, got it as a Christmas gift, love it.

~~~
labmixz
Have you used any other MX switches before?

Wondering how the MX Clears compare to MX Blue; I'm currently using a Ducky
Shine 3 with MX Blue, I attempted to put on some o-rings to quiet the clicks,
but lost a lot of tactile feedback which annoyed me.

~~~
sgdread
They're more stiff. Same with reds - they're more stiff compared to browns. If
you really want to try it yourself, you can order MX switches sampler
(something like this: [http://www.amazon.com/Max-Keyboard-Keycap-Cherry-
Sampler/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/Max-Keyboard-Keycap-Cherry-
Sampler/dp/B00N6DXTW4)).

------
antonpug
This looks very dated. Looks just like an old HP keyboard from 2000. I have
yet to find a keyboard better than Apple's.

~~~
ldonley
I'd be willing to bet you haven't looked very hard. Sure the Apple keyboards
look nice but the feel and responsiveness of the keys are far from the best.

~~~
astrodust
The keys are honestly _terrible_ in that they wear down quickly. The plastic
is soft, which feels nice, but eventually rubs or scrapes away way faster than
the harder plastic in older keyboards.

That aside, the low-travel feel is fantastic and it's worth the trade-off.

------
Scarbutt
A friend has one, while trying it, I found the space bar is to long, felt pain
when pressing the alt keys with the thumbs.

------
codingbinary
The switchable layout is a nice touch. Programmable layouts would be nice. And
a version without any key labels.

------
jaachan
I really need a curved keyboard, typing on a straight one just feels cramped.
Other than that, looks fancy.

------
ElijahLynn
Where are the ergonomics?

------
Gonzih
I would prefer MX Blue over MX Green switches.

------
keikun17
which reminds me of the pre-assembled ergodox from ergodox-ez.com

~~~
rmurri
now on indiegogo.

[https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ergodox-ez-an-
incredible-...](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ergodox-ez-an-incredible-
mechanical-keyboard/x/10327881)

------
bch
> Sound dampening O-rings

Copy editors: you mean "Sound damping".

~~~
pluma
> damping, adj

> 1\. a decrease in the amplitude of an oscillation as a result of energy
> being drained from the system to overcome frictional or other resistive
> forces.

vs

> dampen, v

> 2\. make less strong or intense.

I'm pretty sure they meant what they said.

~~~
bch
[http://grammarist.com/usage/dampen-damper-
dampener/](http://grammarist.com/usage/dampen-damper-dampener/)

So you're correct -- I remember reading articles about suspension (ie: bicycle
shocks) where they talked about the damping adjustments, and went through
pains to differentiate between "damping" (ie: damping the rebound effect of
the suspension spring) versus "dampening" (to make something damp (ie:
wet))... but I guess "dampening" works all ways... I thought it was an
annoying common-ish mistake, and here I am in error...

Edit: more etymology -- [http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/67497/is-
it-dampi...](http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/67497/is-it-damping-
or-dampening-when-referring-to-sound)

