Mechanical Keyboard Beginner Keyboard?

Hi

Christmas is coming closer - and I am tempted to try out a mechanlcal keyboard. I heard only good things about the Keychron keyboards - but there are quire a few available.

Which one is recommened for a mechanical keyboard beginner?
Which switches?

I am using at the moment the Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad - US English and would like to stay with the US layout (even though I am living in Switzrland, am German, the US layout is the easiest for programming imho).

Any suggestions and comments (also different makes?) are welcome.

The last question in this direction is from 2020, so I do not feel to bad to ask again.

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I’d suggest going for a Ten Keyless i.e. those without the Numpads. They are shorter and so one does not need to reach far for the mouse/trackpad.

As for switches, the safest for new comer would be a Cherry or Gateron Brown. I am not familiar with some of the newer switches and will always stay with the “OG”, which are Cherry.

One thing about Keychron is that you can buy those keyboard that let you swap out the switches, so you can, say buy a Cherry MX Brown and then, buy extra switches like Blues so you can swap them out depending on mood.

I prefer wired, but I am guessing wireless is fine too.

Amazon.com: Varmilo VA87M Mac White LED TKL Dye Sub PBT Mechanical Keyboard (Cherry MX Blue) : Electronics

Varmilo VPH108 Mac White LED Mechanical Keyboard

Make sure if you want to buy a wireless one you read the description and order a wireless one! Just ordered a Keychron one that arrived this week and whilst I thought it was Bluetooth, it turns out it is not :crazy_face:

Honestly, the Keychron ones are decent - not tried one over £100 though so not sure what the high end ones are like. I ordered a K13 Pro ages ago and it finally arrived a week or two ago. However, the low profile started to set my wrist off, so I ordered a V1. I must have misread the description on the website, as I ordered it thinking it was wireless but it’s a wired keyboard. Both do the job. And my instance, both are ISO layout, as I found using an ISO layout with a laptop that has an ISO layout is less hassle than not.

I’ve tried Filco boards, which are fine but nothing to write home about. My personal favourite is Niz, which has a copy of the Topre switches. Topre is good as well, but it’s over the double the price of the Niz ones so it makes it hard to justify…

This is my recent purchase: Keyboards and Mice - #6 by SebMacV

I am very pleased with it, and finding a low profile mechanical wasn’t easy. So you might want to consider low profile as a ‘gateway’ if you are transferring from Magic keyboard? I think it feels just great (Alice layout optional, of course, they do a variety). I am about to order another, because I work between the office and home, and it’s quite the beast to carry around in my backpack.

PS I have brown switches. I also bought a box of reds but I haven’t been bothered to swap them around yet, and kinda wish I’d saved my money on them.

There are three main things - the board, the switches, and the keycaps.

The board is a combination of layout and software. You’ve indicated you’re happy with a standard key layout, so no issues there. Software like QMK lets you reprogram keys and do all sorts of fun stuff. You’ll want a board that lets you swap switches. The board will also dictate whether or not you have any backlight, under-light, etc. That’s your preference; it doesn’t affect typing.

Based on my experience for switches, I’d start with something like a Cherry Brown (or equivalent) since there’s a little tactile “bump” when you press a key. If you don’t want the little “bump”, try Cherry Red (or equivalent). And don’t stress about “getting it right” off the bat. You’ll likely want to play around with switches at some point, and that will be dictated by what you do or don’t like about the switches you have. For me, I started with Browns and went to Kailh Box Pink because I have some RSI type issues and the pinks had a lower activation force. Now I’m on KTT Strawberry switches. They’re super-smooth and linear. This is a good reason to get a hot-swap keyboard - you can change out switches in an hour or so if you want to try new ones, and they’re not that expensive.

Finally, there are different profiles of keycaps. Again, what you pick depends on what you’re comfortable with. But if you’re comfortable with a non-contoured board (Apple’s Magic Keyboard is a very flat board), you might consider a set of DSA keycaps. And of course you can have fun with colors and such. https://spkeyboards.com/ is a great resource.

This is not a recommendation per se as I use an ortholinear board, but if I were in your shoes and were happy with a “standard” keyboard layout I’d be looking at something like this:

Standard layout, QMK programmable, swappable key switches, available in white if you want a white board, and not that expensive. Checks all the boxes.

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Thanks a lot everybody for your comments and thoughts - I leaarned a lot. I will probalby go for a keychron 80% (tenkeyless) with brown switches - still have to look into which series though.

As a follow up: What is the difference between the different series? Is there a comparison chart of the series (not the individua; keuboaurds - that I have found)?

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Oh dang, I might have accidentaly ordered a Keychron K8 Pro with brown switches.

I recall loving the old grey IBM keyboards, so I hope I still will enjoy using this type of keyboard again. So many years have gone by with me getting used to low-travel keys, but this thread pushed me over the edge :slight_smile:

This probably won’t help you, but I’ve bought a bunch of mechanical keyboards over the years, and I think I’ve settled on this shockingly expensive split keyboard:

On my Windows computer, I use one of those (IBM Model M). And an Apple Extended Keyboard II on my Mac.

Unicomp bought the design for those and still make them - Unicomp. They also now make a tenkeyless version of it.

And I’ve just seen that they make an ISO version of the TKL version, so I’m having to hide my wallet…