The Keyboard Thread

[saturnotaku]

18 hours ago, electrosoft said:

I am starting to think about a good wireless KB/M combo for my ever slowly developing travel SFF. I want to minimize wiring as much as possible down to the display DP connect and PSU adapter and power cord. Everything will be wireless (Headphones, KB and M).

 

Priorities are response, size and price (IE Best gaming keyboard, smallest size and wireless along with mouse).

 

 

 

Not sure how much you're willing to spend, but there's the SteelSeries Apex Mini wireless keyboard, Aerox 3 mouse, and one of their wireless headsets. It would be pricey all in, but at least you'd have everything within the same ecosystem.

[Papusan]

Anyone that have tried or used this Asus keyboad? I looking after a shorter lentght keyboard. This one is have a lenght of 377 mm (377 x 131 x 40mm). The usual is 44-45 cm. Thanks

 

I hope you don't need the Asus cancerware to be able to use this KB @Mr. Fox @Talon In worst case I can tune the functions and lights with the test machine. I don't want any of Asus software on my main pc's. Doesn't matter if it's easy or not to uninstall it. 

 

 

[Mr. Fox]

1 hour ago, Papusan said:

Anyone that have tried or used this Asus keyboad? I looking after a shorter lentght keyboard. This one is have a lenght of 377 mm (377 x 131 x 40mm). The usual is 44-45 cm. Thanks

 

I hope you don't need the Asus cancerware to be able to use this KB @Mr. Fox @Talon In worst case I can tune the functions and lights with the test machine. I don't want any of Asus software on my main pc's. Doesn't matter if it's easy or not to uninstall it. 

 

 

I have no idea but ASUS sucks and I would not be shocked if you didn't have to download a bunch of UWP malware dung from Windows store to use all of its features. That one is crazy expensive and seems terribly overpriced, as is normally the cases with ASUS products. I am surprised you are looking for a smaller keyboard. Is there nothing of a similar size and better price, from a more reliable/reputable brand than ASUS? I feel like everything they sell is a ticking bomb that will explode when it is least expected.

[Reciever]

I'd get a FC980M instead, but thats because that looks like its marketed to a different crowd than I.

[Papusan]

1 hour ago, Mr. Fox said:

I have no idea but ASUS sucks and I would not be shocked if you didn't have to download a bunch of UWP malware dung from Windows store to use all of its features. That one is crazy expensive and seems terribly overpriced, as is normally the cases with ASUS products. I am surprised you are looking for a smaller keyboard. Is there nothing of a similar size and better price, from a more reliable/reputable brand than ASUS? I feel like everything they sell is a ticking bomb that will explode when it is least expected.

I was interested in the size. I don't want buy anything before I have done my due dilligence. I'm not hanged up in any brand names. If it fits my needs and the price is ok and the product is good then I may jump on new things. I as you prefer cheapest if the product is good. I only look for options. I would prefer a shorter keyboard. And the options there is more limited. I have the corsair K95 and I like it. But would prefer it more like 35-38 cm long. But I need the num pad. Hate KB without it. Same for laptops (num pad is a must). My second KB died for the test machine. That was a cheap one. I may buy a new cheap but better... But won't jump on a new one before I have seen if there is better options. So no hurry 🙂 The very best options would be a KB that you don't need any software. And I prefer KB with cable.

 

The worst with Asus... They bundle their HW with their trashy software. And I will never ever install it on a pc I use daily. I will also avoid anything everything from Dell. I don't want support that company with money. Even if they had the best of the best.... NOPE! Not me.

 

1 hour ago, Reciever said:

I'd get a FC980M instead, but thats because that looks like its marketed to a different crowd than I.

I expect its this brand... Leopold. Thanks.

[Reciever]

14 minutes ago, Papusan said:

I don't want buy anything before I have done my due dilligence. I'm not hanged up in any brand names. If it fits my needs and the price is ok and the product is good then I may jump on new things. I as you prefer cheapest if the product is good. I only look for options. I would prefer a shorter keyboard. And the options there is more limited. I have the corsair K95 and I like it. But would prefer it more like 35-38 cm long. But I need the num pad. Hate KB without it. My second KB died for the test machine. That was a cheap one. I may buy a new cheap but better... But won't jump on a new one before I have seen if there is better options. So no hurry 🙂 The very best options would be a KB that you don't need any software. And I prefer KB with cable.

 

The worst with Asus... They bundle their HW with their trashy software. And I will never ever install it on a pc I use daily. I will also avoid anything everything from Dell. I don't want support that company with money. Even if they had the best of the best.... NOPE! Not me.

 

I expect its this brand... Leopold. Thanks.

Its just what I would get, cant say its perfect for you since keyboards have more subjective impressions than other tech.

 

The one drawback is I think it still uses USB Mini, I havent had much issue it on my Pok3r board but its a turn off for some.

[Mr. Fox]

3 hours ago, Papusan said:

I was interested in the size. I don't want buy anything before I have done my due dilligence. I'm not hanged up in any brand names. If it fits my needs and the price is ok and the product is good then I may jump on new things. I as you prefer cheapest if the product is good. I only look for options. I would prefer a shorter keyboard. And the options there is more limited. I have the corsair K95 and I like it. But would prefer it more like 35-38 cm long. But I need the num pad. Hate KB without it. Same for laptops (num pad is a must). My second KB died for the test machine. That was a cheap one. I may buy a new cheap but better... But won't jump on a new one before I have seen if there is better options. So no hurry 🙂 The very best options would be a KB that you don't need any software. And I prefer KB with cable.

 

The worst with Asus... They bundle their HW with their trashy software. And I will never ever install it on a pc I use daily. I will also avoid anything everything from Dell. I don't want support that company with money. Even if they had the best of the best.... NOPE! Not me.

 

I expect its this brand... Leopold. Thanks.

I watched the video and it looks like you can do some basic manipulation of the RGB without installing the Armory Crate cancer software. I personally would not care for how small it is even though it has the numeric keypad. That's one of the things I hate about laptop keyboards; they're just too small. It's also extremely noisy and I think I would find it irritating, as would the people on the other end of the teleconferences that I am part of frequently throughout the day. It doesn't sound quite as clicky and clacky as a normal mechanical keyboard does and kind of reminds me of the sound of bamboo wind chimes, but still too loud. That you can choose between USB Type-C, 2.4GHz and Bluetooth is a nice feature that I'm sure some people would find very valuable. I like the LED battery level indicator. That's a cool feature. At $179 USD it's about $100-125 more than I would gladly want to spend for a keyboard, but I know some people feel differently about the cost. I've done it a couple of times in the past and usually regret spending more than about $60 USD on a keyboard or a mouse. I generally don't feel that I received good value for my money above that price on the high end. For me the cheap ones usually last about as long as the expensive ones do.  After watching the video I can clearly  see that it has some features that some people would really value a great deal, and enough so that they would be willing to pay the very high price to get those features.

[jaybee83]

interesting thread, ill chime right in:

 

my current build is actually the very first time i ever did some research with regard to keyboards. before that i just went by looks alone (i knooooow, i was a kb noob haha). i definitely wanted fullsize with numpad, wanted DBT caps for longer lifetime and after trying some switches i went the MX Brown route (Reds too linear / floppy for my taste and Blues too loud/clicky). in the end i chose Ducky, seen tons of great user reviews on them. when the time came to order my components, just so happened that the One 3 was released, so thats what i went with:

 

 

from what ive seen, Ducky is basically one of the last stations u go before going full custom / self build keyboards 😄 i dont think ill ever get into it, kb are more like tools for me, no actual passion behind it. but for my first desktop build in 15 years i figured id spoil myself.

 

the typing experience is grand, work and play are both tons of fun using this keyboard. its quite hefty in weight, feels premium, but at the same time minimialistic (i.e. no bloatware software that comes with it, everything is done via macros). switched are replaceable and i thought the color scheme is refreshingly different from the usual black / white / red stuff 🙂 

 

my lady still thinks its WAY TOO LOUD, but then again shes not really used to mechanical kb, she prefers quieter membrane keys 😄 when we had guests over recently, she was trying to explain to them what kinda kb i had, and was like: its something old-school clicky LOUD like the keyboards they used to make in the olden days. my reaction to that:

i still love her though! 😄 

[Reciever]

I just picked up a Keychron K4 Pro with etc etc Brown switches. Half the justification for this is the Bluetooth and wired connections. 

 

I am curious if I can use this for work purposes, but that would be probably more along the lines of a "USB thread" lol @Papusan Did you ever end up getting the 1800 keyboard? So far the typing experience is pleasant so I am happy about that at least for personal use except for perhaps the left shift key. Nothing wrong with it just the sound profile of that key is disttinctly different than the rest of the board.

 

For anyone interested after digging around a bit to see what was out there in the way of "keyboard" upgrades I came across this item. 

https://handheldsci.com/kb/

 

It adds bluetooth to keyboards that would otherwise not have it. I also was thinking of spending some time repairing my IBM Model M keyboard where a few of the keys do not work, either that or send it in to Unicomp to repair. It also has quite the aftermarket scene in terms of controller boards and QMK.

 

Anyways here are some comparison pictures of the different layouts I have. I'll merge it from the next post.

[Papusan]

4 minutes ago, Reciever said:

I am curious if I can use this for work purposes, but that would be probably more along the lines of a "USB thread" lol @Papusan Did you ever end up getting the 1800 keyboard?

Nope. Haven't had the time. Now summer vaccation. And lack of time looking more after it. But I need a new KB. Or better say two 🙂

[Reciever]

1 minute ago, Papusan said:

Nope. Haven't had the time. Now summer vaccation. And lack of time looking more after it. But I need a new KB. Or better say two 🙂

The pictures above should give you an idea for how much length you would be shaving off for the 1800 vs Full Size. The 1800 size was what I personally wanted, but QMK and BT + Wired gave me some ideas for work use so.

 

FC980M seems to once again be on the backburner no idea if I'll ever pick it up at this point but oh well.

[saturnotaku]

I wanted to add an "End" key to my Keychron Q1. Since the board is Via-compatible, I figured it would be easy to just load up the website, program the macro, and be on my way. Of course, it wouldn't be so easy. I had the board in Windows mode because obviously that was the operating system I was using. Via recognized the board, but I couldn't program anything into it. It turns out I had to switch it to Mac mode, and from there it worked just fine. I simply had to reprogram all the other keys to match what I was using before. Kind of a pain, but it all worked out in the end.

[Reciever]

On 9/30/2023 at 7:00 AM, saturnotaku said:

I wanted to add an "End" key to my Keychron Q1. Since the board is Via-compatible, I figured it would be easy to just load up the website, program the macro, and be on my way. Of course, it wouldn't be so easy. I had the board in Windows mode because obviously that was the operating system I was using. Via recognized the board, but I couldn't program anything into it. It turns out I had to switch it to Mac mode, and from there it worked just fine. I simply had to reprogram all the other keys to match what I was using before. Kind of a pain, but it all worked out in the end.

 

Yeah I noticed that its just 4 layers, 2 Base layers (MAC/WIN) with 2 Fn layers. You can obviously switch it to where the layers are meaningless and toggle between 4 independent layers but that might not jive well with the physical switch. 

 

When I was changing some of the keys I thought i was doing it wrong since nothing was being reflected when I realized that I changed the "mac" side and not the "win" side. I also had to use the alternative method to allow VIA access to the keyboard as well. Personally I would rather just have the raw format, VIA is great for quick changes but it doesnt seem like I can use the code I have from my other devices in VIA. The keyboard also isnt officially accepted into QMK libraries if I understand it correctly so I cant "build" and compile keymaps which is pretty disappointing.

 

I'll have to see if I can do it independently.