I am on a mission to find my perfect keyboard and need help.

ConnorJ_7 · May 18, 2022

Hello all,

I am very particular about my keyboards, but especially with typing. I start law school in a few months and am in search of a perfect keyboard that feels great and allows me to work and type without any hindrance.

My experience with my current keyboards will help any respondents in guiding me towards the best one.

My first keyboard was the Razer Ornata Chroma. It was my first "gaming" keyboard, and I still love that keyboard. A few years ago, I went all out and purchased the Corsair K95 RGB platinum with Cherry MX Speed Switches. My experience with the Corsair K95 has been awkward for lack of a better word. The MX speed switches are understandably great for gaming (with an actuation force of 45g, an actuation point of 1.2mm, and a total travel of 3.4mm). But for typing.... this is why I never fell in love with it. I had both keyboards with me all through undergrad, and would pull out the Razer Ornata with its membrane switches for typing. When typing on the K95, the keys were obnoxiously sensitive for long sessions of typing (articles, essays, etc.). Most of the time, I would barely hit an adjacent key and spend a decent amount of time hitting the backspace to fix that wrong-input. With those "gamer specific" switches, typing was a hassle. So I tend to type on the Razer Ornata membrane switches when I know I will be typing for an extended period of time. But even the membrane switches have come to feel mushy and not quite my perfect keyboard.

So,

Essentially on a spectrum, with my membrane, clicky-ish Razer keyboard being a 1, and my Corsair K95 being the ultimate gamer keyboard with linear MX Speed switches being 100, I would estimate that I am searching for something between 35 and 55 on this keyboard spectrum.

It was love at first sight when I saw that Razer made a "professional" and "productivity" focused keyboard in their Razer Pro Type Ultra. I love the look of it and the aesthetics. I am one of those weirdos who actually wants a number pad. However, I noticed that the Pro Type Ultra uses the Razer Yellow switches, which are damn near identical to the Cherry MX speed Switches.

So this lead me to Keychron and the K4 v2, its a 96% keyboard, and I could customize it to be hot swappable and I would be able to change switches if I found what I was looking for. But the plastic housing and frame are not ideal.

I wish the Razer Pro Type had switches with perhaps 70-80g of actuation force, and maybe an actuation point of 1.5mm or greater. I know the word "Thock" is a term in the community, perhaps that is what I am looking for?

I am open to any and all suggestions and recommendations. Is there a keyboard out there that fits the criteria? Or am I better off building a keyboard to my liking and specifications? Please send help.

(Also I cannot stand Cherry Blue switches, so that clickyness is not what I am looking for, maybe more tactile than clicky).

Thank you in advance!

ConnorJ_7

dizmo · May 18, 2022

You're missing the most important part. Budget.

I also don't really get your scaling model.

OfficialTechSpace · May 18, 2022

You're looking in the wrong place. "Gaming" based brands that market RGB as a main selling point in their product stack simply will not perform respectablely by comparison to a more specialized builder.

Try IQUNIX if you'd like a pre-built, otherwise build your own. Razer, Corsair, Cooler Master, etc. are all garbage.

Master_Ill · May 21, 2022

I have the Keychron Q1 and I enjoy the keyboard immensely. Mine is version 1 and the new version 2 seems even better. They now come in a better key cap shape and in PBT instead of ABS. So I would highly recommend the Q1 v2. I have the brown switches and it is a good blend between clickiness, and smooth typing feel. They are not too light that you hit keys next to them, but still very smooth and does not feel like you're hammering on a typewriter.

I graduated from law school myself, and I can say that you probably will not need the 10 key much. So save yourself the desk space for notes or even coffee cups.

As an added bonus, the Q1 is a hot swappable PCB so if you dont like a particular switch you get with it, you can always just buy a new set of switches and swap them without any soldering. Which will also come in handy if you later decide to convert the keyboard to a gaming one, once done with law school. It does come with RGB, but you can disable it.

One mention though, the keyboard has some small issues with resonance and pingyniess, but those can be tweaked very easily (plenty of youtube videos on that).

BONUS NOTE: if you get the keyboard, buy the matching palm rest. Shipping is not super cheap, but when you combine them together the palm rest ships free with the keyboard. I found the keyboard substantially more comfortable with the palm rest.