[fjcruiser08]

Originally Posted by Ranger747

If you type a lot, there is nothing like mechanical keyboards. You will see key specs like 'cherry mx blue' , 'cherry mx brown' etc. Blue keys are very clicky and make a lot of nose. Not a good option unless you work alone in a room. Brown keys have the same tactile feedback but quiet. I love the brown keys.

I use this bad boy for all my work. There are no key marking on this model. It forced me to lean touch typing. You can get them with key markings too. Down side of mechanical keyboards are the they almost never come wireless. But if you type a lot, they are worth every penny. ( and the extra wire )

Das Keyboard Ultimate.
Attachment 2070346

Damn dude! That DAS is the bombdiggity right there; love it! I use the same as my daily driver these days (typing on it) but got the keycaps replaced with double shot PBTs from different makes and in different colors of course. I am too lazy to upload pictures; maybe some other time.

My first mech board (cant recall the name) had the stealth key caps like your current ones, with Cherry Browns. It was plugged into the office set up. Soon I acquired more and used to switch between them at the home office. The Cherry Browns were my early favorites but the blues were next..the office hated me for the clickty clack that could be heard outside my cabin. But the blues are such a pleasure.

This thing is addictive bruh, it never stops; first its the switches, the blues and the browns, the reds and the blacks, the clears and the greens, then you are looking past the tactile feedback and the Cherry MXs and get into other switches. Then there's the programming layer. Then of course the key caps. The backlighting, the RGB, programming the backlighting! Soon its the body, the casing. The CNC milled aluminum to the handmade wooden ones. Then its the crazy form factors going all the way down to 40%. It NEVER STOPS! Its becomes an obsession!

I had made a brief comment (WARNING) on this thread earlier about the addictive nature and the $$$ implications of mech boards, but some mod flagged it off for whatever reason. I believe my warning was a value addition enough but whatever

Good to see though we have mech board fans on here. At one point I had over two dozen boards, now down to half a dozen that are still too many. And a box full of mech KB hardware and accessories that am not sure will see the daylight anytime soon.

BTW, since you mentioned it, the Ninja Filco TKL is one of the best BT wireless KB you can get afaik.

Fun fact: you probably know it already but your DAS has a 16" measuring scale magnetically attached underneath to prop it up.

[WCHURCHIL]

I have been using the Logitech’s MX keys & MX Master Mice for past 9 months. The nature of my job is do a lot of documentation, run project plans and spreadsheets and I have always found this pair to get me going and it is a pleasure to use them for the whole day of work typing. One of the notable features are the programmable function keys and quick keys for screen captures, switching devices (upto 3 devices), locking the PC. The mice has a good scroll index and can scroll both vertically and horizontally. The best part is the kit is re-chargeable with a USB-C and you don’t have keep buying batteries which is an expensive thing here in the UK. They do come with a price and the pair cost close to 150 GBP.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by meerkat

I need a new keyboard now, and this one is one of the options. So a few days back l had posted a query in the laptop thread (in response to an old post in the same thread about this keyboard), asking about recent experiences, if any, with the current Long Hua switches. Unfortunately it has elicited no response so far, presumably because it is perhaps still too early since the switch to the cheaper Chinese switches in 2017.

I'm intrigued by your choice of the word "sadly" in this context. Was it based on some real data, or just a general perception about typical cheaper Chinese products? I understand that Kailhua (Long Hua) are capable of making some decent switches. Is the TVS Gold still the best option in mechanical keyboards in India at the budget end (I'm not interested in gaming)? Will it still be prudent to go ahead with the purchase of this keyboard? Thanks in advance for any help.
.

I bought a TVS gold recently (~6months back) and is used fairly intensively during this period, mainly due to WFH.
I can't really make out any significant difference in the tactile feel of the keys from the earlier TVS keyboard I had. I do see a difference in the "painting"/etching of the key face, on mine, i already see a slight discoloration on the shift key.

The older one was an inheritance from my dad. It lasted 20+ years before the spacebar got crippled and enter key gaveup.

[carthick1000]

My idea of a keyboard changed in 2 weeks time, early March this year. That's when Covid dreared it's ugly head in Europe and I started working from home almost everyday. When I started looking for an alternate keyboard to my Logitech K120 ( basic USB mechanical full keyboard) I had 2 important constraints:

1. Silent, as my home office is next to my daughter's bedroom. So no mechanical keyboards. Though I like the various customisation of keys, keyboard form factor etc. it offers, even the silent of the cherry MX red silent switches were louder than non-mechanical keyboard. Unless you go to extreme lengths with damping on keys etc. it is hard to make mechanical keyboards silent.

2. After using the full keyboard form factor for a long time, I find that my right hand (right hander) goes a bit far away from my body whenever using the mouse, because of the extra numpad on the keyboard. So I wanted to have something of a smaller format. Though there are a lot of mechanical keyboards which offer a wide variety of form factors without numpad (60%, 65%, 70% etc.), the selection is very limited in the non-mechanical section.

That brought me to 2 serious options. Apple magic keyboard 2 and Logitech K380. I tried out both the keyboards and found that logitech k380 relatively a much better built keyboard with silent, but good travel and feedback on each keypress. So I chose the K380 from Logitech. Added advantage: Logitech k380 is 39EUR and Apple magic 2 was 90EUR online. So I bought 2 k380's so that I can use it for both my home and at work. It took me some hours to get used to the round keys, but after that it become very normal to use it. Also the rounded keys looks very pleasing on the eyes and the keyboard makes the desk feel very minimal.

Also I found this github page, which helped configure the keyboard the way I like it.

Comparison


At home


At work

[aashishnb]

Originally Posted by Anduril

I had been using the Microsoft ergonomic keyboard for last 10 years as my daily driver in office.

Attachment 2070397

No other wired keyboard has come close to it, be it in terms of key feedback or comfort. The integrated palm rest is perfectly positioned and really helps. Most of the key markings got erased over the years but I still kept using this just because it was so comfortable. It took a water spill on the keyboard to stop from functioning and then too I replaced it with a new one of the same model Tried many other keyboards in between but always kept coming back to this.

+1
Have been using this and on my third one! In most offices, gets you a 'geek' quotient / bragging rights (especially if it has to be your own) - not many companies will offer to pay 5-10x the normal keyboard price.

Amongst the ergonomic keyboards, the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic series are the most economical. USB ones around 5k. The Kinesics start at 3x. The previous version was a white colour keyboard that I saw about 20 years ago. At that time, they decided on the split keyboard after many years of research that showed them that wrists get strained on straight keyboard as they need to be at an angle to the arm and and it is better to split the keyboard so wrists are in line with the arm.

The best part is they give a 3 year warranty on the keyboard and even if there is a small problem, the keyboard is replaced.

Off topic, all the expensive software that we buy from MS, part of the money is well spent on creating some excellent hardware (most don't make money for them apparently).

[ads11]

Originally Posted by kamilharis

But at the office I recently switched from a mechanical keyboard(same as what GTO has posted) to a soft click one, and I found it better than the mechanical one which I felt like the keys were a bit oversized. Both DELL.

Current softkey set-up.
Attachment 2070332

Just realised that I've been using the very same keyboard for the past few months. Nabbed it from the lab right before the shutdown here in England. At first it was strange compared to a traditional keyboard but you're right, they are soft clicks. Never noticed that till I heard my girlfriends roommate with his custom built Cherry keyboard with its loud thwacking.

Originally Posted by WCHURCHIL

I have been using the Logitech’s MX keys & MX Master Mice for past 9 months. The nature of my job is do a lot of documentation, run project plans and spreadsheets and I have always found this pair to get me going and it is a pleasure to use them for the whole day of work typing. One of the notable features are the programmable function keys and quick keys for screen captures, switching devices (upto 3 devices), locking the PC. The mice has a good scroll index and can scroll both vertically and horizontally. The best part is the kit is re-chargeable with a USB-C and you don’t have keep buying batteries which is an expensive thing here in the UK. They do come with a price and the pair cost close to 150 GBP.

£150 for both is solid. The mappable buttons are great but there are times Logitech's software does seem to show up on Taskmanager as a sudden resource load. Recently I've noticed very rarely that the cursor jumps a bit, including some lag so I'm curious to know if you've encountered as much on your MX? Overall I'm mega pleased with mine but cursor drift isn't something I would expect so I'm hoping I just caught a few isolated instances..

[WCHURCHIL]

Originally Posted by ads11

Just realised that I've been using the very same keyboard for the past few months. Nabbed it from the lab right before the shutdown here in England. At first it was strange compared to a traditional keyboard but you're right, they are soft clicks. Never noticed that till I heard my girlfriends roommate with his custom built Cherry keyboard with its loud thwacking.



£150 for both is solid. The mappable buttons are great but there are times Logitech's software does seem to show up on Taskmanager as a sudden resource load. Recently I've noticed very rarely that the cursor jumps a bit, including some lag so I'm curious to know if you've encountered as much on your MX? Overall I'm mega pleased with mine but cursor drift isn't something I would expect so I'm hoping I just caught a few isolated instances..

I love this pair and the small curvature on the keys help to avoid misplacement while typing. I haven’t observed any such issues of cursor jumps and lags with my MX pair. I guess a re-install of Logitech software and recalibrating the mouse to default will help.

[meerkat]

Originally Posted by whitewing

I bought a TVS gold recently (~6months back) and is used fairly intensively during this period, mainly due to WFH.
I can't really make out any significant difference in the tactile feel of the keys from the earlier TVS keyboard I had. I do see a difference in the "painting"/etching of the key face, on mine, i already see a slight discoloration on the shift key.

The older one was an inheritance from my dad. It lasted 20+ years before the spacebar got crippled and enter key gaveup.

Thanks. I guess it is too early still since the switch to Long Hua in 2017 to form a more critical opinion about the current TVS Gold much beyond the basic look-and-feel! It appears though from your experience so far that the feel isn't substantially different, -- which is good.

Some usability queries: How difficult is it to get used to the TVS Gold's tiny Backspace key? Also, how does the Spacebar behave? is it anything like how many of the cheaper keyboards require the Spacebar to be pressed around the middle region only? Thanks again.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by meerkat

Some usability queries: How difficult is it to get used to the TVS Gold's tiny Backspace key? Also, how does the Spacebar behave? is it anything like how many of the cheaper keyboards require the Spacebar to be pressed around the middle region only? Thanks again.
.

The spacebar works fine, no complaints. I've not used any of the expensive ones - comparison is based on the Dell/HP/Microsoft ones.

Haven't found the smaller backspace key to be inconvenient, but that's based on individual usage pattern and adaptability.

[dhruvwali]

I use the Apple Magic keyboard 2 and Magic trackpad 2 as my daily drivers.

It is supremely comfortable to use and has very long battery life.

[s4ch]

Originally Posted by reihem

Luckily those of us in this predicament now have a solution in the form of these beauties from Keychron ! I used the K1 at home and travel with the K2.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get the K1 from and for how much? The Keychron site doesn't seem to have the K1 v4 full size available.

Have heard really positive reviews about these but confused whether to go for blue or red switches - I don't game at all and just do a lot of typing and graphics work - if you have any suggestions would really appreciate them!

Thanks.

[reihem]

Originally Posted by s4ch

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get the K1 from and for how much? The Keychron site doesn't seem to have the K1 v4 full size available.

Have heard really positive reviews about these but confused whether to go for blue or red switches - I don't game at all and just do a lot of typing and graphics work - if you have any suggestions would really appreciate them!

Thanks.

If you have no one around, I would strongly recommend the blue switches. The red switches are satisfying, but no where near the blue for that tactile experience. The K1 features a miniaturised version of the full size blue you'll find in the k2. If you're a Mac user, and need a wireless solution, and can't shell out for a Das, there is honestly no better alternative to Keychron.

Its best to sign up to be notified for the k1 in the size and switch combo you like; they tend to sell out pretty fast when they're in stock. They don't ship to India, I had a college in the US bring them to me.

[phamilyman]

For my son's gaming PC - we got the Circle Squadron RGB with red keys - he's picked it up well and enjoys gaming and typing on it. It was the cheapest (4k) gaming keyboard in the market and frankly in a month - so far, no cause to complain. The lighting is the envy of his friends! As is his Coolermaster MB511 addressable RGB cabinet!


The buttons don't have the feel of the good old TVS keyboards but the device looks premium, the colors are gorgeous! Recommended to someone who is looking for a gaming keyboard in a similar modest budget.

That being said, as an old school jaded person - I deeply believe this RGB LED lighting tamasha is stupid designed to influence youngsters. To me, computers are about performance and not eye popping visuals - computers should be no nonsense hardcore devices - like sleeper cars!

[Rehaan]

Started off with the good ol' TVS Gold -- this was maybe 20(?) years ago (PS/2), and it changed my typing life. #MechanicalForever

Got the USB version of the TVS Gold after that, and in black. Wow, it now had a Windows key.


Later on I needed 2 more keyboards (work & home) and wanted mechanical + blue switches + cheap, and ended up with the 2x RedGear MK881 Invadors:



Pros:
- High quality everything
- Love the braided cable
- Blue switches (Kailh)
- No nonsense design, and 'bezel-less' compact size
- Rs. ~2,850 both times I bought it. Good for a mechanical keyboard

Cons:
- Ugh, I hate RGB lights
- Have to press Fn + PageUp every time it 'starts up' to switch the default flashing RGB to Always-on. It doesn't remember the setting if you unplug it - which happens a lot when used with a laptop.
- 3-4 second 'boot up' time when it's first plugged in where it's unresponsive
- Doesn't have Volume Up/Down media keys



If i type on the TVS Gold now it feels soft and mushy in comparison!


Recently I saw the Logitech K845, and it has a WHITE backlight, $59 pricetag, choice of switches, and looks a lot like the MK881 -- so that's on my radar, though I don't think it's available in India yet:




I also want to make a special mention for this small & relatively cheap (Rs 2k) wireless mouse+keyboard combo : Logitech MK240

My Dad uses it on his computer, and the feel of the keyboard is really excellent. They designs are quite ugly though... (he has a white one, which is equally ugly):


Speaking of mice...

Nice to see so many BHPians using the MX Master 2S & 3!

They are great - especially when all the buttons & gestures are set up correctly to maximize productivity.

Though recently when cleaning mine the thumb/base button got stuck and rendered the entire mouse useless. Logitech support was no help (out of 1yr warranty), so i had to open it up and loosen the switch PCB, which has kind of fixed it.

Apparently it's a very common problem - so keep your eyes open for it.

[meerkat]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Started off with the good ol' TVS Gold -- this was maybe 20(?) years ago (PS/2), and it changed my typing life. #MechanicalForever

Got the USB version of the TVS Gold after that ....

Later on I needed 2 more keyboards (work & home) and wanted mechanical + blue switches + cheap, and ended up with the 2x RedGear MK881 Invadors:
.
Pros:
.
- Blue switches (Kailh)
.
.
If i type on the TVS Gold now it feels soft and mushy in comparison!

I'm curious ... was your USB version of the TVS Gold purchased before the 'Cherry MX Blue' to 'Long Hua (Kailh) Blue' switch was made by TVS in 2017? If so, your experience above is probably saying something quite unexpected!

---- On the other hand, if your USB TVS Gold has the current 'Long Hua (Kailh) Blue' switches, then it gets even more puzzling, --- how come the same Kailh Blue switches feel "soft and mushy in comparison" to presumably the same switches in the RedGear MK881 ? -- Is it possible that the Kailh Blue switches don't age well?!