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Mechanical keyboards

B

brentsg

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Oct 15, 2008
3,585
940
I'm really, really needing a new keyboard and I'm not finding anything that meets the criteria.

-Mechanical, prefer MX Cherry Brown
-Need USB hub, just a couple ports for occasional use 2.0 fine
-Need tenkey

I'd greatly prefer Mac keycaps and layout, though it's not absolutely critical as long as it works on Windows and OSX. I've been using a Das forever but the new models I tried sucked and went back. They cheaped out on switches and it was too flat on the desk. I don't care about fancy stuff or media keys.

I'd greatly appreciate some pointers if there are options I'm not finding.
 
How about the "Das Keyboard"? It has various Cherry MX switches you can choose from, it's got a number pad, and tons more. There's also a Mac version. I use the Das Keyboard Professional 4 and it's the single best keyboard I've ever used. It's so, so great. The build quality is aluminium and rock solid.

http://www.daskeyboard.com/
 
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I tried the recent Das and went back to my old Das. The new one uses Greetech switches and I hated them, and that ruler thing on the back didn't give it enough tilt for my seating position. It made the keyboard sit much flatter than the older one. The build quality was otherwise nice. If they had better switches and a more versatile tilt I'd still have it.

If the ergonomics worked for me better, I might have used it long enough to forget how good the switches were in my old keyboard, but that wasn't the case.
 
brentsg said:
I'm really, really needing a new keyboard and I'm not finding anything that meets the criteria.

-Mechanical, prefer MX Cherry Brown
-Need USB hub, just a couple ports for occasional use 2.0 fine
-Need tenkey

I'd greatly prefer Mac keycaps and layout, though it's not absolutely critical as long as it works on Windows and OSX. I've been using a Das forever but the new models I tried sucked and went back. They cheaped out on switches and it was too flat on the desk. I don't care about fancy stuff or media keys.

I'd greatly appreciate some pointers if there are options I'm not finding.
Click to expand...

I have 3 of these (Silver and two blacks, all using mx cherry blue clones (Can be replaced with real mx cherrys)), not on sale but should be in a month

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/e-element-rgb-keyboard
 
sartrekid said:
Have a look at their website. They write that their keyboards use brown and blue Cherry MX switches: http://matias.ca/quietpro/mac/
Click to expand...

Ah. I was thinking of the Tactile Pro models which uses the Alps switches.

Screen Shot 2016-02-05 at 8.15.53 AM.png
 
I tried Matias, and liked the keyboard overall. The one thing I found really annoying though was the tiny Option key. It is the same size as the regular keys. CTRL, OPT, CMD should all be bigger. I use Option a lot, and had a difficult time finding it by feel many times.
 
Lose the tenkey, get a KUL87es.

Keep the tenkey, get a code.

go clacky, get a unicomp, but make sure you get a big mat like the goliathus

go up market and get a realforce 104u

or do what I did and just get all of them.
 
brentsg said:
I tried the recent Das and went back to my old Das. The new one uses Greetech switches and I hated them, and that ruler thing on the back didn't give it enough tilt for my seating position. It made the keyboard sit much flatter than the older one. The build quality was otherwise nice. If they had better switches and a more versatile tilt I'd still have it.

If the ergonomics worked for me better, I might have used it long enough to forget how good the switches were in my old keyboard, but that wasn't the case.
Click to expand...

By the way, in case you didn't know... only the "C" Das Keyboard uses Greentech switches. The Professional line does not. I have brown switches in mine.
 
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I have the Matias Tactile Pro and the Quiet Pro. I like them both, but I prefer typing on the Tactile Pro. It feels much more satisfying. Unfortunately the wife did not appreciate the loudness of the keys so I use it in my office and the Quiet Pro is a great compromise for my study.
[doublepost=1454781131][/doublepost]
sartrekid said:
Have a look at their website. They write that their keyboards use brown and blue Cherry MX switches: http://matias.ca/quietpro/mac/
Click to expand...
Where does it say that?

There is only a comparison between their keys and cherry brown and blue. I am pretty sure that they don't use cherry switches.

To hear the difference, we made sample recordings of the Quiet Pro plus three other mechanical keyboards — our award-winning Tactile Pro, a Cherry Blue switch keyboard, and a Cherry Brown switch keyboard.
Click to expand...
 
sartrekid said:
By the way, in case you didn't know... only the "C" Das Keyboard uses Greentech switches. The Professional line does not. I have brown switches in mine.
Click to expand...

I had the 4 Pro and it most definitely had Greetech switches, and it's listed as such on their product page as well.


http://www.daskeyboard.com/daskeyboard-4-professional-for-mac/

Product Information
  • Greetech mechanical key switches with gold contacts
  • Dedicated media controls with oversized volume knob
  • Two-port USB 3.0 SuperSpeed hub - Up to 5Gb/s, 10x the speed of USB 2.0
  • Mac OS specific key functions
  • Instant sleep button to save energy
  • UV hard coat-protected key caps to prevent fading
 
theSeb said:
I have the Matias Tactile Pro and the Quiet Pro. I like them both, but I prefer typing on the Tactile Pro. It feels much more satisfying. Unfortunately the wife did not appreciate the loudness of the keys so I use it in my office and the Quiet Pro is a great compromise for my study.
[doublepost=1454781131][/doublepost]
Where does it say that?

There is only a comparison between their keys and cherry brown and blue. I am pretty sure that they don't use cherry switches.
Click to expand...

Yep, I misread.
[doublepost=1454852139][/doublepost]
theSeb said:
I have the Matias Tactile Pro and the Quiet Pro. I like them both, but I prefer typing on the Tactile Pro. It feels much more satisfying. Unfortunately the wife did not appreciate the loudness of the keys so I use it in my office and the Quiet Pro is a great compromise for my study.
[doublepost=1454781131][/doublepost]
Where does it say that?

There is only a comparison between their keys and cherry brown and blue. I am pretty sure that they don't use cherry switches.
Click to expand...

In Germany they are offered with brown and blue Cherry MX switches. They demo those on their website and state it in the text in bold: http://www.daskeyboard.com/de/daskeyboard-4-professional/

Here's the proof:

daskeyboard.png
 
sartrekid said:
In Germany they are offered with brown and blue Cherry MX switches. They demo those on their website and state it in the text in bold: http://www.daskeyboard.com/de/daskeyboard-4-professional/
Click to expand...

That's interesting that there would be a material difference, aside from key layout or such. Yeah I had overlooked the Greetech thing when I ordered mine, and when I talked to Das support, they told me that the 4 Pro was simply not available with Cherry switches, and that Greetech was just as good or something like that. Oh well, at least they took it back without incident.

Regardless, it looks like what I want doesn't exist so I'll have to get one without a USB hub and add an external hub.

I'm using an LG 34UM95P display as a sort of KVM switch, having it attached to my Mac via DisplayPort and my gaming PC via Thunderbolt. So I need all the USB peripherals attached or chained to the display, so they swing to the proper machine when I toggle the monitor switch. Makes all those USB ports ON my computers much less useful as those peripherals have to be manually moved.

Thanks all for the input.
 
brentsg said:
I'm really, really needing a new keyboard and I'm not finding anything that meets the criteria.

-Mechanical, prefer MX Cherry Brown
-Need USB hub, just a couple ports for occasional use 2.0 fine
-Need tenkey

I'd greatly prefer Mac keycaps and layout, though it's not absolutely critical as long as it works on Windows and OSX. I've been using a Das forever but the new models I tried sucked and went back. They cheaped out on switches and it was too flat on the desk. I don't care about fancy stuff or media keys.

I'd greatly appreciate some pointers if there are options I'm not finding.
Click to expand...

These were recently released by FILCO: https://www.diatec.co.jp/en/det.php?prod_c=1874

While I don't believe it has a built in USB hub, it connects via Bluetooth, so that USB port on your computer remains free. The Keycaps pop right off / are easily replaced, so for a few extra bucks you can customize / add whatever keycaps you need (e.g. something for Command and Option).

Anyway, they're a bit pricey, but they're definitely at the top when it comes to build / overall quality.

Another option is to buy a stand alone USB hub and simply run the keyboard through that.

e.g. http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-4-Port-USB-2-0-Ultra-Mini/dp/B003M0NURK
 
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