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I own a DasKeyboard with MX Browns and it's my daily driver at work. I prefer MX Blue switches (or even MX Greens) because I grew up in the old buckling spring

I own a DasKeyboard with MX Browns and it's my daily driver at work. I prefer MX Blue switches (or even MX Greens) because I grew up in the old buckling spring era of IBM keyboard dominance (my home keyboard is an old Model M from the late 90s). I would use a clicky keyboard at work, but my coworkers don't like it, so I stick with the browns. I HIGHLY recommend the DasKeyboard. It's hefty, and I installed a custom key set with my preferred key profile and I LOVE it. This is the one I own and I can't recommend it highly enough: https://www.daskeyboard.com/model-s-professional/ https://www.daskeyboard.com/model-s-professional/

sorum 4y ago
I've owned two DasKeyboards (one with Browns, one with Blues) and they are sturdy as hell, built like a tank...but for the life of me I don't understand why their Mac models don't come with the right media key layout on the F-row. It's literally my only hangup with them.
tfvlrue 4y ago
Same here. I got two of the Das Keyboard 4 (one for work, one for home) over 7 years ago and they're still going strong. I like the brown switches personally. I hadn't realized how much using membrane switch was causing RSI until I switched to mechanical keyboards.
jkaptur 4y ago
I used a Das Keyboard for over a decade and loved it. Now I've switched to a Drop Alt so I can hotswap "better" switches and run QMK, which I've grown completely dependent on (https://jkaptur.com/layout/ https://jkaptur.com/layout/). For me, keyboards like Das Keyboard, Alt, Ctrl, etc. are the perfect satisfice: good keyboards, at a price that's not terrible, with a time & research commitment that falls below the level of "hobby". I could easily see the Logitech keyboard fitting into this niche. The only question is how big a niche it is - how many of us are out there who like a nice keyboard, but are lukewarm/meh about soldering?
- dmix 4y ago
  What's the logic of using a tiny 40% keyboard like the guy uses in that blog post? Just adding effort to add additional keys using capslock.
  - jkaptur 4y ago
    People have different preferences: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/37pw1s/what_the_idea_behind_smaller_keyboards/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/37pw1s... That said (author here), I actually use a 65% for daily use. The 40% was too small for me to use comfortably. I could get used to the caps lock for arrow keys and text editing stuff, but having to remember shortcuts to type a semicolon just wasn't for me.
  - Macha 4y ago
    I can understand why people use 60/70% keyboards. I personally couldn't give up the numpad, home/end/pgup/pgdown/arrow keys for it, but there's definitely something to be said for the comfort level of having the mouse less far off from the keyboard. I think once you're into anything less than 60%, either you literally just type text and use the mouse/touchpad items instead of keyboard shortcuts, or you're more focused in the aesthetic minimalism rather than the functionality.
    - sleepymoose 4y ago
      I've had my eye on a few 40% builds as of late, so I'll throw another option into your list here: portability. I'm looking for a keyboard that I can throw in my laptop bag that isn't miserable to type on. I had a Microsoft Designer Keyboard for a while but it's worse than my laptop keyboard, so I'm back to the drawing board, and this seems like where I'm landing.
      - Macha 4y ago
        Ah, I've got a 100% G915 and it fits in my backpack fine for a trip to the office or something. Maybe if the bag was filled for plane travel that'd be a problem.
imtringued 4y ago
I had a Das keyboard and it was the best.
Macha 4y ago
I did have a Das Keyboard 4 Ultimate fail on me after 6 years (the switches in the F and G key started to not always register). I'm sure someone with a steadier hand could maybe fix it with a soldering iron. I did see some of the reviews of the newer revisions were less positive than their historical record
ftlio 4y ago
Second, I love this keyboard, but it isn't wireless, which I think is a fair requirement. I personally like my keyboards to be wired, but can see why someone might seek out something like the Logitech keyboard. Even with the browns, in a quiet office full of laptop keyboard users, any mechanical keyboard is going to seem loud. Mechanical keyboards always had the multiple benefits for me of: 1) more like the thing I grew up using, 2) loud enough that maybe they'd prefer I work from home :)
- caeril 4y ago
  > but it isn't wireless, which I think is a fair requirement I don't see how this is a fair requirement. Most people would rather NOT be one 0day RF side-channel attack or bluetooth link key compromise away from someone outside their house with a high-gain antenna grabbing their LUKS or ssh key passphrases. KeySniffer II is a question of when, not if.
  - regularfry 4y ago
    "Most people" don't have LUKS or SSH key passphrases.
  - iakov 4y ago
    That's not a realistic threat model for most people.
Root_Denied 4y ago
I tried a DasKeyboard and found that certain keys would "catch" against the side of other keys due to spacing issues between the keys and the angle of attack of my fingers while typing - enough that it would occasionally prevent the key from registering. Swapped it out for another keyboard of the same make/model and had the same issue with the same keys and another couple of keys. Not sure if that's an issue with my particular way of typing or the build quality, or both. Ended up returning it and going back to my WASD Code keyboard with MX Browns and just getting a different keycap set for it. It's a similar price to the DasKeyboard (and this Logitech one), and for individually backlit keys that seems to be the common price point. Pretty easy to dismantle and clean as well, so I definitely recommend it.

sorum 4y ago

I've owned two DasKeyboards (one with Browns, one with Blues) and they are sturdy as hell, built like a tank...but for the life of me I don't understand why their Mac models don't come with the right media key layout on the F-row. It's literally my only hangup with them.

tfvlrue 4y ago

Same here. I got two of the Das Keyboard 4 (one for work, one for home) over 7 years ago and they're still going strong. I like the brown switches personally. I hadn't realized how much using membrane switch was causing RSI until I switched to mechanical keyboards.

jkaptur 4y ago

I used a Das Keyboard for over a decade and loved it. Now I've switched to a Drop Alt so I can hotswap "better" switches and run QMK, which I've grown completely dependent on (https://jkaptur.com/layout/ https://jkaptur.com/layout/). For me, keyboards like Das Keyboard, Alt, Ctrl, etc. are the perfect satisfice: good keyboards, at a price that's not terrible, with a time & research commitment that falls below the level of "hobby". I could easily see the Logitech keyboard fitting into this niche. The only question is how big a niche it is - how many of us are out there who like a nice keyboard, but are lukewarm/meh about soldering?

dmix 4y ago
What's the logic of using a tiny 40% keyboard like the guy uses in that blog post? Just adding effort to add additional keys using capslock.
- jkaptur 4y ago
  People have different preferences: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/37pw1s/what_the_idea_behind_smaller_keyboards/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/37pw1s... That said (author here), I actually use a 65% for daily use. The 40% was too small for me to use comfortably. I could get used to the caps lock for arrow keys and text editing stuff, but having to remember shortcuts to type a semicolon just wasn't for me.
- Macha 4y ago
  I can understand why people use 60/70% keyboards. I personally couldn't give up the numpad, home/end/pgup/pgdown/arrow keys for it, but there's definitely something to be said for the comfort level of having the mouse less far off from the keyboard. I think once you're into anything less than 60%, either you literally just type text and use the mouse/touchpad items instead of keyboard shortcuts, or you're more focused in the aesthetic minimalism rather than the functionality.
  - sleepymoose 4y ago
    I've had my eye on a few 40% builds as of late, so I'll throw another option into your list here: portability. I'm looking for a keyboard that I can throw in my laptop bag that isn't miserable to type on. I had a Microsoft Designer Keyboard for a while but it's worse than my laptop keyboard, so I'm back to the drawing board, and this seems like where I'm landing.
    - Macha 4y ago
      Ah, I've got a 100% G915 and it fits in my backpack fine for a trip to the office or something. Maybe if the bag was filled for plane travel that'd be a problem.

imtringued 4y ago

I had a Das keyboard and it was the best.

Macha 4y ago

I did have a Das Keyboard 4 Ultimate fail on me after 6 years (the switches in the F and G key started to not always register). I'm sure someone with a steadier hand could maybe fix it with a soldering iron. I did see some of the reviews of the newer revisions were less positive than their historical record

ftlio 4y ago

Second, I love this keyboard, but it isn't wireless, which I think is a fair requirement. I personally like my keyboards to be wired, but can see why someone might seek out something like the Logitech keyboard. Even with the browns, in a quiet office full of laptop keyboard users, any mechanical keyboard is going to seem loud. Mechanical keyboards always had the multiple benefits for me of: 1) more like the thing I grew up using, 2) loud enough that maybe they'd prefer I work from home :)

caeril 4y ago
> but it isn't wireless, which I think is a fair requirement I don't see how this is a fair requirement. Most people would rather NOT be one 0day RF side-channel attack or bluetooth link key compromise away from someone outside their house with a high-gain antenna grabbing their LUKS or ssh key passphrases. KeySniffer II is a question of when, not if.
- regularfry 4y ago
  "Most people" don't have LUKS or SSH key passphrases.
- iakov 4y ago
  That's not a realistic threat model for most people.

Root_Denied 4y ago

I tried a DasKeyboard and found that certain keys would "catch" against the side of other keys due to spacing issues between the keys and the angle of attack of my fingers while typing - enough that it would occasionally prevent the key from registering. Swapped it out for another keyboard of the same make/model and had the same issue with the same keys and another couple of keys. Not sure if that's an issue with my particular way of typing or the build quality, or both. Ended up returning it and going back to my WASD Code keyboard with MX Browns and just getting a different keycap set for it. It's a similar price to the DasKeyboard (and this Logitech one), and for individually backlit keys that seems to be the common price point. Pretty easy to dismantle and clean as well, so I definitely recommend it.