6 ms·
Hands on with the CODE keyboard
- miloshadzic 13y agoI fail to see how this keyboard improves on other mechanical keyboards in any significant way.
- rlu 13y agoWell I personally like the fact that it's backlit and the media keys are more intelligently placed in my opinion. With that said, I wish you could choose the cherry mx switches. I prefer blue. So, yeah, definitely not enough to make me replace a mechanical keyboard I already have, but perhaps enough to make me consider getting it over my current one (das) if I didn't already own one.
- jcastro 13y agoThis is a good point I should have mentioned in the original post. If you're the kind of person who already has a mechanical keyboard and are happy with it then there's probably no reason for you to switch.
- Spearchucker 13y agoMe neither. I've been using a Das Keyboard for years now (was surprised that a fan of the Model M didn't mention it) and see nothing here to compel me to give the CODE keyboard a go.
- ne0phyte 13y agoIt's already sold out but it was the only backlit mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Clear switches on the market. Unless you don't mind soldering and/or building a custom keyboard from scratch that's a huge selling point.
- ginko 13y agoIf you need a backlit keyboard it means that you (1.) are working in an environment that's way to dimly lit to be healthy and (2.) really need to learn touch typing.
- ne0phyte 13y agoYes and no. There are a lot of people who are into keyboards and they buy a backlit one because they want to not because they need to. Source: I'm mechanical keyboard enthusiast :)
- kybernetyk 13y agoThis. My day to day keyboard is a DAS Keyboard (with blank key caps). And I just bought a backlit KBT Pure Pro. Not because I need to look down (I use colemack anyway) but because it looks shiny ;)
- breadbox 13y ago"Because that's the only reason I would want one, and obviously anyone who thinks differently from me is wrong."
- JulianWasTaken 13y agoSomeone who comes up with reasons for things but doesn't think they're good is automatically narrow minded? Do you have better ones?
- baddox 13y agoHe missed the obvious (3.) you like backlit keyboards.
- fuzionmonkey 13y agoYou can't argue with the aesthetics of backlit keyboards, though.
- talles 13y agoFinally someone that actually got their hands on it talking about
- rlu 13y agoIt would have been nice if he included a video/sound clip of how it sounds.
- Rumudiez 13y agoIt seems like he can only name three mechanical keyboard manufacturers and doesn't even know anything specifically about Cherry. Hardly a keyboard snob, and hardly an appropriate review for today's keyboard market. From ABS keycaps to plastic (and ABS to top that) casing, the CODE is far from worth the hype it's getting.
- kybernetyk 13y agoWASD's key caps are notorious for being too thin. You better shell out another $50 for a set of good key caps if you want to make use of your overpriced WASD keyboard.
- baddox 13y agoThe fact that the CODE keyboard is virtually identical to the Ducky Shine, and apart from the backlight is virtually identical to other nearly unbranded keyboards like Filcos and Leopolds, is a grievous omission that would almost certainly be included by any author familiar with the "snobby" mechanical keyboard market. http://tigerimports.net/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=13772 http://tigerimports.net/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p...
- fsckin 13y agoRazer makes some nice mechanical keyboards (BlackWidow series) with optional backlight, Cherry MX Blue or Brown switches, extra macro keys (that can be bound to any action), along with keyboard mapping software that works very well on Win/OSX. For $50-70 less than this, depending on if you buy on sale. I'm failing to see why this is a good option.
- ne0phyte 13y agoThe build quality of the razer keyboards is rather bad. That's why. Also this features Cherry MX Clear switches and standard profile keycaps so you can easily get a set of replacement keycaps if you need or want to.
- fsckin 13y agoI've got two Razer BlackWidows (Blue at home, Brown at the office) and not seen any problems with build quality that you mention. I do believe that most keys on the BW can be replaced: http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/keycap-compatibility http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/keycap-compatibility
- fernandotakai 13y agoI have a blackwidow, no build problems. I even spilled alcohol on it (scotch) and it's still working as expected.
- jeremysmyth 13y agoDid you expect it to continue working? :)
- ericabiz 13y agoUgh. I have a Razer one sitting in a closet; it really belongs in the trash. (I'm typing this comment on a Unicomp Spacesaver M, and I'm a die-hard mechanical keyboard junkie.) To compare a Razer to this keyboard (or even a Unicomp) is to compare a cheapo, bottom of the barrel smartphone to a top-of-the-line phone. The Razer feels terrible--the keys feel "loose", the typing feel is incredibly off, and above all the keyboard looks like it's made for a 14-year-old male gamer. (Which it probably is.) So no, I do not agree that this keyboard would have any comparison to a Razer. At least, I hope not.
- jonhohle 13y ago> Thanks for making the Super Key OS-agnostic! Except for its placement, which is exactly where the Windows key would be. ⌘ is next to the space bar in a Mac layout (<strike>easy enough to swap the key caps, but the key binding probably needs to be changed in software like most Windows keyboards</strike>).
- FreshCode 13y agoUntil Jeff Atwood tries an ergonomic keyboard or layout other than QWERTY, I cannot take his keyboard cult seriously. I've owned three MS 4000s and have used QWERTY, Dvorak and Colemak keyboard layouts. Ever since I purchased a Kinesis Advantage a month ago on Colemak, going back to an MS 4000 noticeably hurts my hands. I don't type any faster, but it is far more natural to use my thumbs (our strongest fingers) for common keys like Ctrl/Space/Del/PgUp/PgDown/WinKey, especially as a climber. I find it hard to believe a Model M could be easier on the wrists than my abhorrent Macbook Air 2012 keyboard, due to its equally straight, unnatural angle. Compared to my old Acer C312 tablet with a 5-degree angle, typing 90wpm+ for more than an hour is not sustainable. Either Jeff types really slowly, or has golden wrists of the gods. After a few months of Colemak, I am up to 90% of my accumulated 15-year QWERTY speed, but my hands feel far more relaxed. Could this be a medical condition on my end, or is there a real ergonomic case to be made for the aging Model M? Right now, I don't buy it.
- seanmcdirmid 13y ago> I find it hard to believe a Model M could be easier on the wrists than my abhorrent Macbook Air 2012 keyboard, due to its equally straight, unnatural angle. I find ergonomic keyboards pointless, but I also don't have (or have ever had) wrist problems. > Compared to my old Acer C312 tablet with a 5-degree angle, typing 90wpm+ for more than an hour is not sustainable. Who types 90wpm+ when programming? We are programmers, not typists, we spend most of our time thinking and debugging, with only some intermittent spurts of typing activity. For spurts of typing, the Model M is perfect. If you had to write a lot continuously, I'm sure there are better solutions, but even when I'm writing a paper, the thinking/typing ratio is high. > Could this be a medical condition on my end, or is there a real ergonomic case to be made for the aging Model M? Right now, I don't buy it. Given that your work sounds more like stenography and not programming, it is probably just that this keyboard is not meant for you.
- RogerL 13y agoEmpiricism trumps theory. You theorize people don't type fast enough for it to matter, but a large number of programmers, including me, report that ergonomic keyboards help them. Why are you arguing against the evidence?
- ChuckMcM 13y agoNobody pines for the ASR33 keyboard :-) Now that was a mechanical keyboard. I've been typing on my CODE for about a week now, its nice and the feel is good, and I do like the look of the backlight (and no I don't look at my keyboard while I type). I do wish I could get a keycap for the caps lock key that said "CTRL" but I am OK with it just being control. On the multi-media keys, one enhancement that would really rock would be to have those 6 keys be programmable. By default they could come up as multi-media keys but its pretty conveneient to use thumb on the 'fn' key and then press one of the 6. So being able to load macros into them would totally rock.
- jcurbo 13y agoWASD sells extra keycaps, but I don't think they sell the clear ones for the CODE. Also, the multimedia keys just emit another keycode so you should be able to reprogram them, depending on your OS. (e.g. xmodmap on Linux, as detailed here: https://wiki.debian.org/Keyboard/MultimediaKeys https://wiki.debian.org/Keyboard/MultimediaKeys)
- jcurbo 13y agoI bought one of these and posted impressions and unboxing pictures on Twitter. (https://twitter.com/jcurbo https://twitter.com/jcurbo) I had a Filco before this and have some Model M's laying around that I used for years, so I fall into the same camp as the OP in terms of being a mechanical keyboard user.
- lifeformed 13y agoI use a Filco Ninja Majestouch 2. I looove the side-printed keys: they'll never wear out, it looks pure-black from the top, and it just looks great. http://www.amazon.com/Filco-Majestouch-2-Keyboard-FKBN104M-EFB2/dp/B004Z0XR2O http://www.amazon.com/Filco-Majestouch-2-Keyboard-FKBN104M-E...
- hoov 13y agoI used to use a Filco Majestouch 2 tenkeyless, but had always wanted to try a Realforce. I hesitated because of the cost, the unique switch type, and the uneven weighting of the keys. They do make evenly weighted keyboards, but the uneven weighting was both appealing and worrisome. It happens that I received a Realforce 87u tenkeyless silent 10th anniversary edition as a gift. Within a week, I bought a matching (the normal edition) one for work. I've been hooked. The switches have a nice balance between the way they feel and the level of sound output. The uneven weighting is great, but it is slightly to switch back and forth between normal keyboards and the Realforce. It's not bad to move from a Realforce to a regular keyboard, but it's a bit difficult to switch back. Sometimes, I'll get distracted, look up and find "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" on my screen. This only happens when I move back and forth between different keyboards, and the minor hassle is worth it.
- benjamincburns 13y ago>[K]eyboards like this are not cheap and people who buy these kind of keyboards do for the same reason that Geddy Lee doesn’t play a $500 bass. I think keyboards are like shopping carts. Get one with a sticky wheel, and you'll find it terribly annoying and distracting. Get one that rolls smooth enough and you don't think much about it. The difference in return between "passably good" and "extremely high quality" is incredibly small, so let's just be honest here -- this is a luxury, not a career requirement. But then to put it in Gladwell terms, it's been my experience that keyboards are pasta sauce. Some like theirs chunky, others like theirs... low profile? Oh well, at least my first metaphor stood up...
- barbs 13y ago> I think keyboards are like shopping carts. Get one with a sticky wheel, and you'll find it terribly annoying and distracting. Get one that rolls smooth enough and you don't think much about it. The difference in return between "passably good" and "extremely high quality" is incredibly small, so let's just be honest here -- this is a luxury, not a career requirement. That about sums up my attitude perfectly. Often I'm tempted by posts like this to get a good quality keyboard, but my current one (a standard DELL usb keyboard) works well enough. Heck, the one I had before was some generic one found on the side of the road, and I only replaced it because a few keys were getting sticky.