I use a Das Keyboard 4 Ultimate with cherry blues and love it. Have a good friend who likes using her grandson’s gaming keyboard that I think is a nice membrane keyboard. She was interested in my keyboard as it is mechanical like the old keyboards she used back in the day.
We are both office users, not gamers.
I don’t want to spend the $179 for a keyboard that might not be what she wants and there are better options now, from what I understand.
Can you please recommend a cherry blue mechanical with a number pad and a steel back plane?
I use a Das Keyboard Pro 4 as my daily driver and bought a super cheap Qisan brand keyboard for the office. It gets the job done as an entry level keyboard, and I like that it’s super easy to clean. It would be a good beginner keyboard at around $30.
Blue switches are not a good choice for office use if the user shares a space with others or has video meetings. I find typing on a red switch to be just as fast and comfortable as on a blue switch. Brown is a good in-between.
Check out the Kechron C2 or Logitech G413.
I recommend getting a red switch from a retailer you know has good returns and see if she likes it as much as yours. Or maybe go to a best buy together and have her try out a couple different switches.
I’m using a Leopold FC900R with blues (click-thock forever!) that I got a few years back. It’s a full sized, 104 key, no RGB, no bells and whistles type deal. I got a really good deal on one (~$80 USD), but I’m in Korea where they’re made, so YMMV. I honestly don’t know what the back plate is made of, but it is quite heavy. 1.2 kgs (2.6 lbs) according to this place.