Hi All,
I’m looking for a new mechanical keyboard. Hoping for some advice. I used to have a Corsair K70 Pro, but unfortunately that no longer functions. I’ve been using a crappy dell keyboard from work and have finally been annoyed enough by it to buy a new keyboard.
I’ve considered going with another K70, but corsair doesn’t give a shit about linux and I’m kicking windows outta my house. While I could emulate or build a vm, I’d rather just get a keyboard that doesn’t make linux an afterthought if thought of at all. What I like about the K70 is that the keys aren’t shrouded making it super easy to
Wants are:
- 100% full keyboard
- Ideally no shrouding around the switches, minor shrouding would be okay.
- A passthrough USB port on the keyboard for a mouse, to minimize wires and simpliy cable management.
- Hotswap switches
- Full Linux support
- Backlit (ideally RGB, but I"m not doing any fancy profiles, just a solid color)
- Media keys nice, but I can live without them.
- Ideally not much more than $200
I’d prefer prebuilt, but at most minimal soldering would be acceptable, as long as it’s nothing too small, my soldering skills are an embarrassment.
I’ve looked at the following already.
Ducky All models I saw shrouded the switches. seem shrouded.
System76 Cost seems excessive and I don’t really want a 96% keyboard.
DasKeyboard & Keychron The models pretty much all shroud the switches too much, or they’re low form factor.
The DasKeyboard 5QS comes close, and I might just go with it if I don’t have a better option, but it’s got more shrouding around the switches than I like. It also doesn’t seem to have a secondary USB port.
I just saw this as well. I really like the bigger one on the left, would just need to be a full keyboard, maybe an additional USB port on the back as well. https://lemmy.ml/post/10016605
I love Keychron for the value, and quality they provide.
https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-k5-pro-qmk-via-wireless-custom-mechanical-keyboard
https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q6-pro-qmk-via-wireless-custom-mechanical-keyboard
https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q6-qmk-custom-mechanical-keyboard
https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-k10-pro-qmk-via-wireless-mechanical-keyboard
Anything that says QMK/VIA is supported in linux as you can define your own custom keys and develop/flash custom firmware if desired.
I run a K4v2 modified with QMK as my daily and love it for its compact size but still robust keyset since I actually use my function, navigation, and 10keys on a daily basis. My travel board is a K17 Pro because I wanted something a little smaller and low profile for use on airplanes and hotels.
Nearly all the Keychron boards offer hotswap and either white or RGB backlighting as well so you should not need to solder anything.
Maybe I’ll just order a couple KeyChron and DasKeyboard to see if any fit the bill.
I can definitely see myself using a smaller keyboard away from my desk, traveling, etc. Definitely use the hell out of the 10 key for work though, so a must at my desk.
I use it enough when also needing to use my mouse I have a spare num pad on the left.
I like the use of space on the k4v2 and having every key near my finger tips.
It’s a gaming keyboard, but I bought mine for typing as fast as possible in Vim / Linux professionally and it’s fantastic for that too. it offers full Linux support (incl. API if you want to roll your own application), analog switches that are buttery-smooth, and cute RGB animations.
It’s not half-bad for gaming too 🙂
I don’t see any mention of hot-swappability and I doubt you’d find many HE switches for it anyway …
I don’t see any mention of hot-swappability
Here’s a quote from their website. This indicates to me that at least at the time of writing there would be very limited options, which isn’t probably great for me since I have a couple switches in mind.
"At this time there are no other available brands with magnet switches that are compatible.
Wooting HE keyboards have hall-sensors on the PCBA to detect movement from a magnet inside the Lekker switch. Without the magnet it can’t detect the switch.
It is not possible to use any other technology switch."
I think I’ll skip this one. It looks great, but without the ability to get other switches and a couple other missing features, I don’t think it’ll fit within requirements :/ Specifically the noise requirement that the GF has.
I’ll be honest I don’t think I’ve seen a pre-built mech that meets all those specs.
I am sure you could piece together a custom, even though 100%'s are a bit rare, the first that comes to mind is the Boston 120% which is even bigger than you want and the shrouding, you would most likely have to solder every key and possibly the RGB.
I know you mentioned Keychron seems low form factor, but that’s not my experience with the K10 Pro. I have been using this keyboard for a few months now and I love it. I got mine with Red switches.
Sorry typo, Low Profile is what I meant.
The K5 for instance, lists low profile keys and switches. Unfortunately, it doesn’t looks like you can hotswap between low profile and standard or I’d go that route :/
I like the K10 for the most part, I just don’t like that the switches are covered by the frame/case or whatever you wanna call it. I’m a bit OCD and brush my keyboard pretty much daily, sometimes multiple times… The frame adds a barrier to cleaning.
Maybe the pictures you were referencing weren’t very good but the switches aren’t covered by anything.
There’s a top plate that covers the PCB, but the switches are fully exposed and fit snugly against the top plate to prevent dust from going down onto the PCB.
I took a couple of pictures of my K8 Pro which is identical in construction to the K10 Pro. One with the keycap removed, and one with the switch pulled.
I’ve used HyperX’s Alloy Elite for a few years now and it’s still going strong: https://hyperx.com/collections/keyboards-mice/products/hyperx-alloy-elite-2-mechanical-gaming-keyboard?variant=41031691468957.
Has most of the features you’re looking for. One thing is Linux - I’m not sure if it has “Linux” support like you’re looking for, but it does work like a normal keyboard on Linux. I’ve never used macros or any customizing features for it on Windows, and thus don’t use anything like that on Linux either. Media controls work perfectly fine on Linux.
The other concern is hot swapping switches - I’ve never done that either, I have stuck with my brown switches since I got it. Only real customizing I’ve done is to change the keycaps to pudding style.
One thing is Linux - I’m not sure if it has “Linux”
I took a quick look at their website and from what I can tell, their NGENUITY config tool is Windows only, which makes it a pretty hard no for me.
The other concern is hot swapping switches Their website doesn’t say anything about being able to hot-swap switches, and a quick (like 2 minutes) search of the interwebz seems inconclusive. I would suspect they are NOT swapable, at least not without de-soldering the old ones.