askchapo

whatever you do don't listen to any medically illiterate nerds that say you should buy a flat slab keyboard. those should be illegal imo. if it isn't split/tilted you've just acquired a clacky torture instrument for your wrists. mechanical keyswitches are nearly irrelevant, ergonomic wise, compared to that. so if you're faced with the choice of a non-mechanical split/tilted keyboard like the goldtouch v2 or a mechanical flat slab keyboard pick the first one every time.

I bought a Corsair K70 with brown switches years ago in a sale and it's been great for gaming and typing. AFAIK they only make the more expensive PRO and RGB versions now though.
If you just want a mechanical keyboard without learning much more about switches and the like I can reccommend it.

ibm model m and several adapters

I’m really happy with the ZSA moonlander as it’s split, ortholinear and quite ergonomic. But they are really expensive.

8bitdo has a really sexy $100 mechanical keyboard with swappable switches. Just look it up on amazon there are only two models.

Keychron is a really nice starter mechanical keeb

Durgod Taurus is a great brown switch keyboard for its price range

for my own reasons I am not interested in split kbs.

i have always ended up buying keychron devices. i have 3 of them. I bought them about a year apart and I always looked at other brands but for the money i had available they are the best. All are hotswap. 2 are QMK programmable. keychron usually has a sale around "black friday" on their website. i don't think they have 2.4g wireless which sucks. their bluetooth is not known to be reliable. but they are solid and reliable and stand up to being taken apart and put back together. they are available in a wide variety of configurations. and they are popular which always increases your chance of being able to solve a problem.

I almost bought an ajazz a couple times. and there are a couple of other aliexpress brands that make barebones devices, they have good feedback online. if i needed another one i might buy one of those.

I also bought a couple of more expensive ones on amazon just to try them out and returned them. Not worth 2x 3x the price.

There are now some very cheap hot swap kbs on amazon and I bought 1 to see if it would be good. The case was designed in a very shitty way. extremely echoey and uncomfortable. The switches were so flimsy about 1/3 of them broke while I was removing them. and i now realize how much I like having the detachable usb-c cable instead of built-in.

if you are going to do hotswap I recommend spending a few dollars to get a tool like this instead of using the tool the switches come with:

I do not game at all. The best switches for me are white boxes (i think gatreon) but they are a bit noisy. not as noisy as regular blue switches. they feel perfect t type on. I got a couple of quieter ones that still feel nice the names I don't remember I can find out if you want. it's worth while to get a set of basic testing switches just so you can see the difference in the colors, so when you read online you will have a point of reference. maybe someone you know already has a set they can lend to you. i gave mine away already.

I think tkl is the best layout. I can't stand the more compact layouts but they are very popular and they is a lot more choice (and lower price) if you are able to cope with a tiny hidden shift key. i probably wouldn't have all keychron if i wasn't tied to tkl.

I don't lube or disassemble switches or do anything else to my kbs except on one of them i did pack a bunch of foam into it which was worthwhile.

each of the following increases the price and limits the selection: qmk, larger layout, wireless, backlight, backlight that isn't extremely annoying. only get those features you want.

if you don't need backlight don't get one with backlight because it is usually easy to activate by accident and then your kb is flashing it is very annoying. on my non-qmk kb i had to remove the switch that activates the backlight but once in a while it somehow turns itself on and then you have to put the switch back in to disable it. plain white backlight is the only kind that makes sense to my mind. i was disappointed that I couldn't manage to program the rgb lights to be plain white; turning all the colors up to max doesn't actually produce white.

i really like mechanical kbs. they are like shoes for your hands if you work at a computer. but i find the online stuff about "the hobby" kind of sad. but you can make use of these people who apparently have infinite money because they are extremely prolific.

edit: also for anyone who is concerned about spending so money on a kb then spilling fluids on it. i was worried about it because i am incurably careless. i have spilled many drinks on my kbs and all have survived. because the hotswap ones can be taken apart you can actually properly dry/clean them unlike a regular kb. so you don't end up with one key that has something sticky in it and the whole thing has to be tossed. which has been the demise of every other kb i ever owned. occasionally you have to replace a switch or two.

Keychron. works for windows or apple. and pretty inexpensive for the quality

It depends on what you're using it for. Linear switches are better for gaming, and tactile switches are better for typing. If you're making your money by typing all day, placing the backspace on your left thumb can make a huge difference. No Idea what the landscape is like for keyboard manufacturers nowadays. I built two ergodox boards years ago, and they're good enough that I haven't wanted to collect more. If I could have paid someone else to make them for me I would have.

Split ergo for life. I bought a 5x6 dactyl manuform second hand and put a lot of work into upgrading it. Hotswap flex PCB for the switches, and sockets for the controllers, so in theory no more soldering required to work on it, even if a controller goes out.

I love it! I based my keymap on the Atreus layout. Backspace on left thumb, space, and combo R Shift/enter on right thumb. I can hold a layer shift key with my left thumb which puts a 10 key setup directly under my right hand... one of my favorite features.

I barely have to move my wrists at all and my thumbs do most of the work. It took me like 6 weeks to re-learn how to type and I think I'm a little slower overall but I type for a living and my wrists are worth it!

I'm a big DIY-er but if I had to do it over again I'd just pay for a kit or prebuilt. I probably spent just as much money in the end, just $20-50 at a time instead of $250-400 in one go.

Split keyboard with very light (~25 g. force) Choc switches. Sofle, Helix, Corne, etc. Light switches make typing a pleasure, and you can put anything between the halves and position them however you like.

Popular keyboards will probably have case designs already made, if you don't want to have two somewhat bare PCBs on the desk. Though there's an upside to caseless keyboards - the hands can lay down on the table because the keeb is 15mm high.

Kinesis split keyboards are the way to go.

i would like to piggyback on this thread and asks if anyone knows of an affordable keyboard with a light touch and a large left control key (at least as big as the tab key).

I've owned ducky, varmillo, as well as other random brands. I just purchased a keychron k3 pro and it's the best typing experience I've ever had. The brown switches feel fantastic without being loud. I seriously don't want to type on anything else. Someone earlier mentioned Bluetooth issues but I haven't experienced any. The QMK configuration is really nice. I can change all kinds of key combos. That along with autohotkey is pretty sweet. I know there are tons of options but I fell in love with the keychron k3 pro. The short key caps are also very nice.

Tecware Phantom+ is pretty cheap on Amazon and has one of the best out-of-the-box key feel and sound that I've experienced

I have a keychron k10, it's pretty nice but I'd really recommend building your own if you have the money. It can be really fun if you have the money. Varmillo is fantastic tho if you want a pre built

i got an ajazz keyboard for 50 ish dollars, it's plastic but has a detatchable usb c cable, universal hotswap sockets, and other neat features. i don't know the exact model but you'll find it if you do an amazon search for Ajazz keyboard.

I've had a ducky keyboard for over a decade with occasional spills and massive amounts of pet hair. It's easy to clean and isn't covered in LEDs.

If this is you first mechanical keyboard you should go to a store to see what different switches feel like and hear their clickiness depending on where you'll be using it

Keychron are "affordable" I guess, at least compared to the keyboard nerd mechanicals you can buy