Throwback Thursday: What is your favorite keyboard? #TBT

[#1]

It's Thursday!

My birthday is in May and my wife game me a a mechanical keyboard, which I had to return cuz it wasn´t quite the one I wanted :/ This would be my first mechanical keyboard in a LONG time and I wanted it to be a good one. So I did my "research" and stumbled on this one keyboard, see picture below, with a knob. 

This is it: Keychron V6 Wired Custom Mechanical Keyboard Knob Version, Full-Size QMK/VIA Programmable with Hot-swappable Keychron K Pro Red Switch. Sorry, no this is not a commercial :) At first I kind of thought the knob would be kind of corny to have a knob but you know what?!? I am really loving it. I use it as the volume knob and love being able to have it literally at my fingertips.

Soooo, what is your favorite keyboard?

Let’s make it a great Thursday! KGM

[Dan Breyen]

Today, working in the office, I'm looking for a quiet keyboard.  Hearing the clickity clack from my peers in cubical land can get quite distracting.  

But back in the day, this was the keyboard of choice!  Microsoft's finest... (Not the greatest for gaming with the arrow key layout, but who's playing games in the office).  

[Randy O_Neal]

Easy - the IBM/Lexmark 101-key "clickety-clack" buckling spring keyboard.  It - along with cockroaches - will survive the end of the world.  The one I'm currently using was manufactured in Lexington, Kentucky in August of 1989... and will far outlast my lifetime.

[Jeremy Nydegger]

In the office, it's a 1987 buckling-spring Model M so there's never any question if I'm in my office or not lol.  At home a GMMK with lubed fox linear switches.  Switched to the GMMK2 from the Pro and lost the knob but gained a little more real-estate on the desk:

[Amanda Barber]

I always loved the thin Macbook/Apple keyboards, but my husband got me a Keychron M3 and I've grown to love it. He enjoys swapping his keys out and such but I've been happy with my OOTB. ::click, clack, clickity, clack:::

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

So much fun to read, @Amanda Barber , @Randy O_Neal , and @Dan Breyen 

Oh my gosh, @Jeremy Nydegger ! What a sweet setup you have at home!

What is the size of that monitor?

[Jeremy Nydegger]

Thanks @Kristján Geir Mathiesen ; it's the Samsung Odyssey G9, 49".  It looks a little ridiculous but basically functions as dual monitors without a bezel in between.  I've grown to really like it.

[Dave Mathijs]

At home, I'm so happy with my Logitech MX Mechanical Mini ⌨ with tactile switches, but Keychron has caught my attention too 👀

At the office, I use my MacBook Pro's built-in keyboard.

[Summer Hogan]

This is an interesting topic @Kristján Geir Mathiesen!

For me, it's Logitech MK570 Wave Keyboard and mouse. I love this keyboard and it helps to have all the extra buttons to do stuff. 

 

[Laurie Sciutti]

haha.  I'm boring ~ I use whatever.  😆⌨

[Dave Liao]

@Kristján Geir Mathiesen - love this question!

If we're talking mobile keyboards (when they were a thing), I loved the keyboard on my BlackBerry 9900.

If we're talking desktops, I'm STILL using an IBM keyboard from the 1980's. I think it's the same as what @Jeremy Nydegger uses in his office!

[tsmith]

This isn't a throwback, but I've finally invested in ergonomic input devices. Hoping to stave off carpal tunnel issues as long as possible. 

I was so tempted to get a clickety clackety mechanical keyboard or a fancy backlit one but chose function over fashion and went with the ergonomic choice.

So far I'm digging my Logitech K860 keyboard and M575 mouse. My 'b' key is in an awkward place, and I choose to look at it as a brain stretching challenge when I fumble to switch between this and standard devices when I'm at a different machine. 

Back in the day, there *was* this neat Dell keyboard that typed like butter, had a volume wheel, and nice shortcut buttons at the top. It was company issued and probably not fancy, but I did miss it when it was replaced.

[Andy Gladstone]

I am still using the simple Dell clickety-clack keyboard I had at my previous company since 2008. When I left that company in 2016 and started my first day at my new company I was so disappointed by the keyboard that I called my previous employer, asked for permission to retrieve my keyboard (which was company property) and went back there with a brand new (non-clicky) keyboard and swapped it out. I've even ordered replacement feet and keys off of eBay to keep this puppy barking. I'm working from home this week, so no pics.

I really would like to build this Lego keyboard, but I own computers that cost less, so never going to happen.

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

Whut, @Andy Gladstone !!! Check out that Lego keyboard! Never seen that one before. Thanks for sharing, Andy.

[Brant Schroeder]

I have a really old alienware keyboard that keeps on working and I have come to love it.  Has a bunch of buttons that I don't know what they do (programable) and I think I need an application to get it to work.  

[Benjamin]

Happy Thursday!

I don't have a favorite keyboard. I tend to gravitate towards ones that have a good balance of pressing the keys. Like, I don't like a keyboard that tends to be so loud that everyone can hear me typing on a call. I also don't like when the keys are too soft where it doesn't feel like a press anything. 

So far, I like my MAC keyboard with the numeric keys. 

On another note, I was always against using trackpad. I always prefer a mouse. Then my wife shared one with me to use and have since retired my mouse just for travel.

[ElenaK_NemetschekBG]

Hello @Kristján Geir Mathiesen

What a fun post! 

I always like to rave about my keyboard and never had the chance to do so! 

My ultimate favorite is the Microsoft Surface Keyboard (I have the black version and a matching mouse).




I love it because its very thin, light and cordeless which makes it easy to carry with me when my remote desk is on the go. I absolutely love that there is volume, music and light control. I like that the keys are seamless and I love the sound of the keys hehe (keyboard nerd over here).


I had an ergonomics consultant evaluate my work desk sometime ago and he absolutely dissed on my keyboard. He gave me a much shorter ergonomical keyboard and a mouse but I could not use it for a minute and switched back to my favorite. 

Have you ever tried a mouse like this? 



I could not deal with it but I think about my poor wrist everytime I use my current mouse. Its dreadful to know how bad longer keyboards and flat mouses are for you... 

To end on a good note - I still love my keyboard. I spilled coffee on it once and replaced the keys myself, it was fun.

[Ram Kumar Aravindakshan _Adaptavist_]

For work and coding my favorite keyboard is the Logitech MX KEYS S.

For gaming, it's the Fantech MAXFIT70 MK911 keyboard.

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

Hahahaha, @ElenaK_NemetschekBG  you finally get to rave about your keyboard :)

Wow, no I´ve never tried a mouse like that! I might do a "mouse" post in the future... thanks for the idea!

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

Thanks @Jeremy Nydegger  I replaced my 2 monitors with a single one but it is "only" 35". I really love having just one monitor and the curve in it! I tried 32" but found it to be a smidgen too small, at least for the windows I keep open. But boy, oh boy! After seeing your sweet setup, I might be upgrading my Christmas wish list now...  :)

[Randy O_Neal]

@Summer Hogan I/we have 3 of those Logitech keyboards/mice at my office in our conference rooms and at my cubicle desk; while they're not as awesome (and loud!) as my IBM 101 key keyboard, they're standard in our office and I have grown to like them/tolerate them.  As far as I'm concerned, they're a great silent option for a keyboard, and if/when they die, they're inexpensive to replace.

The extra buttons to manage sound volume are really nice... that is one thing I miss when I'm home banging away on my circa 1980's keyboard.

[Ray Cornwall]

For my Windows machine, the Logitech G910. It's pretty, and good enough for me.

One thing I'm frustrated with is I'm new to having a MacBook. I've got a Macbook Pro hooked up to my big monitor. I want to use a big keyboard, but I'm stuck using the Magic Keyboard because of the Touch ID. I'd really rather have a big keyboard to work with. I might actually see if I can hook up two keyboards- the one with the Touch ID, and a bigger one for actual typing. 

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

For a couple of months, I had one of those Logitech MX KEYS board, @Ram Kumar Aravindakshan _Adaptavist_ and really liked it. But I started having problems with it. It started to disconnecting and was unstable so I switched (othersise I would still be using it!). Think I switched to a wired Lenovo keyboard. Few months back, I developed some problem in my arm (maybe kind of like a tennis elbow) so I switched from the wired Lenovo keyboard (getting old with slanted and stiff keys) over to a Lenovo laptop keyboard:

It's fine/good but I don't like switching between work and home compter keyboards because the layout is different. That is my main complaint. The muscle memory in my fingers :(

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

I have one and a half answers to this.

My favourite keyboard is a Kolude thing I picked up somewhere years ago.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kolude-Docking-Station-Computer-Keyboard-Black/dp/B099QW56MT is the closest I can get to the model I have.  It's great that it acts as a hub for my work Mac, but the main reason to love it is just how nice it is to type.  Whether I'm using the odd keypress or shortcut trigger, or writing an essay answer (yes, mostly on Community), it works really well.  For bonus points, it's the only keyboard I've ever used that doesn't trigger the RSI pain while I'm writing something long.

The half answer is that the Kolude is a bit rubbish for gaming (hammering the WSAD keys in my case) - I find myself hitting qezx instead of the wsad key I needed sometimes.  So for games, I don't have a recommendation.  Generic PC keyboards you can buy in a supermarket work well enough for gaming, so although I've tried a few others, I've not found a "favourite".

But I would also like to mention my old work laptop.  It was an IBM T42 with the best keyboard I've ever used with any type of computer.  It died of old-age / wear-and-tear in the spring of 2023, after 22 years of general day-to-day abuse (140 mile commute to work, random food and drink spillages, "It must be for sleeping on, because it is made of warm" from several cats, etc.   A spectacular job of survival)

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

Yes, @Nic Brough -Adaptavist-  the keyboard on the IBM T42 was AMAZING! I totally agree with you on that.

[Kristinn Kristbjörnsson]

In my honest opinion - MX Keys is the best overall keyboard I've ever used.