DEV Community

Ted Larsson
Ted Larsson

Posted on

what keyboard to choose?

so as the title says, i am in need of help here.
I am currently using a steelseries Apex m800 to type on.
I started to take a coding class about a month ago and realized that the keyboard i am using is not comfortable to type on.
So i tried a bunch of different keyboards and i am now trying to choose between 2 keyboards that are vastly different. A 60% ducky one 2 mini with silent red Cherry mx switches and a Logitech Craft. i tried the Little brother to the Craft and enjoyed the experience but there where minor things that bothered me, namely no light on the keycaps and the placement of the Arrow keys. Now the reason i am considering the ducky one 2 mini is the portability and i just like the over all look of it. Now on to the main dilemma, i like using the arrowkeys and the numpad. but is there an advantage to choosing the mini and Learning to use short commands and remapping of the keys?

Top comments (7)

Collapse
 
larssonted profile image
Ted Larsson

well i might have solved my own problem, en.varmilo.com/pages/visitor/produ...

its not the colorscheme of my Dreams but its not ugly either! Cherry mx red silent, lowprofile keycaps, Nordic layout and Arrows! this is what im going with!

Collapse
 
jenbutondevto profile image
Jen

it looks like they've got other keycap options that you might like more. en.varmilo.com/pages/visitor/produ...

It is probably best to pin down what about the Apex that makes it so uncomfortable to type on. Some things can be mitigated by a palm rest, tilt, positioning.

The magic of programmable keyboards is they are usually easy to flash, and customisable to you. If you feel like a certain layout isn't working for you, try something else. re: the numpad, you can get numpad keyboards and put it wherever comfortable. Arrow keys, a linear hjkl (left down up right) is pretty easy to get used to.

As far as ergonomics is concerned, a split keyboard is probably best. Check out the ergodox EZ!

Thread Thread
 
larssonted profile image
Ted Larsson

Yeah I've been in contact with their support and i am getting the Panda keyboard and a set of dark grey key caps with black legends with red silent switches. I don't think the ergodox is available with Nordic layout.

Thread Thread
 
jenbutondevto profile image
Jen • Edited

I assume Nordic layout is modified ISO (big enter key, '\' next to L-Shift etc)? Ergodox is entirely customisable upto 32 layers. It is not even ANSI (US layout, bleurgh). You can put any key, anywhere.

edit: oops, I assume you mean accents? Maybe this is a system/locale level thing i.e. ctrl+a will always yield the same character

Thread Thread
 
larssonted profile image
Ted Larsson

Yeah accents legends characters whatever they are called these days 😝 yeah there is probably a way to program that but since I'm so used to it note and still type a lot in Swedish I'm not ready to move to a US layout yet 😊

Collapse
 
larssonted profile image
Ted Larsson

That looks gorgeous! I would buy that in a heartbeat of I didn't need a Nordic layout!

Collapse
 
larssonted profile image
Ted Larsson

Well I decided to go a different route. I have ordered the Anne Pro 2 with US-ANSI layout and no arrow keys. And brown cherry switches. It should arrive in a couple of days 👍🏻