Mechanical Keyboards

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[SOLVED] I'm cheap and want a Linux keyboard (mander.xyz)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Thank you everyone for taking time to help out. While looking for keyboards, I’ve found a great deal on a new Keychron C3 Pro at Amazon for around $30. It’s a wired keyboard, but it’s got hot swappable brown switches and I figured there’s no way I’d find something better to dip my toes in this hobby.

And I’m really glad I did! The feel and sound of it is just so much better from my regular keyboard it’s not even funny.

I’ve got some sample switches and o-rings in the mail to further dampen the sound but I’m very happy with my purchase.

Original text below:

All those really sweet compact keyboards are super sexy and I want one. But the ones I like are both:

very expensive
have windows exclusive software

I’m not even sure mechanical keyboards are for me, to be honest. I don’t type that much, and the keyboard I have - a Logitech wave ergonomic keyboard - suits me, except for the humongous size and the noise (I do a lot of video calls and it gets distracting to my interlocutors).

From my research, a QMK/VIA 65% keyboard would be ideal. The VIA part would allow me to configure the few extra keys and layouts so I can make the most of the keys I’ll have. And it’s Linux compatible. However, it seems the controllers for VIA keyboards make them significantly more expensive. Then there’s the noise issue. The click clack, while tactile satisfying, is a no go for me.

I went down the rabbit hole and to find something that has a chance of suiting me, the cost quickly balloons above $200, and for something which I don’t know if I’ll like. If at least I knew it wouldn’t be too loud I might justify forking that kind of money.

Is there a keyboard for me? How can I tell if it’s going to be too loud? Or should I just give up that search and go for a normie tenkeyless keyboard?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Lots of good advice already, but there's two things I'd add:

If you can't find a place to test different keyboards you could also get a switch sampler first. They're relatively inexpensive, at least compared to getting a keyboard you don't end up liking. You don't need one with lots of keys or with multiple brands, as long it contains the major types (Clicky, Tactile, Linear) and has some variation in actuation force. Worst case, you end up with a new fidget toy.
You don't necessarily need VIA, just QMK. There's the online QMK configurator, which allows you to configure your keyboard, download it as custom firmware and flash it. If you have some experience as a developer you can also just grab the QMK firmware and customize it that way. QMK offers excellent tooling and tutorials that makes this incredibly easy, particularly on Linux. I'd recommend checking this out even before deciding on a specific keyboard model.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

I 2nd this. I'm not a very good programmer, but I have been able to use QMK Firmware to customize my keyboard. It's mostly modifying existing code, and working with a command line (I use MSYS2 on Windows).

QMK Configurator and Toolbox is quite straightforward too: map your keybinds, download firmware, and flash it on Toolbox. VIA is nice, but I don't find myself using it very often.