keycaps

 

In regards to must haves for me personally concerning mechanical keyboards I usually recommend the MKC Zinc Gold Tone Keyset. As the set could be a bit pricy at $50 for the set of just 37 keys to me it was well worth the investment. The initial benefit you receive from the keys is simply the design of them. Simply because they arrive individually wrapped they have no scratches or blemishes on the keys. Then when you contrast the keys to the plastic ones in your keyboard these shine and reflect all the light making them look very beautiful. Then the feel of the keys is a lot more more advanced than any plastic counterpart. While they could be a bit cold at first touch it's never an uneasy temperature. The smoothness of the keys also feels much nicer than plastic keys that usually are slightly textured. Even with the lack of texture your fingers don't slide throughout the keys and it's still easy to use. These keys provide an actual benefit along having an aesthetic one. Because the weight of the keys is a bit heavier than plastic keys it makes the spring in the switch easier to compress which makes it easier to type. As the effect is quite minimal, it is still noticeable. It can be helpful to note that I have experienced these keys for over a year and have never noticed any corrosion in the metal. Before buying I'd read that heavy use caused a number of the coating to wear off and hurt the design of the keys but this turned out to only be the case for older versions and has been much improved in newer sets which I will attest to. While metal keycaps could be a bit difficult to get they tend to have a reliable way to obtain them available here.

Multiple times I have made mention of the customization that mechanical keyboards offer but have never gotten too specific with what you can actually do. While a popular option is to buy complete key sets which give the whole board a corresponding design or theme an increasing part of customization is in artisan keycaps. There are numerous artists which can be very active in creating custom keycaps which can be often a couple of keys rather than whole sets. Because these keys are hand crafted and often manufactured in small batches the worthiness of these can be very high. A few of these single keycaps have sold for over $200 on eBay. While they aren't all this type of high price the typical starting price for a single key continues to be $25. Although the buying price of a single artisan key can be very near to the cost of a whole set the popularity of these keys is growing. The designs are receiving more and more intricate since the artists gain more experience. Initially of artisan keys they were nearly all just single color sculpted keys. Now many artisan keys are multiple colors in the same key and now it is common for the keys to be multiple parts and can also have moving parts. A fascinating artist that's rapidly gaining popularity works under the name of "Jelly Keys" and creates unique and interesting keys by imbedding gems or plants into the resin when casting the key. Although artisan keys could be a bit expensive the offer a fascinating solution to spice up your keyboard with only having to improve one keycap.

I've talked before on custom boards and boards which can be smaller than you may ever be prepared to be possible. Among the most popular custom "miniature" mechanical keyboards could be the Planck. Its size is what you should call a 40% keyboard. What this signifies is that it doesn't have number pad, arrow keys, function keys, as well as the top row of number keys. While this may sound like a keyboard lacking usability since it is "missing" keys it is clearly super easy to use. It has 3 separate layers of keys that may be accessed by either holding down no special key, top of the key, or the reduced key. This enables for every key to possess 3 different options assigned to it. An example could be holding down top of the key then pressing "q" to get the number "1." While it can take some getting used to once you receive the hang of it you can type in the same way fast as a regular keyboard while taking up 60% less space in your desk keycaps. Another advantage with this keyboard is that it is ortholinear meaning as opposed to the keys being offset from one another in one row to another each of them come in a direct line. While this aspect does also take a bit getting used to it can actually improve typing speed once you feel used to it. Due to the small size it is actually a affordable custom board starting around $120. While the majority of the time it comes as a "kit" what your location is expected to put together it yourself it can be purchased pre-assembled.