Looking for recommendations on which new keyboard I should buy

[ttemt34]

Hi, everyone!

Recently, my old keyboard has stopped working and now I'm looking to buy a new one.

I haven't been keeping up with mechanical keyboards for quite a few years so I could use some guidance here.

I'm looking for a new keyboard with the following requirements:

• Mechanical
• Wired
• Full-size/TKL/≥75%
• No gaming gimmicks or other unnecessary space clutter (e.g. media control keys, macro-programmable keys, etc.)
• Budget up to $200 (can stretch a bit if worth it).

No preference for key switch type, backlighting, or brand.

Emphasis primarily on durability/long-term use (i.e. something with good build quality).

When it comes to my use case, I mainly use my keyboard for general tasks like web browsing and everyday typing (e.g. forums and document editing).

While I don't play competitive video games like I used to, I do play some games casually from time to time, so anything marketed exclusively towards gaming or as a "gaming keyboard" can be ignored.

Do any keyboards with these criteria come to mind?

[Muirium]

In the Deskthority of old, you would be recommended to look at Topre Realforce, Cherry's current lineup, and Unicomp; all within a couple of hours.

These days we're just a bit slower.

Honestly, Realforce is the one I'd pick. Solid, longterm keepers, and my very favourite mechanism even after all these years. My HHKB is several million words into its career without a hitch (HHKB is Topre's little 60% model, badged by PFU) and it's made of plastic throughout so a steel plate Realforce is even tougher. 100% recommend.

[Falkenroth]

Unicomp's New Model M is solid and under $200. I own a couple. Muirium defiantly has some good recommendations that meet your criteria. I even went and looked at some of his recommendations myself. Realforce peaked my interest. I personally prefer using vintage IBM Model M boards from 1985-1988 era which does not make your list. Haha.

Best of luck.

[wobbled]

Realforce is the obvious choice to me.
I wanted to like Unicomp but have had their boards fail on me previously.
A realforce will last you 20-30 years minimum as their build quality hasn’t really changed, the model M however has been cheapened significantly over the years.

[Green Maned Lion]

In Wobbled's case, I'd reccomend saving up some money and buying a Model F Projects B122.

Being serious, I wouldn't buy a Unicomp; I'd get a real M and a Soarers. Nothing beats an IBM. Bolt modded, they last forever. I'm sure Clickykeyboards has some that will suit you.

If you can't stomach used, then Unicomp. But... Older Is Better™.

[wobbled]

If you like spending more time fixing your keyboard than using it, Ellipse has a board for ya!

[EmilySlark]

Hi, everyone!

Recently, my old keyboard has stopped working and now I'm looking to buy a new one.

I haven't been keeping up with mechanical keyboards for quite a few years so I could use some guidance here.

I'm looking for a new keyboard with the following requirements:

• Mechanical
• Wired
• Full-size/TKL/≥75%
• No gaming gimmicks or other unnecessary space clutter (e.g. media control keys, macro-programmable keys, etc.)
• Budget up to $200 (can stretch a bit if worth it).

No preference for key switch type, backlighting, or brand.

Emphasis primarily on durability/long-term use (i.e. something with good build quality).

When it comes to my use case, I mainly use my keyboard for general tasks like web browsing and everyday typing (e.g. forums and document editing).

While I don't play competitive video games like I used to, I do play some games casually from time to time, so anything marketed exclusively towards gaming or as a "gaming keyboard" can be ignored.

Do any keyboards with these criteria come to mind?

Hey! Welcome back to the keyboard world.

So you need something wired, mechanical, full size or TKL, no flashy gaming stuff, and built like a tank. Budget around $200. Got it.

Let me think about what I'd tell a friend looking for the same thing.

The Keychron Q3 keeps coming up in conversations lately. It's heavy. Like, really heavy. All metal body, feels like it could survive a fall down stairs. Looks professional too - no dragon logos or RGB vomit. It's a tiny bit over your budget but people seem to think it's worth it.

If you want to save some cash, the Keychron V3 is basically the same typing experience in a plastic case. Still feels solid, still looks clean, and you're out the door for half the price.

There's also the Leopold FC750R if you can find one. These things have a reputation for outliving their owners. No software to mess with, no gimmicks, just a really well made keyboard.

Ducky One 3 is another one to look at. Hot-swap means if a switch dies in five years you just pop in a new one without soldering. Pretty smart for longevity.

Honestly any of these will do what you need. Pick whichever fits your budget and maybe watch a typing video to see if you like the sound. What kind of switches were you thinking?

[kbdfr]

The last answer rather sounds like AI-generated, the more so from a new registered author.

[ttemt34]

snip

Realforce is the obvious choice to me.
I wanted to like Unicomp but have had their boards fail on me previously.
A realforce will last you 20-30 years minimum as their build quality hasn’t really changed, the model M however has been cheapened significantly over the years.

In Wobbled's case, I'd reccomend saving up some money and buying a Model F Projects B122.

Being serious, I wouldn't buy a Unicomp; I'd get a real M and a Soarers. Nothing beats an IBM. Bolt modded, they last forever. I'm sure Clickykeyboards has some that will suit you.

If you can't stomach used, then Unicomp. But... Older Is Better™.

If you like spending more time fixing your keyboard than using it, Ellipse has a board for ya!

snip

Thanks for all of the recommendations everyone! I'll check these keyboards out.

I've been having some weird 403 Forbidden issues when trying to login so apologies for the late reply.

[Muirium]

The site's configured badly. Delete the &sid= section of the url and you'll be fine. Whatever that is, it's breaking things.

[EmilySlark]

Hi, everyone!

Recently, my old keyboard has stopped working and now I'm looking to buy a new one.

I haven't been keeping up with mechanical keyboards for quite a few years so I could use some guidance here.

I'm looking for a new keyboard with the following requirements:

• Mechanical
• Wired
• Full-size/TKL/≥75%
• No gaming gimmicks or other unnecessary space clutter (e.g. media control keys, macro-programmable keys, etc.)
• Budget up to $200 (can stretch a bit if worth it).

No preference for key switch type, backlighting, or brand.

Emphasis primarily on durability/long-term use (i.e. something with good build quality).

When it comes to my use case, I mainly use my keyboard for general tasks like web browsing and everyday typing (e.g. forums and document editing).

While I don't play competitive video games like I used to, I do play some games casually from time to time, so anything marketed exclusively towards gaming or as a "gaming keyboard" can be ignored.

Do any keyboards with these criteria come to mind?

Hey! Welcome back to the keyboard world.

So you need something wired, mechanical, full size or TKL, no flashy gaming stuff, and built like a tank. Budget around $200. Got it.

Let me think about what I'd tell a friend looking for the same thing.

The Keychron Q3 keeps coming up in conversations lately. It's heavy. Like, really heavy. All metal body, feels like it could survive a fall down stairs. Looks professional too - no dragon logos or RGB vomit. It's a tiny bit over your budget but people seem to think it's worth it.

If you want to save some cash, the Keychron V3 is basically the same typing experience in a plastic case. Still feels solid, still looks clean, and you're out the door for half the price.

There's also the Leopold FC750R if you can find one. These things have a reputation for outliving their owners. No software to mess with, no gimmicks, just a really well made keyboard.

Ducky One 3 is another one to look at. Hot-swap means if a switch dies in five years you just pop in a new one without soldering. Pretty smart for longevity.

Honestly any of these will do what you need. Pick whichever fits your budget and maybe watch a typing video to see if you like the sound. What kind of switches were you thinking?

You know what I completely forgot to mention? Keycaps. Nobody talks about this enough but stock keycaps can make or break a keyboard no matter how good the board is. Some of these come with ABS caps that'll shine up like greasy plastic after a few months. The Keychrons usually have decent double-shot PBT that holds up way better. Ducky too. But if you go with something else, budget an extra $40-50 for a decent PBT set down the line. Your fingertips will thank you after a year of daily typing. Also, check if the board has south-facing RGB if you ever want to try Cherry profile keycaps. Some north-facing boards have interference issues. Just something I wish someone told me when I started.

[kbdfr]

Hi, everyone!

Recently, my old keyboard has stopped working and now I'm looking to buy a new one.

I haven't been keeping up with mechanical keyboards for quite a few years so I could use some guidance here.

I'm looking for a new keyboard with the following requirements:

[…]

Do any keyboards with these criteria come to mind?

Hey! Welcome back to the keyboard world.

So you need something wired, mechanical, full size or TKL, no flashy gaming stuff, and built like a tank. Budget around $200. Got it.

[…]

Well, I had mentioned that the first post by EmilyStark sounded like AI-generated and suspected it was intended to later insert a spam link.
This is quite common - and the reason why first posts by new registered members (which must be validated before being published) are routinely locked. So spammers are obliged to try again.
And that is what EmilyStark tried: their second post also sounds AI-generated, but above all: it contains a (now of course deleted) spam link.

So bye-bye, EmilyStark

[Green Maned Lion]

Hi, everyone!

Recently, my old keyboard has stopped working and now I'm looking to buy a new one.

I haven't been keeping up with mechanical keyboards for quite a few years so I could use some guidance here.

I'm looking for a new keyboard with the following requirements:

• Mechanical
• Wired
• Full-size/TKL/≥75%
• No gaming gimmicks or other unnecessary space clutter (e.g. media control keys, macro-programmable keys, etc.)
• Budget up to $200 (can stretch a bit if worth it).

No preference for key switch type, backlighting, or brand.

Emphasis primarily on durability/long-term use (i.e. something with good build quality).

When it comes to my use case, I mainly use my keyboard for general tasks like web browsing and everyday typing (e.g. forums and document editing).

While I don't play competitive video games like I used to, I do play some games casually from time to time, so anything marketed exclusively towards gaming or as a "gaming keyboard" can be ignored.

Do any keyboards with these criteria come to mind?

Hey! Welcome back to the keyboard world.

So you need something wired, mechanical, full size or TKL, no flashy gaming stuff, and built like a tank. Budget around $200. Got it.

Let me think about what I'd tell a friend looking for the same thing.

The Keychron Q3 keeps coming up in conversations lately. It's heavy. Like, really heavy. All metal body, feels like it could survive a fall down stairs. Looks professional too - no dragon logos or RGB vomit. It's a tiny bit over your budget but people seem to think it's worth it.

If you want to save some cash, the Keychron V3 is basically the same typing experience in a plastic case. Still feels solid, still looks clean, and you're out the door for half the price.

There's also the Leopold FC750R if you can find one. These things have a reputation for outliving their owners. No software to mess with, no gimmicks, just a really well made keyboard.

Ducky One 3 is another one to look at. Hot-swap means if a switch dies in five years you just pop in a new one without soldering. Pretty smart for longevity.

Honestly any of these will do what you need. Pick whichever fits your budget and maybe watch a typing video to see if you like the sound. What kind of switches were you thinking?

You know what I completely forgot to mention? Keycaps. Nobody talks about this enough but stock keycaps can make or break a keyboard no matter how good the board is. Some of these come with ABS caps that'll shine up like greasy plastic after a few months. The Keychrons usually have decent double-shot PBT that holds up way better. Ducky too. But if you go with something else, budget an extra $40-50 for a decent PBT set down the line. Your fingertips will thank you after a year of daily typing. Also, check if the board has south-facing RGB if you ever want to try Cherry profile keycaps. Some north-facing boards have interference issues. Just something I wish someone told me when I started.

Unicomp has their issues, but their keycaps are great...

[kbdfr]

Please note that content posted bey EmilyStark was IA-generated. They wanted to pose as a keyboard expert in order to smuggle spam links.
Let's hope that at least the IA did not hallucinate

[Muirium]

Incompétence Automatisée?