@ellane Come on, you haven't got one yet? We talked about this before. You can either get one that connects via bluetooth or else hardwire it into the Mac. Both work great. Might I suggest the Keychron C3 pro, excellent build quality and very cheap (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CBWJ9SKX) which I got recently. If you're a writer and you're still doing entry just on a laptop keyboard, quit it right now. Get a good sized monitor, hook up an external mechanical keyboard to the laptop, close the l/t and put it aside and work that way. Once you get used to the typing experience you won't ever want to go back. That goes for these "smart keyboards" or whatever these horrors are named that Apple try to sucker people into buying. The C3 Pro has Mac/Win symbols which makes it easy for people like me to switch between the two platforms, which I do multiple times a day. See if you can find a store to do some test typing on one though.
@ellane Forgot to answer. Mechanical keyboards do come in multiple layouts. "Full size" is what you're talking about ie 104-key layout. Hardly any serious enthusiasts use that though and prefer what's called the TKL layout - tenkeyless. Because you still have numbers across the top of the keyboard so why waste space and additional keys for the exact same numbers on the right side?
I exclusively use TKL models, they save deskspace. Different models have even less keys, 75%, 60%, 40% right down to the so-called "gherkin keyboards. The less keys they have, the more "modifier" keys are included, and the keyboard starts to have "layers". It takes a lot of getting used to, but layering involves using a modifier key in tandem with a key to give it 2, 3 or 4 different purposes. All usually fully programmable.
There are also unique layouts like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WS7KSGT - I have this particular model. Takes quite a bit of getting used to due to the right side key placement.
@emory@dhrystone Are mechanical keyboards super noisy? I share spaces with others who probably wouldn't want to hear clickety taps all day. With some effort, I can type almost silently on my MBP.
@ellane@emory Mechanical keyboards by their very physical nature will always be noisier than a regular “rubber dome” keyboard. However, how MUCH noisier depends on several factors. As Emory says, switches do play a part. Switches are generally divided into two types, linear and tactile. Tactile give a feedback through the finger with a click as you type. Linear do not. Tactile is a little louder, but you have variance in volume - brown switches are soft click. Blues are generally loud. There is EVERY volume of click in between. Linear don’t click “in the middle of the press”, but that doesn’t mean the keyboard doesn’t make sound. You have a sound when the plastic keycap “bottoms out” against the plastic of the frame itself. This can be offset with “o-rings”. My kid’s keyboard is literally the softest, most unclicky mech kb in the world - anyone used to a MK that presses some keys on his kb will be weirded out.. (cont’d)
@ellane@emory (cont’d 2/2) His keyboard is a Keychron K8 Pro TKL with TTC “Golden Blue” (aka TTC “Brother”) switches, lubed, with o-rings on each stem. My switches are Varmilo Ivy Electrocapacitive (EC) switches. They have a nice soft “snick” as you type. My wife has a fairly silent keyboard with Cherry Silent Red switches and nobody on her zoom calls can hear her when she types. You can get keebs that are soft enough for an office environment, but many people love the tactile feedback that they afford and sometimes you just can’t get that without a little sound in the mix. Worth it AFAIC.
@ellane@dhrystone thats the coolest part. you can have tactile feedback that perfectly suits your preferences and these days you can probably get them as quiet as you actually want them to be.
ellane the best thing i ever did for my wrists and hands in spite of the moonlanders is use a trackball. not only, but 70-80% of the time. i live at keyboards. it was mice that stabbed me in the back though. rn i have three logitech mx ergos and if i hear a RUMOR they're EOL i'll buy 10.
@ellane@emory I have never used a trackball. I don’t like touchpads and take a Microsoft Compact 500 wired optical mouse whenever I go on a business trip. I rest my wrist on the table and use fingertips to control the mouse; those chunkburger mice that look like something out of Battlestar Galactica definitely aren’t my thing.
@ellane@dhrystone@emory I've had my #moonlander for almost 3 years, and love it. Never once had wrist problems (work from home, and switch between with and personal systems). I also keep them about shoulder width apart and no issues. Highly recommended!
I've gotten used to the clicky-ness and miss it - and the ortho layout - when I use my MBP built-in keyboard. I don't share my office space though (and rarely take it when I travel), so I can understand wanting a quieter option.
@ellane@emory@dropcase I’ll take a few photos tomorrow and post a pic montage. Bear in mind that while I have a lot, there are people out there who have fallen far, far deeper down the rabbit hole than I have. It’s an insane obsession for many, a serious hobby for just as many, but lots of us started just with a memory of a cool feeling keyboard we used once upon a time that we thought would be worth spending a few dollars to experience all these years later. It’s a super niche thing to be sure, but MKs can absolutely be as practical as they are pretty. I’m not lying when I say that your typing experience can be immensely more satisfying once you discover the right layout, keycap height, colorway and switches for you. They call this “endgame”. An unlucky few never get there despite thousands of dollars invested, and wander through keebland forever. I found mine and it sounds like @emory found his. Start your search!
@ellane@emory@dropcase Here’s a pic of our small enthusiast’s group from a few years ago. That’s my son on the far left. He’s 16 and 6’1” now and just as obsessed with keebs as he was back then. Yes there are mechanical keyboard nerd meetups. 😁
So me saying But my laptop keyboard types the same letters, would be like someone bringing a BIC to a fountain pen appreciation meeting because both implements can be used for writing. Obviously I am that person who has not yet tasted chocolate.
@ellane@emory@dropcase Hol’ up. We’ve been talking about mechanical keyboards for multiple messages and all of a sudden you reveal you have misophonia? That’s like talking about bicycles and you then revealing you’re a quadriplegic. Good god woman.
They can be loud. They can also be soft, but they will never be as quiet as a rubber dome five buck special. One option might be to use a bollocks keyboard during the pre-dawn hours then simply switch out to an MK (and earplugs, I guess, depending) once everyone’s awake.
@ellane@emory@dropcase Just buy one. Bollocks to all this I have misophonia except when I make the noise except at 4am when other people have misophonia instead bollocks. You can’t be any kind of real writer without a mechanical keyboard. There, I said it.
@ellane You probably can’t work with background music of almost any sort. You probably never have the car playing music while driving unless you are on a highway at speed - and if you’re in traffic or merging you specifically turn the music off. You probably can’t converse while driving and maintain full focus/concentration. You might find that if you are asked to comment on something in detail where you need to access your memory, closing your eyes stops you stuttering/floundering and allows you to clearly remember and enunciate. You probably can’t study properly with background music. Any or all of those things true?
@ellane Right. Now that we’ve determined that we are pretty much exactly the same, that you in fact very likely don’t have misophonia at all but are instead mildly on the spectrum (explaining your irritation at sounds because they move you off your thought track), that you are highly distractible and very likely the same or very similar Myers-Briggs and Insights Discovery classifications as me, I can now tailor you far more accurate recommendations.
@ellane Honestly, I’d never get anything done if I got into <something useful and fun>…I just know I’d fall for the trap of <irrelevant to original task>
@ellane I’ve just recently started my second-ever (with the first being “Getting Things Done”) self-improvement book. It’s called Indistractible, by Nir Eyal. Actually I started it a couple of months ago and have gotten almost two chapters in so far thanks to being distractible, but I’m reading it because I realize that this problem with myself is the chief reason for my lack of productivity. I too only have single color desktops (sometimes I have a specific abstract wallpaper but I fade it almost to black). Not too many icons on the desktop. And I cannot have too many tabs open in my browser even, when it happens I just madly click to close all of them because they trigger me. Same isn’t true of my iPhone, though - being jailbroken I can have a LOT of icons per screen, and I do - which saves me having to flip left and right or go into folders ad infinitum. Anyway. If you have the time or inclination, at least buy a cheap MK and see if it helps speed your typing up.
@emory@dropcase@ellane Brown switches are the way to go for tactile without a major click. But they’re mostly pointless simply because they have such gentle tactile feedback. You either want click, major click, thock or else zero click which is where linears come in. It’s personal preference and there are a million diff switch types and actuation forces, many with wackadoodle names like banana boba supreme, milk dud fandiggities or iceberg lettuce coconuts. I found my “endgame” with Varmilo Ivy switches.
@ellane@dhrystone depends entirely on switches used. the new low profile zsa #voyagerhttps://www.zsa.io/voyager is designed for laptop users and comes available in clickyclack and responsive tactile quiet switches. i love my moonlanders a lot and have one loud one and a quieter set for the shared home office one.
you can hear the switches actuate on their websites for their keyboards. i actually know 10key and miss it but i don't write firewall rules anymore 🥳
edit: s/need/new
@emory@ellane For beginners I STRONGLY recommend not getting an ergonomic or other split-format keyboard for your first one. They are extremely different from the norm and hard to get used to. Start with a regular mech and work your way over to smaller form, ergo or ortholinear if you want some fun. Expect your typing speed to drop to like 1 wpm at first.
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