I'm completely new to mechanical keyboards, but I want to get a decent one now. Would like some help picking or building one as I have some weird requirements.

I’m looking to get a new keyboard, something that’s the way I’d like it to be, but I feel what I want is rather specific and I’ve found it hard to find something that fits what I want. With that being:

  1. I want a numpad on the left side. This could also be a small macro keyboard attached to it, but that probably even more difficult. Still, this is the one thing the board must have.
  2. Media controls somewhere.
  3. No fancy lighting or rgb as I’m probably one of the few people who can’t stand looking at that stuff. Plain white back lighting would be ideal.
  4. If possible, I would like it to be possible to use it wireless.

I’ve searched online, but finding boards that just have a numpad on the left side is hard to find, especially if you’ve got no real knowledge of what’s good. I’m looking to spend 200-250 at the most and as the title says, I’m not opposed to building my own if that’s what needed.

Hope you guys can point me in the right direction at least.

wjrii,
wjrii avatar

In your price range, I know of three Southpaw options:

  • Epomaker GK96LS. Wireless, Fn layer media keys on the function row. Cons are the "60% style" arrow keys hiding under RShift and the modifiers, and it's not QMK, though they say it is programmable.

  • Keychron Q12. QMK, knob, sensible arrows, three extra keys, plus the usual Fn media key mapping. Would probably be perfect for your criteria if it were wireless.

  • Keychron Q14 Pro. If you like the idea of an "Alice" quasi-ergo layout, this actually checks all your boxes.

jenterrobahne,
@jenterrobahne@dormi.zone avatar

If you can find a southpaw WindX, that might meet your requirements. Unfortunately only the right hand version seems to be in stock, so you would have to check aftermarket.

tal,
@tal@lemmy.today avatar

I want a numpad on the left side. This could also be a small macro keyboard attached to it, but that probably even more difficult. Still, this is the one thing the board must have.

Are you willing to get a separate numpad, and just place it on the left side? That’ll give you a lot more choices of keyboard.

NPC,

No not really, I currently have a seperate bluetooth keyboard for controlling my pc from a distance. I’m looking for an all in one package, so to speak.

wheels,

This, and any decent RGB keyboard will support plain white backlighting, which should open up a lot of options

NPC,

I don’t mind rgb perse, I’m just never gonna use it so I rather not pay for something that serves no function to me.

Archive,

When it comes to custom keyboards, RGB is almost never a selling point and won’t raise the price.

infinitevalence,
@infinitevalence@discuss.online avatar

Keychron Q12 is about the only thing that will tick most of the boxes unless you go with a TKL and macro pad.

That said, I like Keychron for what they are, a good mid cost, mid quality product. They are not the best, they are far from the worst. I have 3 of their boards and a num/macro pad.

iso,

Not super into keyboards, but maybe something like this? keychron.com/…/keychron-q12-qmk-custom-mechanical…

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