I find I have no need for “faster” or more ergonomic keyboards. I type ~80wpm on standard QWERTY as it is, and nothing I do requires that I type any faster than that. I’m not about to rebuild nearly 45 years of ingrained muscle memory for another ~2wpm speed improvement.
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I hear what you’re saying there. I hate stabilizer rattle too, but I’m not about to resort to 1u spacebars just to get rid of that stabilizer. I also agree that most of the larger keys don’t need to be as large as they are. The worst offender, for me anyway, is the 2.75u right-shift key. I don’t ever use any of the right-hand-side modifier keys and so they are all just a waste of space and plastic as far as I’m concerned.
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For me its really just optimizing for gaming. There are just so many more binds you can functionally use on a keyboard that has 6-8 more 1u keys where a spacebar normally is. Especially if you’re going to fully lean into it like I do my moving your movement keys toward the center of the board a bit
Ah yes, the gamer life. Can’t relate to that, to be honest. I only play one video game and I’ve never needed anything more special than a standard full-size (or TKL) keyboard for it.
I wouldn’t say I NEED any of the madness I have, but… you know… fun is fun 
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Just took a really good look at that that layout, and marvelled. where is the spacebar (or button) at all??
No thanks. I don’t need unconventional and stylish to the point of complete destruction of functionality.
The flowers next to the arrow keys are space keys, this layout is just something I’m trying, it will likely change soon
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what site is this, Glen?
Typing club. It’s a good free typing program.
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So I’m looking at getting a set of doubleshot ABS SA keycaps. The brand is Maxkey and they aren’t cheap.
Is this sort of investment worth it?
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Prior to the 2000s, SA keycaps came from a company called Comptec. They had two main factories, one in the U.S. and one in France. In 2001 Signature Platics bought the U.S. manufacturing assets from Comptec and became the main source of SA keycaps outside of Europe. Then, a couple of years ago a Chinese company bought the remaining Comptec manufacturing assets from France and started a company called Maxkey.
Regardless of which company makes them, custom SA keycap sets tend to be expensive because they are usually done in small runs (tens of housands of units rather than tens of millions). But they are the best high-profile, spherical, double-shot ABS keycaps out there. They are definitely worth the investment, IMO.
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I have a Maxkey set and honestly I was surprised at how high of quality they are. Definitely recommend.
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Thanks guys. I just dropped the cash on a very nice vintage blue Maxkey as set. I’m really looking forward to it.
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So with 60%’s, what if I need the f keys but I like the size of a 60? Could I replace some keys that I never use as f keys? What about 65? Is that better? How do you guys get around this problem?
The usual way that 60% boards handle that is by providing the F-key functions with the top row keys while you hold the FN key down. All 60% boards have an FN key somewhere for this purpose, as well as activating numpad and navigation functions elsewhere on the keyboard. For instance, on all my Pok3r boards I use FN+IJKL as my arrow keys.
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That does seem nice, but for my reason (gaming) I don’t really want to have to hold another button down to do it, but I guess I could use my pinky kinda. That’s probably the only way though. Thanks for informing my uneducated brain haha.
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Most 60% boards also have some number of “layers” which you can program the keys to be anything you want. Then you place the board into one of those layers with an FN key combination of some kind (it differs from board to board) and then you are typing on that layer until you switch out of it. So you could create a “gaming layer” for yourself in which you map any of the keys to whatever you need, and use it for gaming while using the default layer for regular typing.
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So, what really makes an “endgame” board? Is it just the nicest options you can get, quality keycaps, and quality switches? I’m thinking about just going endgame so that I will never want to buy another one in the future haha.
IMO, it’s whatever you decide it is.
Though for most enthusiasts it means a high-end (usually a small GB) case and PCB, some obscure lubed and filmed switches, and a GMK or similar high-end, join-a-group-buy-and-wait-8-months-for-delivery keyset.
I’m still looking for my endgame case myself because I haven’t been able to find a J-02 or a Grid600 on the aftermarket.
EDIT: nvm I think I found an end-game candidate CYBERBOARD: World's 1st Wireless Charging Keyboard | Indiegogo
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Yeah, “endgame” just refers to a keyboard that checks off all your boxes and makes you stop looking for another keyboard ever again.
Most of the time such a keyboard is a mixture of components that no brand-name manufacturer provides in a single product. So you end up sourcing all the components separately and building it yourself. This, of course, assumes you know exactly what you want on every level. Newbies won’t know what their endgame board is composed of until they’ve had a chance to try a bunch of different switches, layouts, keycaps, etc.
For many “endgame” is a moving target since tastes/preferences can change over time. And for some, “endgame” is an unreachable goal; a degree of unattainable perfection that makes the term useless (for them).
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