I was feeling spendy with the company card so I got a fancy mechanical keyboard and mouse too.
Work has been stressing me out lately and I've found myself typing *really freaking hard*.
My fingertips have been sore.
Part of it is because I'm on a wireless keyboard and some of my common command keys need to be pressed twice before they "wake up" (battery powered).
Super annoying.
Decided to go all out and get a mechanical keyboard.
Do you understand how popular mechanical keyboards are??
Turns out, there are dozens of Internet forums dedicated to "
talking about keyboards".
NERDS! hahah
Well anyhow, I bought one and I hope the combination of it being wired and not having keys fall asleep + the fact I won't have to mash down on cheap plastic keys, ends up being a better work experience.
Spent the first 3rd of my 75 minute lunch break washing my very large and loveable pitbull and the rest of it researching keyboards.
The Internet will have you believe that the Korean/Japanese company "Ducky One" makes the best office/gaming keyboard, model named "One 2". So, it's the Ducky One One 2.
I also learned that the #1 thing to look for in a keyboard is the "switch". Apparently, under the key there is the mechanism which registers your keypress.
That assembly is known as a "switch" and there is a 3rd party company called "Cherry MX" who makes different colors (flavors?). Each color represents an "action/feel" for the button-press.
Some colors are less "clacky sounding" but provide more "tactile feedback". While others, and the more popular ones, are very extra "clacky sounding".
Touch a key and it goes "clack". Maybe now I'll get out of the habit of hitting a particular key twice, very hard, to ensure it's been registered by my laptop.
Clack is good?
Being that I'm tired of a key that goes to "sleep", I liked the idea of clacks so I went with the most popular option, the "Blue" color switch.
Which is known as "Cherry MX Blue".
Well, this company sells the Ducky One One 2 for a good price (compared to the rest of the Internet) of $99 shipped:
Switch options: Cherry MX Black, Brown, Blue, Red, Silver, White, Clear, Silent Red, Green, or Silent Black.
mechanicalkeyboards.com
$99+tax is pretty darned expensive to me, but it's about 1/3 the price of some of the more expensive mechanical keyboards out there.
I ended up finding a company right here in Austin, TX called "Das Keyboard".
Nice play on "Das Boot". I'm sure their stuff is made in China, but the fact that I could support an Austin based company made me go that direction instead of the famous Dicky One.
Found an open-box on Amazon for $46 and purchased it.
It's fugly but who cares what it looks like.
I hope it leads to less finger pain.
Can't believe I typed all this about a freakin keyboard.
. I’ll be digging into it when I get home.
)