On Sun, 14 Jun 2026 at 09:24, Giles Orr <gilesorr@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sat, 13 Jun 2026 at 15:17, Evan Leibovitch via Talk < talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
Hi all,
I don't know if this is of interest to anyone but myself, but I thought it might be worth mentioning. Since the keyboard is something we interact with all the time -- more than any individual piece of software -- it seems that having the most comfortable and useful one is worthy of some effort.
For the longest time it seems that you had to go to one of two extremes
- Mushy, low-travel keys that are a seeming necessity in laptops but also seem to predominate among the low-value, plasticky stock that ships with most desktops. Relatively light, built mostly out of thin plastic. Quite inexpensive and easy to find, for all I know Dollarama may have one. (Even if they do, don't get it.)
- Loud, clacky, spring-resistant, built like tanks -- the kind I grew up with (evolved from the IBM Model M that is still being produced today) <https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/NEW_M> that became the early mainstay of gamers and power users. They were big, heavy and expensive, but very reliable -- the Cooler Master QuickFire unit that I've been using is old enough to have shipped with a PS/2 adapter. Mostly found in computer retailers and expensive (>$125).
But over the last year or two I've been seeing a whole new crop of keyboards that challenge the feel, build quality and even layouts of the tried and true; certainly they change the value proposal. I've bought two and switched to one as my daily driver.
These new keyboards have many common characteristics:
- Decent build quality - Less than C$100, sometimes way less - Online from Amazon or Aliexpress, sometimes need to go to Amazon US - Can do wired, dongle AND bluetooth - Have LEDs under the keys - Hot-swappable switches and keycaps - Programmable, often using the VIA standard <https://caniusevia.com/> - Offer reduced formats (lower footprint if you don't need the keypad). - Brands you've never heard of, often goofy names, that only do keyboards - A "creamy" feel/sound that's somewhere between squishy and clacky
There is also a thriving marketplace of custom switches and keycaps because of good standards to which most makers adhere. ("Cherry", which used to be the benchmark for switches, isn't even in anyone's top 10 list these days.)
I'm very happy with the two keyboards I've bought:
- ElecFox Linky87 <https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GCMKMN4F> - Bought from Amazon US, CAD$77 including shipping to Canada and HST. It's the perfect layout for me, giving me new desktop space. Sounds and feels wonderful. I bought the black version which is not to all tastes because the key labels are on the side of the keys and use the LEDs to shine through.
- The Kisnt KN85 <https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DBZGH5XM> - Also bought from Amazon US last year for about the same price. This seems to be the darling of the reviewers; it's certainly well made, and the sound and feel are excellent. But the software is non-standard and awful , and the layout is an odd one that I've never quite felt comfortable with. It's on Amazon Canada but last the price there was ridiculous, cheaper to buy at Amazon US and pay the shipping
I invite anyone reading this that might be interested to have a look at one or two of the Youtube channels that obsess with the subject, HipyoTech <https://www.youtube.com/@HipyoTech> and SwitchAndClick <https://www.youtube.com/@SwitchandClickOfficial> are the two I follow.
I'd be interested to know about anyone else's journey through this realm, and/or if anyone thinks it would be a good topic for future GTALUG talk.
Cheers for making it this far.
- Evan
I've been a long-time advocate of the idea that cheap keyboards are a bad idea. We use keyboards multiple hours every day as our primary input device, it's worth spending real money on them to improve the experience and ergonomics.
I switched to the Dvorak layout in 1995. I own a couple IBM model Ms, but carpal tunnel eventually convinced me that split, columnar layouts were the way to go. Not sure when I got my first Kinesis Advantage keyboard: 2003? I own three of the Advantage and Advantage 2 (these have also proven spectacularly durable). But that's not for everyone: they cost $500-$600 back then, and Kinesis's new model (the split Advantage360) is $1000 and reportedly not as good. If you look them up, you'll find out that the Advantage keyboard isn't flat, but cup-shaped ... I think this is great but it takes some serious adjusting-to. (That build shape also largely explains their high cost.) My preference has always been for both tactile and loud keys - to the point that I unsoldered all the keys in an Advantage 2 and put in Cherry Blue keys instead of the Cherry Browns:
https://www.gilesorr.com/misc/keyboards/kinesis2keys.html
I own one of the Cooler Master QuickFires (with Cherry Blue keys) that Evan mentioned: I still consider it the gold standard for straight keyboards. But I have a couple of the recent cheaper models, both acquired at no cost: an Aukey KMG-12 and an Aula F3001. I got one at Junk Independence Day, where the prior owner told me he couldn't be bothered replacing the two key-caps he'd lost. I had already been experimenting with 3D-printing key-caps, so that was an easy fix for me. To Evan's point, that keyboard turned out to still be available (a year ago) at Best Buy for $40, so these can be quite cheap these days. Both of these have tactile-and-clicky keys, and I've been very happy with both - except for the rippling LED lights, which I'm not as fond of as many people seem to be. The other keyboard I found by the curb - it was only when I got it home that I discovered the previous owner had managed to push the USB-C connector inside the body. Damn thing was wave-soldered on, and my soldering skills are good but not that good: a friend did that repair for me.
I'm a little sad that Cherry isn't really a going concern any more: as interest in mechanical keyboards grew, so did interest in keyswitches. This led to a proliferation in imitators, and then eventually innovation and changes and cost reductions that that Cherry couldn't keep up with. But it does mean you have a LOT of options in keyswitches these days - in most (although not all) cases using the Cherry mounting system.
What people want in a keyboard varies wildly: the Kinesis Advantage 2 is the perfect keyboard for me, but the incredible proliferation of mechanical keyboards means you can have a product that feels better (and looks better) for a pretty reasonable price these days. This is one time brick-and-mortar stores are a real plus: Canada Computers often has an aisle where you can go to try them out. Keep in mind that your office mates or your family have to listen to you: super-clickies like the IBM Model M (or the UniComp variant) are great, but can drive those around you insane. (One of my office mates back around 2010 bought me a set of rubber rings specific to the Advantage keyboard I had at the office at the time ...) If you're a classically trained typist considering a split keyboard, look closely at the location of the keys at the split: for me personally, the placement of the "6" on the left half of the keyboard is WRONG, because the "6" should be typed with the right hand (and to my point about personal choices ... almost no one else cares).
If you're interested to see just how wildly the evolution of keyboards (and keyboard builders) is diverging, you can check out https://kbd.news/ .
This is a topic of particular interest to me, so I'd be happy to answer questions. Although I admit I haven't followed the keyboard scene all that closely in the past five years.
The $1000 price for the Advantage360 was from Amazon, and a third-party seller at that. When I looked at my trusted site, they have it at about $700 Canadian. I highly recommend ergocanada.com: I started dealing with them back in 2006 (although, given how reliable the Kinesis Advantage2 has been, I think I last bought from them in 2017!). They have a spectacularly retro-looking site, but they were very reliable and very knowledgeable (I spent time on the phone with them). If I were about to buy one of these keyboards (and I admit this conversation is making me consider it), I would buy from them. -- Giles https://www.gilesorr.com/ gilesorr@gmail.com