Flexibility is not just dependent on the gasket. In fact, it is far more dependent on the plate and the PCB. A half plate made of a very soft material such as polycarbonate or POM with a thin PCB that has flex cuts supported by gaskets barely high enough to prevent the top frame and case from touching will flex fare more than a brass full plate on a thick PCB with no flex cuts and massive gaskets which keep the top frame and case several millimetres apart. The other major point for flexibility is how much room there is in the case for the PCB to flex.

I don't care about any of that. In fact, too much flexibility can be a bit disorienting when trying to type very fast — the OG Portico made me feel like I was typing on jello, which was a very weird sensation (but it did introduce me to gasket mounts and I didn't look back since).

I do care about the sound of the board. I want it to be bass, and not too loud. I don't want it completely muted, just about the same volume as an Apple aluminium keyboard but not that high pitched nonsense you get from that membrane board. For this sound profile I have to necessarily use a board with a plate gasket or a gasketed top mount (e.g. Mode Sonnet) design. I also need to use plenty of sound absorbing material to prevent resonance. Ideally, I want a soldered board so there is no extra "give" between the switch and the PCB like you have in a hotswap.

So, if you ask me what I prefer, I would tell you that I am most excited about solder boards, big brass weights, high density silicon case dampeners, and some type of sound barrier mount system.

To each their own :)

I have reached my endgame in 2023, was trying to find it since 2018. Mode Sonnet and Mammoth75, both with Durock T1. After (too) many boards I have found that these are the two form factors which work for me the best, the switch tactility I prefer for long coding sessions, and the sound I like without driving me insane.

I am subbed here because I like looking at boards with interesting designs, but I won't be buying anything else in the foreseeable future because a. no space, b. no money, and c. I've found the boards which work best for me.

I know you know, I was answering to the other guys on the thread :)

Do check out the options I sent you. There are sets, even GMK, for under $100. Not cheap but at least saving money to buy one is within the realm of feasibility even for a student.

At the risk of sounding like an elitist gatekeeper killjoy, these are obviously clones of GMK Olivia and he wants the more expensive plastic rectangles we all idolize in this hobby :) BTW, the WIN key gave it away. The original set has Super. It’s also ABS double shot, not PBT dye sub, but that’s harder to spot, I’ll give you that.

OP, keep an eye out for Group Buys. If you want in stock items, Drop has a small selection of GMK sets and TheKey.Company has a small selection of Infinikey sets. If you want to forego the Cherry profile, Drop again and KbdFans.

The other option is to go to r/MechMarket and part with an even larger amount of money.

I have done all of the above. My wife supports me in my habit. That’s true love, folks ;)

I'll take a guess. He's been the voice of reason in here and this doesn't sit very well with some people.

It’s a WowStick, usually the 1F+. You can find it on Amazon and locally. I bought mine from a local shop.

There’s a cheaper version, WowStick Try, which uses regular AAA batteries and has fewer bits for around 35€. I don’t think it has hex bits, though, which are used by a lot of mid-tier and high-end boards.

You can definitely move back from Apple. My employee who’s only doing backend software development went from macOS to Linux a few years ago and he’s very happy and productive.

It’s more fundamental than that. We all chose our OS based on our use case. When I see someone mocking people for their choice of OS I see someone with issues who lacks the maturity and life experience to understand there are more than one use cases, resorting to primitive tribalism in a vain and transparent attempt to mask their hollowness. It doesn’t make me angry, it makes me sad.

As far as I am concerned, I don’t give a rat’s butt which OS y’all are using. I have used Windows (since 3.11!), Linux (Mandriva Linux was my primary OS for more than a decade during the 00s) and eventually macOS. Use whichever OS works best for your use case. I’ll never make fun of you just because your use case is different than mine. I’ve been there, done that, have the literal t-shirts to show for it.

I guess we could use the big-ass Apple logo stickers that came with our Apple computers 🤣

Mac user here. Over a dozen mechanical keyboards. Keychron exists. I could go on.

Makes you wonder why it’s only Microsoft and Android fanboys dishing on Apple users and not the other way around. Sigh… must be another day ending in -y today.

When I was doing heavy CAD work at uni (Mechanical Engineering, we had a FEM class which required tons of 3D CAD work to even get started) I followed the TA’s advice. Dominant hand on keyboard, off hand on mouse. Don’t swap the mouse buttons. Sounds stupid but after five minutes of using it I understood it’s brilliant advice.

Right. The difference between the two models is that TouchID got replaced by FaceID so they indeed lost about 1U from the keyboard width.

I am speechless. Their previous version (for the 2018 iPad Pro 10.5”) wasn’t doing stupid things like that.

You sure this is real? It looks like a Photoshopped old Apple aluminum keyboard.

Software developer. I also do technical documentation and support. I actually use a different board depending on the main task of the day. A slightly stiffer Mammoth75 with JWK Koala for development and a tad lighter Q1 with Durock T1 for the days I have to do a lot of support or technical documentation.

When I need to work from the kitchen table because my wife has a meeting in our shared home office I use a Nuphy Air75 with lubed Gateron brown low profile switches.

My wife, also a developer, uses an Ikki68 Aurora with the aforementioned Boba switches (changed from the TKC Dragonfruit she was using before).

I started using mechanical boards to help fix my wrist pain. A lot of money and nearly a dozen boards later I think I have finally found my endgame.

Maybe try switches.mx? Here’s the page on T1: https://switches.mx/durock-t1

MX Brown is barely tactile. I mean, it's tactile compared to a linear switch but only imperceptibly so. I also find them way too light and scratchy.

If you are looking for a strong tactile feedback there are plenty of far better switch options: Durock T1, JWK Koala, Holy Panda / Glorious Panda, TKC Kiwi, TKC Dragonfruit, Boba U4T and so on. Buy a hotswap board and start modding to find out what works best for you. If you don't want a full dive into modding, the path of least resistance is Durock T1 Sunflower (full POM, factory lubed) switches. They give a very satisfying typing feel on a Keychron Q1, even without any other mods.