Some people seem to like very clicky keyboards like the Model M or the "Das Keyboard", with buckling spring design, but I've never worked on such a one. Has anyone worked with those, and is it really good?
I have one of those (the old bulky model with black keys), and absolutely love it! Not so much for the clickity sound, but for the solid feel of the keys.
Apparently the newer models have a smaller footprint and are quieter, but retain the solid feel - they'll definitely be the first thing I look at when this one eventually wears out.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Logitech G-15 I know its a keyboard designed to help improve your gaming experience but in reality for a programmer its a great little keyboard.
The macro keys can be easily programmed to spit out your commonly used functions, blocks of code or pretty much anything you can think of. Also the LCD screen can be great for debugging a program. I integrated the g15 API into my engine on a whim so any game made can be easily setup to work with the LCD screen but found that when working on the game you can easily keep track of any number of things.
But I will vote for the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 if you are looking for an ergonomic it is one of the best I've used.
[Edited by - Feralrath on September 19, 2010 5:46:33 PM]
I am actualy clicking all the time I code. My colegues once wandered how come they do not hear any keyboard keys pressed, and if, only one or two. A click primarily, keeping my right hand always on the mouse and reaching the left hand to the keyboard. Sometimes, if I know that I will write more then 1-2 keystrokes, I use both hands. Question to the programmers that master pc by keyboard, not by mouse:
1- how do you move and navigate cursor in the code? If , lets say, you need to go 4 rows up, to a very certain position in the row
2- how do you copy/paste?
3- how do you highlit texts to clipboards? if lets say you wanted to select a word like float or variable name.
I am so used to mouse, it is such a controler. Thats why I do not play consoles or use tablet pc. I would miss the mouse too much.
I just got my Unicomp Customizer in the mail. Its a model-m clone, and AFAIK the only modern keyboard that uses the *actual* IBM buckling-spring switch type -- there are plenty of mechanical keyboards, most of which use Cherry, or similar mechanical switches.
Buckling spring is old-school, and I personally like it. It takes a noticeable amount of force to depress a key -- twice the force of the lightest cherry switch, and about 20% more than the heaviest. One draw back I've noticed, that memory of my old Model-M didn't serve to recall, is that hitting the same key twice in a row really requires the switch to reset, which takes more time than dome keys to be sure (I don't really have a point of comparison for other mechanical switch types) -- it doesn't come up much in actual use, but its a bit jarring at first not being able to do something your used to doing unconsciously -- and it throws off your rhythm. Likewise, if you're used to a keyboard with a lighter touch and/or shallower stroke, your're probably going to need to adjust to anything with a heavy, mechanical switch -- particularly on your weaker fingers.
Any switch which registers the key-press before bottoming out is supposed to be better for RSI, all else equal -- by definition a dome or membrane-style key must bottom out to register -- save, perhaps a small amount of cushion in the material itself. buckling switches have a lot of travel between register and bottoming out, and the loud click will eventually tell your subconscious that you've pressed far enough so you won't bottom out at all. Looking at some of the other mechanical switch types recently, many of them appear to have some of this additional travel as well, so they should be better for RSI as well.
The shear audible volume of buckling switches is a blessing and a curse -- on one hand you feel a bit god-like when you're rattling out lines of code like bullets from a machine gun -- on the other, your significant other will probably hate you a little, and you can forget late-night coding sessions unless you can isolate yourself from their wrath. If you were to live in an apartment with particularly thin walls, it can be loud enough that it might even annoy a sound-sensitive neighbor.
