What is it? I’m about to buy the keyboard that I plan to use for 8-10 hours/day, 5 days/week, for the next 10+ years. I have some switches in mind, but before I pull the trigger on a barebone Keychron Q5, is there anything else I’m missing?
I have a q5, a qk100, and a stacked 1800 (at my office). The qk100 sounds better, looks better, and feels better than the q5 to me, but as with everything in this hobby, personal preference is king. A Q5 would be a great board, but so would my others.
I don’t have an 1800, but I do own a fully modded Q3. With that being said, I just purchased a Monsgeek M1 as the build quality seems to be as good, if not slightly better, than the Keychron. It’s still in the mail, but from what I’ve seen online and read, they are fantastic.
The extras that Monsgeek has compared to Keychron are: switch pad foam, tape mod, better gasket mount (silcione, keychron is foam), stabilizer pads, interchangeable plate (comes with polycarbonate), and it’s $60 cheaper.
keycaps, if you can wing it, I would be on the lookout for an used Leopold FC980m keyb, and cannibalize its keycaps…quality is S- tier, but the colourway is on the boring side
If you don’t mind a smaller 0 key on the keypad, the Monsgeek M2. If you want a larger 0 key, try the JamesMonkey RS2 AKA the 1800 v2.0 over at Keebmonkey. Other than the differences in a few keys, the M2 is aluminum where the JamesDonkey is plastic. I use the M2 at home, where the smaller zero on the keypad doesnt bother me as much, at work I do a lot more data entry and found the 1U zero key slowed me down a bit. I also have the Drop Shift, but like the M2 better.
Here is the JamesDonkey, in it’s original config, which I have changed a couple times. Using U4 Silent Boba switches, hardly makes any noise at all in the office.
I would post a pic of the M2, let me know if you want to see it too.
This is niiiiiiiiceeee
The best board is the one which has the layout you like/need with the keyswitch feel that you enjoy and helps you type well.
Ergo there is no outright best. At minimum you’ll need to try a few things to find what you like.
Hello,
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Thanks
There are many 1800s, but since you are already eyeing the Q5, most of those other ones would cause your eyes to pop out their sockets.
KBDFans Odin is a decent 1800, but it’s around $300-$400. You willing to shell out that money??
