A brief reflection and look at how far our community has come since joining. I’ve been in the mechanical keyboard hobby for a very long time. It started as a high school student’s search for a keyboard for writing novels back in the 2008-2009 school year. I thought I wanted to be an author and I felt I needed a keyboard that I could sit down to at my desk and just write. After researching, joining forums, and saving money, I made my first purchase in the hobby, a blank black Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional 2. I still own this keyboard and while it is heavily modded now, it remains one of my all-time favorites. My HHKB Pro2 with MitchCapped Accents Many people would have stopped there, but keyboards became a hobby. I enjoyed learning about them, and early on, I enjoyed hunting for them in thrift shops. I would dig through bins at Goodwill and Salvation Army while popping keycaps off with paperclips looking for mechanical switches. I searched for a birthday Model M...
May 7, 2024
I miss having arrow keys and a numpad, and one of the layouts possible on the Red Scarf III looks ideal. It's the only keyboard where I've ever seen that layout offered, so I'd have to build it out. I'm trying to price one out, and am confused about the high cost of some ABS keycap sets. Don't get me wrong, this set looks awesome. Is PBT still the king when it comes to durability, or are these higher-end ABS sets comparable?
I for myself tested few pbt keysets from some manufacturers and they feel garbage, becuase they gather dirt and they have wrong (to rough) finish for long type sessions. The only PBT keycaps (from my experience) which are high quality and has really good finish are the stock HHKB (probably on realforce they are as good as on HHKB) and Model M. Its not just about PBT but about its quality. Durable garbage is still garbage ;)
On the PBT end, my best keyset when it comes to feel and durability (but not look unfortunately) is the original Realforce keyset, which is PBT dyesub. The only key that has any noticeable wear after a year of heavy usage is the space bar. However, I also own Tai-Hao PBT double shot Miami keyset and I find it less convenient then GMK Ocean Dolch. Go figure...