Don't Buy A Mechanical Keyboard... Yet
My mechanical keyboard journey started when I fell into the rabbit hole around August 2020. Since then, I have tested over forty different switches, built or modified over twenty keyboards, and experimented with many different layouts. I usually carry a mechanical keyboard with me, and have built keyboards for friends and family members. Many consider mechanical keyboards superior to normal membrane keyboards due to their feel, sound, looks, layout options, software, and various customization options. While many swear by mechanical keyboards, they are expensive, and the landscape of mechanical keyboards is confusing and hard to navigate. That said, if you do decide to look into and possibly build one, here is some more information to guide you through the rabbit hole. The first thing you will probably notice while looking through videos about mechanical keyboards is the sound. Many people build their custom keyboards with sound in mind, and because of this there are endless jargon...
Nov 29, 2023
After removing a surface mounted resistor from the trackpoint module to disable the push-to-click functionality everything has been working pretty well. (See one of my earlier comments for a picture of the component I removed) The sensitivity on OSX is still poorly tuned and I haven't been able to get it to my liking yet (USB Overdrive doesn't offer enough customization of the acceleration curve) but it is usable.
I got the cherry mx blue switches, and typing on these is wonderful. My backtick/escape key did stop functioning a few days after the keyboard arrived, but I just reset the solder of the switch and the surface mounted resistor next to it and it started working again. The keyboard is easy to disassemble and service, which is a nice change from most consumer electronics.
Yeah, their quality control probably could have been a bit better, but when you buy from a small electronics shop you're bound to have some trouble. And if you're enthusiastic enough to buy this keyboard, then a couple solderings is not a big deal.
I would still have bought the keyboard, despite the difficulties I have had. I do wish it had dedicated arrow keys, though. If they make another model with arrow keys I'll buy that one, too.
I would also buy a model with arrow keys. This is easily the best keyboard I have ever used, but sometimes I miss the arrow keys (especially when using programs without a "vi-mode").