I'm looking at setting up a dock for my work laptop at home, and am thinking of investing in a mechanical keyboard. The problem I have is that I really don't want one which is gaming focused, i.e. has all kinds of coloured backlighting, weird shapes etc. I want a minimalist keyboard (and ideally matching mouse) that is nice to type on. All the ones I've seen with UK layouts are like this: https://www.ebuyer.com/912079-corsai...-ch-9102011-uk
I know I can probably just turn the backlighting off, however I'd much prefer something just more basic and aimed at typists/programmers rather than gamers. Anyone any suggestions? Must be Linux compatible of course. Ideally under £100.

Edit... Failing that, can anyone recommend a really decent wireless combo set?

These are the people to go to:
https://www.keyboardco.com/

The Cherry brown might suit you:
Cherry switches

I have a Cherry MX-Board 3.0 which I can confirm works with Linux, and was one of the few low-profile mechanical keyboards, at least when I got mine. It's also a nice low price of £75 right now.

If you don't like low-profile keys, the Das Keyboard 4 is a typists/non-gamer board which I have no complaints with, but it is currently twice the price at £154. (I'm sure mine wasn't that much when I got it.)
Actually, one complaint, common to a lot of devices these days: the status lights are too bright, so I have a bit of tape over the numlock light.

Great, thanks. Yes, £150+ is getting a bit too expensive really.
I guess the big question is whether a mechanical keyboard really is worth the extra cost? I'll be honest, I've never used one, however all the reviews say they're amazing and you'll never look back!?

Well, if you've never used one, you can save the money by not knowing what you're missing.

I've used a non-mechanical Cherry in the past and it was ok - better than the average non-mechanical keyboard - possibly an earlier iteration of this Cherry Stream 3.0 (Scan has it for £25 delivered), but I don't think I used it with Linux so can't confirm that the media keys work (though IIRC it didn't require extra software so I'd be surprised if they didn't).

Personally, having used mechanical keyboards, I'd prefer to always use them - it's not like your fingers will stop working on anything else, but some cheap keyboards can be really unpleasant to use. This thread is actually making me question if I need to order a spare now in case I need one in future and they're out of stock. :S

I like my filco majestouch 2 a whole lot, but I heard that some people get 'pings' if they smash the keys too hard.
Makes sense, since it's got a metal baseplate under the keys, but that's also the reason why this keyboard doubles as a weapon.

A whole new meaning to keyboard warrior.

Edit:
Is it worth it?

If my fingers could vocally complain about writing on anything other than these switches now, they would.
The mere thought about having to write on a mushy membrane keyboard turns me off.

Howeeeevverrr...

If we are talking chips down, bottom line, unter uns Pastorentöchtern:
Then the unironic galaxy brain decision would be to buy a steno keyboard and, using plover, only write steno forevermore.
I'm still saving for that super duper fancy steno keyboard, and once I have that, I will ascend to new heights of RSI avoiding, super speed typing.

I often write really long posts, man, to imagine writing them at 150 WPM without much trouble...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il8DT_alCLk
Fun times.

Edit2:
I mean, look at this puppy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoMlqeO7qrs

Actuation that light? And the awesome power of steno?
Do count me in.

I can't resist this:
Killer keyboards

I think my only reservation now is that the mechanical ones tend to be wired. Apart from the super expensive ones that is of course. But I suppose that will eliminate any lag etc.

Haha, nice, I do wonder how the Filco would fare, though. I have owned several Model Ms but that was long in the past.
I think it had a plastic body, tho, where the Filco MT 2 is pretty much all metal. It's heavy. A tankkkk.

@devnull10

Yeah, the price is steep, but:
Switches take a loooooonnngggg~ time to wear out (millions of actuations), and you can desolder and replace them if one breaks, and they're quite cheap if you buy them loose.


Something I have yet to do on my Filco and I've had it for probably eight years now? And I type a lot.
Now, 150 Monies is still a lot of monies to amortize with cheap rubber dome keyboards, but it's also a world of difference in typing.
(At least I think so)

If you're a heavy computer user, I think one of the main interface peripherals shouldn't be the first priority to save on.

Yep, going slightly off-track here, but when planning a new system a lot of people start with cpu/ram/gpu/hdd, but really the primary considerations should be chair/keyboard/mouse/monitors.

Likewise, if interviewing for a computer-based job, pay attention to those things on the department tour - they're a better indicator of how much staff are valued (or otherwise) than any perks or gimmicks.

Also, given that the original post mentions working from home, if the OP hasn't already asked the company about expenses, they should do so. It may depend on the type of work/company, but if you're buying equipment primarily/solely for work use then they should be reimbursing you to some degree, which might mean you have a bigger budget than you think.

1 members found this post helpful.

I don't like HP and do not want to advertise, but I think a general purpose HP keyboard will do the job.
I don't like Dell and do not want to advertise, but I think a general purpose Dell keyboard will do the job.
I don't like Logitech and do not want to advertise, but I think a general purpose Logitech keyboard will do the job (like k120).
...
Nowadays I use an Arteck HB192 too, which works better than any low-end keyboard. But if I remember well it is not a real mechanical keyboard.

Got Dell standard usb mechanical keyboard, older model but probably the best one I've had for years.
Someone did recommend me Logitech before, but I've found some of their gear come with driver application which requires connectivity.
So that never was very appealing option I guess, it just seems a little shady to ship a driver downloader with the gear instead of driver.
Almost like they're assuming the target of their product is unable to install a driver or something, so they must do it by remote.