December 23, 2017
Comparing Keyboards
I’ve recently gotten into mechanical keyboards because being a web designer/developer I spend a lot of time writing and having a decent keyboard makes a big difference.
It can be difficult to find the perfect keyboard because there are so many options. I’ve seen the Das Keyboard 4 in person at a tech meet up I attended, and I thought that it looked pretty formidable, and the reviews online were very positive. After doing some research I decided to try something a little less expensive.
First I tried the Logitech G610 which is a really great mechanical keyboard, and a little more affordable than some of the other premium mechanical keyboards. It feels solid, weighing just under 3 pounds. The keys mimic the Cherry MX style switches. The design is nice with rounded corners, and made from what feels like quality plastic. However, there are a couple little annoying things about it. First, to take control of the different lighting settings you have to download and install some software from Logitech. I find this particularly annoying because I am adverse to installing any programs that are not essential. If you do not install the software you can switch between brightness levels but have no ability to stop the constantly rise and fall of brightness that goes from left to right across the keys. This is super annoying so I am left with just turning the lighting all the way of, or installing the software from Logitech. The G610 does have a nice wheel in the top right that lets me adjust the volume easily - it’s surprising now nice of a feature this is to have. Overall the G610 is a really good keyboard for the price.
Finally after doing some more research I stumbled onto the Code keyboard by WASD. I have tried it for a bit and I can say without any question it should be the defacto keyboard for programming. It’s super minimalist in design, with no logos, unnecessary wording or anything extra. Everything just works perfectly. The Cherry switches are excellent as always. You can easily adjust settings by adjusting the dip switches found on the bottom of the keyboard - no software required. I’ve tried it with both my windows and Mac machines and it works great. So if you’re looking for a decent keyboard for coding I’d suggest the Code by WASD.
Next I’ll need to find the perfect mouse.
