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Comment by nextos | Hacker News Reader

I love mechanical keyboards. My favorite switch is ALPS.

But IMHO, the most ergonomic switches are low-travel ones. They increase my typing speed, reduce latency and make long sessions effortless.

Luckily, low-travel versions of many good quality keyboard switches are being produced and developed more often now to cater the gaming market.

For a simple, readily available option, I find the Apple Magic Keyboard more than good enough. It has really low latency [1]. I wonder if other low-travel switches are the same or if it has a particularly speedy firmware.

[1] https://danluu.com/keyboard-latency/

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For a low-travel and ergonomic keyboard, check out the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic. It's wireless and has a standard layout which doesn't require any learning, including a real row of function-keys, full size arrow-block and pg-up/down. And it just cost 1/4 of the Moonlander. No per-key dedicated backlight, no programmable ARM Cortex or any other thrills, it's just a simple, comfortable, plug in and start using keyboard. I wish they offered an even cheaper version without the silly Mouse in the package.

It has a reputation for bad build quality but i've been lucky with mine. Also be careful to not loose the wireless dongle as the keyboard becomes a brick without it.

This is awesome keyboard.

Fn keys do suck tho and are cheap. Also, forearm gets dirty in few days and keyboard start to look like it is used for years.

I also gave silly mouse a chance and it turns out I like it very much now - not for games but otherwise very good and fits in hand great.

They do offer a version with OEM/business packaging and no mouse.

> I find the Apple Magic Keyboard more than good enough

I liked the previous gen better. It has slightly longer travel than the new one, very similar to the pre-butterfly Macbooks.

Having said that, I prefer the feel of the butterflies over the magic ones. Even though the travel is very short, it's very tactile.

I had a great surprise with the - haha - Raspberry Pi keyboard. It has a firm touch, good travel and small footprint. It feels much nicer than any keyboard in its price range has the right to feel.

I'd love to try the Kinesis, but I'm not sure I like its footprint. I already have a Unicomp 122-key Battlecruiser on my Linux box and it's quite enough .

Kalih Brown are quite soft (40g) and quite low-travel (1.1 mm to actuation). I wish even softer Kalih scissor switches were an option.

Kalih Blue are an option if you prefer to pound more (not offered with this keyboard, though). But I only find clicky switches acceptable if you're working from home, or have a personal office. Sitting next to someone else's clicky keyboard is not all that enjoyable.

I’m also a fan of low actuation force and short travel keyboards. I really like the Magic Keyboard in virtually every way except the key layout.

Reading through the various switches they offer, it seems the Kailh Silver might be the closest match of what they offer to Apple’s switches, but I sadly am not willing to spend nearly $400 to find out.

I've found Kailh Blue low profile to be the sweet spot for mechanical but low travel. My absolute favorite keyboard is the HAVIT HV-KB395L [1], unfortunately the switches seem to not be very durable (or I'm just very rough on my keyboards). I have two broken ones around (left control key is flaky), considering if I want to buy another one.

This is literally the only keyboard I have found that uses those switches.

[1] https://www.prohavit.com/products/hv-kb395l-low-profile-mech...

I have the TKL version of same keyboard and it is a great value for the price but it has several flaws. The Kailh Blue switches can click and not trigger if you don't press hard enough. So the audio feedback is basically worth nothing. Also there are no rubber feet at the back if you decide not to use the stands. There are also no rubber feet in the middle below the space bar where I would expect the keyboard to flex the most (it does only when pressing really hard though).

for low profile mech keyboard in traditional arrangement, there is the keychron.

For low profile switches there is the Kailh Choc family, though there is a limited choice of caps.

The new MBK caps for them are getting some good reviews. Though the one downside of Choc caps is they are directional. Some of the split layouts need 2u vertical and that just doesn't exist.

I'm decently happy with my Matias Ergo Pro [1]. They make their own ALPS-derived switches. Only other ALPS I've ever used are verrrrrry oldddddd Apple boards. Are there any other mass-produced ALPS keebs I should be aware of, or is it mostly just hobbyists harvesting old switches for custom boards?

[1] https://matias.ca/ergopro/programmable/

Latest Apple magic keyboard is awful. The key tops rock all over the place. Back on my Cherry MX board 1.0 with red switches.

It’s better than the cancerous lump of excrement that is the Magic Mouse 2 though.

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