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Comment by nextlevelwizard | Hacker News Reader

The thing is with Alice you can easily get hot-swappable board with different switches and keycap profiles and it costs less than $200.

While I have been eyeing these "cup" style keyboards for years, I feel very hesitant dropping $400 on a keyboard when my Alice is "fine".

Maybe you are right that Alice is a half measure and going full hog is the way, but I could also be spending $400 on a keyboard and another $100 on shipping on import tax just to end up with a keyboard I don't use.

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This is why there should be keyboard renting service. If I’m not mistaken, you could rent the Maltron keyboard in the old days.

I did think about it being non-hotswappable but it was a non-factor since I'm optimizing for ergonomics. I already knew I want linear switches and the lower force which was Choc Pro Reds. I don't like the other switch types after trying other keyboards.

For me the first switches I bought felt mushy. You could argue I didn't do my research, but you can end in same place with this Glove, should I get the normal Reds or the Red Pros? Maybe I would like the tactility of the Browns better? Then again what is the point of having a mechanical keyboard without THONC so maybe Whites aren't that bad?

With hot-swap you can just buy a set and if you don't love it you don't need to buy a whole another keyboard.

But I do get that some people know exactly what they want, but I often need couple tries before I get what I like.

It boils down to knowing what you really want and what your priorities are. I owned the same mech keyboard for a decade now. I've only tried other types of switches a handful of times.

Browns are apparently the best (most) selling switch type.

But also the most memed by the mechanical keyboard community. Although I do think they are a good compromise for open office use, but personally I prefer more “click/thonk”

With the Kailh Choc switches, I wouldn't bother with anything other than linear. -- The tactile on Kailh choc is very lame; the 'clicky' sounds like insects crawling, and isn't all that satisfying.

(For MX style, I do prefer clicky or tactile).

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