If I need a detached keyboard then the only one that feels normal is the Apple Magickeyboard b/c it's exactly like a laptop and clicky (the logitech equivalents are very mushy). Wish there was one with standard/Windows keys
I've got a custom keyboard with choc low-profile switches, and I like it a lot better. It's about mid-way between an Apple and a cherry MX, and I'm not sure I notice or care to get any lower distance since these are so easy to find. Unfortunately I'll have to go a lot more custom to get that in a Kinesis Advantage/Dactyl-like setup, and I haven't done that yet.
I do prefer MX key caps though (DSA profile, or roughly), the smaller center and deeper curve seems to help me calibrate better. Choc caps often lean hard into the low-profile thing and are very flat, and I'm not super fond of that.
It doesn't help that most mechanical keyboards also start by tinkering with the layout, for reasons I can't even begin to understand. For example, I don't look at my keyboard much, relying on fingers to position themselves, and on some tactile feedback from the keyboard. Arrow keys, for instance, are these with some negative space above them, so my fingers can use that negative space to nail the position. Most mechanical keyboards just slam the arrow keys into the bulk of all the others, so if I use that I need to look at the keyboard every time I want to use the arrow keys. (There was some unfortunate period in Apple's history where they made the left and right arrow keys full-size and eliminated the negative space, rendering that keyboards harder to use for me; I skipped these machines until they got back to sanity.)
I feel like you can always find a mechanical that you like, no matter how particular you are. It's just whether or not you want to go down the rabbit hole.
That would be a hard "No" for me (with an addition of "Why would anyone ever want to use that?", but I understand that tastes differ).
P.S. And don't even get me started on the arrow keys smashed into the rest so not only Enter/Backspace/Right Shift positioning is gone for me but the arrow keys positioning is gone too.
P.P.S. If people like it it's fine, not everything in the world should be conforming to my personal taste, but that picture where they have the keyboard positioned over the MacBook keyboard and the top of the trackpad (and a mouse to the side) just leaves me completely flabbergasted.
https://keeb-finder.com/keyboards?ms_layoutSize=75%25%2COthe...
A couple times I have tried doing some engineering related task on my desktop with a mechanical keyboard and it just felt wrong. It felt like I was moving my fingers too much. Kinda the same if I do any amount of serious typing.
On the flip side though, the couple of times I have tried gaming on a laptop it also felt wrong.
So I have come to view keyboards the same way I view gaming controllers, it all depends on what I am doing and I will use the best input method for a particular task/game/etc.
I think part of it is that the keyboard itself is thin. There’s less of a physical object to raise forearms and contort wrists over.
I've tried low-profile chocs and they still have too much travel! But I'm stuck with them as split keyboards are important for me just for the usual collection of wrist health reasons.
So I'm just waiting for Apple to make a split keyboard I guess :)
I'm being super pedantic, but it's not, the switches and especially keycaps are different from what they use in e.g. a Macbook Air (and not just in size). For 99% they'll be close enough, but for me this makes the magic keyboard a no-go.
I'm still looking for the holy grail, an external keyboard that's a near copy of the Macbook keyboard. I'd be willing to spend $500+ on it, but haven't found anything. Or, similarly, a keyboard that is even softer and lower travel than the Macbook keyboard. Nothing seems to have a similar actuation profile. I once found a website that showed actuation profiles through graphs, where you could pick from dozens of switches - none of them had a similar profile. Wonder why, is it hard to make? Is there really no market? Patents?
I picked up a Keychron K15 Pro[1] and have found the low profile keys and travel easy to adapt to. Recommend you give one of theirs (or maybe someone else's) low profile keyboards a try.
[1] https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-k15-pro-alice-lay...
Same. Anyone find a low-travel non-mushy keyboard for Windows? Ideally with spacing between every 4 function keys?
If nothing else, they come with Dell machines, so if you're in a typical corporate environment, somebody might have one and let you try it.