I’m looking for a keyboard. What do you recommend that’s not too expensive? I’m not looking for a gaming keyboard, I just want one that’s good for typing.
I already have a Logitech K120 and a Microsoft Wired 600, so I’m looking for something cheap.
If you’re not interested in twitch gameplay they’re all basically the same, so just get whatever the cheapest one in your local computer store is.
The K120 is impossible to beat for the price. It is the only good membrane keyboard on the market and really cheap. Everything else has a terrible mushy tactile feel.
If you want better you’ll have to get a mechanical keyboard but they’re not cheap. Prices vary but 100 bucks is typical.
Keyboards are very personal. You just have to go to a store with a lot of them and see which ones feel good to you. Personally, as I generally use a laptop, I’m accustomed to a very flat keyboard with minimal key travel. Some people prefer the opposite.
I use Fellowes ergonomic keyboards. They’re great.
I have used many different keyboards and I must fully agree with Calavera.
If you are spending a massive amount of your time every day typing on a keyboard and you feel that you may well be in danger for some kind of Repetitive Strain Injury, you may want to try one of those fancy and expensive keyboards that claim to be Ergonomically styled.
Personally, I don’t believe that anyone has really thoroughly tested any of these keyboards and I believe they are just a kind of “gimmick” for collecting some money that is out there and waiting to be spent by people who may fear some kind of RSI.
But if you do not fear that kind of injury, I have found the only feature that I like on a keyboard is a kind of “push back” feel - namely when I press a key, I like to be able to feel it “click” so I know that I pressed that key. I also like to hear it make a clicking sound.
The best keyboards I have bought cost around $12 and they last forever. The only problem I have experienced with keyboards is that if I leave my PC on for several hours before I use it again, it seems to have “lost” all memory there is a keyboard attached and I have to unplug and then plug the keyboard back in before it will work.
I found one way to get around this problem. I just finish my sessions with the active window a word processing app. In that way, the PC never drops the keyboard so to speak. I can leave the PC running for many hours and when I try to use it again, there is no problem with the keyboard. I do not have to unplug it and then plug it back into the PC.
Good luck to you and Happy Hunting for your keyboard.
The one problem with purchasing a keyboard as well as many other products is that we are increasingly living in the age of Amazon.
We purchase products by looking at a picture on a web site and reading about the product. Increasingly, we are unable to put our hands on the product before buying it.
When you are dealing with a keyboard or other product that costs less than $10 or so, it’s hardly a big problem. But I really don’t like to buy anything that you need to touch and feel first. A stereo system is a good example. You don’t really need to touch or feel it. But it’s kind of silly to buy a stereo without first listening to it.
Furniture is another example. Would you buy a couch from a catalog? I like to be able to sit on a piece of furnture that is used for sitting before I buy it. I don’t like the idea of buying a sofa or big chair without ever first sitting on it. It’s too much trouble to return something like that if you don’t like it when you try it.