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Friday, December 26, 2008

Keyboards, the Neverending Saga

If you're anything like me, you're very specific about your requirements for a keyboard. I've been searching for a keyboard for about a year and a half, and so far I haven't been able to find anything that fits the requirements. Maybe I'm just sentimental, but I really like the Logitech Elite keyboard that is no longer being made. I bought one years ago and it's perfect for me. One of the things I really like about it, and what I haven't been able to find in any other keyboard is the scroll wheel. A keyboard with a scroll wheel? Yeah, it may seem odd, but considering that I use a trackball that doesn't have one it works really well.

So what am I looking for in a keyboard? Well, I'd like a keyboard, preferably black with a scroll wheel. It has to be really comfortable but it doesn't have to be ergonomic. It absolutely must have good, solid feedback. I find it really awkward to type on something that's too spongey, and it hurts to wrists to use something that too stiff. As much as I love the feel of the Das Keyboard it's too loud, so another requirement is that it has to be pretty quiet. Lastly, the layout of the 6-pack (home, end ...) has to be just that: a 6 pack. I'm really getting sick of seeing all these otherwise decent keyboards having a really screwy layout for the keys that as a programmer I use all the time.

In short:

  • Scroll wheel
  • Comfortable
  • Quiet
  • Good Feedback
  • Non-screwy 6-pack
  • Mac compatible

I almost forgot, as I use a Mac it needs to be Mac compatible.

As I mentioned earlier, I've not been able to find a keyboard that fits these requirements other than the Logitech Elite. So where does that leave me? Well, certainly without a keyboard that meets my requirements without looking on ebay. I guess I'll have to relax my requirements a bit, the only problem is that my search for keyboards hasn't been very fruitful. Maybe that's because I only have 3 objective requirements, and I've only seen an answer to 2. The others, I can only determine by using it.

The only keyboard that comes close is the Logitech Wave keyboard. Granted it only meets one of my objective requirements, but my hope is that its answer to the subjective ones will far make up for the what it's missing. I think I'll pick it up and see what happens.