My journey from a full-sized keyboard to a 60% keyboard
Just a few years in the past, at one of many corporations I’ve labored for, I got here throughout a proliferation of mechanical keyboards and particularly, 60% keyboards, and I purchased one for myself.
Since then, I’ve used that 60% mechanical keyboard, and I can’t return. Nevertheless, I’ve seen that like many different practices in software program improvement, it’s straightforward to remain within the consolation zone of what we already know, since there are such a lot of issues to study.
As I wrote in my introductory weblog publish, builders are lifelong learners. Due to this fact, I hope that sharing my very own expertise will encourage you to strive one thing fully totally different. This might sound troublesome at first however will enhance your typing expertise and productiveness over time.
Let’s begin with the fundamentals.
A bodily keyboard that makes use of a person spring and swap for every key ( PCMac)
Wait, so what isn’t a mechanical keyboard?
Probably the most broadly produced keyboard sort is named Membrane (though there are different varieties as effectively):
A bodily keyboard whose “keys” should not separate, however somewhat are strain pads which have solely outlines and symbols printed on a flat, versatile floor.
Some historical past
Initially, when keyboards have been first produced, they have been mechanical. As computer systems started getting cheaper, producers seemed for tactics to make keyboards cheaper as effectively, and thus the membrane keyboard was created.
Nevertheless, membrane keyboards have downsides to mechanical keyboards, and so in recent times, customers with excessive necessities from keyboards (Avid gamers, Typers, Programmers, and so on..) started utilizing them once more.
Right here’s a comparability by wepc.com:
Crucial a part of a mechanical keyboard is the swap sort. There are 3 varieties: linear, tactile, and clicky:
- Linear (pink, yellow, black) — are the quietest of all and the quickest to click on on which makes them widespread amongst players.
- Tactile (brown, orange) — have a tactile bump that’s felt on every key press.
- Clicky (blue, inexperienced) — are the noisiest and produce a clicky sound when actuated.
(Supply: steelseries.com)
Keycaps (the precise plastic above the swap), board sort, and type (measurement) are additionally essential elements of mechanical keyboards.
Let’s speak in regards to the type, then.
Keyboards have many customized kinds as could be seen within the following graphic that reveals a few of them:
The total-sized might be the “traditional” keyboard, whereas a variation of 75% is roughly what we see on most laptops. From my private expertise, I’d say that almost all of us are snug with keyboards within the vary of 75% to full-sized.
If we go right down to 65%, often the very first thing that we lose is the perform keys ( F1, F2, …).
However perform keys are helpful, and so an Fn key often exists, that when held, will “swap” the performance of the highest row to the perform keys:
That is all nonetheless fairly sane since F keys should not very generally used, so urgent an extra key on occasion to make use of the F keys remains to be throughout the “snug” zone.
Once we go beneath 65%, although, issues are beginning to get “much less snug” (and extra attention-grabbing). Maybe the most important change is the removing of arrow keys. These keys are so widespread, that it sounds insane to have the ability to work correctly with out them.
Right now we’re going to debate the advantages of 60% keyboards, and why I feel they’re good for you 🙂
TL;DR:
- Quicker swap from utilizing the mouse to typing
- For most individuals, it’s ergonomically higher
- Quicker attain to all navigational keys
- Extra compact
- Cheaper
1. Keyboard and mouse
Every time we’re typing, our impartial place of each palms is on what is named the house row keys, that are A, S, D, F for the best hand, and J, Okay, L, ; for the left.
Assuming you’re right-handed, everytime you wish to use your mouse, that you must transfer your hand from the house row keys to the mouse, as seen within the following graphic:
As we will, when working with a full-size keyboard, the gap is sort of massive. With a 60% keyboard, it seems like this:
Which means with a 60% keyboard, switching between 2-hand typing and the mouse is far sooner (~half the gap!).
2. Ergonomics
Whereas it will depend on your shoulder size, the typical particular person must bend his palms outwards from their impartial resting place when utilizing a full-size keyboard. A 60% or tenkeyless keyboard is nearly all the time extra ergonomic.
The next article appears to go actually deep into choosing the proper keyboard type for you: Keyboard Kind Issue Information / Ctrl.weblog.
3. Use navigational keys sooner
A standard function in mechanical keyboards is the important thing mapping programmability. We will program keys to behave in a different way.
A selected functionality is the “non permanent layer swap”, which permits a held key to alter your complete keyboard’s key mapping quickly (so long as it’s being held).
The next visualization reveals my private non permanent layer key mapping. I selected the Caps Lock key as my layer swap key, as I hardly ever use this performance anyway, and it is positioned properly on the house row.
As you’ll be able to see, all of the navigational and Fn keys (+bonus media keys!) are actually a lot nearer to the house row, which retains your palms in the identical place even when utilizing the arrow keys!
Word: It takes a while to get used to a brand new key mapping akin to this. It took me 3 weeks to succeed in my common working velocity, and since then it had gotten higher ^^
4. Extra compact
Not a lot so as to add right here actually, it’s simply smaller, and subsequently permits for extra desk area and is rather more transportable.
5. Cheaper
Fewer keys == Fewer supplies == Cheaper (Assuming all the remainder of the elements of the keyboard are the identical)
We’ve already lined that one of many traits of mechanical keyboards is that they’re often louder than their membrane counterparts.
Whereas this may be thought of a bonus in case you just like the sound of the typing, when working alongside others, it will probably grow to be a life-threatening occasion (Just a few co-workers not-so-secretly expressed the will to homicide me once I used a clicky-switch keyboard for lengthy sufficient intervals).
Nevertheless, there are insanely quiet switches which are even quieter than membrane keyboards.
We are actually going to cowl my present mechanical keyboard setup that I personally like (and can be very quiet).
Prebuilt keyboard
My very own keyboard setup is fairly easy. I initially purchased a prebuilt funds keyboard that’s fairly customizable.
Let’s breakdown the lengthy title description of this keyboard:
- 60% — We all know this one already 😉
- RGB — Full Crimson-Inexperienced-Blue lighting on every of the keys, and is absolutely programmable with animations, and so on…
- hotswap swap — Which means the board lets you pull out present switches and substitute them with others simply.
- pbt keycaps — The kind of the keycaps. This can be a complete matter in and of itself, right here’s an overview.
- programmable — There’s software program that permits configuring every part from keymapping and lighting to macros.
- 61 key poker structure — The keyboard has precisely 61 keys. “Poker” stands for an unofficial title of all 60% keyboards.
- SmartMonkey iGK61 set2b — The precise mannequin of the keyboard.
There are two customization choices: the colour of the keyboard and the swap mannequin.
My first switches have been the Kailh Field Whites. These switches are very clicky and whereas I completely cherished the typing feeling that they had (the most effective I ever tried), I wanted one thing else for the workplace.
Silent Switches
After some analysis, I got here throughout Gazzew’s Boba U4 Silents switches.
It’s magical how quiet these switches are!
I additionally actually preferred their typing feeling, and they’re my present favourite switches for typing on the workplace.
GSA Keycaps
Subsequent, I wished to present some coloration to my keycaps. Whereas I don’t assume they’re the nicest wanting keycaps on the market, their “same-height” GSA profile (Sure, Keycaps structure is one other factor you have to be conscious of) is very nice:
Programming the non permanent layer
This keyboard has software program that permits remapping the keys to allow the non permanent layer as seen within the Use navigational keys sooner part to enhance productiveness.
In the event you want any assist with defining the mapping, then do this YouTube video. Additionally, be happy to succeed in out!
