Thank you everyone for taking time to help out. While looking for keyboards, I’ve found a great deal on a new Keychron C3 Pro at Amazon for around $30. It’s a wired keyboard, but it’s got hot swappable brown switches and I figured there’s no way I’d find something better to dip my toes in this hobby.
And I’m really glad I did! The feel and sound of it is just so much better from my regular keyboard it’s not even funny.
I’ve got some sample switches and o-rings in the mail to further dampen the sound but I’m very happy with my purchase.
Original text below:
All those really sweet compact keyboards are super sexy and I want one. But the ones I like are both:
- very expensive
- have windows exclusive software
I’m not even sure mechanical keyboards are for me, to be honest. I don’t type that much, and the keyboard I have - a Logitech wave ergonomic keyboard - suits me, except for the humongous size and the noise (I do a lot of video calls and it gets distracting to my interlocutors).
From my research, a QMK/VIA 65% keyboard would be ideal. The VIA part would allow me to configure the few extra keys and layouts so I can make the most of the keys I’ll have. And it’s Linux compatible. However, it seems the controllers for VIA keyboards make them significantly more expensive. Then there’s the noise issue. The click clack, while tactile satisfying, is a no go for me.
I went down the rabbit hole and to find something that has a chance of suiting me, the cost quickly balloons above $200, and for something which I don’t know if I’ll like. If at least I knew it wouldn’t be too loud I might justify forking that kind of money.
Is there a keyboard for me? How can I tell if it’s going to be too loud? Or should I just give up that search and go for a normie tenkeyless keyboard?
Keychron V2, choose the prebuilt with either red or brown switches. If those are too loud, you can swap the switches for silent ones. I am out of date with switches nowadays, but Rtings says TTC blueish-white are good, so that might not be a bad starting point for your research.
Quick edit: for the software, you could also run it in a Windows VM then give the VM access to the USB port.
Also, if you can make do without keyboard specific software, there are some new old stock BTC 5100C boards on eBay. You'll need an AT to PS/2 converter if you want to connect it to a desktop, but all in it should be under $70 USD, excluding shipping. The layout (75% but really really weird) takes getting used to, and it doesn't have N key Rollover if that is something that matters for you, but they are a quieter keyboard than most due to their BTC dome with slider mechanism.
Chyrosran22 did a review of the switch [link]. Fair warning: I don't know if he does in that video, but he can use very non-PG language at times, so if you aren't OK with that you might want to avoid the video.
Edit edit: also on mine the space bar stabilization is utter garbage, its been a while but I think only after a bandaid mod and lube was it acceptable. Legit I think even a person who just uses generic office keyboards might complain about the space bar, it's that bad.