She’s growing up, and she’s got a framework 13 laptop with fedora 40, which is great, but she’s been using hand me down peripherals.
She’d love a decent mechanical KB as she likes the clicky clicky of the keys, but the last one I got her, a Lofree, basically bit the dust in no time.
She’s SUPER into the aesthetics but doesn’t want RGB led’s, but DOES like a nice backlit keyboard.
When searching for it, amazon, best buy and the rest just pollute the results, so it’s actually difficult to decide what to get her. Her birthday is coming up so this will be her main gift.
What have you all had good luck with that might be aesthetically pleasing, that the quality wasn’t trash like Lofree.
EDIT: thank you for all your suggestions, I’ve sent her a bunch of links to look at and she’s going through them now. I’ll try to remember to post back what she picks.
I just got a Keychron Q3 HE and it’s amazing. Bit pricy, but it’ll last forever because it’s fully repairable. Even comes with all the req’d tools to disassemble. QMK/VIA, too!
Second the Keychron, solid keyboards even on the lower end models.
Thirding Keychron! Had a great experience with them.
Neat, these look great
I am a huge fan of Ducky keyboards, I am on my fourth keyboard from them
Ducky Shine 2 (black case, white keycaps, orange LEDs, MX Red Switches - Killed by dropping a 2L bottle of Fanta on it (don’t do that).
Ducky Shine 4 (black case, black keycaps, red/blue LEDs, MX Brown switches) - Brought it to the office, used it for a few years, killed by water.
Duck One 2 Skyline - (dark grey case, dark grey, lighter grey and blue keycaps, no LEDs, MX Blue switches) - Still used at home, but now with the gorgeous Aloha KB Trailblazer keycap set.
Ducky One 2 Tuxedo - (black case, black white and red keycaps, no LEDs, MX Blue switches), spare board at home.
The One 3 has RGB and hotswap switches.
As for a mouse, I am a big fan of the Xtrfy M4/M42, it was my standard mouse, and still is brilliant. It has RGB, and the holes in it are great during summer, however I eecently moved to the Pulsar V3 xlite, which has much nicer design than the Cherry.
Another ducky fan!
I just got a ducky 3 and changed out to gateron smoothies.
So happy for the hot swap feature
I had never heard of these, thanks for sharing
You are very welcome.
Be warned though, this stuff gets expensive…
But if you get a good quallity keyboard, it will last a long time, mitigating some of the cost.
Another question, she runs Fedora, do these have software that needs to run in windows?
The Pulsar doesn’t need the software to work, once you have set the proper settings you want to change, the changes are saved to the mouse, and you don’t need it.
The Xtrfy M4/M42 Wired/Wireless does not need any software, you make the changes by pressing different butron combinations.
What do you like about those two mouse models?
After being burned by Logitech, I have trust issues with new hardware as I am worried that the manufacturer might include more than just the driver, so when I saw the videos about the Xtrfy M4/M42 on LTT’s Short Circuit where they spoke about how it was a driverless mouse, I got the M4.
The Xtrfy M4 is excellent, it requires no software to configured, but you need to use the buttons in special combinations to configure the settings. The physical design of the shell looks a bit odd, it is perforated by holes all over, that gives the mouse three advantages, it removes material making it lighter, it improves airflow for the palm of my hand reducing sweaty palms when gaming during the summer months and improves grip so it is easier to hold securely, however the look of the mouse can be offputting for some persons, I’d suggest looking at pictures of the mouse to figure out if this is what the user wants.
Despite the holes it is very stable in its construction, the circuitboard is exposed through the holes, but is conformal coated to handle spills, the mouse will get dirty quick, the holes in the shell will collect dust and skin oils and be annoying to clean, the inside of the mouse will constantly be dirty, for me it isn’t an issue but it looks terrible when looking closely at it.
The Pulsar is a more traditional mouse, still very light, with big holes on the botton with a smooth topshell that has a very slippery cloating.
This mouse is a very minimalistic mouse, you can select the profile out of the ones stored on the mouse with a button, but you can’t change the settings of the profile directly on the mouse, you need Pulsar’s software. The software however is not needed for general use after you have configured the settings you want, they are stored on the mouse and does not need the software to work.
As I hate software running in the background I first tried to set up the mouse using a Windows 10 VM in VirtualBox, and passing the mouse through to the VM, this worked great, and after verifying that the mouse worked fine without the software and that it didn’t run in the background, I installed it on my main machine so that I can check the battery status easily.
If I could only have one mouse, I’d pick the M4, but the X3 xlite is growing on me…
smooth
Conformal. Wow. I learned a new word today. Do the holes not invite lots of buildup of dust and gunk? Is it hard to clean?
The holes absolutely get dirty, as does the inside of the mouse, you can use a qtip or some paper towles to clean, it is time consuming, and you’ll never get the inside clean
What is your budget like?
I’ll spend it necessary, but I’d like to limit to around $75-$100
In my opinion, for that price range a g305 and a Rk61 are by far the best options.
(The mouse is only wireless with a usb dongle, not bluetooth, and the keyboard can be bought in a different layout and is hot-swappable)
Both are configurable on linux, the mouse with piper and the keyboard with qmk.
I own both so if you want more info on either i would be glad to offer.
g305 is what I have and love it, have recommended it to clients looking for a decent mouse. great fit feel and size, some customizations in the app but I don’t use them anyway.
Ask her what she wants, of course. Or maybe get her an Adafruit gift certificate.
Solid advice, and yeah she gets to pick but obviously I like to do some homework on the options.
You could try posting in [email protected] as well!
Great suggestion, just subscribed.
Budget is the first consideration. Once we have that, I would be happy to discuss options with you.
I mean… Hopefully not crazy money, like $75 for both seems like a lot … But if it’s worth it, I’ll spend more
Those Ducky recommendations are pretty good. Ducky is a solid brand, I can’t say I’ve tried them out myself, however, I have been curious. I also haven’t priced those out, so I don’t know if they’re within that range and I actually kind of doubt it; they’re probably over $100 just for the keyboard. That said take a look at that list the other person provided. I will say also I did recently try an RKgaming full sized board (I would guess she is used to full sized?) which I love. That was about $100. Keychron is a solid choice as well, with options at many price points. I would avoid the lowest tier. I would also make sure the board is “hot swappable.” This means that she can try out different switches, if she decides she wants to get into that aspect. All RGB can be set to just one color. Mice are mice in my experience. There’s very little to go wrong with them anymore. Only consideration would be wired vs wireless, and what options she needs in terms of using a dongle to connect wirelessly vs Bluetooth. I use a Razer Basilisk v3, which is quite nice, and was very well reviewed, but is about $65. I also use an Apple Magic trackpad, but that is usurously expensive and please forget that I even mentioned it. Any kind of keeb for “gaming” or what have you, or that is made by Logitech or one of these other you know “normal” companies should be avoided. They almost always are not hot-swappable and they are overcharging for what is essentially the lowest tier of mechanical keyboards. Sorry if that reply was kind of all over the place. I just woke up.
Seems like you’re right. Might have to spend a bit more. I really appreciate the advice.
😆
I’m never going to be a MK expert or anything, but I like them and wanted a reasonably decent one. After a lot of research I ended up trying my luck with a Glorious GMMK 2, kailh box white switches, and doubleshot pudding key caps all in white. I later modded it with a sheet of PE foam between the PCB and the switches, and now it sounds delightful. I’m happy enough with it that, unless I decide to change the switches or try a denser foam, I might already be at my “endgame” keyboard. It does have LEDs, but if you get normal key caps it’ll just look backlit, you can control how they shine anyway though. Dunno your budget, but that’s what got me in and out of a potentially very expensive hobby for under £150.
Great suggestion, thanks
The 8bitduo NES/Famicom keyboard is pretty nice if you’re into that sort of thing, it doesn’t come with backlights or a mouse though
I didn’t realize they did keyboards, I’ve got 4 of their controllers and they are great.
They have one and I think it’s incredible, but if your kid isn’t into retro gaming it might not be the best stylistic choice.
I use a Logitech K730. It’s got chiclet style keys so nothing too clacky, but I like it and it works with the logi receiver and a Logitech MX mouse. Both are nice, and work on my Bazzite (fedora) computer.
Just wanted to finish this out, she picked the Xtrfy M50 and the Keychron K7 Max
For all the normal people, the really good keyboards come from Logitech
(with the one exception of the legendary IBM PS2 keyboard, where you can hear the typing in the next 3 rooms and it swallows years and years of coffee stains and cigarette ash without ever failing and if you hit your burglar’s head with it, he won’t get up anymore so you can just continue typing…)
Only if you want your keyboard’s firstname to be “Gaming”, you have to look elsewhere.
Logitech isn’t bad, but I’d consider them mid to high tier at best.
I am however boycotting them since they broke my trust a few years ago, and I have had no indication that they have stopped.
They broke my trust by installing programs on my computer without my consent.
I bought a Logitech MX Ergo trackball mouse for work and connected it to my computer, within seconds and without asking me for permission they installed Logitech Download Assistant and made it show a popup.
I am fine with automatically getting drivers from Windows Update when I connect a USB device, but I will not accept installing programs on my computer without asking me for consent. I pride myself on having a clean system (as much as Windows can be), knowing what is installed and from where, and Logitech forced their crap on me.
You want a good keyboard/mouse?
Go for Ducky for the keyboard, and pick Xtrfy or Pulsar for your mouse. The Xtrfy mouse doesn’t even use any software on the computer, the Pulsar can use software on your computer but it is optional and any settings made in it are saved to the mouse, I even set mine up with the software in a VM where I passed the mouse directly through to the guest Windows 10 machine, then when I trusted the software did I install it on my normal machine, and only really use it to check the battery level.
I’m sorry, (and I don’t know what this individual means by “normal people”) but this is bad advice. Please do not buy Logitech anything, especially not a MX keeb.
Yeah, I’m kinda out on Logitech after their recent money grab.
