Well now I finally have a solid job with a solid income, I am finally looking for a good Mechanical Keyboard. The issue is that I do not have a lot of space on my desk. I live has a home-stay so buying a new desk is not an option.
The desk has 560mm of space (Length) for a mouse and keyboard. Currently I am using a cheap Logitech Keyboard from a mouse and keyboard pack and a G600.
The keyboard is 445mm and so that leaves 115mm of space for my mouse to move. Not enough. I would be happy with about 200mm of mouse space.
So I would like to know, Is there any good Cherry MX Red keyboards out there that dont sacrifice on keys that are under 400mm. I dont need macros. And I want to keep the arrow keys, Home, Insert and Delete keys and the number keys separate as I use all of them daily. So the Quickfire TK does not work for me. The price needs to be reasonable as well.
I know its possible. If they can build full size keyboards with Cherry MX switches for 15 inch laptops, Surely there are Desktop Keyboards of similar size?
Thanks
Why don't you just get a tenkeyless? I can't imagine why would an ordinary user need a numpad. If you are not filling spreadsheets or databases, it doesn't benefit you in any significant way.
You can also get a separate numpad and use it only when needed. It's also convenient because you can place it left of you keyboard which allows you to use it without moving your hand away from your mouse.
Thats the thing. I do a lot of programming and database work so I need the number pad.
Wouldn't separate numpad with tenkeyless keyboard work then?
The QuickFire Pro, check it out. :)
Why would I spend more on a number pad that sits away from my main keyboard meaning I would have to move my hands away from the keyboard to use it. Makes no sence to me.
The Quickfire Pro is larger than my current keyboard. I want smaller, Not larger.
Depending on whereabouts you live, this could suit you. If you're not around the Auckland or Hamilton area, try to ask them if they can ship it to you or look for any other stores nearby that has these keyboards. They do have MX Green versions of this in stock but too expensive since supply for Green switches is pretty much scarce like the Clears, so you will have to wait longer till the price comes down. -.-
Keys are the same size on all keyboards so you can't have a keyboard with a standard layout that is less than 44cm wide. Asking for a keyboard with a numpad and navigation keys that is 36 cm wide is unreasonable.
I'm pretty sure than combined layout like on Quickfire TK is not an option. So the only reasonable option I see is using a separate numpad when doing work and moving it away while gaming.
I dont live in Auckland any more and the TK is good in concept except you have to keep hitting numlock to use the numpad and other keys.
I know that is false because I have used mebrain keyboards with smaller keys. The qwerty keys are all the same size but Enter, Shift Caps and Tab are all shrunk down to allow for the navigation keys to sit in between the numberpad and qwerty keys. Delete and other keys sit above ether the numpad or backspace and it all sits in 405mm. That I would be happy with. I would not mind a slightly taller keyboard if it ment I could have more room for my mouse. This is proof of concept. http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/keyboards/Industrial/1800/
I might modify my desk to bring it down a bit and prop my monitor up somehow so I could use a full sized keyboard.
I do not game all that much. This is more of a professional setup where the number pad would be used 99% of the time and a seperate num pad getting in the way of the mouse is idiotic.
Well, there's for example Noppoo Choc Mini (31.5 mm), but I don't know any keyboards with the same layout that have a numpad. So it's probably still reasonable to get a separate numpad which is 90mm.
Running FX-8320 with Asus 970 board, Quickfire Rapid connects through PS/2 just fine.