Cheap Mechanical Keyboards (and More)

Aliexpress: aliexpress.com is an export-e-commerce website operated by Alibaba of China designed to export items out of China in an export-friendly format, with descriptions in many languages. Many keyboard related items are available on Aliexpress including cheaper Chinese keyboards, keysets, and so on. Many of the orders can be shipped free to almost any country in the world. Alpha kit: a key set that contains the “alphas”, or the alphabet and the top row of numbers, but not modifiers or any other keys. Artisan key: a keycap made by an artist as an art piece, using pop culture or historical icons as inspirations. They are limited run and extremely desirable for collectors that most are sold via lottery system, and can be very costly in the aftermarket. Most are cast with resin from feature elaborate paintwork and can be quite delicate, but there are aluminum ones too. ABS plastic: Acrylonitrile butadiene styrine. Keycaps generally are made from this cheap and light plastic, as ...

Mechanical keyboards come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. Here we'll go over them by size: Full-size  (about 17.4 inches) 96 / TK (about 15 inches) TKL (about 14 inches) 75% (about 12.5 inches) 65% (12-14 inches) 60% (11.5 inches) Mini (varies) Please note that dimensions are approximate only, depends on bezel size, gap size between key groups, as well as whether there are additional key groups like macro keys.  Full-size ( recommendations ) A full-size keyboard is the 104 key keyboard that has been the “standard” since IBM PC AT back in the 1980’s. It has function row, alpha area, cursor cluster with arrows, and a numpad.  There is a variation called 108 key that added 4 keys on top of the numpad for other purposes, such as macros, volume control, and so on.  Below is an example of 108 key, a Keycool 108 (photo courtesy of IigerImports and Keycool) Some keyboard makers add an additional group of macro keys to make the keyboard even wider. R...

Q: I need a wireless mechanical keyboard. What are my options? A:  We'll go by category, from largest to smallest NOTE: If you don't see at least SEVEN keyboards under "full-size" below, your adblocker is blocking my links to Amazon. Full-Size NIZ EC108 Bluetooth/Wired Pro on Nizkeyboard TenkeyLess (TKL) NIZ EC87 Bluetooth/Wired Pro on Nizkeyboard Varmilo VB87 Bluetooth on mechanicalkeyboards SubTKL (75%) NIZ EC84 Bluetooth/Wired Pro on Nizkeyboard Mini (60% or so) (please also see CMKB Buying Guide // Mini ) DareU EK820 68-Key Bluetooth in Blue or Black Low-Profile Keyboard  on Flashquark KeyWalker IFD68 Bluetooth Cherry switches (basically a wireless Tada 68) on Aliexpress KeyWalker IFD68 Bluetooth RGB on Massdrop Matias Laptop Pro for Mac on Matias.ca Last Updated 23-APR-2018 Maintainer's Notes: Somehow left out Drevo Calibur, added Logitech G613, Corsaid K63, L...