Mechanical Keyboards

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Keyboards for travel (self.mechanicalkeyboards)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by fuzzy_goldfish to c/[email protected]

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Hi all, I'm looking for a keyboard for travel that will be quiet enough not to bother folks on a train. Ideally I'd like a mechanical keyboard, but I'm curious what experiences folks have with low-profile switches in a quiet environment. My current daily driver (silent switches, a fair bit of foam and lube, etcetc) is what I would consider office-quiet, but you can definitely hear when I get going and I feel like it'd be a little rude on a leisure train trip.

Right now I'm looking at the nuphy and keychron low-profile keyboards, but I'm open to other options. Currently for travel I use a foldable membrane keyboard so just about anything would be an upgrade.

Does anyone have experience with low-profile keyboards? Are there silent options? Thanks in advance for your help!

Edit: realize I should have specified that I prefer 65 and 60-key layouts for portability.

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[–] fuzzy_goldfish 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I have an ortholinear kit I built but it's caseless so it's not suuuper portable. Which Planck do you recommend? I'd be willing to give a 40% a try even if it's not for this trip. I'm okay with soldering if it's a kit and/or there's decent instructions.

[–] Lrobie 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm a big fan of my OLKB kit. Hotswap, very solid case, and QMK compatible (which is a big deal for 40% boards), but the kit is a little expensive.

I don't have one personally but the YMDK kit on AliExpress seems like a good option and is cheaper. Just know that it will take a month or two to ship from China if you're in the US.

[–] fuzzy_goldfish 1 points 1 year ago

Looks nice! I'm working on a Lily58 but once I'm done burning my fingers on that I'll definitely be looking into this.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I went the easy route and got a Planck EZ because of the plastic case design where the upper part of the case is the plate. It's super lightweight which was my no. 1 priority. I got mine used but if you plan to buy new, it'll be discontinued soon, just a heads-up. I've seen some Planck-style kits on Aliexpress, some with aluminium, some with plastic cases, but haven't tried them myself.