Mechanical Keyboards

May I ruin something for you just like something is ruined for me? 😁 Read at your own risk below:

Getting older now, after my favourite custom keyboard died at my new work due to faulty third party docking stations they were using in the office, I bought a speed silver switchesd on a TKL keyboard, and at some point another stupid Logitech MX keys when my other DAS keyboard died... Only to finally conclude that my hands hurt after long working hours (and I had an rsi a few years ago) and then I discovered ZSA Voyager... Haven't ordered that yet, just thinking between that and the UHK60.... Not haopy to not delve intk ergo keyboards before... Unsure what to get, slightly leaning towards ZSA, although not having to move hands for a mouse with UHK60 might be just the sweet spot!

Cons: Shipping (unrelated to keyboard): it took 3 weeks to get here

Most this stuff is shipping from China, so not only did they just have Lunar New Year where everyone goes on vacation, but they also had a major change in Tariff structure with lots of uncertainty. I have had packages from Keychron DHL'ed from China to rural US in 2-3 days before, and also had stuff take 2+ weeks via other methods.

Keys / Spacebar - It’s quite a high profile position and I find myself double-hitting the spacebar often which appears to have a hare-trigger The spacebar is needlessly long, and my thumb can’t quite reach the Alt or Win key without contorting my hand. On my laptop, the spacebar begins at C and ends at M. Here it starts at X and ends at ,

So laptop keyboards are often shortened and profiled to be as small as possible. The space bar on your Q1 is actually a normal size and profile, any other standard Cherry or OEM keyboard will be nearly identical. There are custom keyboards and builds that have shorter or even longer options, as well as convex or flat profiles like LAS or DAS. You are just not used to a real keyboard because you have been living with laptop chicklets which are their own hell.

Customization Modifying it in Linux is proving to be painful. The qmk cli requires a full reflash, but no easy way to set macros VIA has easy macros, but has no cli just a shitty Electron app that requires you to set your keyboard permissions to World Accessible for chrome to detect it (which is creepy).

https://config.qmk.fm/#/keychron/q1v2/ansi/LAYOUT_ansi_82 You can create keymaps and macros on the QMK website and then flash to the keyboard via the toolbox.

https://github.com/the-via/releases/releases You can also download VIA as an application so you dont need to use Chrome.

Gaming I knew that some keyboards are better for typing and others for gaming, but I did not think the difference would be so big. The arrow keys could be a lot more responsive I’ve never noticed this issue with a normal keyboard.

What switches do you have installed, switch type can make a HUGE difference in responsiveness and error rate.

I guess I love the look and feel of it, but it’s incredibly frustrating to modify as a linux user and I’m making tons of mistakes with it whilst typing. Is this all normal? Do I eventually get used to it? Or should I send it back and just use a normal $20 keyboard that I can just type and forget about.

I daily Linux and got Keycron keybords specifically because they can be configured, have open firmware, can be customised, and are high quality at a reasonable price.

I will say that if you have previously been a laptop only user or are used to mobile chicklet style keyboards moving to a "normal" keyboard can be hard. I grew up in the PS2 era with an IBM Model M and old Alps Mac keyboards so I struggle more with laptops than I do actual keyboards.

I actually bought a compact low profile Keychron K17 Pro so I dont have to use my laptop keyboard when I travel for work!

Almost all your issues are because its new, and unfamiliar to you, and with some setup and maybe some customization your Q1 will be your new home and you will miss it when you dont have it.

https://imgur.com/a/3mdPcyI

about the spacebar:

• you might want to swap the switch on that, could be it's a wonky one.
• unless I'm horribly wrong, the spacebar width is the standard 6.25u width one, finding a keyboard with shorter one could turn out to be nearly impossible unless there's some unicorn-one-of-akind-layout out there, unless you're looking at ergo/split/40/other-weirdo -ones.

about via:

if you can flash it with a firmware which supports vial, it might provide a better customization experience. edit: linky: https://get.vial.today/

There's tons of different custom mechs and that also means there are going to be ton that are not fit for your needs. I hate my zoompad a lot but others love it for example. If you don't like it, you are well within your rights to return it and try something else. Life is too short and shitty to suffer bad tools.

Other than customization, which honestly will always be cumbersome, it sounds like your issues are with the key caps, switches, and layout. I suspect you will get used to the lay out, but I have no patience for switches or caps I don't like. Normally, I'd say that you should just swap out the key caps and/or switches and most of the problems you mention go away, but the Q1 has a far less common layout so that makes replacing the key caps more of an issue. I am not a fan of the stock caps on the Keychron either and I'd have already had replacement caps lines up if I bought one.

In the end, the Q1 is expensive enough that if you are not liking it, I'd return it and get something else. There is no way I'd personally go for a "regular keyboard" (by which I assume you mean a cheap rubber dome keyboard), but I'd probably get one that had a more standard layout and maybe something a little smaller since you are used to using a laptop.