The original keyboard for my aging 2011 iMac has finally thrown in the towel, so I’ve been trawling the internet for the last few hours searching for its successor.
I don’t get along with membrane keyboards — for someone who types very little and games even less, I’ve killed off quite a few — so a mechanical keyboard was the way to go. I wanted something compact, connectable by USB, with hot-swappable switches, and laid out with all the iMac function keys.
To my surprise, I found the Keychron K2V2; it certainly seems to tick all the boxes, but I was wondering if anyone else has one of these and would be happy to share any user experience.
Hot swapping seems nice but I’ve encountered circumstances where the connection can be poor and result in a chattering or dead switch. Make sure the switch pins are thoroughly cleaned with alcohol.
I bought this one back in May (Epomaker, also an 84 key layout) with gateron black switches:
It’s not bluetooth as the keychron but I like the form factor; I’m used to tkl layout so a bit more space, a few more keys, less cramped, but this particular layout has the advantage of simply occupying less physical space on the table. I’m still occasionally missing a few keystrokes esp. when hitting the home or end key.
Anyway if you were looking for simple user experiences with mechanical keyboards in general, I can only say that I’m super-happy with these and I find very frustrating using any other type of keyboards. This is my third one! I also have a very simple (no backlight, cabled etc) Leopold FC750PD (with very loud, clicky cherry switches) and a WASD Code keyboard (the more expensive one that has broken down, what a disappointment!).
Thanks, everyone. I opted for the aluminium version of the Keychron K2V2 in the end, and with brown switches instead of blue (just waiting for Father Xmas to drop it down the chimney, now ).
UPDATE: turns out, when I was cleaning the old keyboard, I accidentally enabled ‘mouse keys’ (whatever the heck that is!); after pressing the ‘options’ key five times, everything’s ok again.
So my purchase has now become a ‘want’ rather than a ‘need’. What an embarrassing oversight — please spare me from any shame by not mentioning this to anyone.
Oh sweet merciful keyboard god yes. That Moonlander is ridiculous and it’s one of those keyboards that I’m fairly certain, barring any gear acquisition disorder, it’ll likely last me a looong time.
I just have to learn how to type correctly on it. I didn’t realize how badly my habit had degraded until I started using a columnar key layout and stopped being lazy.
Quick question: I use the eject key on the iMac to eject CDs (yes; I still use them!) More importantly, I use the Ctrl, Shift, Eject combo to turn off the screen.
I don’t see an eject key on the K2. Does this mean I’ll need a screwdriver to remove my Greatest Hits of 1991 album? Will I need to throw a blanket over the screen at bedtime?
On a serious note, though, I use that key a lot. Any idea if the K2 can perform these functions? Maybe via different key combos?
all you need to do is find out which keycode is sent when you press the eject button. than use a programmable keyboard ( you can also find them in standard layout ) and reconfigure one key to sent the eject keycode.
Different strokes, I guess. I’ve tried a number of split “ergonomic” keyboards over the past 30+ years and never found one I liked. I, however, DO like my daskeyboard with Cherry (brown?) switches. No pain, quick and responsive.
I’m starting to question my decision to go with the ISO layout instead of ANSI — ISO is the logical choice as I’m in Europe, but it seems ISO replacement key caps are harder to find. And would you say that big old return key on the ISO version (rather like the big old nose on my face ) is somewhat visually distracting?
On the plus side, I managed to find a simple solution to my no-eject-key issue.
For me it was like going from regular back pain to a lot of fun with typing. and i went from a ms natural key to full split. should have done it earlier.
Oohh … a Northgate! Nice! I always wanted an OmniKey. I really liked the ones with double function key rows, top and side.
The two best I’ve personally owned (I’m cheap!) were my old Focus FK-2001 (?) with Alps switches and my current DasKeyboard Pro with Cherry Brown. My daughter now has my True Blue IBM AT (84 key, not Executive) keyboard.
At work years ago I had an Epson keyboard with a great feel. And for all the junk they made, back in the day some of the Tandy keyboards were nice (can’t say the same for the rest of the RS stuff).
That grey keyboard is really nice looking. For some reason I just love the looks of all those tall / deep key caps. The flat scissor-switch keys so common now are (aside from being a pain to type on) just so bland a purpose-less looking.
MX blue though as they’re the only MX switch worth anything IMO.
I’ve got a Focus FK-2001 and FK-5001 too, no photos and an Omikey Ultra.
@martbetz I’ve got a few of vintage IBM Ms in my collection, mostly from digging them out of the trash over the last decade. The newer Unicomps are not bad if you’re just looking for a daily driver.
While testing out my new keyboard, I noticed that the caps lock key was quirky — if I repeatedly pressed it in quick succession, it would fail to register a lot of the strokes. To cut a long story short, it turns out this isn’t a fault with the board; it’s a ‘feature’ of macOS. Well, you learn something new every day.
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