Well, here they are. The mechanical keyboards. Let me tell you about my journey with them.


TEX Beetle with Cherry MX browns

This was my first mechanical keyboard, I bought on 15 Jun 2014. I chose for the smaller form factor since I wanted to bring it with me to college. A little background story: I use a MacBook, so I was looking for a keyboard which fit design wise with the aluminium body of the Mac. The main problem that arises when you buy 'normal' keyboards is they don't have the Mac layout.


Apple Extended II

In my search for the perfect mechanical keyboard for my needs I discovered the Apple Extended II. This keyboard has a history, since it was sold separately with the Macintosh II in '87 and SE in '90. So yes I am typing on a keyboard that is as old or older than myself. Feels a bit weird, huh?

I will post a more extensive post with a review and my experience with converting it to USB, for which I used this method described at iFixit.


HHKB Pro2

First impressions: feels, sounds and looks premium. It is really good, even though I had relatively high expectations. My colleague asked me why I would pay 55 euros for a keyboard. He did not realize that that's just the import taxes...

The Fn-layer does take some getting used to, same with the location of the delete button, but I am so happy with the right shift! My Tex Beetle I had been using before had this super little right shift, which was difficult to use without looking for a touch typist like me.

For the full review see here