While I spend a lot of time gaming, my main consideration when it comes to a keyboard is how good it is for typing. However, somewhat shamefully, I had never used a Ducky. Here are my impressions.
Ducky One 3 SF Aura Keyboard: A Typist's Dream
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dangh
Posts: 1,249 +2,033
Ducky is a nice keeb, I have ducky 2 sf and it was fun to use. But it falls short for any typist, unfortunately, due to poor ergonomic.
The row scatter layout makes little sense in electrical keebs and it is just an inheritance from old, mechanical typewriters. Location of the keys wasn't make to accommodate user ergonomic, but to ensure mechanical levers wont in a way of another.
For anyone typing a lot I'd really recommend anything split and column scattered, like kyria (https://splitkb.com/), kinesis advantage (https://kinesis-ergo.com/keyboards/advantage360/), or anything similar to dactyl manuform. And as well forget qwerty layout - it makes no sense, really.
The row scatter layout makes little sense in electrical keebs and it is just an inheritance from old, mechanical typewriters. Location of the keys wasn't make to accommodate user ergonomic, but to ensure mechanical levers wont in a way of another.
For anyone typing a lot I'd really recommend anything split and column scattered, like kyria (https://splitkb.com/), kinesis advantage (https://kinesis-ergo.com/keyboards/advantage360/), or anything similar to dactyl manuform. And as well forget qwerty layout - it makes no sense, really.
This article is actually a review of switches, not keyboards. For example, the main criticism of the Corsair K70 is not the keyboard itself but rather "the opto-mechanical switches activate so easily that I often make errors.'
The Ducky Aura is a cute little keyboard, but too limited for me.
My personal driver is a Keytronic TKL with Cherry Greens and o-rings. It's extremely heavy, I think it's the steel plate. I like heavy stable keyboards with a strong, positive response. I dislike reds of any type, they're mushy. Much like an electronic midi keyboard vs a real piano keyboard. Regarding layout, I find TKL with a separate num-pad is the best layout. The numpad resides under the monitor and is occasionally pulled out when needed. That way I get the functionality of a full keyboard, including the home/end/pgup/pgdn/arrow keys, but in a smaller package. Not having those would drive me nuts.
Price is irrelevant. I used to swap out cheap keyboards every couple of years. Better to get a form factor that you like and take good care of it. My Keytronic is very easy to strip down.
The Ducky Aura is a cute little keyboard, but too limited for me.
My personal driver is a Keytronic TKL with Cherry Greens and o-rings. It's extremely heavy, I think it's the steel plate. I like heavy stable keyboards with a strong, positive response. I dislike reds of any type, they're mushy. Much like an electronic midi keyboard vs a real piano keyboard. Regarding layout, I find TKL with a separate num-pad is the best layout. The numpad resides under the monitor and is occasionally pulled out when needed. That way I get the functionality of a full keyboard, including the home/end/pgup/pgdn/arrow keys, but in a smaller package. Not having those would drive me nuts.
Price is irrelevant. I used to swap out cheap keyboards every couple of years. Better to get a form factor that you like and take good care of it. My Keytronic is very easy to strip down.
saladbarsmash
Posts: 50 +28
Not ortholinear ... Fail
Not fully programmable ... Fail
https://shop.keyboard.io/collections/keyboardio-atreus/products/keyboardio-atreus is the best keyboard ever!!
I've had my Atreus for almost 3 years. It has Kailh speed copper switches and blank keycaps; legends are confusing. It has 8 levels and 44 keys, effectively 352 keys and any key can be programmed to anything. Dvorak layout; qwerty is dead. Secondary action on any key. The right middle finger rests on 't' on the base layer. Tap it to get 't', hold it and it's a shift key, shift to Level 1 and it's a '5', on level 2 it's F5, on level 3 it's down arrow. No 30 degree left slant to hurt hands and wrists. Columns are vertically offset because fingers are different lengths. No pinky reaches because there's no unneeded columns forcing the hands to move left and right. Distinctive layout means you can locate home row position in the dark.
Not fully programmable ... Fail
https://shop.keyboard.io/collections/keyboardio-atreus/products/keyboardio-atreus is the best keyboard ever!!
I've had my Atreus for almost 3 years. It has Kailh speed copper switches and blank keycaps; legends are confusing. It has 8 levels and 44 keys, effectively 352 keys and any key can be programmed to anything. Dvorak layout; qwerty is dead. Secondary action on any key. The right middle finger rests on 't' on the base layer. Tap it to get 't', hold it and it's a shift key, shift to Level 1 and it's a '5', on level 2 it's F5, on level 3 it's down arrow. No 30 degree left slant to hurt hands and wrists. Columns are vertically offset because fingers are different lengths. No pinky reaches because there's no unneeded columns forcing the hands to move left and right. Distinctive layout means you can locate home row position in the dark.
dangh
Posts: 1,249 +2,033
No split and no adjustable tenting.... Fail
btw you probably confused ortholinear with column staggered. Ortholinear are straight lines in row and columns.
Last edited:
Marco Mint
Posts: 81 +92
I prefer cherry browns for all round use of typing and gaming. The cherry reds on a Corsair kb I have seem to 'die' due to dust ingress. At least that's what appears to be happening and it needs multiple key tapping to bring them back to life again. The cherry browns have no such issue and just feel nicer when typing too. Also I prefer a white light that's not too bright. My CM storm TK has served me well for years and is still going strong.
Yup; I've learned over decades of PC gaming and work that I'm fine with a $30-50 keyboard. I'd rather use the money for something meaningful like a GPU or hard drive upgrade.
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