Das Keyboard

Every professional developer knows how important to the development process the keyboard is, so it is only natural to be on the look for some quality piece of hardware. After a long research in the area of good keyboards I decided to upgrade my current rig to the recently released Das Keyboard 3.

Das Keyboard comes in three flavours - Professional (mechanical keyboard with labelled keys), Ultimate (the original mechanical keyboard with blank keys) and Silent (mechanical keyboard with labelled keys that doesn’t produce the trademarked clicking sound of the original Das Keyboard).¹

I bought the Ultimate model, of course. I’ve been a touch typist for several years now and I didn’t really care about the labelled keys (though I did miss them in games). Two words describe this keyboard perfectly - bad ass. It’s without a doubt the single finest piece of keyboard hardware that I’ve touched, it’s very comfortable, very solid and I feel that I’ve actually improved my typing speed with it. My colleagues don’t like the noisy work of the keyboard very much, but I have no problems with it. I actually have grown quite fond of it.

The keyboard also features a two port USB hub, that I didn’t really consider when I was buying it, but it turned out quite helpful. I’ve actually stopped using the USB ports of my computer entirely (except for input devices) - I use the keyboard hub to plug-in flash drives and charge devices. When your computer is sitting beneath a desk you learn to appreciate USB hubs very quickly.

I have long heard stories about Das Keyboard’s quality and comfort and it has totally lived up to its hype. The price is admittedly a bit steep (I bought two keyboards (for home and for work), each costing $130), but this is our hands and productivity we’re talking about so we shouldn’t be cheap. So what are you waiting for - research the market yourselves and make your pick! Your hands deserve a quality keyboard (the Das Keyboard)!

Update: Down the road I’ve switched to Das Keyboard 4, KUL ES-87 and eventually to the Leopold FC660C. As of 2020 I still believe that the Leopold is the best keyboard I’ve ever experienced and I’d recommend it to everyone looking for the ultimate typing experience!

1. The clicky versions have Cherry MX Blue keyswitches and the “silent” version has Cherry MX Brown. ↩