[Request] Need a General Purpose Keyboard that will last

Get yourself a mechanical keyboard with replaceable switches. I like keychron but I’m sure others have opinions.

Get whatever keyboard you like the look of. Choose switches based on feel and noise... Do not get loud tactile switches. Your coworkers, roommates, discord lobby, neighbors will find it annoying. I made this mistake... I now have silent tactile switches. The upside of hot swap keyboards.

Yep I should have mentioned that. If possible you want to try the switches first. They have all sorts of different feels and sounds. I personally am partial to the Cherry MX brown and the Akko CS Jelly Purples

Das Keyboard, it’s the same as the original model M layout.

i love typing on this

Logitech MX Keys is good.

Any suggestions that are similar to the IBM Model M Keyboard. I am currently using a Lenovo keyboard that is somewhat similar in design but does not have the clicks that made the Model M famous.

Be enjoyed my keychron for the last 5 years and see no signs of slowing down at all

Pretty much all decent mechanical keyboards will be bifl. The problem is that there's no true: "buy it and never think about it again" when it comes to a product like this, and chances are you're gonna have to replace something on the board in 15-20 years depending on how much you type on it. Long story short, the switches(keys) on the keyboard will experience failure at some point, faster if you type frequently and with a heavy hand. The gold standard for these switches (Cherry MX) are rated for 100 Million Keystrokes, which should last a typical office worker ~15 years before issues start to occur. (For more detail) YMMV of course. The good news is that switch replacements are pretty cheap (1x Cherry MX Black is like $0.29), and you most likely won't be typing on all of the characters on your keyboard evenly. Unless you're in a field where you'd realistically press Print Screen 100 million times, you'd only have to replace certain parts of the board like the alphas, spacebar, and/or numpad. The other components of the keyboard are not likely to fail, even 4+ decades later. As for brand suggestions, I'd avoid any of the gamer brands as you expressed a desire to "never think about it again". Razer, Corsair, Steel Series, etc, a good chunk of these will be overpriced and in the case of Razer, want you to download their proprietary software. A custom keyboard or a board you'd have to pick out switches, keycaps, and the like, probably won't pique your interest as well. I'd recommend Keychron, as they have quite the selection of pre-built keyboards that can easily be taken apart when the time comes for it. They have both plastic and aluminum options, as well as wide availability- you can pick one up from a Micro Center, Best Buy, or order one online. They have plenty of sub $100 options, and have additional upgrade paths if you ever decide to venture into the broader mechanical keyboard hobby.

I have a Topre Realforce. Love it. Just enough tactile feel without the loudness of the cherry MX switches. Little expensive and harder to find but in my opinion , 100% worth it if you are typing a good portion of the day.

Go to qwertykeys.com and get a Neo98 or Neo75 pre built.

Keychron, and get one with a ten key number pad.

It's relatively cheap and nothing special but it's the Logitech K120

How much are you willing to spend?

For keyboard type I would go with mechanical but it really depends on your personal preference. If you like a really slim keyboard that is hard to get on the mechanical side. Vice versa if you like clicky keys with lots of feedback on press that will be hard to find in a membrane keyboard. Personally I love a good mech keyboard, if I accidentally spill anything on it I can simply pop off the keys and clean it up no problem. Can't say its that easy with a membrane keyboard. Yes, I eat at my computer - no, I will not stop. I have had good longevity with logitech keyboards. Unsure if they have fallen to enshittification in recent years so I would recommend you read reviews on any of their product lines before any potential purchases. Personally, I use my keyboard for web and gaming so it may have more features than you would need or want. I built my latest PC pre-pandemic and got my mouse+kb at the same time, so these have been in daily use for about 6 years. I went with a G915 TKL mechanical keyboard that is "tactile". I went with this one because it had programmable backlight colors for the keyboard, I can not stand a wired keyboard, and I don't need a num pad so my keyboard could be lighter with a smaller footprint. It's not without issues however. 1. to reprogram this keyboard I have to use their hub. Not a big deal to me because I installed, made my changes, and then blocked access to the internet so I don't get bothered by it. 2. I did start having issues with the scrolling volume bar jumping around. Turns out windows update installed a virtual keyboard under device manager. Uninstalling this fixed it. 3. Because it is wireless, I have to make sure the receiver is well positioned or I can have connection issues. I could plug it in, but prefer not to. So far the battery life is fine for my purposes, I usually pop my devices on the chargers at night. Can probably go 2-3 days without charging. There are 3 levels of how clicky a mech kb is: Clicky, Tactile, Linear. Clicky will be the noisiest with the most feedback for being pressed, you have to press the key fully for it to activate. Tactile is middle of the road, you still have a keyboard typing sound but you have to press a key at least halfway for it to activate. Linear is the most responsive and least noisy, but you may hate it being perhaps over responsive. Something else mech keyboards have over membrane is the ability to press multiple keys at once and have them all register. At least, my last use of a basic membrane keyboard I was limited to maybe 3 key presses simultaneously before it would freeze up. Lots of games require multiple key combinations to do different tasks so this was often annoying for me. I took a quick look at logitech's choices and it seems they have a "standard" type of mechanical keyboard that is simply white backlight and just a standard keyboard. Maybe that would work for your purpose? There are also higher tier ones with an M key which is a programmable macro button you can designate what key presses it does. I wish I had gotten this one for certain games but eh, before I bought my own mech kb I was stuck with baseline membranes. I highly, highly recommend getting a backlit keyboard, whatever you decide to go with. It will really help your eyes.

I'm a gamer so I'm used to quality mechanical keyboards and I like a good click. I just recently went down this path to find something just as premium but less gamer oriented with keys that had a little less clack for my workday. . Other comments mentioned keychron with cherry mx brown switches. Excellent purchase, I just got mine and am very pleased. Keys are softer and quieter, good feedback when you successfully activate each key.

Still have Gateway2000 keyboards from the early 90s that work great...

If you don’t care about the super nerd gadgets, there are two great options. One is a Lenovo Wireless ThinkPad II keyboard, perfect if you’re used to ThinkPads. The other is the Logitech MX Keys S (or mini). They’re excellently made and they feel like a premium, extra large notebook keyboard.

Keychain k8. Inexpensive ish and should last a very very long time.

Different opinion here, I don't every remember having a keyboard that broke and I've used many of them, if one did, it was an exception. Maybe a Logitech receiver dongle fail here and there but not the KB. I've even cleaned more than one non wireless one with a garden hose. Sure, some feel better, more comfortable, have different features but those are personal preferences. Example, I'm not a fan of the chicklet style

If you spend time on zoom or similar, make sure your keyboard is SILENT. it is f-in annoying being on the other end of clickity clackity mechanical switches. honestly mechanical keyboards are so grossly overrated. get a solid ergo keyboard with low key travel. your hands and wrists will thank you.

I've been happy with my machenike k500-b84, it has hotswappable switches and it was cheap

Actual mechanical keyboard brands that last 10+ years include Varmilo and Leopold; no customization, but they are basically used for 20+ years in heavy data input industries. They just won’t have much key customization or wireless functionality.

Logitech has fantastic customer service and great products.

Mechanical keyboards are a whole rabbit hole. there’s thousands of them. I try to stay away from the hole as I have a somewhat addictive personality but I recently had cause to buy three new ones; one for work as we are transitioning to using laptops with docking stations and I can’t tolerate trying to type multi-page reports with a < £5 Dell membrane keyboard. Two for the house; one each for the Mrs and I - functionally my keyboard was fine but very scuffed up, the wife’s keyboard had some sort of connectivity issue though, perhaps a loose wire, and frequently would stop working for periods of time, then randomly start working fine again. Anyway, I got a Keychron C1 Pro with brown switches for work as I needed something compact, wouldn’t miss media keys/volume control, and didn’t *need* a numpad. For the home we decided to treat ourselves and got Keychron Q6 Max’s, again with brown switches. They‘re both excellent. The Q6’s are incredibly feature rich, but in an unobtrusive way; Macros and programmability if you need it, tasteful RGB lighting that you can turn off at a single button press. Wired, wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. Windows, Mac and Linux support. Replaceable switches and keycaps. Rock solid build quality. All with a a smart, elegant, professional appearance. Can’t stomach the price for the all metal build quality? The V6 Max is the same keyboard, but half the price, in plastic - and will still probably last forever.