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Keyboard with smaller key spacing

post #1 of 6
Thread Starter 
Hi all. I've had a Ducky 9008 mechanical keyboard for the past year or so and I just find it too big. I have pretty small hands so I find it hard to reach comfortably across the keys. I find I type slower and make more mistakes because of the distance between the keys and also their long travel (I'm probably pressing too hard but that's a hard habit to break when I have to use low-travel keys at work and for most of my typing). I mainly type on my Lenovo laptop keyboard which I find is a comfortable size and feels pretty good, but it's obviously missing the same tactile feel as a mechanical keyboard.

Does anyone know of a mechanical keyboard with smaller key spacing and perhaps physically smaller/shorter keys than the Ducky? I know there are physically smaller mechanical keyboards but they just seem to omit the numpad and function keys and leave the size of everything else the same. Not sure if a different switch type would make a difference too -- my Ducky used Cherry Browns.

Failing that, could someone recommend a non-mechanical keyboard that's high quality but maybe more suited to someone with small hands? I was thinking about the Sidewinder X4 but I'm not sure about its size and, frankly, I'd rather something that doesn't look too much like a 'gaming' keyboard. I'll be using it for gaming obviously but I'd rather something fairly plain-looking. Not sure if there are other Microsoft keyboard within their non-gaming range that have the same feel as the Sidewinder.

Thanks!
post #2 of 6


The Cherry 4100 is technically a mech. : ]
Ive tried it and the feeling is pretty good, althoo general quality feel is abit lacking, its also cheaper so its worth it.
Im picking one up myself after i find a job.
post #3 of 6
Almost ALL keyboards have .75" key spacing.

Thank mechanical typewriters, IBM Selectrics, and the good old IBM Model M.

http://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/zue0v/keyboard_science_did_you_know_almost_all/

Any of the iPad keyboards are going to be 90% or below except the Apple Aluminum which is about a 99% keyboard. The Cherry 4100 IIRC is a 87% keyboard.
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post #4 of 6
Thread Starter 
Thanks to you both. I wonder if my issue is more to do with the actuation force and travel rather than the spacing. I don't have a problem typing on the ordinary membrane Dell and HP keyboards I use at work and if you say they're the same physical size as my Ducky then the problem might be somewhere else. Maybe I would be better off trying a different switch like a Cherry Red or Blue rather than the Brown, although looking at the specs the Brown and Red in fact have the same actuation force and both are lower than the Blue.

I looked at the Cherry 4100 but unfortunately here in Australia they seem to be going for the same price as ordinary mechanical keyboards (about $150) which is too much. The other keyboard I've been looking at is the Cherry G80-3800, which has lower profile keys even though the board is probably the same size as an ordinary board. Unfortunately it only seems to be available in China at the moment.

Not sure about the travel of these different keyboards -- I suspect most of them are pretty much the same but I might be wrong.
post #5 of 6
Well, I bet you'd love the Cherry G80-3800.

VERY low profile mechanical keyboard.

http://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/zzbxn/hey_i_just_noticed_just_how_low_profile_the_new/
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post #6 of 6
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I think I've settled on that one unless there are any other suggestions.

Contacted Cherry Australia today and they said they hope to get their first batch by the end of October for $100 AU, which seems pretty reasonable. Unfortunately they're only importing Blue versions, and I thought I might have preferred the Red (as a balance between typing and gaming). So I may have to import anyway.

But I'm going to have a look around this weekend to see if I can find any mech keyboards using Blues to try to see what I think. Hopefully one of the chain stores will at least have a Razer BlackWidow or something lying around.
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