Das Keyboard 4 Professional Wired Mechanical Keyboard, Cherry MX Blue Mechanical Switches, 2-Port USB 3.0 Hub, Volume Knob, Aluminum Top (104 Keys, Black)

This keyboard is a fine keyboard indeed! very impressed with it. It arrived just this morning but I do have some really good first impressions. I have been hopping from keyboard to keyboard lately trying to find something that really fit my needs long term. I am a typist that spends work as well as down time typing out documents and spreadsheets. I have tried so many keyboards over the last month and was beginning to lose hope. The Das keyboard revived my hope.Typing:First of all this is the best typing experience I have had in a long time. The strokes are clean and light. Lighter than most blue switch key boards I have been trying which surprised me. I suspect this has something to do with the keycap quality. I feel fluid and just as fast typing on the Das as I would on any of my other preferred keyboards. Something I hold to a high regard is the acoustics of the board when I am typing. Many keyboards that I keep trying, often over 130 dollars and "built like a tank" sound dreadful. Notably the Razer black widow and the Code 104, both of which I wanted to love. But again their over the top hefty construction of plastic made it sound like you were hitting wood against Nerf Guns with each keystroke. Often times it would just completely drown out the sound of the clicky keys themselves which was infuriating. Again the keystrokes on the Das are crisp and the sound it makes is satisfying and not obnoxious at all, at least to a person who likes mechanical keyboard sounds.Appearance:The Das keyboard looks amazing. I went with the ultimate version with the blank keycaps and the black lettering in the top right corner. Man is it clean and professional. The aluminum front plate is super clean and sharp. Doesn't reflect a bunch of light and still has the nice cold and textured touch. Super lovely choice on their part. Again, I love the blacked out look of the keyboard. I dont mind the red accents on the volume knob and the ruler either. Subtle and slick. A part of me wishes those accents came in something more neutral like gray but again, its so subtle that it would never compete with a set up up that had a theme to it.Materials:The keycaps are very nice. While they are still ABS plastic they have to be some of the best ABS caps I have every used. Sturdy and slightly textured as well as being kinda light too. I love them honestly. The plastic and aluminum body is super nice. It's got heft but it's light by comparison to other boards that strive to be built well. The cord is a thick rubber cable. I hear a lot of reviews wishing it was a braided cable and I can vouch for that desire but I really dont think its worth docking any points for something like that. especially because a lot of braided cables I've had, especially with Logitech, which unravel, fray, and start looking gross after a while. This rubber cord is sturdy and will look the same throughout its shelf life so I am happy with it.Functionality:On top of all the great things I can say about the board from a minimalist and professional use standpoint, it actually has some of the best feature sets for me. The volume knob and media controls is fantastic and super well done. The knob is tactile and gives you some clicky feedback when you turn it which is a pleasure to use. The ruler on the back is something I might use? The addition of the ruler is not a con whatsoever in my opinion. It's implementation does not interfere with the experience of the board at all and its there if you need it. Some have said that they wish it lifted the board up a bit more. I understand where they are coming from but for me it's actually perfect. The Das also has 2 USB passthroughs which is a luxury I have been living without since my old Black Widow days back in 2012. I am very happy to have that again.Other biased pros:Fits perfectly with my favorite wrist rest which is a HUGE plus for me. It doesn't take up a ton of room on my desk which is niceCons:I do have just one small complaint. The keyboard had some blemishes right on the box which kind of upset me a bit at first. Theres a scuff on the aluminum on the right side of the board as well as on the long + key on the same side. They are small enough to where I will live with it because you cant notice unless you really look but again that's a little upsetting. For 165 dollars I just think that is pretty sloppy and unacceptable.All in all I love this keyboard and I think finally my hunt for a keyboard can finally be put aside for awhile as I will most certainly be using this keyboard out of the rest of mine going forward.Update: 6/4/2018So I've had this keyboard for a bit now and it's still a daily driver. I do swap it back and forth between my Filco and that will most likely continue to happen just because I like hopping from board to board. But this thing is such a beautiful beast. I HIGHLY recommend getting a new set of quality keycaps for it though. It was a huge game changer. I bought some ninja font thick PBT keycaps for it and wow does it sound and feel amazing compared to the stock caps which were cheap by comparison but still pretty good for stock caps. Anyway get some fancy caps for this thing as the mileage from the upgrade will be more worth it than other keyboard in my opinion.

Growing up as a kid in the late 70's and early 80's, keyboards were mostly crisp, clacky, and sturdy. They evoked feelings of working on something special. Computers *were* special back then. Keyboards had well designed actions, built around techniques such as leaf spring mechanical switches, buckling springs, and a number of other innovations. But over the years that followed mass production techniques and tightening profit margins led to the industry-wide adoption of lightweight, plastic-feeling keyboards with keystroke actions built upon rubber domes. Nowadays a typical OEM keyboard might have a production cost of a few dollars, and a spongy, rubbery action to match. We sailed right past midrange scissor switch actions into the low end rubber dome action with barely a thought, arriving at mediocrity.Mid-range keyboards from reputable manufacturers still build upon the rubber dome actions, so even upgrading from OEM or $12 keyboards to the $40 - $50 range significant improvements in the action are not found. So again, we are duped into settling with mediocrity.There is hope out there. Cherry MX switches, Topre switches, and other mechanical style switches are being manufactured for keyboard actions. They're expensive compared to rubber dome keyboards. Each key has a mechanical switch of some sort beneath it, rather than a sheet of heat-molded rubber domes. And the mechanical switches are made with precise characteristics -- softer, firmer, clicky and tactile, non-clicky and tactile, and smooth linear. Each style is designed with a different market segment in mind; linear being the preference of gamers, tactile (clicky or quiet) being the preference for those who's keystrokes produce text, softer for light-press typists, and firmer for mashers.The Cherry MX Brown is a soft, tactile, quiet key, with a subtle bump at the actuation point. With practice muscle-memory is able to get accustomed to that bump, and users become able to type without bottoming out the keys. Typing speed and accuracy often improve, and finger fatigue is reduced compared to typing on keyboards where you have to bottom out each stroke (rubber domes, for example).I debated back and forth between this keyboard and one from WASD, and ultimately went for the Das-4 because of the sturdy aluminum face and USB3 hub. It arrived today and I've had a chance to put it through its paces. While it may take a day or two to get used to the feel, it's going to be a pleasure getting there. Lifting it, the keyboard feels like a tank. Typing on it, the keyboard feels absolutely fantastic. However, I may still add 2mm O-rings to reduce clatter, though I'll wait until I've gotten more accustomed to the tactile feel of Cherry MX Browns. It's possible I'll develop more of a habit of not bottoming out my keystrokes.This sounds too predictable, but when I first plugged it in and began typing on it my first notion was "Wow!"Pros: Heavy and sturdy like you might imagine a keyboard in a 1960's NASA mission control center. A light, tactile, pleasing touch with ample stroke and precise response. The tactile bump of Cherry MX Browns allows me to type without bottoming out the strokes. Already with a little practice my typing is feeling more effortless. USB 3 hub. Nice, sturdy media controls with a well-engineered volume knob. Beautiful design. If there is a better feeling and better engineered keyboard on the market, I sure can't find it. The keycaps are crisply engineered, flawless, and elegant.Cons: Because it is built to last, and made of metal, bottoming out keystrokes makes a bit of clattering that you wouldn't be accustomed to if you have spent years obliviously enduring the misery of rubber-dome keyboards. A set of 2mm O-rings would alleviate that issue, and they are easy enough to order. It's too bad the keyboard manufacturer doesn't make O-rings a special-order option as WASD does. Another con is that the keyboard's elevated support is a little on the low side -- the keyboard sits slightly flatter than I would prefer. But after a few hours I'm already getting used to it. Nearly every mechanical keyboard has a spacebar that seems to stick up a little higher in the air than space bars for dome keyboards. That takes a little time to get used to as well, but after awhile will begin to feel normal.Conclusion: If quality and feel are more important to you than price or RGB lights, this keyboard must be on your short list. The keyboard seems to strive for elegance, feel, and function while eschewing trendy light shows and annoying color schemes.Updated 2/4/17: I've been using the DAS Keyboard 4 Professional with Cherry MX Brown key switches for a few months now. And I even installed first WASD red, and later WASD blue O-rings to further customize the feel. The keyboard feels so nice to use I barely notice it's there. It's a pleasure to type on. ...and then I go home from my office, and when I sit down at the home computer I place my hands over the mid-range "rubber dome" style keyboard, and loathe every moment. The solution? I ordered a second DAS Keyboard 4 Professional and a set of WASD blue o-rings. One at work, one at home. Great keyboards!Updated 9/30/2017: I've been using one of these at my office, and one at home. The one that has had the most use is in my office. I'm a software engineer, and type all day long. The key caps have become a little polished, but the symbols have not faded at all. The key strokes feel as good as the day I got the keyboard. ...maybe even a little better with age. It's my "daily driver". Recently my company provided a second office for me a little closer to home, with the understanding that I would split my time between the offices. For my third mechanical keyboard I ended up going with a Logitch Professional (tenkey-less, with Roamer-G switches). The Roamer-G switches have a slightly shorter keystroke, and the overall feel of that keyboard is more plastic. The Roamer-G switches don't allow for o-ring installation, so it clatters a little more too. But I had to try something new. One thing I can say for the Roamer-G switches is that they feel smoother right out of the box than Cherry-MX Browns. But with age the MX Browns acquire that smooth feeling too. Overall I'm convinced that I like the Das Keyboard better. (A few weeks of use and I have to conclude the MX browns are smoother, and feel more high-end. Sticking with browns in the future.)Update 12/2018: I now have the same keyboard with Cherry MX Blue switches. I put blue O-rings under its key caps to reduce bottoming-out clatter. It took longer to get used to the click blues than the subtle browns, but I also like them very much. If it weren't for the fact that the noise level using blues is higher than when using browns (disturbing to others but gratifying to the typist) I would have to say for typing I prefer the nuanced qualities of both. The blues feel a little more crisp, slightly firmer. Browns a little less tactile, and a little softer touch. Both are excellent. If you don't care about making some noise typing, and want additional crispness, get the blues.If you are a gamer do not get the blues, as their reset point is higher in the stroke than the contact point, making them slower switches for rapid bouncing on a single key. Totally irrelevant for typists.Browns: softer touch, more subtle tactile bump, quieter. Blues: clicker, more crisp feel, slughtly firmer spring. Both, excellent.Update 6/30/2020: I have three of these, now. One at each if my two offices, and one at home. Two of them are MX Brown switches (soft tactile) and one is MX Blue (soft tactile&clicky). I got the blue on accident (thought I was ordering a brown), but kept it and love it too. I've now been typing on these since 2016, and they're still as good as new. The key caps are easy enough to remove for the occasional deep cleaning, but if you avoid spilling drinks on them these keyboards are built to last. They get plenty of use, but aside from the key caps having a more polished look to them you would barely know they're several years old. And the laser etching is still intact. The switches still feel great too.