Thursday, September 29, 2016

So, what about some good ol’ wireless (Bluetooth) mechanical keyboards?


I mentioned in a few posts before about Razer making wireless keyboard specifically for the iPad product line and other tablets.  I also mentioned that there are some Bluetooth wireless mechanical keyboards as well if someone rather use a more classical keyboard device.  That piqued some interests

So, there are basically two options.  One is to purchase a USB to Bluetooth wireless converter.  At one end is USB port that the keyboard of choice is plugged in.  And, there is no other end, because it is wireless.  It converts whatever keyboard that is attached to a Bluetooth one.  Pretty cool tech, but it’s a bit bulky and power source can often be an issue.  Some keyboards draw a lot of power provided by USB port.  Thus, even at measly 2.5W max clip, it can drain most portable batteries dry quickly.  One can browse around eBay and find such device to purchase if the use scenario makes sense.

The other option is to buy a wireless mechanical keyboard.  Here, the options are more limited.  One of the bigger player in this space is good ol’ Filco.  So, if you are Cherry MX keyboard switch fan, you are in luck.  Filco is one of the most respected mechanical keyboard brands out there as it’s basically DIATEC Corporation, based in Japan.  They offer quite a few wireless keyboards configuration using Bluetooth protocol as well.  Besides the standard 104 keys Majestouch Convertible 2 and the 87 keys TKL variants, they also offer one called Minila, stands for minimum layout.  The Minila Air is the one with wireless connectivity.  Minila is a 67 custom keyboard layout design, much like a non-standard laptop layout.  However, like Leopold’s FC660 series, it uses full size keys.  So, no strange half-height stuff.  That’s a big plus in my book….  These keyboards are also designed to run wired if needed.  So, it is a much more versatile keyboard than what meets the eye.  The only drawback?  Price and availability.  Filco’s products are not easy to find and the stock comes and go.  Because of the added complexity, it doesn’t come cheap either.  So, expect some price premium over regular boards as well. However, one can search mechanicalkeyboards.com and amazon.com in US to see if anything of interest is in stock.

Now, if someone would come up with a Topre switch wireless keyboard…..

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