My Dell XPS laptop is very nice, but the keyboard and its trackpad are less than ideal for a full day's work, or a quick gaming session. I'm looking for a keyboard I can put in my bag with my laptop.
Must haves:
- QWERTY layout
- Full-size shift keys on both sides
- Straight layout (i.e. no per-hand section or curved setup)
- Tactile marks on F and J keys to assist with blind typing
- Compact but not tiny: between 250mm and 350mm would be ideal, but I'm willing to go a little larger if it helps with the other requirements
- No trackpad
- Mechanical switches. I love the Cherry MX Red switches on my K70, something similar would be great
- Clearly separated function keys: so some space between ESC and F1, between F4 and F5 and so forth
Should haves:
- Wireless
- Under $100
- Basic media keys (play/pause, stop, next, previous, mute, and volume control)
- Regular section for Insert/Home/Delete/End/PageUp/PageDown keys
- Cursor keys (This requirement was added after the first answer popped up, until then I hadn't realized there would be options without them. I'm willing to consider keyboards without, but would probably prefer any with those keys.)
Nice to haves:
- Not too loud
- Wrist-rest
- N-Key rollover
Not important:
- Numeric keypad. That is, I even prefer not to have one because it saves space, but I won't dismiss options that do have one.
- LED lighting.
- Programmable keys.
- Scroll-lock key. Who uses that anways? :D
I have a Corsair K70 gaming keyboard with Cherry MX red switches for my desktop PC, and I love it. Basically I wish I could buy a more compact (e.g. no numpad), non LED lighted, wireless version of that. Perhaps that helps in recommending something?