I would love to see more enthusiast scissor-switch keyboards. I learned to type on a mechanical keyboard, and I've tried all sorts of modern mechanical keyboards over the years. But I feel like laptop-style scissor switch keyboards are more precise and comfortable. Personally, I make more typing errors on a mechanical keyboard. My current favorite keyboard is an HP Wireless Elite V2.
If what you're looking for is a shorter key throw, you might be interested in the Kailh Choc switches[1]. They are still somewhat in their infancy, but you can find them on a few DIY boards[2] as well as a few pre-builts[3].
> But I feel like laptop-style scissor switch keyboards are more precise and comfortable.
I agree. The best keyboard I have ever used was a SteelSeries-branded keyboard in a MSI GT70 Dominator Dragon laptop. The keys had great depth/travel, took a fair bit of pressure to press (only a bit annoying after super long sessions), and coupled with the pressure/feedback, the tactile feel was just amazing. I started with Cherry Reds for a number of years before I realized that the switches were the reason my typing sucked. With Cherry Blues my accuracy got much better but still not perfect, and the switches just felt cheap to press and the clicking noise also sounded cheap/plasticky. Recently I switched to Matias Alps quiet clicks which are reminiscent of that SteelSeries keyboard but still not quite as good - the keycaps don't attach perfectly to the switches so they rattle a bit, and the switches just don't feel as good. I'm going to try some low profile switches once I've convinced myself that it's worth spending another $100-150 on a keyboard which probably won't be that great... Unfortunately I've grown used to a split keyboard with my custom keymap and I love it a lot more than the normal keyboard layout so I'm stuck with shitty switches.
I’ve been very happy with a dell premier wireless (717 not the 616 or whatever) scissor keyboard and mouse combo purchased 3 years ago. I don’t care for the mouse at all (don’t use it). I like the key feel much better than HPs offering that I have also used.
One possibility would be to use your HP elite with an inline USB to USB keyboard controller. You could program it to remap all of your keystrokes to Dvorak, or implement a bunch of crazy macros, etc. they run the same software as the custom keyboards.
