Inspired by Lilybugg’s Arrows or WASD thread.
For the greater bulk of my computing career I used a full layout keyboard, but back in 2015 on a whim I decided to buy an HHKB Pro 2 for my desk at work, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Not too long ago I built a custom keyboard for myself using the same layout.
Now when I try to use a full keyboard, moving my right hand from the home row to the mouse feels like an epic journey, haha. I rarely if ever used the numpad and arrow/home/end cluster so those were mostly just dead space, so losing them wasn’t much of a loss. F-keys were also used infrequently enough that them being behind fn + [number] isn’t an inconvenience.
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I use an Ajazz AK33 RGB keyboard with black key caps and black switches. Switched over to it just a few months ago from a full keyboard layout for space-saving purposes as my desk is quite narrow. It’s a 75% TKL but it’s got the F1-F12 keys which I personally can’t live without. I like that it’s basically a flat board with switches on it and no ‘walls’ around the keys, making it easier to clean with compressed air on the sides. Nothing out of the ordinary other than that but I can say it’s a really well-made mech keyboard and I can’t really say anything bad about it at the moment.
Originally I was going for the HyperX Alloy FPS Pro but further research led me to that Ajazz.
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I was a full size board guy myself until late last year(Razer Black Widow for years), started diving into smaller form factor boards and decided to try out a Drevo Calibur V2 since it was cheap and if I didn’t like the size it wouldn’t be a big loss.
I ended up falling in love with the smaller form factor but decided to go even smaller with a Ducky One 2 Mecha Mini Frozen Llama edition that I’ve been using the past few months. The quality upgrade from the full aluminium frame, better stabilizers & cherry mx blue switches(love me some clicky clack 
) has been unreal.
I thought I might miss arrow keys or dedicated media keys but with Ducky everything can be mapped in layers so while the transition was tricky at first after a little while it becomes like 2nd nature.
Trying to use anything bigger now just feels cumbersome so I’m definitely a small form factor guy for life now.
Preference is full keyboard, but due to my desk space and WFH, I have shifted to dual TKLs. It works out.
I need a full size for both work and play
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Full size keyboard or bust. Hate that laptops are headed towards keyboards without numpads now.
Nothing gets under my skin more than a nice gaming laptop with decent specs, reasonable pricing, and no numpad.
I have dual monitors for both my work and home PC. I usually have several spreadsheets open with at least one on each monitor so punching in numbers via the numpad is critical for my ease of use
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Re: numpads, I’ve been thinking about buying or building a separate numpad for use with Blender, since its 3D viewport navigation is fully numpad-based. Since it’s separate, I can put it to the left of my keyboard which fixes the mouse displacement problem and allows me to put it away when it’s not in use.
On the flip side, it kills me when a laptop is available only with a numpad due to how it shifts the home row + trackpad off center and to the left.
Which is why I think it should be a configurable option, at least on laptops that aren’t explicitly mobility-focused. Some designs would need to downsize/downgrade speakers in order to accommodate a wider keyboard, but that’s a tradeoff that should be left up to buyers. If they need a numpad, chances are the numpad is vastly more important than sound quality.
It’d be even cooler if manufacturers agreed on a universal laptop keyboard deck standard, opening the door to aftermarket replacements, but that seems unlikely at best.
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Thanks for this idea. I have as stated dual tkl keyboards and although I prefer full keyboards for the numpad for work or calculations, I don’t use it all the time. But when I do, I spent a lot of time crunching numbers.
I am going to order one of these wireless numpads to use on an as needed basis and it allows me to stow it away when not in use.
I can’t believe I never thought of this!
Much love bro
gonna get this one, as I am using velocifire TKL for my work keyboard.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071VBVYPR
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I use a full size keyboard - I actually bought several of the same one so I have backups because ‘muscle-memory’ just makes it that much more efficient to use this model compared to when I am on other computers.
I trained myself to use my mouse left handed and that lets me type with my right while I use my mouse. I started doing this when I found myself making major changes in code when programming or editing a document. Since I do a lot of work with spreadsheets now as well, I also find it efficient to be able to use the numpad with my right hand while being able to move the mouse with my left.
The other thing I like about using the mouse left handed is that I don’t have to move my hand as far to use it to type. Yeah, I’m a little weird when it comes to efficiency, but, lol, thankfully I put that personality quirk to use and it’s part of my job now. 
Full size, cherry MX mechanical keyboard only.
My Corsair K60 and K68’s have not done me wrong.
I use a full size ducky shine 6 but may be looking at TKL keyboards. I am limited on space especially once I throw my drawing tablet on the desk. As nice as 65% are i need my F keys and arrow keys at min.