I’ve had my eye on the Vortex Core keyboard for a few months now, and this past week I finally broke down and bought one (with Cherry MX Brown switches). The Vortex Core is a 40% keyboard, which means it consists primarily of letter keys, a few lonely bits of punctuation, and several modifier keys to activate different layers on the keyboard. Physical impressions It’s a really cute keyboard. I’m a big fan of MX brown switches, and this keyboard is really a joy to type on, at least when you’re working primarily with the alpha keys.

Since we’re all stuck in the house and working from home these days, I’ve had to make some changes to my home office. One change in particular was requested by my wife, who now shares our rather small home office space with me: after a week or so of calls with me clattering away on my old Das Keyboard 3 Professional in the background, she asked if I could get something that was maybe a little bit quieter.