As someone who’s looking to to get into the hobby, I’m curious to hear if there are any recommendations for budget friendly mechanical keyboards. I had/have a Corsair cherry red mechanical keyboard that I used probably around 10 years ago at this point when I was into gaming, but now I’d be looking for something a bit more refined, and possibly vintage as I quite enjoy using old tech. Any suggestions? I’m in Europe if that matters at all.
It would blow your budget, but there is certainly ONE manufacturer to at least look at and smile.
As others have been saying, Keychron is currently the go-to for recommendations for first keyboards. They have a bewildering variety of layouts, most of them at several price points, and they have better European “ISO” support than most pre-built companies.
For switches, if you want it to feel a little more like your old ThinkPad, the biggest move in that direction would be to switch from Linears like your Cherry Red to “tactiles” like Browns. Those recommending “hot-swap” boards have a good point, but you’ll want to make sure the printed circuit board is well supported if/when you put in new switches. The most common damage people get with modern mechanical keyboards is a hotswap socket tearing away from the PCB.