[quaunaut]

My experience is that while a mechanical keyboard is more enjoyable and slightly easier, I've never once in my life gotten frustrated at some cheapo keyboard while coding. I've never needed to know the exact millisecond a key was pressed, the rebound is just fine.

Lets be honest here. Programming is not some intensive exercise. Nor should you be getting carpal tunnel as a programmer- if you are, you need to dial back the boilerplate.

I don't enjoy laptop keyboards if only because they force my palms to be raised- I have large hands, so for me it's natural to rest the bottom of my palms on the desk or even on the side of the desk, whereas on a laptop it's at an equal height to the keys- which is annoying as hell. I also dislike the shape of too many laptop keyboards, if only because they seem to prioritize style over feel and key differentiation(lookin' at you, Apple).

But this isn't intense stuff. If you're gaming, or doing high-speed data entry, or even if you're a prolific writer, you may have a real claim. But as a programmer, claiming that you need a mechanical keyboard is nonsense. They're nice, and if you want nice tools, that's okay, and I encourage you to invest. But they're not required, and they're never going to make you a better programmer.