Interesting modification. I have seen some keyboards where the WASD keys would have a different key cap to help identify them. I have used mechanical and backlit keyboards in the past but I went back to a membrane keyboard (MS Wired 600). I do some gaming and also quite a lot of typing. I use the bumps on the F and J keys for touch typing and they help you find the rest of the keys from there.

This has linear switches in it which are quick and smooth but I do miss having some tactility. I have bought some tactile switches to replace them with but it's just getting started which is the problem.... there are about 88 keys on this keyboard, so that is two solder joints for the switch and two more for the LED... that is over 700 soldering operations!!!

Yeah, the mechanic keyboard I used was a Corsair K63 with Cherry MX reds. It felt okay to type on, the placement of the keys was different so I found myself pressing between keys. It was also quite a tall keyboard which strained by wrists after lots of typing. The Cherry MX reds also seem to take quite a lot of travel before they actually respond which I wasn't keen on. I also have a G213 keyboard in storage. It's got "Mech-Dome" which is where it's membrane but with a clicker in it so that it feels mechanical. Not sure what it's like though as I've never used it. I have heard that mechanical keyboard are more reliable but I think the actual keycaps would wear out and go shiny before the switches do. Same thing usually wears out first on membrane ones. The keys usually go all shiny before the domes fail. Those mechanical Das Keyboard keyboards look nice and functional without any over the top lighting.

Well, one way to do it I spose - certainly an interesting solution. Illuminated keyboard I have is just white, I'd much rather it were blue, but sadly you can't change the colour, short of replacing the LED's and that's a step too far.

If they are SMD leds, could try a bit of blue filter over them?
Key spacing on the K63 is exactly the same as on the IBM Model M which all modern keyboards owe their layout to so I'm not sure what the problem is there?
The MX red switch also activates after only 2mm, not sure I'd class that as excessive lol. I quite like the fact that you don't have to fully depress the key on mechanicals, on the Model M which I use for typing, you feel and hear the switch break and don't have to press it further. One of my main gripes with rubber domes if that you feel the tactility as the dome collapses but you still have to bottom it out to get a keypress. That's one of the reasons why I want to swap out the linear reds for browns or maybe something exotic like Holy Pandas or something lol.
Die sublimed PBT keycaps on the M still look brand new despite being 32 years old lol. Cheap ABS ones go shiny as soon as you look at them lol.
One of the first things I did on this board was to get rid of the lazered ABS keycaps and replace them with some nice thick and solid double-shot PBT ones.

This is just some crappy Logitech thing. It's sposed to only light up when you hold your hand over it, but it flashes on and off randomly. I know these have shit keys that break if you try and pop them off, so I'll be leaving mine as it is.

@FrontSideBus, On the K63, what I'm talking about is the gap between the keys. It's the normal QWERTY layout but the keys are slightly pulled further apart from each other horizontally and the key cap tops are smaller - if you look at pictures of the K63, you can see lots of red in the background and the large gaps between the keys. Normal keyboards don't have such a large gap around the keys. That meant that after switching from a Logitech K120, I found myself pressing between keys because it was slightly different. I've found the cheaper office keyboards like the K120, MS Wired 600, Most OEM ones, etc, their key spacing is the same. I touch type so don't look at the keys when typing so the small change was noticeable. Yeah, the ABS keys are much more likely to go shiny as they are softer plastic. As for rubber domes, they can vary depending on the keyboard. The ones on my current keyboard are fine and register just after the "click" as they go down. I think older keyboards also had better printing for the characters.

That is a K63 in the photo lol. The key size and spacings are standard, exactly the same as my IBM Model M. I also touch type and find in fact that it the more modern generic and and OEM ones that come with the like of HP and Dell ect which are too small and cramped in the interest of saving space.

You can set all the KB to Blue, then paint on the inside of the intended keys with a phosphor (phosphorescent gel pens, and possibly even just a Yellow highlighter....)

I did something similar about 20 years ago. I had two CCFL's in my case, a blue one and also a blacklight one. I had a UV reactive pen and traced out a lot of the tracks on the PCB's of the mainboard, graphics and sound cards. Took bloody ages to do but when the BL CCFL was turned on it looked awesome! Like something from TRON. Sadly back then I was still exclusively using film cameras and I'm not sure if I ever photographed it, if I did I don't know where they are.

The Lenovo Preferred Pro and WYSE keyboards are similar to the Model M too. I actually got my K63 out and took a key cap off and compared it too my Wired 600 and the keycap is slightly smaller on the top compared. Also the actual cap is way taller which explains why it would take some getting used to from a keyboard which has normal thickness keys. I have my wrists flat to the desk and the keyboard legs up so when using the K63 which is thicker and has taller keys, my fingers would not be used to having to reach further away. That's my best guess anyway.

Another keyboard I quite like is the Dell SK-8115 and the HP KU 0316. I never had any issues with using those keyboards.

You say "normal" key cap thickness but they are really only standard Cherry keycaps, every keyboard ever made that uses Cherry or even Alps switches will have keycaps that are the same dimensions or at least very near. It's quite common for people to buy a certain keyboard just to nick the keycaps off them and use them on another board. I'd say they were the "normal"ones and the myriad of non-standard size and spacings of the rubber domes were the odd ones out lol.

Keys on my keyboard are really thin, about 5mm in height total, unlike older keyboards with the full height keys, so must surely be more than one design? A newer standard for a sleeker, more modern feel maybe?

Sadly that is the case these days, with horrible chicklet style flat square keys with zero space between them. Prime example is the horrid ultra thin Apple aluminium keyboard and the resultant clones chucked out by the like of HP, Dell, Fujitsu ect... Horrific! Designed to look good, not for typing on lol. Gimme a full size standard ISO keyboard with proper keycaps and some nice switches like tactile or clicky ALPS or something lol.
Just look at old-school keyboards like the Dell AT101 or Acer KB-101A.... fantastic boards and it's a shame they don't make things like that today...

I don't like the thin keys at all. The modern keyboards that ship with OEM computers now are horrendous (Dell KB216 for example). They have these tiny little keys with hardly any travel. Every keystroke, you are bottoming out the keys. I think the crap keyboards are good enough for the average user but I wouldn't like to be using one for the amount of typing I do. A similar thing has happened with computer mice. They seem to have gotten smaller over the years. You look at the old mice like the good old Microsoft Intelli Mouse and they are large and fit the hand well. The new ones like the Microsoft optical mouse 200 are TINY and make your hands ache after a while. I used to use these Corsair Sabre RGB mice which costed about £45. The first one only lasted about a year until it broke. I really liked the mouse and thought it was once off so bought another one and the same thing happened to the second one too. After about a year the sensor would get inaccurate and cause the pointer to jump around the screen sometimes. Even after cleaning it well it was no better. I did what I did with the keyboard, and got a basic office mouse (Logitech M100) and it's been working perfectly for well over a year now.

I still use an old mechanical Microsoft Intelimouse when at my desk together with the Model M An epic old school combination which is a joy to use. I used to love my old wired Logitech MX510... bit after 10+ years of use the rubber turned into a sticky horrible goo despite my best efforts to clean it so sadly I chucked it. When gaming on the sofa on my home cinema setup, I use a wireless Logitech G Pro which does seem quite good and the aforementioned K63 mounted in it's associated lap board.

Computer peripherals are definitely very important if you are using a computer for a long time. I have typed on some bad keyboards over the years - ones with keys missing, rearranged key, keyboards where you have to hit the keys really hard to work and ones where the spacebar is missing the metal guide part so it's more like a seasaw.

I had a "membrane Model M" at one point, got it from school (when the PCs were upgraded after withstanding 10+ years of abuse by kids) - It looks same as the "proper" MM but is cheapened down with membeane insides and non detachable PS2 cable. I have used it for 5 more years untill the most used keys (spacebar, enter) started really failing. I have found old (from the early 00's) OEM keyboards to be mostly okay too. From the relatively inexpensive higher end keyboards, i tried a little the Cougar Deathfire EX and it was okay (with membrane switches built to simulate the feel of mechanical switches)

The proper Model M is actually a membrane keyboard too.... it just has buckling-spring actuated hammers which makes the contact when you press the key. They tend to start failing when too many plastic tabs that hold the front barrel plate to the steel back plate start snapping off. Mine has a couple but still works fine, any more and I will perform the "bolt mod" which is basically drilling out the plastic tabs and replacing them with proper nuts and bolts!

I saved back then a lot of 10 or so keyboards, which looked identical on the top, but 2 were exactly the MM as i found in the internet (with clicky switches, detachable cable), while the rest were the other model with the "standard membrane" behavior (no springs etc) and attached cable