Yep. My exceedingly old 1st-gen Logitech G15 has given up the ghost. I never used the macro keys on the side, it was huge, and worst of all it had crummy rollover support. The LCD was neat back when lots of games supported it, but I couldn't even get the base software to play nice with Win7 and Win8 (ugh). There are some cool linux utilities that make use of the LCD, but that alone doesn't justify a huge brick of a keyboard. Then my "a" key started acting up and I decided it was time to replace the monstrosity.

So, remembering back years ago when I was eyeing a blank-keyed Das Keyboard Ultimate, I headed to their website. My timing couldn't have been better, as they JUST released the 4th edition of their keyboard. Once very inconspicuous (looking like your average black keyboard), it's now much more interesting and premium looking, but still extremely clean and purposeful in design.
The new design has mercifully gotten rid of the glossy plastic that made the 2nd and third editions of the Das Keyboard look very cheap to my eyes. Now, the top surface is a thick slab of anodized aluminum.
The keyboard itself is extremely thin, especially for a mechanical keyboard.

I went with the unlabelled "Ultimate" rather than the traditional "Professional" because I like the blank look and have always been a touch-typer anyway. The fact that my keys aren't labelled is barely noticeable. The only thing that throws me off is some of the shift symbols on the number keys.

This keyboard is BEEFY. It weighs a lot (2.9 lb according to the documentation) and plants firmly on the desk. The ergonomics are far superior to most modern generic keyboards, with a perfect arc to the keys that makes typing very easy on the hands. I ordered mine with Cherry MX Brown switches, which are a little more suited to gaming with a quicker return action than the louder, more tactile MX Blues also offered in the Das Keyboard 4. Key action is weighted just right. Easy to press, with short, comfortable throws and natural resistance progression. It's so much easier to type quickly on this keyboard than on my old G15 or on the flat-plane chiclet keyed wireless Logitech I use at work.

The bezel on this keyboard is pretty narrow, so it doesn't take up a lot of desk space. It has media keys (play, pause, forward, back, and mute) in addition to a solid-feeling aluminum volume knob with rubberized sides. It also has a USB 3.0 hub (2 ports) on the back right, which is the perfect spot for quickly attaching a USB drive or permanently attaching a mouse. The unlabelled Ultimate goes so far as to eschew high-contrast printed branding or logos, opting instead for etched media keys (the only ones with any markings) and a barely-noticeable off-black Das Keyboard logo at the top right.

The one thing I'm not fond of is the choice to replace standard flip-out feet with a removable footbar (which weirdly doubles as an 18'' ruler). The purpose, as I understand it, was to elminate the flimsiness inherrent in the flip-out feet on most keyboards. And in that, the bar succeeds. It attaches via magnets and is pretty much forgotten once in place. But there are two downsides I've found.
The first is that the footbar lacks any rubberized grips to help hold the keyboard in place. Sans footboard, in the lowered position, the keyboard has a rubber foot at each corner. But elevated with the footbar, you lose the grip of two feet. It's heavy enough that this isn't catastrophic, and the keyboard still stays in place, but not so aggressively as without the footbar.
The second is that, unlike feet, the footbar spans the entire underside of the keyboard. With many keyboards, I can sort of position my monitor's oval base between the feet and regain some desk space in front of the keyboard. That's not an option with the Das Keyboard 4, as the footbar is in the way.

The last thing worth mentioning is typing speed. It's a lot easier to type quickly with this keyboard. Not only are the ergonomics improved over most other keyboards (and I don't mean Microsoft split-ergonomic crap), but the keyswitches are also more communicative. It's akin to Miata steering vs Lexus steering. When you get more feedback, you can make more precise inputs, and with a keyboard that means quicker keypresses and quicker transition to the next key. The aural feedback also helps a little, even with the Browns, as there is a bit of clack to the keypresses (though not nearly as much click as with Blues). 90 wpm is totally effortless.

Here's my new Das Keyboard 4 Ultimate in its new home:

So, several months into my DK4U ownership, I've adjusted so well to the keyboard's proper ergonomics that I find it hard to type on modern flat keyboards, especially chicklet keyboards with little throw and zero feedback.

At work, I've been using a Logitech wireless combo (the MK520) as an upgrade over the cheapo flat pack-in board that came with my Dell. The Logi is certainly nicer, but is still a flat chicklet board and after a day at home with my Das Keyboard 4 I can FEEL my typing accuracy and speed disappear at work on the cheapo plank.

I decided I needed a mechanical keyboard at work. The mechanical keyboard market has exploded in the last few years, so I started shopping around. There are some neat options, but most of them are heavily gaming-focused and highly gimmicky--laden with Macro keys, ugly plasticky housings that look like Acura design rejects, backlighting I don't care about (I'm used to blank keys, remember) and, in an increasing number of cases, in-house designed keyswitches that just don't live up to the Cherry MX switches they're trying to emulate or improve on. Logitech's are TERRIBLE--sloppy and flimsy feeling and completely missing the point of mechanical keyswitches (consistency and feedback). Razer's are supposed to be okay, but I couldn't find an example to try hands-on, and their designs are among the gimmickiest and obnoxiousiest so I wasn't leaning their direction anyway.

A few other brands offer some very clean, simple, straightforward designs and even a lot of customization, but they tend to be focused the wrong way for me, too. LAN party portability via 80% form factor (no 10-key, which is unfathomable to me for gaming OR typing), or slim but cheap-looking housings. Lots of beige, too, as though our desire to bring back the Model M has come full circle to the '80s.

Really, what I wanted was something durable, solid, well-engineered and built, simple, straightforward, and clean. And in my book there's nothing cleaner than straight black.

So after a lot of shopping around, I realized the Das Keyboard 4 is still exactly what I'm looking for: no gimmicks, serious build quality, and clean but premium design language.

This time, with the keyboard being intended for pure typing and no gaming use, I decided to give the MX blue keyswitches a try. I have my own office with a door to close, so I was not worried about offending cubemates or anyone else.

I'm glad I went with the blues. They're phenomenal to type on. They're a little bit of an adjustment from the browns, and I find myself not quite hitting the actuation point every once in a while (missing a key), but I'm adapting fast. It's very easy to type quickly, and it's shocking how much the audible feedback helps with typing.

I'm writing this on the blues right now, as the keyboard didn't arrive in time to get much use at the office this week. In general, I really prefer the blues and ALMOST regret ordering browns in my first Das 4, but then I boot up a game and realize that that is where the browns shine. Still lots of feedback and a bit of click, but much more responsive for rapid-fire gaming inputs than the blues, which use a two-piece switch lever to achieve their more tactile response and easy actuation that has to reset before being pressed again--unless you find the magic spot right below the reset point but above the actuation point and hammer out presses without letting the key return completely.

A big part of the benefit of these keyboards (and most other modern Mechanicals) is the arc to the key faces. Like the old Model M and Keytronic boards many of us grew up with, and almost entirely absent in pack-in and non-premium keyboards today, it completely changes the reach from one key to another to suit the shape of the hand and finger. Key spacing on flat boards feels completely wrong after using a keyboard with a proper arc; even though the keys are no further apart, it's a greater reach for the back row and a steeper reach to the bottom row.

It might seem a bit silly to spend $170 on a keyboard for work when I've been provided with one for free, but the reality is I often spend up to 8+ hours a day in front of my computer at work, and getting the best typing experience I can find is worth it.

A couple gifs harvested from GIS to illustrate the difference between MX Browns and MX Blues:

You can see how both have a "notch" for tactile feedback, but the blues take it a step further and have a sort of self-actuating second piece that means you only need enough key travel to click past the notch for the keystroke to register and the key to reset itself. It's what causes the loud click and the solidly tactile feedback. Once you get used to the blues, you learn where that actuation point is and only rarely find yourself bottoming keys out while typing.