Just buy yourself a mechanical keyboard with cherry mx blue switches:)
I think they are all good enough.

good advice! by the way I'm 9 years old and even i understand this!

Or for 10% of the price you can get a Dell KB Quiet Key.... Its what I use for work and I find it just fine for typing.

Affordable beginner mechanical keyboard --> Redragon K552 KUMARA

Second on the Redragon Kumara. I wanted to try out a mechanical without spending a fortune...it's about 35 dollars on amazon and is incredibly well constructed especially considering the price. I'll probably move on to a more elaborate setup, but for right now the Kumara is light years ahead of the standard membrane keyboards.

I'll look into the Redragon Kumara, thanks for the advice.

What's the difference between a normal vs mechanical keyboard?

It's the actual design of the switches that for the individual keys themselves. The IBM model M was the gold standard of mechanical PC keyboards. Basically (and I'm probably explaining this terribly) they are mechanical switches that press down instead of the newer model keyboards that are just buttons pushing down on rubber nodes on the circuit board.

The difference? They allegedly provide your fingers with more tactile response, and therefore you feel the keys more as a touch typist than you would if you were just typing on a traditional cheapo PC keyboard.

I say allegedly, because it's a very subjective thing and I'm not convinced that absolutely everyone will experience the same result. I have a mechanical keyboard and my typing speed on is almost identical to the stock keyboard that came with my tower, and actually *slightly* slower than what I can manage on my surface pro 3 type cover. YMMV.

The mechanical keys are way too noisy. I dare you to use one of these in the office.

If noise is a concern, look into a keyboard with Cherry MX Blue switches, and to double up on that get some O-rings to install under the keys to deaden any clicking.

O-rings only dampen the bottom out sound, the click sound would still be there.