Why You Should Buy a Mechanical Keyboard
themechanicalkeyboardreview.comI had a mechanical (Steelseries 7G) keyboard and I detested it. Indestructible lump that properly belongs to a point of sale terminal. Really harsh and unpleasant bottoming out of keys.
I'd like a Realforce one day though.
I see a lot of talk (hype?) about this, but I've used IBM keyboards in the past and I don't miss it. Am I the only one who actually prefers low-profile keyboards like the Mac/MacBook ones?
I'll take either a mechanical or a chiclet (like the Apple ones) keyboard over squishy rubber domes.
I personally think the chiclet boards have a lot in common with the mechanical ones - there's a very nonlinear resistance and it's pretty clear when you have, versus haven't, activated a key. I don't find many mechanical aficionados agree :)
I don't like the low profile keyboards on most laptops now. I bought my own refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad X201 mainly for its fantastic keyboard, and I also requested and got a Lenovo T440 for work which has a different but still excellent keyboard.
Many cheap rubber dome keyboards are of course horrible, but some are pretty good. I use a Dell somethingorother at home, and its very good. I also use a cheap Lenovo SK 8825 and there's nothing wrong with it at all.
Cherry switches seem to have an industrial heritage, and they seem to have been adopted by the type of gamer who likes to treat their keyboard like a Hyper Sports cabinet. Indeed, the red switch was created for gamers.
The switches don't provide much of a typing experience, unless you like the feeling of a key slamming onto a hard surface. Which you can mitigate by using O rings to try to retrieve the rubber dome feel.
Here's a quick <del>keycap</del> recap on the Cherry switches. - Blacks. Heavy duty basic linear switch used in Carphone Warehouse POS terminals, Police keyboards, and Steelseries G series. Guaranteed cramps. - Red. "Fast" version of Blacks, for FPS gamers. Unsuitable for any typing. - Brown. Like a version of Reds with a bit of grit on the stem to act as an "early warning alarm" so you can hopefully avoid the painful bottoming out. - Blue. Makes an artificial "click" halfway down the stem to fool your brain that you're using a good keyboard. Highly antisocial - favoured by people who plant leylandiis at the bottom of their small gardens.
I'm actually starting a trial run today using an Apple USB chiclet keyboard at work. My job description has shifted from coding to documentation, and I found my macbook keyboard to be slightly easier than my Filco mechanical for typing long documents, instead of code.
So far, I agree on the nonlinear feedback, and a perk is that it's a lot quieter (coders don't mind, but where I sit now it feels like I'm a kid in a corner creating a ruckus with my mech keyboard).
I'm a big fan of my Macbook keyboard over the mechanical hype too. I find myself looking for things to type when I have to use chiclets.
You should try a mini, while not super low like on a laptop it is a lot lower than on the behemoth that is an IBM board.
My big beef with the Mac keyboards is the spacing. I can get around 60 wpm on a Macbook and 110-120 (touch typing both) on my desktop board. It's just super hard to use one when each key is so much farther than what you get accustomed to on a large mechanical board.
Thanks. I just tested and I'm getting 80 wpm on the MacBook, so not bad I guess.
I think the one big reason to use one that is missing, is that they are reliable as hell. The texture and the feel of it doesn't go away, not nearly as quickly as the membrane ones.
The $20 one I've been using has been with me since 2007. It's a TVSE Gold. The one I had with my 386 lasted me around 11 years. It's the lack of the connector that forced me to go PS2. Probably replaced 4-5 keyboards in those 4-5 years.
Does anyone have any a recommendation? I've been wanting to get a mechanical keyboard.
Unicomp (http://www.pckeyboard.com/) produce modern IBM Model M keyboard, with real buckling spring tech. Mine's been working beautifully for 8 years now. It is loud though, you won't make friends from the noise levels. I did have some issues with the quality of the caps, some of the function keys get stuck due to the tight fit between the cap and the bezel, but you can probably file down the bezel or the cap. My model doesn't have media keys, which sucks.
Anyway, if you want to feel like you're writing on a mechanical device, it's fantastic, and when you're in the zone you get that audial and tactile feedback to say "Yes! You're winning!".
I need to find a keyboard I can use at work, one with tactile feedback but a lot quieter.
For coding and most general work, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of my Filco Majestouch 2. It's middle of the range pricewise, has the Cherry Brown switches (tactile and audible feedback), and is built pretty solidly. From memory, when I bought it, it scored above the median on reviews as well.
It's the first mechanical keyboard I've used after years of mushy keyboards, and the difference was like night and day.
I tried a few different configurations of the WASD V2 (http://wasdkeyboards.com), and really liked the Cherry MX Blue switches with 0.2mm o-ring dampeners. There's a Mac keyboard layout option, too, which is part of what sold me on it. If you're anywhere near Milpitas, CA you can actually just drop by their office and try them out before buying.
Highly depends on your own personal preference and how you'll be using the keyboard. Check out http://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/ It's a great subreddit and the users are super passionate, it contains anything you would want to know about the different brands and switch type.
Check out the different switch sounds (http://techreport.com/review/23405/rosewill-rk-9000-series-m...) before you buy a mechanical keyboard, each switch type has a distinct sound, and getting the wrong one can drive you crazy.
I have a Das Keyboard (http://www.daskeyboard.com/), specifically the Das Keyboard 4 Professional. A little pricey if you're used to generic $10 keyboards, but it's fantastic to type on.
I've found the Realforce to feel great and to be quiet.
Used IBM Model M + ps2->usb adapter