Mechanical Keyboards

Off-Topic Games, Gaming and Hardware
1

didn’t see much searching for it so made a thread…

What thoughts do you guys have on mechanical keyboards? Do you have one? Are they worth the expense in your opinion to upgrade from a standard keyboard?

I’ve never had one but am considering shopping for one.

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I love mine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D3BDN60/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

3

I’ve used them for many years, but as I get older they started annoying me, so I went back to membrane.

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Why/how did they start to annoy you? Bear in mind I’ve never used one so am not familiar with them (trying to learn something).

5

They have a particular click to them, in both feel and sound, and it just started to wear on me lol.

6

Fortunately the clicky feel and sound is not the same from mechanical keyboard to mechanical keyboard.

1 Like
7

Interesting. Seems there are varying elements in mechanicals that would make a 1st time purchase very frustrating, since I’ve never used any and have no idea what my actual preference would be.

Hmm… :thinking:

8

They really dont, since there are about a dozen major switch types, not including some of the proprietary ones (like Logitech’s Romer-G).

If you dont want the click… get Cherry MX Reds. Personally, Reds feel like typing on a mushy membrane board to me, so no thanks, but there are plenty of boards out there with no click.

Including some that are PURPOSELY built to minimize sound.

As to using a mechanical:

Less fatigue from t yping in most cases, (depends on the switch type); better accuracy (keyboard is a lot less likely to miss a keypress) during actuation, longer lifespan, generally water-resistant (if you’re quick about unplugging it) and recoverable from a spill.

I wont type on membranes anymore - i never really wanted to but i had to start using them when i was more broke and apple quit using the ADB port. (I still have the Apple Pro keyboard … and it still works, 20+ years of use later, those things were tanks).

When they became “mainstream” again… went back to using mechanical and never went back.

9

What do you use?

I’m looking around and the prices on most of them seem to vary a lot, from like 32 bucks to around 110… :thinking:

10

Without being able to type on a keyboard prior to buying it was too big of a pain in the butt, didn’t want to have to keep returning them if I didn’t like them. I just went with a good membrane and I love it.

11

can definitely see the logic in that!! I feel kind of overwhelmed now that I see the various types of mechanicals.

What did you end up settling on?

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I have a Razer Cynosa Chroma

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I’ve been using one for about 10 years now. The same one, actually - a Filco Majestouch 2 (Brown). And if nothing else I can at least say that they’ve got longevity on their side, despite my having spilled coffee on it. Caveat, of course, being that I’ve had to clean a few switches along the way (could be related to the coffee), but that’s not exactly difficult (pull key cap, add IPA, work it in, replace cap, go).

In terms of usage… I’d still rather a good scissor-switch keyboard. I’ve got a cheap iRocks keyboard which I much prefer to type on as the keys are “softer”, the throw is much, much shorter, and the keyboard is generally much more silent to type on. Even having added O-ring dampeners to the mechanical doesn’t remedy these differences entirely.

That having been said, I realise that you’re not supposed to bottom-out a mechanical. But I do, and I will probably keep doing so. So until a mech comes out with no more than 2mm of travel (activation between 1.0mm and 1.5mm), I’ll probably prefer my scissors. Not enough to stop me using my mech (I paid good money for this, and N-key rollover is amazing) but I’ll still be disappointed by it in a small way.

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There are various kinds of non-mechanical keyboards, too

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Maybe you don’t understand the point I was trying to make.

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That you’re overwhelmed by the various types of mechanical keyboards. Maybe you don’t understand the point I was trying to make.

17

yeeeaahhhhh… because I’ve never used any mechanical keyboard, ever.

I have used many various non-mechanical keyboards and have a fairly good idea what to expect from them.

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Just to be clear, I’m not saying don’t try them, they’re great boards, they’re just not for ME anymore.

19

That Razer kb you said you’re using now looks nice. I like the brand, couldn’t game without my DA Elite. I have to have volume controls on my kb though. I’m used to fiddling with them pretty frequently.

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Yeeeaahhhhh that’s doubtful. You probably don’t know it. Anyway, that’s beside the point.

And at the end of the day, we’re still talking about keyboards. It’s not like mechanical keyboards are markedly different from all other kinds.

Anyway, good luck with your purchase. I’m sorry you got overwhelmed by all of the options.