What are your favourite kind of keyboard switches? (Poll)

General Prog (Archived)
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We have a nice thread about Keyboards here and it’s got me interested in mechanical keyboards… so I was wondering, what are your favourite kinds of switches and do they actually sound like they do in this video?

  • Cherry MX Blue (Tactile click 50g) 00:09
  • Cherry MX Blue (Tactile click 50g) w/o-rings 00:26
  • Cherry MX Green (Tactile click 70g) 00:46
  • Cherry MX Green (Tactile click 70g) w/o-rings 1:06
  • Cherry MX Brown (Tactile bump 45g) 1:26
  • Cherry MX Brown (Tactile bump 45g) w/o-rings 1:44
  • Cherry MX Clear (Tactile bump 65g) 2:04
  • Cherry MX Clear (Tactile bump 65g) w/o-rings 2:22
  • Cherry MX Red (Linear 45g) 2:42
  • Cherry MX Red (Linear 45g) w/o-rings 3:00
  • Cherry MX Black (Linear 60g) 3:21
  • Cherry MX Black (Linear 60g) w/o-rings 3:36
  • Cherry MX Silent Red (Silent linear 45g) 3:56
  • Cherry MX Silent Red (Silent linear 45g) w/o-rings 4:12
  • Cherry MX Silver (Speed linear 45g) 4:33
  • Cherry MX Silver (Speed linear 45g) w/o-rings 4:52
  • MOD-L (Tactile bump 45g) 5:13
  • MOD-L (Tactile bump 45g) w/o-rings 5:32
  • MOD-M (Tactile bump 55g) 5:51
  • MOD-M (Tactile bump 55g) w/o-rings 6:09
  • MOD-H (Tactile bump 62g) 6:29
  • MOD-H (Tactile bump 62g) w/o-rings 6:44
  • Zealio (Tactile bump 65g) 7:05
  • Zealio (Tactile bump 65g) w/o-rings 7:24
  • Other (Please say in thread!)
  • I don’t have a mechanical keyboard… yet!

0 voters

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I use a Kinesis Advantage 2 with brown switches (with colemak layout).

grafik

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Rings can kind of ruin the feeling of the mechanical keyboards. I get it that some people would like to fine-tune a product they would otherwise be “only” 90% happy with but I tried it and it felt like returning to the older rubber-dome keyboards. I strongly recommend against putting extra rings on the bottom of the keycaps.

Also I noticed the “without rings” option after I voted and now I cannot modify my vote. -.-

Can we change our votes? I’d like to go for “Brown w/o rings” (currently voted for “Brown”).

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Yes you can change your vote - just refresh the page (and so before clicking on ‘show results’) tap on the option you want your vote to count for :slight_smile:

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Oh. Thanks, done.

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BTW @AstonJ, not sure how much reading did you do, here are two resources that helped me a lot:

IMO for a newcomer the Brown switches are the best:

  • They require least force to actuate of all switches.

  • Key press happens after you lift your finger from the key – contrast this with Red which registers a key press the moment the key actuates (they actuate the quickest of all mechanical switches); because of that, Cherry MX Red keyboards are mostly chosen by gamers, especially in the shooter genre.

  • They are soft but still make a sound – just not clicky like Blue.

In the end it’s all preference but this is why I chose Brown.

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That isn’t true. If it were holding down a key wouldn’t have an effect. :slight_smile:

MX Browns have 4 mm of travel and actuate at roughly 2 mm:

https://plot.ly/~haata/86

The keypress is sent at the point of actuation.

Don’t limit yourself to Cherry switches. There are plenty of MX compatible switches that are nicer than what Cherry has to offer. For example, compare BOX Whites to MX Blues:

Edit: Consider purchasing a switch tester:

https://novelkeys.xyz/collections/switch-testers

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That’s strange. I had two Brown switch keyboards from different brands and they acted like I described. Interesting, I’ll read some more. Maybe they were not standard Cherry MX.

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Kinesis Advantage 2 is my dream keyboard. I’ve never quite had the space or inclination to pull the trigger yet. But I will have one someday!

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Thanks for the links Dimitar :slight_smile:

I’m so glad you posted that as I got worried :lol:

I’m still deciding whether I like the clicky sound or not - I think I would for short periods, but might find it annoying after typing for some time… particularly since I enjoy listening to music while working.

Which keyboards/switches would you recommend as a first mechanical keyboard?

I love the look of those (and similar models too) but I am not a touch typist so worry that I might find them frustrating :confused:

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I think the GMMK would be a good place to start:

mechanical-keyboard-the-glorious-gmmk-1_9d56b17b-23be-4a16-986b-c43e1406eb5e
mechanical-keyboard-the-glorious-gmmk-1_9d56b17b-23be-4a16-986b-c43e1406eb5e2048×1365 241 KB

You can get it with or without a number pad. It’s normally $60 without key caps or switches, but at the moment you can get 20% off with coupon code GO2COLLAGE. It’s hot-swappable which means that you can experiment with switches without having to solder.

Another good option would be the Anne Pro 2. Take a look at this video to see what it’s capable of:

That’ll cost you $70 shipped with Gateron switches, $80 shipped with BOX switches.

As for which switch you should choose, you really should pick up a switch tester if possible. There are light, medium, and heavy switches. Linear, tactile, and clicky switches. I feel like it’s common for people to think they’ll prefer one switch but find they prefer another once they’ve gotten their hands on a switch tester. Luckily switch testers are pretty cheap:

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Actually yes you are 100% correct and OMG, reading what I wrote earlier I can only react like this…

https://themortgageblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/double-facepalm.png(image larger than 400 KB)

What I meant to say was: Brown actuates slightly slower than Red. That’s it. Apologies, was half-asleep and was typing on my phone.

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No worries. :slight_smile:

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Thanks for the recommendations… I forgot to mention, I’m in the UK and have a Mac :lol:

Dimitar, I fixed your post for you :003:

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Thanks mate! Sorry for using some memes, I find them adequate at times. :smiley:

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I own three mechanical keyboards, all with MX Browns; a Kinesis Advantage, an ErgoDox EZ and a Cooler Master RGB. The ErgoDox is by far and away my favorite, but I only use it at work. At home I have the Cooler Master hooked up which is more convenient for other people to use, and I really like it as well. The Kinesis Pro was my first but it just frustrates me now, I can’t get its setup quite the same as the ErgoDox, and the small differences in layout are too much trouble to be worth it.

eta: For someone new to mechanical keyboards I’d recommend the Cooler Master or the GMMK linked above, which is very similar.

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Is it bad that I still like the super-flat (and super-quiet) keyboard that my laptop has, over any kind of mechanical keyboard? :sweat_smile:

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I like MX Blues. I was kind of worrying about how loud they are but turns out they are just perfect for me. Can’t use them at work, though! There I have used MX Browns simply because I haven’t had anything else available (company just had a leftover keyboard with MX Browns).

I’ve tried MX Reds and they don’t agree with me at all. I keep resting my fingers on the keyboard so I had a lot of wrong hits with Reds. I also had a keyboard with vintage MX Blacks (from the '80s), but switched them to Blues because I don’t like linear switches, I need some kind of tactile feedback.

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I really like the look of those ErgoDox EZ keyboards (and the infinity!) - but I’m not a touch typist and I wonder whether that would make them more of an issue :confused:

Btw, I didn’t know you could build your own:

Sounds like a nice hobby project!

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LOL “like a 10 in the stallman neckbeard scale.”

I value mobility too much to bother using anything but the built-in
laptop keyboard, but I might change my mind if there were a current
mechanical keyboard that felt (and sounded) as good as the classic
IBM 327x terminals – they were seriously awesome.

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