I have a couple of them, but to be honest I’m not even sure if I like them more, or less, than rubber membrane keyboards. There’s kind of a sharpness to the sounds they usually produce, almost a kind of plastic-on-plastic squeek, and I find that unpleasant. If I could afford it, or if they were affordable, I might give a Topre keyboard a try, but to be honest I really don’t care enough about keyboards to worry about that.

The only reason I get mechanical keyboards is because those are often the only ones with n-key rollover. It’s all about the games. It’s wild to me that being able to press more than 3 keys simultaneously is still not standard in all keyboards, and it drives me crazy that the vast majority of built-in laptop keyboards have this problem.

Avert your eyes:

spoiler

I also think chiclet keyboards are perfectly fine… except again, the lack of key rollover.

  • Chee_Koala@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 days ago

    Well I love all kinds of keyboards, even chiclet, but I no longer enjoy rubber mat keyboards. (kinda feels like typing on a wet newspaper now) But if you don’t mind the difference in typing-sensation, then why pay for it (if you can find one that fits your needs)?

    My old CM Storm Quickfire XT died after 10 ish years and it was really only a couple keys, and my new one has solderless replacement design, so i hope it can reach 20y :) I really like that aspect. I tried repairing my rubbermats, and failed every time. n = 1 :), and I’m just a hobbyist repearer, so I probably just suck at rubbermat repairs.

    I grew up with IBM Buckling spring keyboards, that might be why I enjoy the loudness of Blue switches. Best experience is ofc the spongebob keyboard, but that’s common knowledge

    • drinkwaterkin@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      0·
      4 days ago

      Wow, that definitely brings color to your desk. I was just watching a video about a Topre keyboard last night, and I think it highlighted why I don’t so much like the mechanical ones - the sound is too high. The Topre keyboard had a distinctly bassier sound, and I found that more pleasant. I have O-rings on one of the keyboards but I think think that goes far enough. I might experiment with different keycaps and other dampening methods to try to change up the sounds they make. One has clicky-sounding, uh, lavender cherry-style switches, and the other has reds which feel/sound more linear. I definitely prefer the reds by quite a bit.

      • nylo@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        0·
        2 days ago

        check out tactile switches! and not cherry browns, those are just spicy linears.

        I don’t much like clicky or linear switches but I loooove my thocc-y tactiles.

        • drinkwaterkin@lemm.eeOPEnglish
          0·
          2 days ago

          If anything I want to try going as quiet as possible. I find deeper tones more pleasant than sharp ones, but overall I still want the least noise I can get.

      • Chee_Koala@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        3 days ago

        If you wanna go deep, my most keyboard loving friend had like a 5x5 pad with 25 different key switch types, that really gave me crazy perspective on what I enjoy and what not when it comes to typing feel! Let’s hope you find a home for your current one and you can find the right one to switch to :)