Mechanical keyboards part I Today I'd like to write down some thoughts on mechanical keyboards. As you may probably know, there are several types of keyboard and one of them (my favourite) is a mechan

Dmitry

Mechanical keyboards part I Today I'd like to write down some thoughts on mechanical keyboards. As you may probably know, there are several types of keyboard and one of them (my favourite) is a mechanical keyboard. In spite of such keyboards are not as popular as the rubber dome keyboards though they are much better for typewriting. Let's find out what makes a keyboard to be called a "mechanical" or "casual" keyboard. It's all about switches that are built-in in the keyboard. There are several types of them, nevertheless we are going to review only two: the mechanical and the rubber dome membrane switches. The rubber dome membrane switches are the swiches made of rubber (no surprise here) in a shape of a keyboard in one piece. When you press any button on the rubber dome keyboard, you actually bump the dome and make it deform in order to make your finger to hit the circuit. While pressing the button you do not feel anything untill your finger hits the circuit, and this happens with any type of non-mechanical keyboard - you do not get any tactile response from pressing buttons. The mechanical keyboard is something completely different. Firstly, each button has it's own switch which is a special mechainism. Secondly, a common switch (e.g. blue or brown mechanical switch) has three states: a) unpressed button; b) tactile "bump" when the switch strokes the middle position that indicates the moment where key is actually registered and c) a "bump" in the end of the finger movement when you actually hit the circuit. And the last but not the least thing about the mechanical switches is that you need much less pressure to make keypress registered. Both types of keyboard switches have advanages and disadvantages. The robber dome are cheap and easy to produce, so it will not be a problem to change one for another if you broke your keyboard. On the other hand,the mechanical keyboards are more comforable and less injuring, but much more expensive. A common mechanical keyboard will probably cost you not less than 70 pound while a rubber dome keyboard will be ten times cheaper. In counclution i could say that if you are a typewriter or a programme developer, you definitely want to try a mechanical keyboard and if you do not type a lot, you would probably stick with a rubber dome one. P.S. On the picture you can see the keyboard that I am using. It looks a bit weird, but you never know until you give it a try :)

Feb 1, 2015 9:09 PM

Corrections · 3

Mechanical keyboards part I

Today I'd like to write down some thoughts on mechanical keyboards. As you may probably know, there are several types of keyboard and one of them, my favourite, is the mechanical keyboard. In spite of the fact that such keyboards are not as popular as the rubber dome keyboards, though they are much better for typewriting.

Let's find out what makes a keyboard to be called either a "mechanical" or a "casual" keyboard. It's all about the switches that are built-in in the keyboard; there are several types of them. Nevertheless we are going to review only two: the mechanical, and the rubber dome membrane switches. The rubber dome membrane switches are the switches made of rubber (no surprise here) in the shape of a keyboard in one piece. When you press any button on the rubber dome keyboard, you actually bump the dome and make it deform in order to make your finger to hit the circuit. While pressing the button you do not feel anything untill your finger hits the circuit. This happens with any type of non-mechanical keyboard - you do not get any tactile response from pressing buttons.

The mechanical keyboard is something completely different. Firstly, each button has it's own switch which is a special mechanism. Secondly, a common switch (e.g. blue or brown mechanical switch) has three states: a) unpressed button; b) tactile "bump" when the switch strokes the middle position that indicates the moment where key is actually registered and c) a "bump" in the end of the finger movement when you actually hit the circuit. Last but not least, the thing about the mechanical switches is that you need much less pressure to make the keypress registered.

Both types of keyboard switches have advanages and disadvantages. The rubber domes are cheap and easy to produce, so it will not be a problem to change one for another if you break your keyboard (2nd conditional). On the other hand, the mechanical keyboards are more comfortable and less injuring prevent injuries, but are much more expensive. A common mechanical keyboard will probably cost you not less than 70 pounds, while a rubber dome keyboard will be ten times cheaper.

In conclusion, I would say that if you are a typewriter or a programme developer, you definitely want to try a mechanical keyboard. However if you do not type a lot, you should probably stick with a rubber dome one.

P.S. In the picture you can see the keyboard that I am using. It looks a bit weird, but you never know until you give it a try :)

February 14, 2015