But it does amaze me how big the consumer market has become about keyboard switches, it has become insanely hobbyist. From buying a new keyboard I can appreciate how different each key can sound and feel but its become huge.
I preferred kv-300h for a long time, but recently got recommended lofree flow (underrepresented low profile stock niche). Now thinking about it sometimes. High-profile feels like a lot of work for fingers, unless you learn to avoid bottom-out. Gosh, even thinking about all these mkb nuances again makes me want to just kv-300h.
You mean Membran Keyboards? While there are membrane keyboards which feel half decent when new, they degrade very fast and especially uneven depending on key usage
Reading mkb community forums for a long time I can tell that this is either self-assurance or blind eye. Switches and mkbds break all the time and some people tend to make/use quick replace whole-switch mounts, which then creates alignment issues etc.
I use three membrane chiclet keyboards since around 2018 that have no wear signs apart from plastic desaturation of a package.
There are good models and bad models, regardless of a type.
Chiclet like the Apple one? I could never get used to its extremely shallow feel. But I do agree that mechanical isn’t necessarily better than alternatives.
For a current day overview of mechanical keyboard switches I don't think buckling-spring is that relevant. Deskthority probably has pages for it though.
I had a mechanical keyboard and the keys got sticky and as I was removing them mistakenly removed the switch which was unusually easy to do, now the keyboard is unusable and i need to soldier it back on.
Does anyone have experience with carpal tunnel or RSI and mechanical switches? I’ve heard some people recommend ZSA keyboards for ergonomics but I’m unsure if mechanical keys are healthy compared to the softer keys of older ergonomic keyboards like the ones Microsoft made.
Membrane "switches" have a pretty high actuation force all things considered (40-100g+), which is what the older MS keyboards use. There are plenty of mechanical switches that require less force to actuate, and Hall Effect switches can even have an adaptable activation point.
Hall Effect switches are a pretty recent (re)addition to the keyboard market, so it might be difficult to find an out of the box ergo keyboard with HE on them.
Most of them are on gaming keyboards due to the possibility of getting super small actuation and rebound windows for faster input.
So you'd probably need to do some DIY (there are switches available for purchase, might have to do more reasearch).
Yeah, I've always wondered if there's any basis for the idea that mechanical keyboards prevent RSI. This article doesn't help -- it says that the mechanism by which mechanical keyboards prevent RSI is "hard to explain without getting too technical" and then stumbles over some strange "gym mat" analogy that made no sense t ome.
Hall effect switches are more like the old hotness that fell out of style and is now viable again among the niche of people willing to pay high prices for keyboards.
Good mechanical keyboard can easily cost more than hall effect ones. It got worse when hotswappables came out and paying another hefty sum for just the replacement switches became easier / more acceptable.
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