Mechanical Keyboard!
20 Sep 2022 05:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cimoreneI know I posted about mechanical keyboards once before, but I couldn't find the post just now, so I must've not tagged it correctly at the time.
Anyway, I learned a few years ago about the existence of mechanical keyboards, or it would be more accurate to say that I learned that the keyboards I grew up using through the 1990s are not built with the same technology as standard modern keyboards. I miss vintage keyboards a lot - the feel more, but the appearance also. I grew up with a Commodore 64, and I loved its big fat beige and brown keys. The experience of those old beige keyboards from the 1990s too though!
The old-fashioned keyboards are called "mechanical keyboards" because each key has a mechanism with some kind of spring that causes the switch to press on a circuit when you press the key. They're the minority nowadays and presumably significantly more expensive to produce. The largest group of consumers of mechanical keyboards seems to be gamers (although there are also just enthusiasts and, apparently, typists), but it's kinda a niche thing, so they're a little pricey.
And once you take a special interest in them, like for instance because you specifically want the keys that have a slightly greater tactile resistance and then they have a little bump when they connect and they also make an audible CLICK! noise - then they get really pricey, because that's apparently the least popular type of key switch for gamers (who like smooth and fast, and also silent, understandably enough). (Everyone says right away that clicky switches are popular with typists, which - yeah. Of course.)
Anyway, the point is, I had conversations with a few people in the last year or so, includingvass, about intending to try out a more affordable sort of mechanical keyboard and see how I liked it, and then maybe dipping a toe into customization later (what the biggest keyboard nerds do is build keyboards completely from scratch, but intermediate nerds like to buy different colored and decorative keys and swap them out themselves).
But it turns out that when I looked up Scandinavian keyboard stores - because that's the pool that use the same keyboard layout, referred to as "Scandi" even though it's used in Finland too and Finland isn't Scandinavian - that there's a more limited pool of products offered than for people who want a standard keyboard like they use in America. And if you want a full-sized keyboard with the arrow keys and the numberpad, that's an even MORE limited pool (the gamers all want cool portable keyboards that omit the side keys and the F row, apparently - these are referred to as 60% and 75% layouts). And when you want a full-sized mechanical keyboard with the least popular type of switches... well, the cheapest option is already over 100 bucks. So my plan didn't exactly pan out. I could've tried out a mechanical keyboard with the wrong switches, or one with the clicky switches but no arrows and numbers, more affordably, but not both.
I waited until I got my tax refund and my first paycheck was a week out to order this keyboard, therefore. It's my favorite of the ones that were available and met all of those criteria, because my favorite one only cost 40€ more than the cheapest one that did. It's made by Varmilo, which seems to be one of the most prolific makers of colorful pre-assembled mechanical keyboards around here. I got it from a gaming store called MaxGaming.fi (Jimm's PC store, a shop based in Turku, has some too, but not as many and without as much filtering in their webshop).
It's delightful to use, although the keys feel a little lighter than my favorite kind of vintage key mechanisms (it seems possible that what I'm remembering there are buckling spring switches, which aren't made anymore). Also it's super heavy, which was a surprise! Not problematically so - it weighs less than a cat - but just surprisingly so, every time I pick it up. Which I do, because I type with the keyboard in my lap. It even came with a little clear hard plastic cover that prevents unwanted key depressions (and hopefully bunny fur infiltrations).
Anyway, I learned a few years ago about the existence of mechanical keyboards, or it would be more accurate to say that I learned that the keyboards I grew up using through the 1990s are not built with the same technology as standard modern keyboards. I miss vintage keyboards a lot - the feel more, but the appearance also. I grew up with a Commodore 64, and I loved its big fat beige and brown keys. The experience of those old beige keyboards from the 1990s too though!
The old-fashioned keyboards are called "mechanical keyboards" because each key has a mechanism with some kind of spring that causes the switch to press on a circuit when you press the key. They're the minority nowadays and presumably significantly more expensive to produce. The largest group of consumers of mechanical keyboards seems to be gamers (although there are also just enthusiasts and, apparently, typists), but it's kinda a niche thing, so they're a little pricey.
And once you take a special interest in them, like for instance because you specifically want the keys that have a slightly greater tactile resistance and then they have a little bump when they connect and they also make an audible CLICK! noise - then they get really pricey, because that's apparently the least popular type of key switch for gamers (who like smooth and fast, and also silent, understandably enough). (Everyone says right away that clicky switches are popular with typists, which - yeah. Of course.)
Anyway, the point is, I had conversations with a few people in the last year or so, including
vass, about intending to try out a more affordable sort of mechanical keyboard and see how I liked it, and then maybe dipping a toe into customization later (what the biggest keyboard nerds do is build keyboards completely from scratch, but intermediate nerds like to buy different colored and decorative keys and swap them out themselves). But it turns out that when I looked up Scandinavian keyboard stores - because that's the pool that use the same keyboard layout, referred to as "Scandi" even though it's used in Finland too and Finland isn't Scandinavian - that there's a more limited pool of products offered than for people who want a standard keyboard like they use in America. And if you want a full-sized keyboard with the arrow keys and the numberpad, that's an even MORE limited pool (the gamers all want cool portable keyboards that omit the side keys and the F row, apparently - these are referred to as 60% and 75% layouts). And when you want a full-sized mechanical keyboard with the least popular type of switches... well, the cheapest option is already over 100 bucks. So my plan didn't exactly pan out. I could've tried out a mechanical keyboard with the wrong switches, or one with the clicky switches but no arrows and numbers, more affordably, but not both.
I waited until I got my tax refund and my first paycheck was a week out to order this keyboard, therefore. It's my favorite of the ones that were available and met all of those criteria, because my favorite one only cost 40€ more than the cheapest one that did. It's made by Varmilo, which seems to be one of the most prolific makers of colorful pre-assembled mechanical keyboards around here. I got it from a gaming store called MaxGaming.fi (Jimm's PC store, a shop based in Turku, has some too, but not as many and without as much filtering in their webshop).
It's delightful to use, although the keys feel a little lighter than my favorite kind of vintage key mechanisms (it seems possible that what I'm remembering there are buckling spring switches, which aren't made anymore). Also it's super heavy, which was a surprise! Not problematically so - it weighs less than a cat - but just surprisingly so, every time I pick it up. Which I do, because I type with the keyboard in my lap. It even came with a little clear hard plastic cover that prevents unwanted key depressions (and hopefully bunny fur infiltrations).
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Date: 20 Sep 2022 04:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 20 Sep 2022 05:10 pm (UTC)The nice thing about dipping into the slightly more "intermediate nerd" side of things rather than fully surface-level is that you get to the aesthetically pleasing ones, not just siqq 1337 RGB game haxx0r keyboards :P It is very lovely looking!
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Date: 20 Sep 2022 05:57 pm (UTC)Yes, I wasn't really impressed with the solid white and black keyboards with RGB backlighting. None of them are both full-sized and equipped with blue switches though, so I didn't have to debate it with myself!
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Date: 20 Sep 2022 06:07 pm (UTC)https://www.wasdkeyboards.com/
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Date: 20 Sep 2022 06:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 22 Sep 2022 01:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 22 Sep 2022 02:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 22 Sep 2022 02:52 pm (UTC)