Why mechanical keyboards?
April 1st 2018
Keyboard and me in a few sentence: when I was 6, I've met my destiny, as my motherinroduced me to her very own Brother typewriter. I learned to type as kid, so a few years later, when we had computer class in school, I was already ahead of the others, I didn't need to look for every key. I can't touchtype with all fingers, but close, I don't have to look down. I can type well in English and Hungarian too.
I love to type, and I changed keyboards frequently. About little more than two years ago I started to look for mechanical keyboards. Soon realized they are an expensive investment and I didn't have a lot of money at that time. I also wanted to have a keyboard in my native language, so I don't have to use AltGr every time for some à or some other keys.
Luckily I've found a cheaper model, called Tesoro. A full keyboard, with numeric part and in Hungarian. I originally wanted to have with brown keys, but the webshop said, it won't be available before Christmas. I really wanted one, so I ordered the blue one instead. Blue switches means usually that the keys are loud and tactile, you have physical feedback under your fingertips. When it arrived I typed for like 3-4 hours straight.
At first my right wrist heart, but soon I got used to it and after 2-3 days I could type pain-free. Mechanical keyboards are a dream for a serious computer user. Yes, it can be noise (blue, remember!), but it has the feeling of the old keyboards, from the days that I started to use computers.
Occasionaly I clean it, since I still like to eat near my computer, but it worth the time, plus it is very easy to take keys out. I don't have a dedicated tool, but a made one, with long wires, that I can safely pull out the keys.
I type much faster with it, I make less mistakes and with unlike regular keyboard, I am much less tired using it for a longer period of time.
While mechanical keyboards are not cheap, it is definitely a long term investment. Whether if you are a gamer or a programer, writer, it is worth the value. I highly recommend checking out some videos, so you can decide which mechanical keys fits you most. If you are lucky maybe you can try out some of them localy in a store (I bought mine blind, online).
Also, the looks can be decieving. Buy something simple. Programmable keys? Backlight? These are extras you might not need.
Switches probably the most important thing you need to research, since it will alter your writing habits the most. Blues are clicky and tactile and best suits for writers or coders, browns are tactile, but not clicky. Reds are generally better for gamers, but there are many more variations. I highly recommend to check out the r/mechanicalkeyboards subreddit, where the wiki and the community can help anyone interested. Just don't blame me for, if you become an addict.
I like my first keyboard, but after 2 years I wanted to change, and with a bit of luck, I bought a Magicforce 68 (in March 2018), with outemu brown switches. It was really cheap, from Amazon. This is my first, not full keyboard. It is a 65% keyboard, which means that it has no numpad and function row, but it has still have arrowkeys and a small cluster of usefull buttons (insert, delete, pageup, pagedown). It is a little bit bigger than a 60% keyboard, which has no arrow keys. I feel that I made the right choice with this one too. I like the brown switches so far, even though it is probably the weaker clone of the Cherry MX switches.
So this is my small intro to the world of mechanical keyboards. As of right now, I want to try orings with my keycaps and a nice set of keycaps to complete a nice look for the Magicforce 68.