[u-u] Keyboards...

[Giles Orr]

There's a big split in the "mechanical keyboards" world between gamers and
non-gamers.  People who type code and/or word documents and don't game lean
to the old IBM buckling spring keys or the Cherry (or equivalent) Browns,
Blues, and Greens with tactile feedback (and possibly auditory feedback),
whereas gamers seem to want linear response in their keyboards and thus go
for the Reds and Blacks.  I got into this a lot in a blog post of mine:

https://www.gilesorr.com/blog/computer-keyboards.html

... although there are many other guides out there, some quite likely
better.  Personally, I'm a fan of Blues - but the point is, you need to try
them yourself and know what you're going to be using them for.  I'd second
the suggestion that anyone in doubt go to Canada Computers: most of their
stores have a long aisle of many types of keyboards, usually with several
mechanical ones with different Cherry key colours.

Cherry's success - and relatively high keyswitch price - has led to growth
in keyswitch manufacturers.  They all seem to use Cherry's colour scheme
and behaviour patterns, which is a substantial blessing.  I've stuck with
the Cherrys, but have encountered several keyboards (either owned by
friends or at Canada Computers) with other manufacturer keyswitches, and
I'd say there's very little practical difference.  I think some of the
knock-offs have a lower mean-time-to-failure rating, but when the number is
still in the millions, are you really concerned?

"N-key rollover" (ie. how many keys can be pressed at once before the
keyboard becomes confused) is also a big issue for gamers - less so for
anyone else so long as N >= 3.  Or maybe 4.  Anyway, it's not an issue
that's concerned me greatly, but I wanted to throw out the term so people
who need it will know what to look for on the box.

On 13 October 2017 at 11:46, Alex Lebedev <a.lebede at gmail.com> wrote:

> Canada computers by college and spidana has minimal keyboards in the
> display.
>
> BTW this conversation is well timed. I a. In need of a keyboard and
> considering mechanical (MX reds probably) with a numpad and no-ghost. I
> play some games that often involve significant number of keys pressed
> together.
>

-- 
Giles
https://www.gilesorr.com/
gilesorr at gmail.com
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