Quote:
Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze
Has anyone else found that owning a mechanical bluetooth keyboard leads to compulsive typing?
I picked up a Varmilo VB87M with Cherry MX Blue switches on Massdrop a few months ago. Getting it to pair with all of my main devices was arduous, but the feel and sound of the keys are so satisfying that I find myself typing even when I'm not driven to input flurries of phrases and images. That's how fun mechanical keyboards can be: They can actually inspire you.
This one also has backlit LEDs for typing in the dark (if your touch memorization doesn't extend to certain key commands and alternate characters). You can customize mechanical keyboards endlessly as well -- different keycaps, metal/acrylic cases, stabilizers, etc. -- but for now, I'm happy with this one as is.
Because I've enjoyed using this keyboard so much, I just bought a WASD Code with MX Clears for editing at work. Clears are a tad quieter than blues and there's little point in using any keyboard that feels less than delicious if you have a choice.
Has anyone else been fondling mechanical keyboards of late? If you're a composer as well as a writer, you might have found that spinning out musical and verbal phrases can feel satisfyingly similar. That's especially true when the keys on both sorts of board feel perfect.
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Bwehehe.... welcome to the 80's.
Mechanical keyboards, such as the IBM M, where the default in those days. I've started on an old Olivetti computer, which had a keyboard that was basically a relabeled IBM M. (I didn't know this back then.) I used it from 1990 to 1994, and sold it with the keyboard.
I never found a keyboard as good as that one, but I didn't know why. So, I typed on all sorts of different stuff, eventually finding the Logitech UltraX keyboard. It was the best I've found, after the Olivetti board. The scissor switches tend to break after 3-4 years however, so I bought 4 extra just before they phased out.
Then, 2012, I started hearing about mechanical keyboards. In the Netherlands, they were very expensive, and very hard to find, and I found the Blue switches too noisy and too light. After researching, I encountered the newer MX Green, which are basically a heavier MX Blue, but they weren't used in many keyboards, because their activation point is very heavy compared to the Blue's and many people seem to be unable to handle them. So, I waited if there would be a keyboard available in US QWERTY in Europe, using the green switches.
Last year, I found out about the WASD CODE (it already has dampers installed below the green switches), and took a chance, getting it in Germany for almost €200.
Making a long story very short: I think I'm going to get one for my upcoming computer somewhere in the beginning of next year, and one as a spare.
Back to they 80's we go, when everything was better
I always think it's funny, when people discover something 'new', which is just something very old but brought back as 'high end stuff'. With regard to mechanical keyboards, I now know why a keyboard in the 80's cost like fl. 500 (+/- 225), and suddenly starting dropping towards fl. 30-60 (€14-28) in the 90's. Now, a €195 mechanical keyboard doesn't seem expensive. Actually, taking inflation into account, the mechanicals are FAR more cheaper now than they were in the 80's.