As I mentioned a week ago, some tiny mechanical parts below the space bar of my old keyboard broke. That happened when I decided to clean the keyboard keys. I could take all the keys off but I should have been more careful with the space key. This was my favorite keyboard although it was an old membrane keyboard. I sometimes wondered if I should jump on the mechanical keyboard bandwagon but I never wanted to shell out that much money for a keyboard even if I liked the idea of using mechanical keyboards again. Back then it was normal to use mechanical keyboards, until companies started to produce membrane keyboards because the production is cheaper. But there is this trend again and especially typists or gamers want to get back to hight quality keyboards. So, now that my old membrane keyboard was basically broken, I decided to do it, I wanted to get myself a nice mechanical keyboard.
But the first issue was to get decent knowledge because when it’s about mechanical keyboards, it’s basically about deciding what type of switches you want to have below the key cabs and each of them come with a different feel or features. The different switches are named after colors, and when you remove a key, you can actually see the color and the switch. After some research I knew that typists prefer blue switches because they’re very tactile and clicky, I mean really, it feels a bit like using a type writer. But the clicks are kinda loud and while I liked the feel of pressing the keys, I thought I wouldn’t be able to play games with it nor did I think that I could bear with the clicky sound of the keys for a long time.
Gamers usually go for red switches because they are very linear and good for moments where you need fast reactions. That did put me into a bad spot because I am somewhere in between, I am both typist and gamer. Fortunately there are many other switches and I found out about brown switches which are still tactile but not as much as the blue ones and also not that clicky. The brown switches are basically somewhere between the blue and red ones. I went into different stores to test all the options and it felt really great to write on blue switches but it was absolutely horrible to write on red switches because there was zero tactile feedback but actuating was easier because of that. But when I tested brown switches, it was really like they were made for me.
I did put an Ikea desk together some weeks ago but I write about this another week. I just mention it because I did put some RGB LED tape behind the bench which is pretty cool because my new desk is now lit if I want it and I can change the colors or brightness. My computer mouse is RGB too but my old keyboard wasn’t. So, I liked the idea to get myself a keyboard with RGB feature as well. Another point was that I like minimalist keyboards where there is not much fancy stuff on the outside or wasted space. What I mean is, there shouldn’t be anything in front of the space bar nor should there be any material after the F keys. That’s how my old keyboard looked and I wanted that my new one is as minimalist. Now I had a decent idea of what I really was looking for.
As usual, there are two issues when you know what you want. First, you won’t have much choice. Second, you might need to be ready to pay a premium price for your demands. But given that mechanical keyboards are much more high-grade than membrane keyboards, and the fact that I use the keyboard a lot, I was ready to pay a bit more. At the end I just found three or four products that would have all the features I was asking for. Most of them with a pretty hefty price tag. I eventually decided for the Ducky One 2 RGB with brown Cherry MX switches and I ordered it on Amazon for €175 although I still had €100 on my Amazon account and I didn’t know how to use them anyway. I told myself that I would just have to pay €75, but that’s probably how I did sugarcoat the price (lol).
Last issue was that we had holidays and Amazon showed that I wouldn’t get the delivery before January. Fortunately I got it today and I was pretty excited to open the package. I already replied to some emails, I had a chat with a friend and now I wrote this post here. And I absolutely love to type on the brown switches. Before I got the keyboard, I was still worried that the brown switches might not be right for me but I totally nailed it. This is exactly the feel I was looking for. I also love all those RGB options and the fact that the keyboard is made to survive wars. By the way I am super picky when it’s about keyboards but after using it for a few hours, I can already say this will be my dream keyboard. A friend who is using mechanical keyboards as well said “It’s ironic that we often build high-end PC’s but our keyboards have been the cheapest part you could find”. I personally think he is right, if you are PC enthusiast, you should get yourself a high-quality keyboard as well, because you gonna use it every day. That’s also how I justified it. It was not easy to make that decision, but now I am absolutely happy about it.
Diary of Dennis 
I bought a Cherry MX keyboard (brown) and returned it. My family hated the noise.
Yes, they are quite a bit louder than membranes. I think there are other switch variants that are more silent. But blue, red and brown are quite loud. But it’s nice feedback that makes me write faster, however, I don’t annoy anyone with the noise here because I live alone.
I had no idea that there was such a choice in keyboards. I haven’t bought one in years. In fact, as David had bought a lot of secondhand computer equipment at auctions if one of us broke a keyboard or mouse there was usually another in the shed to replace it. This one that I use is a mechanical one and I like it because I touch type. I can’t recall now if it came with this computer or whether I did actually buy it to replace an earlier one. I found some of the “shed models” rather large and clunky as they were from much older computers. I am still thinking that I may have to replace my desktop computer soon. I’ve rescued it a couple of times but yesterday it froze several times when I was processing pictures and if it can’t do that job it is not much good to me.
Glad you are enjoying your new keyboard. Have a great New Year.
The market was already big with membrane keyboards but then mechanicals got a comeback and I followed it a bit but never decided to get one. Another year later I was blown away as well. Deciding for keyboards is now like shopping for clothes or food. You don’t like spinage? Don’t worry, buy red cabbage. No joke… so much features. Tons of options, it’s like it became a fashion product or hightly customizable tools lol. I like that, because I like areas where I can find things that appear to be made 100% for my personal workflow.
Yes, most keyboards were mechanical back then. I remembered how it was to write on these keyboards and these memories made me interested again. Althouth I must say they took it some steps further this time because of all those options you need to decide for or how fancy they look today if you decide for RGB variants for example.
I hope you get your issue solved, maybe someone can take a look? I remember you said you have techy people around you. Could be a lot of stuff, maybe your Windows installation is bloated and you need to start fresh… or other things. It isn’t always the PC, but I guess you know that. But of course, if it is, at some point the time has come. For me, buying new PC parts was always like Christmas time multiplied by 100. 🙂
Thank you. Absolutely love the fact that the keyboard is mostly metal parts, and the tactile feel the brown switches give, or the sound feedback of the keys. Makes me write ten time faster and that blind. I did annoy a friend today because I talked about the new keyboard 2 hours straight… but he was ok with this because he likes the mechanical trend too 😀 But I was a bit happy like a kid. Totally love my new Ducky keyboard.
I wish you the same Vanda. If we don’t talk again this year, have a great New Year too!
I will chat to my friends about it, the computer is 8 years old so I am pleased it’s run well for as long as it has. I would love to have a new one but trying to put off buying one for as long as I can as I have other things going on at present.
With luck it’s just a software issue because even old PC should work fairly well for image editing. I hope that can be solved on another way. I’m like you, I have two components that are getting old. My CPU and my mainboard, but I’m not planning to take care of this any time soon. My piggy bank needs some peace, got myself enough things in 2018.
Yes you did get yourself some nice things this year.
I’ve never been really happy with any of my laptop keyboards. For the price of the unit, the keyboard ought to be better … but you don’t get a choice about keyboards. This one is reasonably fast and it’s backlit, but the letters are actually wearing off the keys. Too much typing? the computer isn’t even two years old!
I had the keys wearing off from my old keyboard as well but it took over a decade. The question how often we have hit certain keys during the lifespan of a keyboard intrigued me a bit in the past, but not enought to install any tracking tools. But what I want to say is that we bloggers do put a lot more strain on our keys than gamers. They usually just use WASD keys, shift, alt, space bar and numbers on the keyboards a lot, while we writers heavily use the majority of the keys. It gets worse when you fit into both categories. I am not sure if the letters will ever wear off from my new keyboard, it looks to me like they’re transparent to let the RGB backlight shine through. Also they are PBT double-shot keycaps made for wars lol and the whole keyboard is made of metal.
I personally still think membrane keyboards are just fine. My old ones usually did cost me no more than €20 and looked good and also did give me a great typing experience. My last one survived 14 years or so. But this time I also wanted to invest in a premium keyboard because we always upgrade our systems to premium parts but not our keyboards, which is funny because we have a lot more physical contact with the keyboard. This time I thought me new keyboard had to be on par. And yeah, it feels a lot more high-grade now.
I think the wearing off is due to the amount of acid we produce, as individuals. I have the kind of acidic skin that turns silver bracelets black in days, and sure enough I have to paint my keyswith clear nail polish or they disappear in a few weeks. My husband has the same kind of keyboard and has no problem at all.
We still use Microsoft boards, they have a mild clicky sound and feel, and aren’t so cramped that an old Royal touch typist like me doesn’t feel like she’s performing Swan Lake in a phone booth…
We’ve tried other boards, but none suit us as well…
And it’s always a joy,isn’t it, to find something that suits so well. Bravo, bravo.
Yes. I am very complicated with things because when I am used to something, or if I exactly know what I want… it needs to be like that. I can get used to some things, but overall I prefer things that suit me from the beginning. That was never a problem with clothes, because we all know there are tons of options. I was a bit surprised that shopping for a keyboard is now similar… so many options that you can definitely find what you are looking for. And yep, then it’s a great joy. 🙂