I need a mechanical keyboard...

[Nickster258]

Ok Idk who told tyler mech keyboards are not made for typing but they ARE infact made for typing. A mech keyboard improves the joy of typing simply because the user doesn't have to bottom out the key for it to actuate. Also I dislike cherry mx switches (RED and BLACK are terrible for typing btw, blue and green are good) because they are MADE to suck in dust basicly. They are extreamly unreliable and generally break with in 2 years.

The way the cherry switch works is when you press it down it travels 2mm to when the switch clicks and actuates and 4mm to when it bottoms out. The issue is when it bottoms out dust gets sucked into the switch mechanism because of the low pressure the plunger leaves behind and the fact that the key switch is not sealed by the keycap from the outside air (Like on a buckling spring design).

Look at this animation:



The thing is practically made to suck dust. Also notice how the white plunger travels up and down on the main blue plunger (Which makes the click) Those things always get stuck and then you are left with no click (Like after spilling a drink or handling the keyboard wrong).

The buckling spring switch was designed by IBM in the mid 1980s for typewriters and the original IBM AT computer. Most industrial work places use these keyboards still to this day because they last upwords of 20 years. The buckling spring switch is a bit different from the mx switch. The spring gets pushed down until it actually buckles in the center and causes a click and a tactile feedback and strikes down on a hammer which hits a membrane pad. Also the key switch is sealed from the outside elements by the keycap itself.



Notice how its only 3 moving parts which are all sealed from the outside compared to the open plunger and 4 moving parts of the mx blue.

IBM no longer makes theses keyboards but a company called unicomp does and they are quite cheep at around 80$.
Many state and I do believe that the buckling spring is the best switch design and provides a better tactile feel compared to cherry mx blue or even green. And don't listen to that "you can't game on it bullshit" I play BF3 with it just fine.

http://pckeyboard.com/

Here is some sound clips compared to mx blues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpyQu1qj2FM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMG25ZkteXg

As a note for how durable the buckling spring switch is I will leave you with this. This keyboard is 22 years old:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ80bIUEMyQ

Thanks cutlass. While I do see the benefits for buckling spring keyswitches, I really like the 'modern' switches along with a much sleeker appearance of the keyboard than the 80s.

Also, my keyboard has a five year warranty and I am extremely happy about that.