Newbie looking for recommendation: short travel or quiet

[meow9th]

I'm thinking about getting mechanical keyboards for my boyfriend and/or me, but I'm worried that our priorities are at odds with what mechanical keyboards are like.

My boyfriend:
Above all, he wants a quiet keyboard. He is a quiet person in general, yells (quietly) at me if I walk too loudly, etc. He treats everything well: his phone is 3 years old and looks like new. He wants a mechanical keyboard because they're 'cool' and Cherry force diagrams are sexy, but he's afraid of how loud they are. We listened to Youtube videos of switch noise comparisons and all of them were way, way too loud.

• He mostly games, types little.
• I doubt he ever bottoms out.

Me:
I'm not at all a quiet person, and I'm not gentle with my devices: my phone looked like it was 3 years old after 3 months. My first experience with mechanical switches was 15 years ago, in a school computer lab. I don't know what kind of keyboard it was, but my typing was highly tactile, sounded like a machine gun and I loved it. Then I had a few years where Thinkpad laptops were my only computer, and I got really used to the short travel distance of the scissor switch. I had the opportunity to steal an IBM Model M at one point and used it for over a year, and found that 1) it was not the same mechanical keyboard as the one I loved so many years ago and 2) the extremely long travel distance was utterly exhausting. The travel distance on the Model M was, I believe, longer than the way back mechanical, but who knows how accurate my recollection is.

• I only type, never game on my desktop.
• I always bottom out.
• I want a full numpad.

We're both currently using super-cheap keyboards we got on Newegg (mine is a Rosewill scissor switch, his is probably some dome thing). I just want a more tactile and less mushy feel, but I'm not willing to sacrifice a lot of travel distance.

Do you think there are mechanical keyboards out there for us? Or should we just stick with our current solutions?

[tp4tissue]

I'm thinking about getting mechanical keyboards for my boyfriend and/or me, but I'm worried that our priorities are at odds with what mechanical keyboards are like.

My boyfriend:

• He mostly games, types little.

• I doubt he ever bottoms out.

[/list]

Me:

• I only type, never game on my desktop.

• I always bottom out.
• I want a full numpad.

We're both currently using super-cheap keyboards we got on Newegg (mine is a Rosewill scissor switch, his is probably some dome thing). I just want a more tactile and less mushy feel, but I'm not willing to sacrifice a lot of travel distance.

Do you think there are mechanical keyboards out there for us? Or should we just stick with our current solutions?

Awww.. poor you.... 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAAA


The only truely quiet mechanical keyboards are the TOPRE Silent... and standard RUBBERDOME..

ALL MX will be loud even with o-ring dampening...


The matias quiet pro, is "SUPPOSE" to be quiet, but IMO they're not that much more quiet than dampened MX,

And a major issue is they don't make custom keycaps for the quiet pro alps switches, so you can't personalize your keyboards in the future...


If there's nothing wrong with what you have now.. There really isn't any reason for you to go mechanical...


The only reason, most of the people made the leap here was because of "false promises" made by manufacturers, or nostalgia

Since I'd assume you are too young to remember model M, nostalgia's out.

And as for the manufacturer claims of, IMPROVED accuracy, and SPEED...  Sean Wrona sets record on any keyboard anytime...

Though now he speaks differently since he got sponsored by DAS keyboards.


You also DO NOT want to get a DAS because they switched oems and are no longer the quality they used to be.

[Hyde]

For your boyfriend:

He has a few options for quiet mechanical keyboards, he can either buy Matias Quiet Pro or Cherry MX Red + o-ring.  That should give you the quietest experience BUT the drawback is the sound dampening mechanism sort of make it feel s bit "mushy".  To me I feel like it's a trade off that I'm not willing to take but I've also read other users who enjoy this combination.  So you might have to try it out to see.

In his case another option is to stick to scissor switch like Logitech Illuminated Keyboard or something like that.  Those are really quiet.  As much as mechanical keyboards are "cool", they really are generally louder so you have to decide what he's willing to sacrifice.  Typing feel or sound?

For you:

If it's not buckling spring it could potentially be ALPS, so you can probably try Matias Tactile Pro.  Another "modern" option is cherry mx blue.  Both are tactile and loud but ALPS is more tactile and louder, it sounds like it's closer to your description.

Another thing to keep in mind is, generally mechanical keyboard have a full travel distance.  If you're used to laptop keys then it might be a bit odd for you.  You can install o-ring to reduce the travel distance, but then again in my opinion it kills the typing feel then you're better off just to stick to scissor switch.

In your case you have to decide if you can live with the long travel distance.  Personally my last keyboard also had a short travel and the switch took a little bit of time but now I don't regret switching, hope this helps 

EDIT:

lol saw tp4tissue's post just now, I do kind of agree with him.  You don't really have to switch because it's "cool".  There's nothing wrong with using what you have now.  However you could switch because you want to try different things.  Because sometimes in life you never know until you tried.  I haven't try Topre Silent but I have to say Matias Quiet Pro is pretty quiet.  At least the quietest mechanical I've tried.

[tp4tissue]

For your boyfriend:

He has a few options for quiet mechanical keyboards, he can either buy Matias Quiet Pro or Cherry MX Red + o-ring.  That should give you the quietest experience BUT the drawback is the sound dampening mechanism sort of make it feel s bit "mushy".  To me I feel like it's a trade off that I'm not willing to take but I've also read other users who enjoy this combination.  So you might have to try it out to see.

In his case another option is to stick to scissor switch like Logitech Illuminated Keyboard or something like that.  Those are really quiet.  As much as mechanical keyboards are "cool", they really are generally louder so you have to decide what he's willing to sacrifice.  Typing feel or sound?

For you:

If it's not buckling spring it could potentially be ALPS, so you can probably try Matias Tactile Pro.  Another "modern" option is cherry mx blue.  Both are tactile and loud but ALPS is more tactile and louder, it sounds like it's closer to your description.

Another thing to keep in mind is, generally mechanical keyboard have a full travel distance.  If you're used to laptop keys then it might be a bit odd for you.  You can install o-ring to reduce the travel distance, but then again in my opinion it kills the typing feel then you're better off just to stick to scissor switch.

In your case you have to decide if you can live with the long travel distance.  Personally my last keyboard also had a short travel and the switch took a little bit of time but now I don't regret switching, hope this helps 

Don't worry about Travel distance...

People get used to it...

However, if you ever intend to go 130wpm +, then consider low travel, because it makes timing easier.

[Binge]

I'm thinking about getting mechanical keyboards for my boyfriend and/or me, but I'm worried that our priorities are at odds with what mechanical keyboards are like.

My boyfriend:
Above all, he wants a quiet keyboard. He is a quiet person in general, yells (quietly) at me if I walk too loudly, etc. He treats everything well: his phone is 3 years old and looks like new. He wants a mechanical keyboard because they're 'cool' and Cherry force diagrams are sexy, but he's afraid of how loud they are. We listened to Youtube videos of switch noise comparisons and all of them were way, way too loud.

• He mostly games, types little.
• I doubt he ever bottoms out.

Me:
I'm not at all a quiet person, and I'm not gentle with my devices: my phone looked like it was 3 years old after 3 months. My first experience with mechanical switches was 15 years ago, in a school computer lab. I don't know what kind of keyboard it was, but my typing was highly tactile, sounded like a machine gun and I loved it. Then I had a few years where Thinkpad laptops were my only computer, and I got really used to the short travel distance of the scissor switch. I had the opportunity to steal an IBM Model M at one point and used it for over a year, and found that 1) it was not the same mechanical keyboard as the one I loved so many years ago and 2) the extremely long travel distance was utterly exhausting. The travel distance on the Model M was, I believe, longer than the way back mechanical, but who knows how accurate my recollection is.

• I only type, never game on my desktop.
• I always bottom out.
• I want a full numpad.

We're both currently using super-cheap keyboards we got on Newegg (mine is a Rosewill scissor switch, his is probably some dome thing). I just want a more tactile and less mushy feel, but I'm not willing to sacrifice a lot of travel distance.

Do you think there are mechanical keyboards out there for us? Or should we just stick with our current solutions?

Your boyfriend - Matias Quiet series keyboards www.matias.ca
You - Matias Tactile Pro www.matias.ca

[meow9th]

For your boyfriend:
...
For you:

Your boyfriend - Matias Quiet series keyboards www.matias.ca
You - Matias Tactile Pro www.matias.ca

Thanks for the recommendations, that's exactly the kind of information I was looking for. The Matias Quiet Pro does seem like it might work for my boyfriend. It might make a good birthday present.

If I get it for him, I was thinking I could try it out to check the key travel (or perceived key travel) and see how I feel about it, and then get the Tactile Pro for myself if I like it.

Don't worry about Travel distance...

People get used to it...

However, if you ever intend to go 130wpm +, then consider low travel, because it makes timing easier.

I'm not sure if my perception of key travel is more related to switch actuation and weighting than actual travel distance, but what I do know is that I never got used to the Model M even after a year. I wanted to like the Model M so much because everybody think it's the ultimate, but in the end I couldn't deny the truth. Typing on the Model M was like walking with 20 lb weights attached to my ankles, while typing on the Thinkpad keyboards felt like I was barely skimming the ground. Maybe it's because I type at 110-130 wpm, usually.

I would really like a crisper, more tactile feel, but if I have to stick with scissor switch for the key travel, then I will.

[Glenn315]

You guys are cute. xD

[Burz]

A Quiet Pro has less travel distance than a Cherry MX. ALPS-type keyboards are closer to 'medium' in that sense. The MQP has a very high approval rating overall, judging from peoples' responses to it. I'm waiting for my pre-order of the mini version to be shipped.

If you like Thinkpad keyboards Lenovo sells them as separate USB models you can put right on your desk. They cost about $55 and include a TrackPoint. Based on what you've said so far, I think this is more of a sure bet. Just google 'thinkpad usb keyboard' to find them.