Alrighty, so here is my grandiose impressions of all the switches presented to me from the Ultimate Switch Tester. Before I start, I'd like to take a second to thank Hashbaz for creating this tour to allow me and everybody else the opportunity to try the myriad of switch possibilities out there at very little to no expense!! I'd also like to thank Bossborot who as Hashbaz has said, took the time and expense to make this keyboard a possibility!!!
Here's how we're going to work this I'm going to break up this list into two sections, one section will contain the un-modified switches, and the other the modified switches. I will list each switch and the impression I got from that switch directly afterwards. Now, it is pertinent for me to say that I only have personal experience with Cherry MX Blue & Green switches, so that's why I was so excited for this opportunity! Anyway, let's begin
ROUND ONE, FIGHT!!!! (Un-Modified Cherry-MX Switches)Red: First time trying reds, and I have to say I don't hate it, but I don't particularly enjoy it either. The linearity of it combined with the lightness of the spring, it just doesn't do anything for me.
Blue: Been there, done that. Love the clickyness and sound of blues. Will say thought that I would prefer they were just a tad heavier.
Black: Same linearity as reds, but slightly heavier. Much more enjoyable than reds, would consider buying a keyboard with blacks.
Brown: Spent a lot of time on this one, really didn't feel all that different to me than reds do. The tactile bump doesn't seem pronounced to me at all, might have something to do with the lightness of the spring. Not crazy about this one.
Green: Using my CM Storm Trigger w/ Greens to type this review! Love green switches to death because they just feel so solid, and again, I love my clicky switches!
White: Wow, it's amazing that a switch with the same properties as greens can feel so different. They should nickname these switches "Muted Greens" because that's exactly what they sound like. Also feel lighter than greens do, which is weird because according to the GH Wiki, whites have a "very heavy" spring as opposed to greens "medium-heavy" spring.
Dark Grey: Feels like a red but with much heavier spring. If you haven't noticed I have a thing for heavier springs, because heavier springs are for real men.... just kidding
. Would definitely consider buying a whole keyboard with these.
Grey: I can definitely feel the tactile bump on this one, other than that I like the actuation force, so same impressions as Dark Greys with this switch, would buy.
Clear: Feels like a lighter Dark Grey with a very pronounced tactile bump. I like it, would buy.
Toggle: Never knew they made Cherry Toggle switches. I want to point out something however. Apparently the Toggle switch with the lighter spring is to the left of the regular toggle switch... Well nothing for nothing but the one to the left that's supposedly lighter does not in fact, feel lighter than the regular toggle switch. I'd dare say it feels a lot heavier, so that just might be an error in the graph, or maybe I'm batsh*t insane who knows
ROUND TWO, FIGHT!!!!! (Modified Switches)Ergo Clear: Seen many of my fellow GH'er's running ergo-clears in their custom-built keyboards, so I'm a bit excited to see what all the buzz is about! Well the verdict is pretty simple, I do like them! Very crisp action on these, much like the Wiki says, but again, I do wish it was a tadddd heavier. Definitely wouldn't mind my very own ergo-clear board though!
Ghetto Red: Feels exactly like a red... nuff said.
Red w/ Black Spring: Feels exactly like a black.... nuff said
Red w/ Clear Spring: Feels a little heavier than reds....
Black w/ Clear Spring: Same as above...
Brown w/ Clear Spring: Not as crisp as ergo clears, feels sloppy like browns do.
Brown w/ Black Spring: Feels better than browns w/ clear springs, but still doesn't interest me.
Blue w/ Clear Spring: LOVE IT!!!! Love the sound it makes too, it's everything I love about blues, but with a slightly heavier spring.... LOVE IT! Nice and crisp too... NOMNOMNOM!
White w/ Clear Spring: Now see this is weird because now the click is more pronounced... with just a different spring? So weird man, but I really do like these, not as crisp as the blue w/ clear though.
Blue w/ Black Spring: LOVE! this a little more than the blue w/ clear spring.... I think I know what I'm going to mod my Pure Pro with now....
White w/ Black Spring: The quiet man's blue w/ black spring, I love it!
ROUND THREE, FIGHT!!!! (B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B... BONUS ROUND!)So what does it feel like to type on a board with a myriad of different switches on it? Well it feels really freaking weird let me tell you what! I mean obviously we aren't always typing at our fastest typing speed, so during those moments when you're slowly typing a word out, and you go to press that one letter, suddenly the switch you hit has COMPLETELY different properties than the last, and it just causes an odd feeling in the muscles of your hand.
Doing a quick test on
www.10fastfingers.com solidifies something about myself that I already knew. It doesn't really matter which keyboard I'm typing on, I can generally type almost the same speed on every keyboard. What matters to me in terms of typing speed is the size and shape of the keycap, which can be a problem on some laptops and whatnot. Anyway, I managed a pretty speedy 109 words per minute on that 10fastfingers test, and could probably do better with subsequent tests.
ConclusionsSo this was incredibly interesting I must say, and there's quite a few things I've learned from using the UST, so I'm just going to list them out.
-Will never buy a board with Red or Browns
-Love Ergo-Clears, given the money and resources I'd get my own board with ergo-clears
-LOVE LOVE LOVE! Blues with black springs, definitely going to mod my Pure Pro with black springs when I get the chance!
-Love me them White w/ black springs as well, would be nice to mod a board with these on them, and use it in the work-space
-Would consider buying a keyboard with Blacks, Dark Greys, or even Greys
ANNNNNNDDDD that's it ladies and gentlemen, hope you enjoyed the review! Thanks again to Hashbaz & Bossborot for making this possible! I will keep the board for another day or two and perhaps make changes to some of my impressions, and then ship it out to the next person!
PEACE OUT!
