Are there any mechanical keyboards with shorter switches?

[ckar]

After using laptop keyboards for a while going back to regular desktop keyboards with normal height switches just seems old fashioned. Especially since you don't really need the keystrokes to be that long. But I don't need them to be as short as laptop switches either. Are there any half height mechanical keyboard switches?

[Moistgun]

If the main issue is the distance you have to press the key down, then you can use o-rings to shorten the travel a bit. 

if you really dont like the height, theres nothing you can really do that will substantially affect that.  theres cherry ML switches, but they kind of suck

https://deskthority.net/wiki/Cherry_ML

[ckar]

How many layers of O rings can a switch like the MX browns take? I just ordered a pack of 120 o rings off ebay to be used on a tenkeyless keyboard.

[Moistgun]

How many layers of O rings can a switch like the MX browns take? I just ordered a pack of 120 o rings off ebay to be used on a tenkeyless keyboard.

It mostly depends on what the specific Orings are.
Can you link them?

Size of the ring will make the most difference. but also a harder ring will squish less, giving you maximum reduction of the travel. cutting out that little bit lost in the squish.

You can really only put one O ring on key. otherwise they will stop the key from actuating sometimes.

https://deskthority.net/wiki/Damping#O-rings

[ckar]

How are these ones?: http://www.ebay.com/itm/120Pcs-Silicone-Rubber-O-Ring-Switch-Dampeners-White-For-Cherry-MX-Keyboard-/271793918306?hash=item3f482e1162:g:mYYAAOSwBahU9ex3

[Moistgun]

I cant comment on those specific O rings, because there isn't really any real info there.

They are 1.5 mm thick though, and so are mine.
I use them on Gateron browns. and prefer them on the board as opposed to it without.

Just like anything else, it took some getting used to, but eventually I grew to like it a lot.

[ckar]

How is the 1.5mm measured? Seems a bit high.

The article you linked says for the official MX o rings:

Part number   Hardness   Travel reduction
40A-R   40A   0.4mm
40A-L   40A   0.2mm

.2mm vs .4mm vs 1.5mm is a huge difference

[Findecanor]

Kailh (Kaihua) makes a few switches that have 3 mm travel or 3.5 mm travel as opposed to 4 mm of Cherry MX.
They have been used by various keyboard manufacturers, and rebranded with those manufacturers names.

For instance, there is the SteelSeries QS1 with 3 mm travel, which is found in the SteelSeries Apex M800. The keyboard should not be confused with the non-mechanical keyboard with similar look, and it is a bit expensive.

A rebranded Kailh switch with 3.5 mm travel is found in Tesoro Gram. It is suspected to also be in Hori Edge, but that has not been confirmed yet.

3.5mm key travel is not much different from 4 mm in feel though. Also Alps (and Alps clones) and the Cherry MX "Speed"/"Silver" (Corsair Rapidfire) have ~3.5 mm key travel.
Kailh is supposed to come out with a clone of Cherry ML with comparable key travel but I have not seen any keyboard with it yet.

[Moistgun]

How is the 1.5mm measured? Seems a bit high

The article you linked says for the official MX o rings:

Part number   Hardness   Travel reduction
40A-R   40A   0.4mm
40A-L   40A   0.2mm

.2mm vs .4mm vs 1.5mm is a huge difference

I dont believe that the travel finalizes itself at the very end of the inside of the cap, but somewhere short of that and the ring closes the gap from the inside to short of the actual keypress completion point.

If you you put a 1.5mm oring on my f1 key, and no ring on the f2 key, depress both, you cant see a difference, but you can feel it slightly.

[Findecanor]

Yes. There are struts inside the key caps and they are designed so that there is a gap between those struts and the switch top when the key is pressed down fully.
When you install O-ring, those are pressed against those struts and will be compressed between struts and switch tops when you bottom out the keys. So the real reduction in key travel with O-rings is actually O-ring thickness minus gap distance.

Most factory keycaps for Cherry MX switches are in the so called "OEM profile". If you would use keycaps in "Cherry profile" (which Cherry uses for its own keyboards) then the gap is smaller so you would get a larger reduction in key travel with the same O-rings.

[Moistgun]

Yes. There are struts inside the key caps and they are designed so that there is a gap between those struts and the switch top when the key is pressed down fully.
When you install O-ring, those are pressed against those struts and will be compressed between struts and switch tops when you bottom out the keys. So the real reduction in key travel with O-rings is actually O-ring thickness minus gap distance.

Most factory keycaps for Cherry MX switches are in the so called "OEM profile". If you would use keycaps in "Cherry profile" (which Cherry uses for its own keyboards) then the gap is smaller so you would get a larger reduction in key travel with the same O-rings.

This is what I was trying to convey.  ^^^

Listen to this guy

Sent from my local payphone

[Zorox]

you can try Cherry MY low profile switch, it is a nice switch overall from my opinion

[klennkellon]

ALPS/Matias have less travel distance than MX

[thatllbeme]

Didn't Cherry + Corsair release some sort of 'speed' switch recently with a shorter travel distance? Might be worth looking into.

[KnivesM]

Didn't Cherry + Corsair release some sort of 'speed' switch recently with a shorter travel distance? Might be worth looking into.

Yea the Cherry Speed cuts down travel some, the actuation point will be before ML's but the total travel is a bit longer (0.4mm) linked a article below.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/cherry-mx-speed-switches-corsair,31648.html

[davkol]

https://deskthority.net/wiki/Category:Low_travel_switches

Also, the new design by TTC [reddit]

[ckar]

Didn't Cherry + Corsair release some sort of 'speed' switch recently with a shorter travel distance? Might be worth looking into.

Yea the Cherry Speed cuts down travel some, the actuation point will be before ML's but the total travel is a bit longer (0.4mm) linked a article below.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/cherry-mx-speed-switches-corsair,31648.html

When will keyboards with these new switches be out? The article you linked was back in April.

[Findecanor]

you can try Cherry MY low profile switch, it is a nice switch overall from my opinion

You are confusing it with Cherry ML, which was already mentioned above
Cherry MY is the full 4mm travel switch that is linear and not very much liked.

https://deskthority.net/wiki/Category:Low_travel_switches

The only contemporary mechanical switch in that list would be Cherry ML...

[KnivesM]

Didn't Cherry + Corsair release some sort of 'speed' switch recently with a shorter travel distance? Might be worth looking into.

Yea the Cherry Speed cuts down travel some, the actuation point will be before ML's but the total travel is a bit longer (0.4mm) linked a article below.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/cherry-mx-speed-switches-corsair,31648.html

When will keyboards with these new switches be out and will there be a tenkeyless version?

Corsairs got at least  2 out now.
RGB TKL
Fullsize

[ckar]

I can't find it in Canada, except off the corsair website, and they charge about $50 US shipping, which is a huge rip off.

How would a (MX brown + 1.5mm thick o rings) compare to the corsair MX speed keys, in terms of key travel distance?

These are the o rings I am talking about: http://www.ebay.com/itm/120Pcs-Silicone-Rubber-O-Ring-Switch-Dampeners-White-For-Cherry-MX-Keyboard-/271793918306?hash=item3f482e1162:g:mYYAAOSwBahU9ex3

[davkol]

Also, jailhouse blues.

[KnivesM]

I can't find it in Canada, except off the corsair website, and they charge about $50 US shipping, which is a huge rip off.

How would a (MX brown + 1.5mm thick o rings) compare to the corsair MX speed keys, in terms of key travel distance?

These are the o rings I am talking about: http://www.ebay.com/itm/120Pcs-Silicone-Rubber-O-Ring-Switch-Dampeners-White-For-Cherry-MX-Keyboard-/271793918306?hash=item3f482e1162:g:mYYAAOSwBahU9ex3

Haven't messed around with o-rings so I can't really  say on those. NCIX has the K65 with MX Speed on pre-order, everywhere else listed as Canadian retailers on corsairs site doesn't have the MX Speed version. I'm guessing that it's not out in Canada yet for whatever reason.

[ckar]

Since it is so early, are there any reviews of this keyboard out yet? Is it worth the hype?

I was thinking of holding off buying this and waiting for a more conservative looking keyboard with the same switches.

[KnivesM]

Since it is so early, are there any reviews of this keyboard out yet? Is it worth the hype?

I was thinking of holding off buying this and waiting for a more conservative looking keyboard with the same switches.

IIRC Corsair has a 1 or 2year exclusive deal like they did with MX Silent, so it would be a good while before other boards come out.