The ultimate keyboard.

[Anubis]

Hi everybody, my name is Kai and I am from Germany. I have been seeking for a forum like this for weeks, and finally I found it!

So.. well, I am seeking a keyboard to suit my needs, I have read some threads in here and some people seem to have superior knowledge about keyboards. I am seeking a keyboard that can handle fast and repetitive use of space bar. Basically I need a keyboard for the only purpose to hit space bar as fast as possible with my 3 fingers (I am a guitar player and have got about 150-200 hits per 10 seconds). The keyboard needs to be resistant and that it reacts really quick, there shouldn't be much delay before the keypress registers.

Which technology and which manufacture could you guys suggest? I am thankful for any tips. I have been seeking for a keyboard like this for years.. I know most technologies this forum covers, but I have no idea which technology is the fastest to react, that's what I am seeking.

Regards, Kai.

[IBI]

15 times a second? How confident are you about that number? It's awfully high.

For the durability the black cherries seem to be the ones to go for, but I don't know if they react fast enough.

[iMav]

I think the short throw keyswitches on the Cherry 4100's might be a good choice.

[Anubis]

Thanks for your replies!

I am very confident about that number because there exist a program that counts the taps per seconds and I have been doing it for 6-7 years. It's a finger technique used when playing guitar really fast, called tapping, and I am by far not the fastest.

I will check out 4100's, what about mechanical keyboards, the actual key press registers after 1mm-1,5mm, the key gets 'bumped' back up very fast and the construction is very stable. Basically most keyboards can't handle the speed I enforce on it, the space bar doesn't spring back fast enough to register the next key press.

[IBI]

Thanks for your replies!

I am very confident about that number because there exist a program that counts the taps per seconds and I have been doing it for 6-7 years. It's a finger technique used when playing guitar really fast, called tapping, and I am by far not the fastest.

Yeah, I just asked because these things can be hard to guess but I can well believe it if you've measured it.

Have you tried any keyboards with metal springs before?

The cherry ML switches on the G84-4100 do seem to be a good place to start, they apparently use metal springs and they're short travel.

Are there any online or free utilities to count keys pressed per second? If 15 isn't too hard to acheive then maybe some of the people who already have various keyswitches can try them.

p.s. Could the metal stabiliser rods under the spacebar be the limiting factor?

[bhtooefr]

It wouldn't be too hard to whip one up in JavaScript, give me a couple minutes. Seeing as we're only testing the spacebar...

(It'll start the timer at the first keystroke, and display a running keystrokes per second number, an average number, and the current number (and if there were no keystrokes in a second, stop, although I won't implement that right now.))

Edit: Bah, my JavaScript is rustier than I thought it was.

[Anubis]

I will upload it right away.

I am about to order an iOne Scorpius M10, I told the shop that they shall open up the keyboard before sending to me, I will not accept any bad sodering / over heating. I hope they do that.

[sashomasho]

I will upload it right away.

I am about to order an iOne Scorpius M10, I told the shop that they shall open up the keyboard before sending to me, I will not accept any bad sodering / over heating. I hope they do that.

The scorpious is very clicky, especially the space bar, although I think that after 3 months the click is no longer this high pitched as it was at the beginning. Are you sure that this clickiness will not have an impact on what you are doing? 15 times a second, you've better keep your ears

[Anubis]

The scorpious is very clicky, especially the space bar, although I think that after 3 months the click is no longer this high pitched as it was at the beginning. Are you sure that this clickiness will not have an impact on what you are doing? 15 times a second, you've better keep your ears

No, not really my friend.
When I am 'doing' this intensive tapping I always listen to loud metal music, so that erases all noises around me.

I just hope the space bar won't get slower.

[xsphat]

What do you do with the space bar the you have to hit it 15 times a second? Are you into speed trivia or something?

[IBI]

The fastest player I've seen on my usual trivia channel is 2 seconds for a five letter answer. This is eight times faster.

I seem to be consistently maxing out at 12.5 on a Raptor-gaming K1 (black cherries) with a few rounds of practice. Maybe that's me but it does seem a suspiciously even number, exactly 80ms between keystrokes. It makes me wonder if it's some of the electronics ignoring signals for that long after the key has been pressed (to cope with bouncing?).

I'll check my other keyboards I've got when I have time.

[Anubis]

Yes that would be very kind if 'all' of you test their keyboards, I tested IBM Model M some years ago and got around 12 taps a second. With IBM rapid access 2 I got 15-18, so this has been my favorite for years. Now I have got IBM rapid access 3 which is pretty lame, not as fast as the IBM rapid 2.

I need these taps for a game, kinda like a rapid fire, but rapid fire is forbidden, so I need to do them manually.

The shop where I want to buy iOne Scorpius M10 wrote me an e-mail today. They said they are not gonna sell the keyboard to anyone anymore because of the bad experiences they got. Is there any other mechanical keyboard as cheap as the M10?

[IBI]

I don't speak german but having a quick look the Cherry G80 3000, Cherry G80 1800 and Cherry G84 4100 seem to be a similar price over there.

For the G80 german layout:
G80-3000LPCDE is linear keys (black)
G80-3000LQCDE is soft tactile keys (brown)
G80-3000LSCDE is clicky keys (blue)

-0 on the end of the model number is white/beige. -2 is black.

[Anubis]

I think I would want some clicky keys, I like them.