Count me in as a hater of mx brown. Such a small tactile bump that it'll never give you any feedback, but too much that it isn't smooth. It's my second least favorite of all, after black.
It's amazing how subjective all this is. I like Browns specifically for their mid-travel "bump", which means the switch has actuated and I needn't press it any farther.
And I
really like Blacks for typing. I realize that's not a popular stance. However, their increasing resistance makes them very conducive to learning to type without bottoming out—which, IMHO, should be a goal of every MK user (except perhaps gamers who want to intimidate their opponents by smashing their keys).
Just got my black switch and I think it may be too heavy for me. It takes much more force than I thought it would... I do like the extra pressure on the blacks when I'm playing games because it makes it feel like I am in more control of the character as I can feel each key press....but typing on it isn't as easy as I would like... While I am typing this, my fingers are getting tired already and I didn't do much typing.
Are you sure you were using them the right way, though?
When I first tried Blacks—in a store with a bunch of disconnected demo boards—I thought, "Man, these are just stiffer than the rest." But as soon as I tried one connected to a PC, I totally understood. Switches aren't about how they feel as individual buttons; they're about how they
actuate (produce characters) when you use them. That's why they call them "switches". :?)
Since all Cherry switches actuate about 50% through their travel, it seems obvious that the fastest, smoothest way to type is by releasing each key before you bottom out. But that's easier said than done. Because most Cherrys have such a light touch, it's hard to use them with that degree of control.
Not so with Blacks! Blacks are not only stiffer when you start pressing them, but their resistance
increases slightly as you press. If you goal is to stop between 50% and 100% of the keys' travel, this is perfect, because it gives you just the right amount of resistance to work against.
You just have to use them with that in mind. Rather than focusing on your fingers, or even individual words, think of the
phrases you want to type—then type each of them as a combined motion of both hands, moving your fingers as little as possible. You can even think of the motions as beginning in your upper arms and moving to your hands.
This is actually a technique concert pianists use to play as smoothly and naturally as possible, by progressively delegating the biggest arcs of movement to the bigger pivoting parts of the upper body. It's also how robots operate on assembly lines, making their biggest movements with their biggest moving segments.
Great typists think of the keyboard as a single object, which they sort of "massage" to create words. This "holistic" approach allows them to type incredibly fast without any unnecessary motion or effort. MX Blacks, IMHO, are the best tool we mere "mortal" typists can use to try to emulate that.
Well, sorry for the long discourse... I just think that if more people saw Blacks as what they were—a
partner in good typing, rather than an opponent—they'd appreciate them a lot more.
