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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Bearpaws on Tue, 04 June 2013, 06:06:22
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Alright, so I don't have much experience with mechanical keyboards beyond the Razer Black Widow I have (Blue switches, for those who don't know), and simply put, compared to a rubber dome keyboard, my typing is ****. I often hit 2 keys instead of one, and the feel of it is just off, where I used to work we had these crappy Lenovo keyboards, and I could even type better on those than I can on the one I have now. Has anyone ever had the same experience as me? Could it just be the switch that sucks for me, or the keyboard itself? (I know Razer keyboards suck and are overpriced, I've learned that now). I would love to buy a new mechanical keyboard, but I'm afraid it will be just as bad for me as this one is when it comes to typing. (For gaming it's ok, only problem is when I have to type in the game, with this keyboard it takes me longer than normal, which can be really annoying.
Any advice would be appreciateted, thank you.
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How long were you typing on the mechanical and how long were you typing on the one that must not be named?
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i just takes some time to get used to the change just like anything else. I lost about 20 wpm when i first switched over from RD to cherry. how long have you had your BW?
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You mean for how long have I had it? I've had the mechanical Razer keyboard for a couple of years I guess, and I used the Lenovo one at work for 7 months, before my mechanical one I had a rubber dome keyboard which I had used for several years.
@badcop As seen above, several years I'm afraid, and I still don't type well on it.
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You mean for how long have I had it? I've had the mechanical Razer keyboard for a couple of years I guess, and I used the Lenovo one at work for 7 months, before my mechanical one I had a rubber dome keyboard which I had used for several years.
@badcop As seen above, several years I'm afraid, and I still don't type well on it.
ouch. maybe its the switch? those lenovo keyboards aren't awful. I used to use them a lot at my last job.
if you have an amazon prime account, for a little bit of money, you can buy a few keyboards with free shipping and return what you dont like. when i settled on my filco with blues, i bought like 4 boards off amazon and returned 3. OR maybe cherry switches aren't for you. have you considered topre? the new Leopold FC660C is a pretty good price.
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See, there is just one tiny problem. I live in Denmark. And the American Amazon don't ship everything to us, sadly including keyboards, try the UK site you say? Yeah they don't have ****...
I have never heard of topre before, and I think it would be very hard to find a keyboard with those, that can actually be shipped to Denmark.
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Maybe MX Blues aren't your thing? You might consider a linear switch, such as Black Alps, which can be found in Dell AT101W's. They're not expensive for a mechanical.
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sticky fingers :))
(http://www.iheartkroger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/211_kleenex.jpg) ;)
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I find the BW keycaps to be an issue for me. I am convinced they have a weird shape and the texture is quite bad especially on the backlight version. -30WPM instantly on the BW and I am used to blues. You should try some Cherry profile keycap.
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I find the BW keycaps to be an issue for me. I am convinced they have a weird shape and the texture is quite bad especially on the backlight version. -30WPM instantly on the BW and I am used to blues. You should try some Cherry profile keycap.
Could you elaborate on what you mean by this?
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It's kind of tough to explain what I mean well. It would be a lot easier if I could do a photo with side by side but I don't have BW keycap. Basically I think the BW keycap have a more blocky shape with a larger top surface and a flatter top. The gaps between the keys on the top surface from one to the next seem like it is smaller. I think it seems to be tougher to feel where the key ends, so you end up with clumsy typing or feel the need to slow down due to much more errors.
Cherry profile keycap have a more drastic taper and seem to have a smaller top finger surface with more gap around the top of the key. The cylindrical dips in the top surface are also more pronounced and seem to keep your finger on the key more and don't allow to drift off the side so easily. They are also about 2mm shorter on average.
Another interesting option could be some DSA spherical keycap.
In any case I would recommend trying out some other keycap as different keycap can really transform your typing experience. Biggest problem for you will be getting any replacement keycap sets in Danish at the moment. It is not a very common one and they are really tricky to find. I hope to address some hard to find languages with my groupbuys but that won't help you for a few months.
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(http://i.imgur.com/pyloNAW.jpg)
Not cherry - SP thin DS but the spacing is visibly different
(http://i.imgur.com/mMkJRcr.jpg)
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I think I see what you mean, but I have no idea where to even begin looking for that, and I agree, it would probably be very difficult to find them in Danish. In case I didn't mention it, I am looking for a new keyboard, and I am interested in the CORSAIR VENGEANCE K70, mostly because it's one of the few keyboards that is not Razer/Steelseries that I could find with a nordic layout, but as you mention it, the keycaps look very similar to the BW keycaps. It's also a bit expensive imo.
(http://svit24.net/images/stories/articles/2013/Tecnology/03-2013/01/IMG_6054.jpg)
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Always be wary of people who tell you that you will instantly feel better after switching a peripheral.
My experience has been that this is almost never true. The bigger the change is from one peripheral to the next, the longer the adjustment period will be. Your hands have typed on your old keyboard, maybe tens of thousands of times, and in that time developed muscle memory about the resistance of the keys, point of actuation etc. When switching to a mechanical keyboard, all these things will be slightly different, and like practically any other peripheral, it will take some time to get used to it, and be as proficient at using the peripheral as you were with the last one.
There is also a possibility that you are using a switch that just does not match well with your particular typing habits. I have that problem with reds. I would not say it is all that bad, but accidental keypresses remain an issue for me when using that switch.
EDIT: I see you have gotten used to the Razer over a long period of time. In that case I really have no idea. Different people like different things, and maybe the characteristics of that particular keyboard just does not match your preferences.
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Right now best bet would be to scour used source like ebay for Cherry G80-3000**M or ***DK for some nice Danish MX keyboard. If you strike out look for G81 series as the keycaps are compatible with MX and you could use them on your Razer. If you don't want to spend much you could get a D or DE model in German instead to try out some other keycap. Can get Cherry DE boards for really cheap a lot of the time on ebay.de.
If you don't mind waiting longer and maybe spending a bit more you can join in my groupbuy (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=43328.0) if you wish.