Cherry ML keys are okay for their size, but overall not really that pleasant. They’re pretty scratchy, and they bind hard if you press them off-axis, as happens pretty easily with their typical keycaps. (I hear that both of those are improved if you lubricate them, but they’re also a bit of a pain in the butt to desolder, disassemble, lubricate, and reassemble; I haven’t heard of more than a couple people trying it).I read a lot of the descriptions on the ML before I bought this and while they are definitely scratchy out of the box and off-axis, the way they are designed you rarely hit them off axis and the scratchiness goes away. I thought they were going to be much worse. The snap is definitely better than a scissor imo against even the nicest scissors like the newest Logitech multi-device bt board.
I wouldn’t bother with them unless you are trying to make an ultraportable custom-layout keyboard, so you need discrete keyswitches that you can place wherever you need. If you want portability and you are happy with a standard layout, just get an (even thinner/lighter) scissor switch board.
(For harvesting switches/keycaps for a custom board, you can probably find some bare OEM laptop keyboards on clearance somewhere for $5–10 each, if you hunt around the internet. For instance, try sending a message to this seller and see if you can get a discount if you buy 2–3 boards http://www.ebay.com/itm/260217472925 or try a lowball offer on http://www.ebay.com/itm/361474639912 or http://www.ebay.com/itm/281913856247)
As always though, YMMV.
The one I got has this layout:Thanks for the info! I got one anyway, even though I would have preferred the extra key, since it seemed like a good chance to try MLs.Show Image(http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImage/23-333-059-02.jpg)
in this case/keyscap color:Show Image(http://media.digikey.com/Photos/Cherry%20Switch%20Photos/G84-4420.jpg)Hope this helps! :thumb:
Glad you like it. :thumb: Seems like you are regularly typing on the same type of switches that I am, including the occasional rubber dome and scissor and have come up with the same conclusion as I did. :cool:The one I got has this layout:Thanks for the info! I got one anyway, even though I would have preferred the extra key, since it seemed like a good chance to try MLs.Show Image(http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImage/23-333-059-02.jpg)
in this case/keyscap color:Show Image(http://media.digikey.com/Photos/Cherry%20Switch%20Photos/G84-4420.jpg)Hope this helps! :thumb:
My opinion from brief usage, is that I like it reasonably well. I've been typing exclusively on buckling springs (or MX blues) for quite a while, so it seems strangely quiet. It's better and smaller than the compact rubber dome I've been keeping around (which I'll probably junk if I can bring myself to junk anything), and I think I prefer it to any scissor switches I've encountered. Overall, this keyboard is not upsetting.