Tom's Hardware Rates 5 Mechanical Keyboards

[benis]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/mechanical-switch-keyboard,2955.html

Discuss.

[noodles256]

tldr

[redpill]

All that and they don't even have an opinion at the end?  What a waste of time.

[mmmty]

2 X-Armors and not even 1 Filco? What kind of a test was that? WTH??

[dolphingarden]

2 X-Armors and not even 1 Filco? What kind of a test was that? WTH??

You have to realise that websites such as Tom's Hardware get products from companies to review/write about, they don't actually go out and BUY them. Considering the language barrier and difficulty obtaining a Filco/Leopold/etc I'm not surprised that they couldn't procure a decent board to test.

But it's understandable.

[mmmty]

So it was a test of mechanical keyboards that people were willing to send to them. At least it made people more aware of mechanical keyboards. The best for my hands right now is a Topre which was not included in the test.

[docvic]

Clearly not an article aimed at the geekhack community. I doubt the majority of readers of Tom's want to know about Filcos and Topres, they just don't have the bells and whistles. Keyboard purists are the minority.

[reaper]

No Filco or Realforce?  Booo..    =P

[The Solutor]

So it was a test of mechanical keyboards that people were willing to send to them. At least it made people more aware of mechanical keyboards. The best for my hands right now is a Topre which was not included in the test.

 
Topre is not a mechanical keyboard, why in the hell should be included ?

[The Solutor]

Why in the hell not?

 
It's a comparison between different microswitches board, so one can blame about the lack of alps board, not about the topre.

[noodles256]

silly xarmor rep, mech keyboards aren't for you

[The Solutor]

silly xarmor rep, mech keyboards aren't for you

 

Surely ALL QWERTY keyboards aren't for you, a T9 numpad should be more than enoug to accomplish your needs, that are limited to repeat a dozen of acronyms.

Right ?

[Wallach]

Well, they did say this:

Other Mechanical Switches

Of course the world is not made of Cherry switches, so we want to mention some others for the sake of completeness. However, since these models are not currently popular or commercially available in many developed countries, we will not go into the same degree of detail.

The quote is above a few pics of other switches (BS, Topre, Alps).

[noodles256]

t9? i ain't got no need 4 a tek9 my nigs

hehehee

[chongyixiong]

Stopped reading Tom's Hardware ages ago ever since I found out that they love their sponsors. Meh.

Not a bad read but definitely flawed:-

For the tl;dr crowd,

Why no clear winner?

Quite simply because there are no losers

How poetic

[noodles256]

thats like 90% of hardware review sites.

[False_Dmitry_II]

/me looks at page names


... Abomination. Not a mention of the model m or unicomps.

[The Solutor]

Stopped reading Tom's Hardware

 
Tom's hardware is the shadow of itself since it was sold to French, and even before.

But still has some strength, and this comparative is a proof, no other mainstream site has (yet) managed to talk about mech keyboards.

[Ascaii]

Im simply amazed at the blatant crtl+c, crtl+v action going on in this article. If theyd at least give credit where credit is due...but thats just gradeschool level plagiarism. Toms, I am disappoint.

[Arc'xer]

Lol - they took the animated Cherry MX GIF artwork from OCN which took it from Geekhack's Lethal Squirrel.

Actually if you do a Rclick + "View image info", all the pictures come from media.bestofmicro. At least Manyak thanked Squirrel even though OCN has that stupid rule which to me is like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

[woody]

Who is Tom? The old dude from the cabin?

[The Solutor]

crtl+c, crtl+v action going on in this article.

 
At least they used a keyboard combination and not the mouse right button:happy:

[zmurf]

Hmm.. funny... the author writes that MX Clears are "seldom seen" and "they offer little advantage over devices with cheaper rubber dome switches". In Europe clears is quite easy to get hold of. And my experience is that the clear are almost as good to write on as the blues. The blue is better to write on... but in offices where the sound level of the blues can easily disturb others the clears is, imo, the best choice.
And I can not agree with that they would be similar to rubber domes. I have never written on any rubber domes that have felt anything near the clears.

[Lester]

Bad comparison is bad.

Razer Blackwidow material quality: 10, Razer Blackwidow easy to clean (COUGH GLOSSYNESSFEST COUGH): 9.
?!?!?!!

[kaiserreich]

You better get that cough checked out. Want some Cough Syrup?

[Lester]

It's allright, I'm allergic to Razer keyboards.

[mmmty]

Topre is not a mechanical keyboard, why in the hell should be included ?

 
I sure do like my expensive rubber dome keyboards though. About to get a 86U from Mr. Noodles.  : )

[Chobopants]

Why in the hell not?

Aye, they might be TECHNICALLY rubber domes but they're super nice and have a unique feel that definitely puts them in the boutique category and should always be mentioned as an alternative to your G15s and QuietKeys.

[The Solutor]

Worrying about Topres being a "Mechanical Switch" is typical The Solutor "missing the forest for the trees" logic.

 
I don't worry about nothing, if your scope is speaking about expensive keyboards topre should be included, if we are speaking about microswitches keyboards a switchless keyboard is obviously excluded.

I can understand that a comparative where 3 out 5 keyboards are Xarmor is your worst nightmare, but here on the earth most people are interested in having a good product for a reasonable price, not to spend the maximum they can to buy hot air.

Maybe on the planet where you are the n1 expert is not the same....

[Chobopants]

My favorite part of the article is the MX Blue self-conflicting data:



The clearly just copy-pasted the tables on each page and changed a few of the fields, not all of them.

Switchover: Barely detectable
Clicking point: Undetectable

Lulzzzz.

I usually reference Tom's for video card advice when I'm in the market for a new one (every 3-4 years ha)...had no idea it had gotten this bad on the site. Time to go back to Anandtech (given that they're not this bad as well now).

[phillip]

toms is not the place to go for reviews

[Chobopants]

I don't worry about nothing, if your scope is speaking about expensive keyboards topre should be included, if we are speaking about microswitches keyboards a switchless keyboard is obviously excluded.

I can understand that a comparative where 3 out 5 keyboards are Xarmor is your worst nightmare, but here on the earth most people are interested in having a good product for a reasonable price, not to spend the maximum they can to buy hot air.

Maybe on the planet where you are the n1 expert is not the same....

Maybe the title of articles should be on "Good" keyboards then and not using the obviously divisive "Mechanical" because people love being pedantic about it. I know quite a few people that tried tons of different Cherries and settled on Topres because they were right for them. They should definitely be included.

Realforces being a ripoff is entirely in the eye of the beholder. If your dream keyboard costs more than other people's dream keyboard, who are they to judge?

[kaiserreich]

The sad thing is the rest of the world thinks TOM's did a great job in introducing them to the world of Mech Keyboards

[The Solutor]

Maybe the title of articles should be on "Good" keyboards then and not using the obviously divisive "Mechanical" because people love being pedantic about it. I know quite a few people that tried tons of different Cherries and settled on Topres because they were right for them. They should definitely be included.

Realforces being a ripoff is entirely in the eye of the beholder. If your dream keyboard costs more than other people's dream keyboard, who are they to judge?

 

So why not include also, say, the thinkpad's keyboards, the logitech illuminated, some keytronic and so on, as they are very good keyboards too ?

Looks like "good keyboards" is not enough to discriminate between the included and the excluded keyboars.

Worth or not (which is matter of opinions) the price looks the only common variable here, so they tested some keyboards in the 100-150$ range, unicomps are below, topres are above

[mmmty]

Solutor=Igor  : )

[Chobopants]

So why not include also, say, the thinkpad's keyboards, the logitech illuminated, some keytronic and so on, as they are very good keyboards too ?

Looks like "good keyboards" is not enough to discriminate between the included and the excluded keyboars.

Worth or not (which is matter of opinions) the price looks the only common variable here, so they tested some keyboards in the 100-150$ range, unicomps are below, topres are above

Why not?

I think contrasting with some good scissors and stuff too would go a much longer way toward educating people instead of this very flawed copy-pasta that they were probably forced to write just because some vendors insisted on it.

[pitashen]

Dang it, I was gonna post the link. Guess I am up too late

Good too see mainstream hardware site featuring mech keyboard reviews.

[BucklingSpring]

Lulz.

It's a legend alright.  Mainly for failing LEDs and surly customer support and a dead website.

Oh boy... There goes the little belief I had for Tom's reviews.

[BucklingSpring]

All 5 got a 10 in reliability... As if the switch was doing it all alone.

Bad, bad assumption.

[woody]

Show Image

This keyboard looks jizz-resistant up to a certain level.

[noodles256]

big ass enterrrr

[The Solutor]

Why not?

I think contrasting with some good scissors and stuff too would go a much longer way toward educating people

 


Speaking about educating people, most of the PC users have never heard the terms rubber dome or scissor switch.

For most of the people keyboard are just classic, notebook styled, and apple like, so an article where all kind of keyboards are included should be more than welcome.

instead of this very flawed copy-pasta that they were probably forced to write just because some vendors insisted on it.

As I already said be sure mecs keyboards will become mainstream in the next two years, the large margins they can guarantee to vendors and makers are too tempting to not push them.

[DaemonRaccoon]

As I already said be sure mecca keyboards will become mainstream in the next two years, the large margins they can guarantee to vendors and makers are too tempting to not push them.

Mecca? I wouldn't buy an Islamic keyboard.

[The Solutor]

Mecca? I wouldn't buy an Islamic keyboard.

 
Do you have a bot to check my messages in 4 nanoseconds ? Was already corrected.

[Lanx]

wow, i hadn't visited tom's since 06, i can't believe the number of "adblocks" the website has, 6 adblocks, I believe that is a record. For those that don't know or have adblock enabled, an adblock is the section that is dedicated to ad serving, which is fine, good companies usually limit this to 2 adblocks, usually in the header and to the right of the page (where the viewer generally does not pay attenion), but toms has the header and the whole entire right of a web page, creating a "7" in the ads it has.
as far as mech keyboards, yea topres aren't mechs, only buyers remorse of spending 200+ makes ppl believe that since price is so high, it has to be a mech. It is an advanced rubber dome, but don't call it a mech when there is nothing mechanical about it.

[hcry4]

Well, technically, the spring stores mechanical energy.

[The Solutor]

Exactly

[The Solutor]

Well we're now defining Mechanical Keyboards as "Any Keyboard That Pings" because Woody just discovered Realforces ping too.

 
So all my boards will be excluded....:Cry:

[woody]

HHKB, but I am sure RF with it's metal plate will be even better.
Finally, a true scientific and reliable method for defining mechanical keyboards from the lesser species.

[The Solutor]

Well, I certainly wouldn't mind taking Xarmor off the list.  Pretty embarrassing to the product category.

 
Is more embarrassing to talk with the n1 keyboard  expert of the planet mongo.