Author Topic: What's So Bad About Bottoming Out? (Read 4807 times)

Lethal Squirrel · « **on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 13:39:38 »

I always hear people say how terrible bottoming out is, and how you should try to not do it. But honestly, I really like the sound of bottoming out. I gives me a sense of quality and difference over rubber domes. I don't get why anyone would want to put dampeners on their keycaps the get rid of the solid sound and feel.
I'm not trying to sound like a troll or anything. This is just something that I've been thinking about ever since I joined geehack and got my own mechanical.

pitashen · « **Reply #1 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 13:40:54 »

your keyboard will eventually be dented and keycaps will crack.

flyball · « **Reply #2 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 13:42:05 »

nothing

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #3 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 13:42:19 »

Quote from: pitashen;445635

your keyboard will eventually be dented and keycaps will crack.

Nah.

Lethal Squirrel · « **Reply #4 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 13:42:40 »

That was my initial though. but still. That was to take quite a while for that to happen.

elbowglue · « **Reply #5 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 13:45:11 »

When you bottom with cherry switches you're at a point with more force return, so your fingers spring up after the keystroke. So it makes you type faster imho. Also makes typing easier on your fingers. (requires less effort in the rebound part of the keystroke)

On the other hand, if you are bottoming out against a metal plate (plate mounted cherry) it might feel a little jarring on your fingers.

Sometimes if you have a very light touch you might be able to type faster without bottoming out. I have not found that to be the case however.

pitashen · « **Reply #6 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 13:45:38 »

you will even crack the casing.

flyball · « **Reply #7 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 13:47:02 »

Quote from: elbowglue;445641

When you bottom with cherry switches you're at a point with more force return, so your fingers spring up after the keystroke. So it makes you type faster imho. Also makes typing easier on your fingers. (requires less effort in the rebound part of the keystroke)

On the other hand, if you are bottoming out against a metal plate (plate mounted cherry) it might feel a little jarring on your fingers.

Sometimes if you have a very light touch you might be able to type faster without bottoming out. I have not found that to be the case however.

it doesnt work that way

elbowglue · « **Reply #8 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 13:47:47 »

Quote from: flyball;445644

it doesnt work that way

thanks. Please explain how it works.

pitashen · « **Reply #9 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 13:50:10 »

on a serious note, just type whatever way you want.

I don't get why do people get so caught up with others' "personal opinions" on keyboards. It reminds me of the PINGS. First time buyers would get freaked out over those meaningless discussions of PING horror stories and end up not knowing what to buy, coz seriously they all PING*

tragic, TRAGIC!

Lethal Squirrel · « **Reply #10 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 13:50:38 »

The keycaps dont bottom out on the PCB or metal plate. They bottom out on the switch

elbowglue · « **Reply #11 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 13:54:12 »

Quote from: Lethal Squirrel;445651

The keycaps dont bottom out on the PCB or metal plate. They bottom out on the switch

Good point. I suspect the difference in feeling may be because the switch is sitting on metal vs PCB (comparing metal mounted switches to PCB mounted switches). It's a big difference that I find mostly relevant in cherry brown keyboards... (I don't like filco with cherry browns, I love cherry brown PCB mounted keyboards however)

Anyhow the keycap strikes the switch casing which is sitting on metal vs PCB..

Kick · « **Reply #12 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 14:13:15 »

Quote from: ripster;445659

If you want to pound the keyboard like a porn star that's fine too.

I don't know how you play games, but that's how I play FPSes...

mmmty · « **Reply #13 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 14:15:35 »

It's the worst thing you can do to a keyboard :yuck:

Zamorph · « **Reply #14 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 14:21:53 »

Quote from: ripster;445643

i recommend googling images for "bottoming out" to see why it's so bad.

On second thought you might not want to do that.......

its a trap

noodles256 · « **Reply #15 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 14:23:10 »

the keyboard gods look down upon bottoming out

Internetlad · « **Reply #16 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 14:37:44 »

Quote from: kick;445674

i don't know how you play games, but that's how i play fpses...

****in laggy piece of ****

EDIT: Needs more caplox.

Lethal Squirrel · « **Reply #17 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 15:07:00 »

I searched "bottoming out"

TacticalCoder · « **Reply #18 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 15:16:49 »

Ripster pointed out you can type in a more relaxed way (which I find more pleasant).

Some people concerned by ergonomics are even suggesting that the feedback received when you bottom out is not good for the fingers' joints and may be a source of pain and repetitive strain injuries (used as a sales argument by people selling "ergo" stuff, so can we believe them ?)

I'm not saying it's true or not: the only thing that is sure is that the huge horde of "zomg this $5 RD rocks the house and scissor switch are the nuts anyway" people we've seen lately on GH are unlikely to find the previous arguments compelling :smile:

N8N · « **Reply #19 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 15:17:18 »

Serious answer: Before I started using a Model M at work, I felt like I was starting to get the beginnings of a RSI in my hands, and I attribute that to the crappy Dell RD keyboard that I was using. My highly unscientific theory was that it was because it was starting to get all crapped up inside, so I found myself pounding on it to make sure that all my keypresses registered. I switched to mechanical and made a deliberate effort to stop bottoming out and my hands feel much better now. So there

The answer that actually popped into my head before that one: well, now, that depends on whether we're talking about typing, off-roading, or, well, you know...

theferenc · « **Reply #20 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 16:32:37 »

For me at least the repeated stress of banging into the back of the keyboard on a rubber dome lead to extreme hand pain. Chicklet keyboards being among the worst offenders in this regard.

Bottom out on a mechanical, especially of the buckling spring variety, is a much softer experience, and so doesn't cause the hand pain. And it does really sound awesome, to me.

funkymeeba · « **Reply #21 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 16:39:13 »

I would agree with that. Having never used a mechanical of any sort until a couple of days ago, I would say that the blues I am now typing on feel a lot more "cushioned" as I approach the point of bottoming out. It's nice that my fingers don't feel like they're slamming into a wall on the occasion that I do bottom out.

c0rbin · « **Reply #22 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 16:43:34 »

You should be able to type faster when not bottoming out because you don't have to make the key travel as far to register.

If you can't help bottoming out the fastest switch type is probably low-travel distance scissor switches.

I like bottoming out (although I'm trying not to... its frustrating to even try though) and I'm soon going to be experimenting with reducing key travel on my Filco by using several o-rings instead of just one. Just waiting for the new material rings from WASD...

ZeroGraVT · « **Reply #23 on:** Fri, 04 November 2011, 16:56:05 »

I bottom out on the red switch but not on the brown switch. I feel more relaxed on the red switch but that's probably because it's so light.

News:

Author Topic: What's So Bad About Bottoming Out? (Read 4807 times)