Browns vs Blues - Blues lighter feeling?

[ozziegt]

So I have had a cherry brown keyboard (Rosewill) for a few months at work and it's awesome. I'm thinking about getting a mechanical keyboard for my home office as well. I was going to get a brown keyboard, but I tried out a blue keyboard (I think it was a Razer Blackwidow) at Fry's and I was surprised that the keys actually seemed like they felt lighter to type on than the browns. I know everyone says the blues have a higher actuation force, but do the blues actually get lighter after you get past "the bump"? Or is it all in my head?

[quickcrx702]

They feel about the same to me.  The blues just make a clicking noise that is awesome for a while, then it starts to drive you nuts.

[tp4tissue]

So I have had a cherry brown keyboard (Rosewill) for a few months at work and it's awesome. I'm thinking about getting a mechanical keyboard for my home office as well. I was going to get a brown keyboard, but I tried out a blue keyboard (I think it was a Razer Blackwidow) at Fry's and I was surprised that the keys actually seemed like they felt lighter to type on than the browns. I know everyone says the blues have a higher actuation force, but do the blues actually get lighter after you get past "the bump"? Or is it all in my head?

I actually figured out why this is, and I have a theory that MX Blues is in fact the least fricative feeling of all the switches.  

If you look at the diagram of the red black and brown switch, you notice that the metal part is in contact with the plastic stem almost all the way up and down between presses.

If you look at the blue switch,, once that opaque white snap section clears the metal contacts, the stem has nothing around it to rub against.

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[Bertross]

blues most definitely feel lighter, i owned many Blues ands a couple of browns.

Browns are ever so slightly heavier. I find browns almost on par with reds. The key press on the blues before the click is really light imo.

[tp4tissue]

blues most definitely feel lighter, i owned many Blues ands a couple of browns.

Browns are ever so slightly heavier. I find browns almost on par with reds. The key press on the blues before the click is really light imo.

yup, i gave up on the reds because of the fricative feel.

[dippingriz]

Depends on how you type.  The browns feel lighter to me, but I type soft.  The blues are harder not to bottom out.

[tp4tissue]

Depends on how you type.  The browns feel lighter to me, but I type soft.  The blues are harder not to bottom out.

possible, but the diagram clearly shows lesss touching in the blues

[Bertross]

and then we add in o-rings and we are in another kettle of fish.

[tp4tissue]

and then we add in o-rings and we are in another kettle of fish.

no, shouldn't affect the light or hard that the op was talking about, he's talking about the shaft friction. not the rebound or bottom-out of the keys

[shogrran]

I can relate to the thread starter. I tried both the blackwidow mx blues and the quickfire mx blues in a shop. They were both blues but the blues on the cmstorm qfr feels harder to depress than the blues on the bw. I also have a qfr mxbrowns which is what I personally use and when it was new it felt heavier to press than the blackwidow.

I think its because of the razer blackwidow itself. Some people said to me its probably because of the stabilizers and the build of the keys as well as the keycaps.

[tp4tissue]

[H][/H]

I can relate to the thread starter. I tried both the blackwidow mx blues and the quickfire mx blues in a shop. They were both blues but the blues on the cmstorm qfr feels harder to depress than the blues on the bw. I also have a qfr mxbrowns which is what I personally use and when it was new it felt heavier to press than the blackwidow.

I think its because of the razer blackwidow itself. Some people said to me its probably because of the stabilizers and the build of the keys as well as the keycaps.

so in ur sig, it says u own both a quickfire blue, and a widow blue?

[blert]

So I have had a cherry brown keyboard (Rosewill) for a few months at work and it's awesome. I'm thinking about getting a mechanical keyboard for my home office as well. I was going to get a brown keyboard, but I tried out a blue keyboard (I think it was a Razer Blackwidow) at Fry's and I was surprised that the keys actually seemed like they felt lighter to type on than the browns. I know everyone says the blues have a higher actuation force, but do the blues actually get lighter after you get past "the bump"? Or is it all in my head?

I think skinny-ass keycaps and wiggly fit (based on my extremely brief in-store Blackwindow experience) make the Razer seem light.   Otherwise, I think it is going to vary from switch to switch a little bit, but it will depend greatly on your typing style.  I wouldn't overthink it.  If it feels good, you shouldn't worry much about the specs.  Unless you know you have a sup-optimal typing style, bottom out all the time, generally mash the keyboard and have numb fingers -- if you've got that, it might be worth retraining a bit, adding o-rings, etc..
(Disclaimer -- it is totally speculation on my part that the keycaps on the Widow are thin.  Might be in the wiki.)

[tp4tissue]

Hahahaha - great pics.  I might have to steal them for a "Why Cherry Blues Are More Tactile Than You Expect" TIL.

HAHAHAHA,, SIR ,,, I WOULD BE HONORED

[shogrran]

[H][/H]

so in ur sig, it says u own both a quickfire blue, and a widow blue?

I previously owned a blackwidow blue I just recently sold it.

[shogrran]

I think skinny-ass keycaps and wiggly fit (based on my extremely brief in-store Blackwindow experience) make the Razer seem light.   Otherwise, I think it is going to vary from switch to switch a little bit, but it will depend greatly on your typing style.  I wouldn't overthink it.  If it feels good, you shouldn't worry much about the specs.  Unless you know you have a sup-optimal typing style, bottom out all the time, generally mash the keyboard and have numb fingers -- if you've got that, it might be worth retraining a bit, adding o-rings, etc..
(Disclaimer -- it is totally speculation on my part that the keycaps on the Widow are thin.  Might be in the wiki.)

Kinda agree with this too. The keycaps on the bw does seem to be wiggly and thinner than the ones on my qfr.

[megnin]

Thanks!

I've met mormon girls with the same motto, "No touchy"!

Catholic girls are more like Reds.   :laugh:

[Pyrolistical]

I compared cherry mx blue my custom KeyPoard and compared it to cherry mx brown on a Kinesis. I didn't feel either was lighter than the other but I do feel the blues felt way better due to the tactile feedback. Maybe I've been using my keyboard for too long and gotten used to it

[tp4tissue]

Thanks!

I've met mormon girls with the same motto, "No touchy"!

I see, Now we know the stuff you're into,, been chasin' moron tail eh?? Too bad she rejected you with no touchy,, OR DID SHE???:pray2:

[naranja]

I see, Now we know the stuff you're into,, been chasin' moron tail eh?? Too bad she rejected you with no touchy,, OR DID SHE???:pray2:

Usually they're chasin' their own.

[noog]

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[Daniel Beardsmore]

That's interesting – maybe that explains why browns can have a scrapy feel and sound, while blues have a completely clean feel.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I've briefly played with a Macintosh 128 keyboard, exquisite, as was the ALPS PowerMac keyboard (the one before the Extended). Long switchplate tactile ALPS switches felt great – I can only guess that it's the short switchplate in the Dell /AT10[12]W?/ keyboards that makes the switches scrapy and graunchy and gives them multiple tactile points.

I think I sort of get what you mean about how the click vs tactile leaves make tactile ones more scrapy, but the problem seems far worse with my Dell.