Mechanical Keyboard Autism Thread - Because Cherry MX switches get you laid.

  • 🐕 I am attempting to get the site runnning as fast as possible. If you are experiencing slow page load times, please report it.
That IQUNIX ZX75 Gravity Wave I got tempted me to get one of the aluminum Zonex 75 kits in beige, with more moonstone switches, and Drop MT3 Godspeed (Ares Color Variation) caps to go on it. I lubed the stabilizers with Krytox GPL 205 GD0 grease. Oh boy. This thing is hella nice to type on.

7SlXkA4.png

The acoustics are nothing like the plastic version. It's higher-pitched and poppier, and a bit quieter. If I type gently without bottoming out, it's not quite silent, but it's very, very quiet. The plastic one makes a deeper THOCK, this aluminum has more POP. I did a little comparison recording:



WULULULULU said:
Neat suggestion, sadly its only a wireless option. The keyboard I'm planning needs to be big because my arms and hands are a bit chunky and I like my ten-key options available rather than the recent trend of wireless + TKL. Should have mentioned earlier that the keyboard I wish to get is something desktop oriented.
Click to expand...
A full-size, corded mechanical? My go-to keyboard in that category has, for years, been a regular ol' Filco Majestouch, but those have gotten quite a bit spendy and they have a plastic frame, which isn't to everyone's tastes. Another option is something like a Keychron K10, which is relatively inexpensive for a mechanical, has an aluminum surround, and is a wireless with optional corded function using a Type-C cable. It is also a hotswap board, which means you can yank all the Gaterons and replace them with something else if you wanted. There's a cheaper non-hotswap version with soldered-in switches, though.
 
  • Like
  • Informative
Reactions: WTBOnlineFather, WULULULULU, herefortheactualthreads and 1 other person
Drain Todger said:
A full-size, corded mechanical? My go-to keyboard in that category has, for years, been a regular ol' Filco Majestouch, but those have gotten quite a bit spendy and they have a plastic frame, which isn't to everyone's tastes. Another option is something like a Keychron K10, which is relatively inexpensive for a mechanical, has an aluminum surround, and is a wireless with optional corded function using a Type-C cable. It is also a hotswap board, which means you can yank all the Gaterons and replace them with something else if you wanted. There's a cheaper non-hotswap version with soldered-in switches, though.
Click to expand...
The Keychron K10 is perfect. Definitely getting it. I'll be getting blues and clickys.
 
  • Like
Reactions: herefortheactualthreads and Drain Todger
Just got a Keychron V5 (inspired by Hipyo Tech. I know, taking advice from a YouTuber, sorry). It's a 96% basic one with Keychron Brown switches. I really like it so far! Typing sounds and feels good. It's hot-swappable so later I might want to try installing blues. I might get the Gateron 3.0s but I would like to get a tester of all the different ones before I buy it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: herefortheactualthreads
I opened it to clean it up. It is in good shape it seems. Noticed though some springs are a bit loose when moving them with finger and others are a bit stiffer. Is this normal?
 
  • Like
Reactions: herefortheactualthreads
seri0us said:
how much did you open it? i wonder if it needs new rivets (look into "rivet mod IBM Model M")
Click to expand...
I only removed the caps to clean the barrels and the dust/dirt from stems/caps. I don't have a tubular screwdriver to open those screws.
I am thinking of making a better cleaning of barrel plate, maybe even make the bolt mod once I am in holiday. Not sure if the rivets are you talking about are broken.

Here is how it looked like at first.

1710365696646.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: herefortheactualthreads
I own a Topre Realforce UK layout 105UB WE21B0.

The IBM layout is my ultimate keyboard design and nothing will ever change that. I regularly reach speeds of 200wpm on the Topre when I"m in a good mood and there're not many keyboards that I can reproduce such fluidity (little chance of that on my Apple Touch ID keyboard). I'm also extremely proficient with shortcut keys.
 
  • Like
Reactions: herefortheactualthreads
I bought some very cheap Akko v3 Lavender Purple pros and they're very nice switches. The tactile feedback is there (contrary to many other tactile switches where it just kind of "disappears" if you type at any higher speed) and they feel very "tight" overall. On 1U keys there is basically no wobble. Very good switches and very cheap too. (i got 90 for 17 bucks) They are very thocky and loud though. (and I say that coming from box white clickies) The high actuation point also can keep you from bottoming out if you are a light typist.

After having trouble getting used to it at first, I've been using my 40% ortholinear more and more. The secret is to really customize all the keys and don't follow some strict system doing it but to put key combos wherever your fingers want them to be. (Your fingers go to some specific key if your brain wants to type an exclamation mark? Just put it there then.) Amongst other good features, QMK also has a very cool feature called autoshift which considers shift pressed if you hold a key somewhat longer, letting you e.g. type capital letters without holding down shift. This feature alone already has ruined me for normal keyboards as it is a thing that just feels so obviously better after using it for a while that you don't really think about it anymore. Together with macros you can define like on my keyboard holding down spacebar and pressing I creating parenthesis and putting the cursor in the middle of them I'd not say I am as fast as on a normal keyboard (yet) but it is a very comfortable experience not having your fingers need to travel much and my hands feel less tired after long typing sessions. Only downside is that the CSTC40 I bought is kinda garbage. I might spring for a better ortho.
 
  • Like
  • Informative
Reactions: Blackhole, herefortheactualthreads, Trans Fat 41g and 2 others
I use a Model M clone for general work and Cherry Silvers for games. The buckling springs would be fine for games (and were, back in the 90s), but they’re a little too noisy and the Cherry’s linear action is better for games I think.

The Model M is really unmatched for typing. It was designed to be as close to a Selectric Typewriter as possible.
 
  • Like
  • Agree
Reactions: Sperg Coalition, Tripshots, ⠠⠠⠅⠑⠋⠋⠁⠇⠎ ⠠⠠⠊⠎ ⠠⠠⠁ ⠠⠠⠋⠁⠛ and 2 others
George Lucas said:
The Model M is really unmatched for typing.
Click to expand...
Can confirm, the Model M is the perfect keyboard for typing and I also play videogames on it. It also has that office style that just makes it lovely to look at, contrary to the tacky RGB filled shit modern mechanical keyboards (eve n though the Model M is not fully mechanical at all but I do not care at this point).
I did saw someone on Hacker News saying that the Model M is overrated and the better option would be the Model F though :\
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: herefortheactualthreads
Sperg Coalition said:
Can confirm, the Model M is the perfect keyboard for typing and I also play videogames on it. It also has that office style that just makes it lovely to look at, contrary to the tacky RGB filled shit modern mechanical keyboards (eve n though the Model M is not fully mechanical at all but I do not care at this point).
I did saw someone on Hacker News saying that the Model M is overrated and the better option would be the Model F though :\
Click to expand...
The Model F has better switches, but in practice it doesn’t matter. The Model F will last like a thousand years in comparison to one hundred years with the Model M. The extra keys on the Model F are also not usable.
 
  • Thunk-Provoking
Reactions: Sperg Coalition
1714673204888.png

I bought this for my new home office. Ive owned half a dozen Corsairs and decided to switch it up. This one hit all the marks for me, has a knob at top right, has a numpad, is under $100, has bluetooth and a dongle.

It arrived today I wont use it for a few more weeks but it sounds neat compared to my MX brown switches. The screen looks like a gimmick but maybe I can make it so something useful, if they knocked another 20-30 bucks off for a screenless version I woulda been happier.
 
  • Like
Reactions: herefortheactualthreads and Tripshots
Rudy Coleman said:
Can someone here recommend me a good keyboard? Im mostly gunna use it for gaming and typing. consider this a chance to sperg about something you like.
Click to expand...
I’m a big proponent of Logitech’s MX Mechanical. Comes in linear, tactile, and clicky options, very solid both for typing and games in my experience. Clicky version is fairly loud and still has a noticeable bump, tactile is a noise-dampened version of clicky (not super quiet), and I haven’t tried linear but I assume it’s basically a gaming keyboard, with early reaction and no tactile bump. Tactile and clicky are both great for typing, and I haven’t had any problem gaming on them, but I guess they’re less good for top-level StarCraft tournaments than the linear one?
 
  • Like
Reactions: herefortheactualthreads and Rudy Coleman
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back