I don't buy into this mechanical keyboard crap
Numerous times I've been told/read how superior mechanical keyboards are to the classic membrane keyboard. After using a mechanical keyboard for over a year now I can with certainty say that I don't buy this bullshit.
I own a mechanical keyboard for a year or two now. I decided to get one as a replacement for an old membrane keyboard that's been lying in my home for 15-20-ish years. I chose the widely praised brown switches, because of their tactile feedback and moderate energy needed to press them. I was also told they are fast, but not as fast as the red/black ones. A common middle ground recommended to people starting out with mechanical keyboards.
You might think that trying only switches of one type is not enough to judge mechanics (I'll refer to mechanical keyboards as mechanics from now on), and you may be right, but bear with me.
What's usually said about mechanics is:
- they are more durable than membranes (you can see where this is going)
- they are easier to clean
- they offer tactile feedback
- they feel better
This is everything I heard about them and could find on the Internet and believe me, I really tried to find compelling arguments for mechanics, there just aren't many
Let's break down all of these claims one by one:
They are more durable than membranes! #
Disclosure: I spilled a little of my drink on my mechanical keyboard today, that's what pushed me to finally whine about them somewhere.
This happened twice in this keyboard's lifetime. The first time after it happened it was registering completely different keypresses than what I actually pressed. I unplugged it to be sure I don't cause a short circuit when I press a key and let it dry. Waited a day, it was back to normal.
Today, a similar situation happened. A little (I really mean a little, way less than fits in a bottle cap) of liquid got onto the keyboard. At first I didn't think it was a big deal, I was pretty sure it didn't get deep enough to reach anything. But I was wrong, this time it didn't only register random keystrokes, it triggered different key combinations each key press.
Why am I telling you this? See, they can be easily broken, usually accidentally.
And now look at this fucker.
This is the cheapest motherfucker imaginable on earth. Also it's now older than half of Fortnite's playerbase. Oh yeah, and it survived a fall from a fucking balcony.
This piece of shit served me and many other people over its (too long) life and never said a word, apart from some keys missing after the balcony incident.
Think how many times it has been sunken in liquids and how many other horrific things it's been through.
And you know what? It still fucking works.
And it works great. I couldn't point out a single flaw even if I wanted to.
Yes, it's dirty, but it's my fault of not caring.
Try throwing out your mechanic out of your window right now and tell me how it went. My membrane works flawlessly.
How quick would a mechanic break after the shit this one's been through? I give it 5 minutes, it chokes after getting a little bit of liquid under its keys, while the membrane just keeps working and doesn't give a shit.
I tried to find an average lifespan of a membrane keyboard, and those are my findings:
Membrane keyboards have an average lifespan of 1-1.5 years with heavy usage. With moderate to low use, membrane keyboards have a decent lifespan of 2.5-3 years.
This is the only estimation in years I could find. Laughing my ass off.
Ok, they may break more easily but at least they are easier to clean! #
Assuming you have to clean them, maybe. I now for the sake of this article, checked what's under some random keys on my membrane one. Guess what? Almost nothing. And it has been cleaned ONCE in its lifetime, a few years ago. This is of course due to the closed nature of membrane keyboards, while mechanical ones are usually very open, what allows for all the shit to get on your keyboard. They get dirty and dusty under a week usage and you have to be fucking delusional to deny this.
Here's a picture of the mechanical one I clean very, very fucking often compared to the membrane one. How can dust not get there if the entire keyboard is essentially open? And do you know how hard it is to clean and get inside all of these crevices? It's a fucking nightmare. While in the membrane one I can just flip it around and punch it to death until all of the dirt comes out. At least I know it won't break in half.
Ok they are harder to clean but they offer me tactile feedback so I know when the keypress has been registered! #
I can't speak about this one much, other than say that the feedback the brown switches provide makes me want to vomit. It's so in the middle I can barely feel the *click*, it feels as it's something stuck under the key that blocks me from pressing it, rather than something intentional.
And is it really that hard to press the key all the way down on the membrane keyboard so then you can be sure you pressed the key? Fully pressed = registered. That's the philosophy. It's just a couple of millimeters, just as in your mechanical favorites. And the tactile feedback is the inability to press any further. You are not confused whether the key activates at this height or this, you just know where it registers. And also you can look on your fucking screen to see if it registered. If I ever see that the keypress hasn't been registered, I press it again. This is literally a non-issue.
But they feel better! #
Good for you.
But I just can't fucking stand them, and I really tried. Oh, and I forgot to mention I also tried the red switches and they also feel like shit.
End of rant