Mechanical Keyboard: Tips on Buying Your First Keyboard
Why is the Mechanical Keyboard better? 5 Tips for Buying Your First One.
There was a time when a mechanical keyboard was a thing of the past. But ever since they caught the eyes of the pro-gamers community, these strong, sturdy typing devices have made a strong comeback.
With its popularity increasing day by day, a mechanical keyboard is not going anywhere anytime soon. The mechanical keyboard almost retired with the incorporation of cheaper, membrane, or rubber-dome keyboards in PCs. But the newer keyboards were made cheaper hence they couldn’t keep up with the qualities of their ancestor. And the mechanical keyboard stayed to see an era of its insurgence.
What Is A Mechanical Keyboard?
A mechanical keyboard is so-called because it has an individual mechanical switch for each different key. These switches detect when a key is pressed and relay the information to the computer.
The switches work when the force on the key compresses the spring present beneath the key. This leads to contact between two conductors. This contact then relays signals to the computer—the spring releases when the force is removed, and the key jumps back up.
Why Buy A Mechanical Keyboard?
Mechanical keyboards are much more expensive than regular keyboards. But the advantages they have over regular keyboards justify their price to a significant extent.
Durability
Mechanical keyboards have a life much longer than their younger counterparts. This is why buying a mechanical keyboard can be regarded as an investment because they can stay in perfect working condition for years, even decades.
These keyboards have an average life of about 50 million keystrokes, while the rubber-dome keyboards have a life of hardly 5 million keystrokes. Perhaps this long-life is why this keyboard from the past is still popular and in use even today.
Keys Don't Wear Out
Another advantage that the mechanical keyboard has is that its keys don’t wear out on excessive use. Unlike the rubber-dome keyboards, the keys of which become clattery and sticky after prolonged use.
Their resistance to wear is another reason why these keyboards justify their price. These keyboards stay “new” for many years and hence don’t need replacements like other conventional keyboards.
Better Typing Experience
This is probably the one most popular feature of a mechanical keyboard. Even people who don't know much about a mechanical keyboard know for a fact that this keyboard has a better typing 'feel' as compared to other keyboards.
Mechanical keyboards often have a tactile feel and audio feedback, which adds to user satisfaction. Depending upon the switches they have, these keyboards offer different types of ‘feel.’ Hence, allowing you to buy the keyboard whose 'feel' you like the most.
Furthermore, depending upon the switches, the keys on the mechanical keyboard, after being pressed, pop back up quickly. The actuation force required to make the key work is much lesser, making it a favorite among the typist community.
Easy to Customize
A mechanical keyboard is easy to customize, making it a favorite among people who like their things to look a certain way. Not just appearance, but a mechanical keyboard offers a wide variety of choices in keycaps material, which influences the keyboard's performance.
They allow for LED backlighting, which the users can change as per their liking, and have a massive variety in keycap colors and designs, allowing the users to customize them as per their liking.
Easier Maintenance
The keycaps on a mechanical keyboard are very easy to remove using tools such as a keycap puller. Mechanical keyboards allow you to remove all their keys quickly and put them back easily. This makes it easier to clean.
Furthermore, the dirt can stick to the rubber with membrane keyboards and can become difficult to remove, meaning these keyboards cannot be cleaned thoroughly. While there is no such complication with a mechanical keyboard, you can easily clean it intensively.
More Stable
Mechanical keyboards, because of their mechanical switch mechanism, are heavier than other keyboards. This is why they have more stability and stay put while you work on them. This aspect can be advantageous for people who want their keyboard to be stable and not slide away due to a slight typing force.
Tips for Buying Your First Keyboard
Have you decided to get yourself a mechanical keyboard after reading about the eminent superiority that it has over the regular ones? Good for you! But before you get into the mechanical keyboard market, there are a few things you should now so that you can buy the best possible keyboard that fits perfectly with your requirements.
1. Know Your Purpose
Mechanical keyboards have many different specifications that are customizable to make them perfect for each user. This is why you must know the purpose you’re buying the keyboard for.
Take some time and think about the goal you want to achieve with your keyboard. And for what reason are you buying this keyboard?
Once you have decided your purpose and know your goal regarding your mechanical keyboard, you are good to dive into this huge market and get yourself a typing companion that fulfills all of your demands.
2. Do Your Research
As we have mentioned before, mechanical keyboards offer many options for their performance and size. So, before you buy one for yourself, it would be great to do your research and gain some knowledge about these devices.
Get on the internet and surf through various websites explaining all the different sizes that keyboards have and find what works for you. Not only will it help you in understanding the options that these keyboards have, but you might also pick up some of the keyboard jargon, which will enhance your understanding of the keyboard.
3. Learn the Jargon
Learning the keyboard world's jargon is important if you want to get a mechanical keyboard that’s just right. To understand what the keyboard sellers mean when they are telling you about the specs of their devices, you must know at least a little bit of the language of the keyboard world.
Moreover, to grip the information of mechanical keyboards that you get while surfing the internet, you should know the keyboard vernacular. This will also help you understand your purpose better and enable you to efficiently communicate what you expect from the keyboard to the seller.
4. Understand the Keyboard Switches
Switches are the most important part of a mechanical keyboard because they decide many factors for the keyboard. These factors include the actuation forces, tactile feel, audio response, and many others. This is why it is important to have a basic no-how of the most common switches to understand which switch can give you exactly what you need.
There are three basic categories of switches. Tactile switches, clicky switches, and linear switches.
Tactile switches, as their name suggests, give tactile feedback. On pressing, they go down with a little ‘pop,’ giving the user a sort of satisfaction. Furthermore, these switches are not noisy and register a keystroke on shorter button travel. So, these switches are best if you want quick actuation with low noise and great tactile response.
Clicky switches are more on the noisy side because they go down with a click. They, too, have shorter button travel hence quick actuation. If you are a typist, this keyboard might be for you as it allows for quick typing due to shorter button travel.
The linear switch goes down smoothly, without any click or 'pop.' It registers a keystroke after it has been pressed down all the way. This fact makes it a favorite among gamers as longer button travel makes sure there are no mis-presses.
5. Don't go for Unknown Brands
The high price of good quality mechanical keyboards from well-known brands might compel you to turn towards the cheaper, lesser-known brands. But the brands offering you keyboards at much lower than their average price might have compromised on the keyboard quality. They might’ve used cheap material for making the keyboard just so that they can sell it at a lower price.
Therefore, do your research and look for the best places to get a mechanical keyboard. Find out the average price of good mechanical keyboards so that you don’t get deceived by the cheap, second-rate keyboards.
EndNote
The mechanical keyboard is making a slow but sure rebound with more and more people finding out about their qualities and preferring them over the conventional keyboards. These strong retro keyboards have lots of advantages over their successors. These advantages greatly contribute to their popularity.
But no good thing comes without an effort. And the effort in getting a good mechanical keyboard is to learn a few things about the keyboard. And do a little research before you step out to buy it.
Keyboards vernacular, sizes, and switches are a few things that you should get only beginner-level information about to better understand your keyboard requirements and get yourself the perfect keyboard.
We, SZ LangPai, offer some of the best mechanical keyboards. For more information, contact us today.
