Keyboard Appreciator Thread

Andy Kaufman

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Is there any way to test out one of these keyboards before buying them? I'd like to upgrade from my decade-old Microsoft membrane keyboard at some point, but I've never used a mechanical keyboard before and have a lot of questions. What's the difference between all the different colored switches? How loud are they? Does a mechanical keyboard actually help you type faster?
They're a clever scheme to extract money out of gamer lol.
But seriously:
While bad membrane keyboards do indeed feel mushy and inconsistent, that doesn't have to be the case. My Logitech has very clear breaking points.
A lot of gamers claim that mechanical keyboards are "more precise" but that's something that will only come into play when you're already in the top 0.001% of the leaderboard. Before then, a mechanical keyboard will not make a difference for an average player.

For typing it's even less important. All comes down to a matter of preference and how you enjoy the haptics.
I personally dislike the clattering of mechanical keyboards but for me that input device also is just a tool so I'd never spend more than 20 bucks on it. For some it's a fashion statement or they like to tinker with it so it makes sense to get a mechanical one.

All comes down to personal preference but I consider them to be borderline scams.
 
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They're a clever scheme to extract money out of gamer lol.
But seriously:
While bad membrane keyboards do indeed feel mushy and inconsistent, that doesn't have to be the case. My Logitech has very clear breaking points.
A lot of gamers claim that mechanical keyboards are "more precise" but that's something that will only come into play when you're already in the top 0.001% of the leaderboard. Before then, a mechanical keyboard will not make a difference for an average player.

For typing it's even less important. All comes down to a matter of preference and how you enjoy the haptics.
I personally dislike the clattering of mechanical keyboards but for me that input device also is just a tool so I'd never spend more than 20 bucks on it. For some it's a fashion statement or they like to tinker with it so it makes sense to get a mechanical one.

All comes down to personal preference but I consider them to be borderline scams.
You heard him guys, we are ready for the CSGO BIG LEAGUES.
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Andy Kaufman

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FWIW modern keyboards are usually Cherry switches or derivative that have one of the most repugnant sound profiles I've ever heard in a keyboard. The only reason they survived to be the gamer dude keyboard switch is because Cherry had a load of contracts for point of sale keyboards that kept them from going out of business when rubber dome got big.
Yeah marketing plays a huge role. In the 90s and early to late 2000s, everyone I knew was just gaming with normal membrane keyboards. Also high precision stuff like CS1.6 and quake.
Everyone had a huge CRT, white/beige PC casings and regular mice.
Then the "gaming [object]" trend took off.
Gaming chairs, gaming keyboards, mice, tables, hats. Even food items and drinks started to get branded as gamer food and fuel.
And everything with RGB Christmas lights.
LAN-parties and gaming tournaments predate "gaming" peripherals by a decade or two so I consider them to be just a marketing strategy.
Twitch streamers and "pro gamers/ esports" getting paid to advertise these products to zoomers probably played a huge role.
 
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Andy Kaufman

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Andy Kaufman

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Why choose when you can have it all? This keyboard is all of the above and more:
> office keyboard (i think possibly used in some kind of TV setting?)
> buckling rubber sleeves
> macro keys
> sense mechanism is literally 120ish tiny transformers with little ferrite cores that get pulled up and down by the rubber
> contains a whole 9 LEDs
> occasionally screams with incredibly loud beeper noise if you toggle numlock state a bit too fast, probably my fault with the converter doohickey
> gold key that says "gold" on it
> weird vestigial vent that has no observable purpose
View attachment 36202
the soychadtroon board
 
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I bought a cool thing on eBay today:

View attachment 37553

old teletext page editing keyboard. top tier features: long Q key, what the actual fuck
This is genuinely amazing, i literally don't even use the num keys but having soo many buttons is just good for the looks.
 
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Shantotto

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Blackwidow chroma v2, green switches. Haven't cleaned it since I got it in 2017.

Would post a pic but I don't want to get doxxed by the kiwi farms.
 
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grap

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I have one of these:

large_X8-USPDBYA1_4.jpg


I don't know how to tinker with keyboards (or with anything), I picked really loud switches and it sounds fucking annoying, and it looks loud and obnoxious on my desk. Also I don't game. But I like using it anyway.
 

Collision

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most fucked up shit I've found in 40-odd year old keyboards:
- a significant amount of rice, probably someone's dinner in the 80s
- a wasp
- a multitude of spiders
- large quantity of toenail clippings
- unidentified orange sludge
Delicious!
i'm tired of having a doodoo 15$ keyboard from china. if i spend money on a good keyboard is it actually worth it?
I think it's worth it (at least up to around $100) if you spend a lot of time at your computer. I think the build quality of mechanical keyboards tends to be better but you're not going to have a religious experience or anything. I would avoid anything too gamer-chic because of lot that stuff is over priced junk. It's also really fun to have loud switches that bother people. It's like eating a bag of chips really loudly except it's harder for people to tell you to cut it out.
 
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Andy Kaufman

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prime pre-event DNA right there.

most fucked up shit I've found in 40-odd year old keyboards:
- a significant amount of rice, probably someone's dinner in the 80s
- a wasp
- a multitude of spiders
- large quantity of toenail clippings
- unidentified orange sludge
this sounds like an ingredient list for a magic potion tbh
 
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grap

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I have over 50 keyboards, most all of them from the early 90s or earlier...

I'm not ready to take the plunge just yet, but this is something I might like to do someday.

An eBay search for "vintage keyboards" gives me a somewhat bewildering assortment of options. Did you figure out which ones you like mostly yourself, or is there a website/resource related to keyboard restoration you would recommend? I did see your recommendations in this post and a later one, but I'm curious about how one would come to know which old boards are worth the investment.
 

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