April 09, 2021
Last week I ordered a new external keyboard to use with my laptop. I had been using a cheap one before, and for a couple of years it served me quite well. In fact, I literally must have typed thousands and thousands, if not millions of letters on it. Some of those letters which might end up as pieces of valuable code in the software I’m working on (wishful thinking).
However, after buying a mechanical keyboard for my desktop computer some months ago, I soon learned the pleasure of typing out loud.
If you’re not familiar with mechanical keyboards, the biggest difference between mechanical keyboards and ‘regular’ keyboards, is that the former relies on physical switches to register your input, while the latter relies on a rubber membrane that is compressed upon pushing down a key. They’re both still keyboards that work by pressing keys down.
While for most people regular keyboards work perfectly fine, and I was among those people, mechanical keyboards do offer more precise input and better feedback. This is also why pro gamers, typists and other people whose job relies on their keyboard tend to choose mechanical keyboards.
There is something about the feel of pressing down a mechanical key that is just perfectly satisfying. It turns the act of typing into a joy. It’s the deeper push, as well as the loud sound that comes from one hard material being pushed against the other.
It feels like a typewriter. A machine in itself.
The fact that you can switch out your keycaps for custom-made keycaps only enhances that feeling. Just the idea of my keyboard having an artisan Escape-key already makes me happy inside.
So if you happen to be someone who types a lot, please consider a mechnical keyboard. They just might be the sturdy companion your fingers were waiting for.
I have the HyperX Alloy FPS Pro, but I can also wholeheartedly recommend Xtrfy K4 TKL.