/tech/ - technology

currently typing on topres, which are fun, though I also have mxred in another location.

i really don't like brown (blech, I mean seriously).

reds
+smooth feeling
+nice sound
-no tactile bump

topre
+that sound though
+nice bump
-feels a little heavier to activate than the reds, more fatigue

browns just felt like squish, and didnt have much noise. i like noise.
dont think I have enough of experience with others at the moment to comment.

basically all of this (all of this) is user prefference. i have nothing against users of brown switches, and i most likely would take a brown before i took a tacky rubber dome keyboard, its just that i like different things.

as far as what's better for coders: use what you like. for some folks that might be not the 'normal' choice. some of this discussion is technical, perhaps tactile bumps make people type better (have their been studies?) but it also just matters that you get a keyboard that you like, and i am not sure that there is any really reliable way to make everyone love a switch

i use browns but i don't have enough experience with the different switch types to offer an opinion. my friend has blues, and those were cool, but when i got my first mechanical keyboard, i wanted an in-between of reds and blues so i just got brown switches, and i really like them.

I'm typing on a board with Matias Quiet Click switches (ALPS derivatives) and they're by far the best thing switches that my fingers have ever felt. It'd be nice if they had Cherry-style stems so that I could actually find other caps to spice it up a little (not that there's anything wrong with the otaku PBTs that I have right now), but that's legitimately my only complaint about them.

Currently using a Happy Hacking Pro II with a custom hasu controller for Bluetooth capability, and for extra programmable layers.

I'm a huge fan of Topre, and have 3 other Topre boards. 55 g is definitely my favourite, but I haven't been able to bring myself to turn one of my Realforce's into a zombie in order to have a 55 g HHKB.

>>478
I use reds in a Kinesis Advantage because my elbows are fucked up from decades of typing. I combine that with an Evoluent Vertical Mouse (left handed), which I think Kinesis started selling as well. Great combo.

The nice thing about the reds is that they require a constant 45g of pressure to activate the switch. There's no initial pressure of getting through a tactile bump. Beyond that, the Advantage lets me turn on a little piezo speaker so that I know when I've pressed a key without bottoming out the switch.

Red for gaming; I tried blues but the clicking for quick jerking movement was bizarre.

Otherwise I like the click/bump for writing.

>>478
i use Gaterons myself, they are both cheaper and in my opinion also nicer than cherry. i have gat browns on my ergodox.
It's really more about preference than "better for typists", just try a few.

I really want to get a keyboard with these new-fangled switches called Cherry MX Speed.
I already have Reds, they are really nice.

I've only used browns before: I need to get a keyboard sampler to compare the others with.
But I do enjoy the mx browns. Comfy, and I don't imagine this keyboard will need replacing, for years.
>faster typists
I think I type reasonably fast on browns.

i only used red switches, which are really sensitive for typing, i dont like it because typos.

>>492
I've heard great things about gaterons. They are apparently less scratchy and feel a bit nicer than cherry switches. If I get a chance, I'll be upgrading my CM QF TK to gateron browns in the near future.

I'm a big fan of Topres.

>>478
Im after a good springy keyboard with no clicking, I heard MX browns are good for that, thoughts?

>>551
Browns will get you a slight clicky feeling without a clicky sound. If you want a linear stroke you should be looking at reds or blacks.

>>554
reds do make noise, especially with the tendancy to bottoming out made by their lack of a bump.

Its not as clicky as some, but its not quite queit either.

>>556
O-rings can dull most of the bottoming out sound.

I have a keyboard with Kailh green switches that I got very cheaply. (Roughly equivalent to Cherry blue)

It was great, up until yesterday, when the "A" key started acting up - registering double-presses, or nothing at all. I think I need to open it up and clean the contacts.

Anyway, I think that goes to show that there are clearly some QC/longevity issues compared to Cherry switches.

>>634
Cherry's testing process is extreme. I'm not even sure the switches are overpriced considering everything they do.