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Created June 7, 2018 08:33
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short introduction to mechanical keyboards
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keyboards.md

Mechanical Keyboards

Why?

  • Customization
  • Sustainable
  • Fun!

Customization

A mechanical keyboard mainly consists of those three parts:

  • Case
  • PCB (Printed-Curcuit-Board)
  • Switch-Plate
  • Switches
  • Keycaps

Every part is highly customizable which means there are plenty of parts available for each. Just to mention a few possible customizations:

  • Case: Steel, Aluminum, Wood, Acrylic, etc
  • PCB: Different layouts (ANSI, ISO, etc) and programmability (!)
  • Switch-Plate: Steel, Brass, Aluminum, Acrylic, etc
  • Switches: Tactile, Linear, Clicky, Topre and each of those in different weights (lighter, heavier) and form factors (Cherry-like Switches, Box Switches)
  • Keycaps: Different Profiles (Cherry Profile, DSA, SA, etc) and materials (ABS, PBT, POM)

Another thing is the size of the keyboard which are usually available in 40%, 60%, 65%, 75%, Tenkeyless, 100% (and a few different more)

A huge part in customziation is the ability to programm the microcontroller on the PCB to send different signals no matter at which computer you are using it (as opposed to software based programmability, which is possible for any keyboard)

Sustainable

  • Try to spill water or whatever liquid on your Apple keyboard, it will be broken
  • Every switch is able to provide an amount of about 50 Mio keystrokes (Box switches even more)
  • Most materials are more sustainable than cheap plastic cases from usual vendors

Fun!

It's fun! Really. The amount of customization opens up a lot of possibilities to build the keyboard which is the best for you in look and feel and it's definitly YOUR keyboard. If you're not into customization you can at least buy a mechanical keyboard in most common configurations.

Links

Communities:

Vendors (only EU related)

Depending on the value you have to pay huge shipping and customs fees if you order something from outside the EU! Interestingly enough it's often not the case for KBDfans orders.

There are a whole lot more vendors in the USA and Asia (the community is way bigger than in the EU), have a look here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/wiki/buying_guide

More Resources

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