Solomon
Senior Member
On Today's Computer Keyboards
Our generation reads, writes and mostly touch types-- today we are in the minority. We appreciate a good keyboard, but because we are in the minority until recently we had to pay a price to get a good keyboard.
Something fortuitous happened. Gamers, the PC majority, discovered the the tactile keys that touch typists like also work well while playing computer games. You can strafe (spray bullets) faster with a tactile keyboard. Demand and competition went up for tactile keyboards driving the price down.
Tactile Keyboards
Tackle keyboards have mechanical key switches that give your fingers feedback allowing you to know that you have successfully typed a letter. They are clicky, and are most often compared to the holy grail of touch typing, the IBM Selectric Typewriter. With a good tactile keyboard you can type faster and more accurately. Some people don't like the click. The noise the make can be irritating, especially when you are working in a room with others. I work alone so it doesn't bother me. For those bothered by the noise, there are cushions to slience them and it is possible to order key switches, fully mechanical, tactile keys that are silent, too.
Key Switch Grades
Cherry the main manufacturer of mechanical key switches offers a number of color-coded grades of switches. For example, Cherry MX Blue switches require high pressure and have a loud click. Cherry MX Brown switches require less pressure and the click is less pronounced. I like the Brown.
Other Considerations
Touch typist have another problem, they wear the labels off their keys. Better keyboards have "Double Shot Injection Molded Keys" meaning that the letters on the keys are not painted on, but go straight through the keys, so they never wear off. Today they are taking the "Double Shot" one step further and using clear plastic for the key legends. This allows them to LED backlight the keys to make them even more visible (Of course, gamers are tricking this up with multiple backlighting colors and effects- not something that I am interested in).
The Search for the Cheap and Good Tactile Keyboard
So what I have been looking for is a keyboard with Cherry MX Brown keys. The keys have to be Double Shot Injection Molded. After these to requirements, I really was looking for less. I didn't want fancy backlight colors, and other gaming crap, just a sturdy, utilitarian keyboard. I think I've found it.
It's called the Velocifire TKL01 $29, for $10 more you can pick up one with a number pad-- which I like. This model with the numpad (VM01) is the model that I bought. Great little keyboards. Here's the link for the TKL01. If you want the one with the numpad, just search Amazon for "Velocifire VM01."
Our generation reads, writes and mostly touch types-- today we are in the minority. We appreciate a good keyboard, but because we are in the minority until recently we had to pay a price to get a good keyboard.
Something fortuitous happened. Gamers, the PC majority, discovered the the tactile keys that touch typists like also work well while playing computer games. You can strafe (spray bullets) faster with a tactile keyboard. Demand and competition went up for tactile keyboards driving the price down.
Tactile Keyboards
Tackle keyboards have mechanical key switches that give your fingers feedback allowing you to know that you have successfully typed a letter. They are clicky, and are most often compared to the holy grail of touch typing, the IBM Selectric Typewriter. With a good tactile keyboard you can type faster and more accurately. Some people don't like the click. The noise the make can be irritating, especially when you are working in a room with others. I work alone so it doesn't bother me. For those bothered by the noise, there are cushions to slience them and it is possible to order key switches, fully mechanical, tactile keys that are silent, too.
Key Switch Grades
Cherry the main manufacturer of mechanical key switches offers a number of color-coded grades of switches. For example, Cherry MX Blue switches require high pressure and have a loud click. Cherry MX Brown switches require less pressure and the click is less pronounced. I like the Brown.
Other Considerations
Touch typist have another problem, they wear the labels off their keys. Better keyboards have "Double Shot Injection Molded Keys" meaning that the letters on the keys are not painted on, but go straight through the keys, so they never wear off. Today they are taking the "Double Shot" one step further and using clear plastic for the key legends. This allows them to LED backlight the keys to make them even more visible (Of course, gamers are tricking this up with multiple backlighting colors and effects- not something that I am interested in).
The Search for the Cheap and Good Tactile Keyboard
So what I have been looking for is a keyboard with Cherry MX Brown keys. The keys have to be Double Shot Injection Molded. After these to requirements, I really was looking for less. I didn't want fancy backlight colors, and other gaming crap, just a sturdy, utilitarian keyboard. I think I've found it.
It's called the Velocifire TKL01 $29, for $10 more you can pick up one with a number pad-- which I like. This model with the numpad (VM01) is the model that I bought. Great little keyboards. Here's the link for the TKL01. If you want the one with the numpad, just search Amazon for "Velocifire VM01."
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www.amazon.com
so I moved back to the straight keyboards a few years ago.
