This title might sound a little misleading. Actually, it’s not. It’s exactly like it sounds. I’ve been on the prowl for a good keyboard that sates a few of my minutia. I’m not a writer or coder. I do enjoy writing and I code when I have to for work. I script, so more of the brackets, semi-colons, curly-braces, special characters and so forth do make their way in. Mind you, when coding it’s more ‘cut/copy/paste’ once I have the main idea, then it’s logic that takes over. I’m not some wonder-kid who scripts like a mad man or anything. But, when I type something for my own enjoyment, I like a certain feeling when my fingers press keys. And that was why I was in search of a keyboard that just feels right to me.
This is not meant to be a prescriptive article, these are my findings based on what I feel to be sort of the generic brands out there, and what I’ve found works for me over the years. Keep in mind, this is the technology that happens underneath the keys, a typical user likely won’t care – but since this is a geek/tech blog, I care.
Types of keyboards:
Membrane
Membrane keyboards are easy to clean, just pop off all the keys, vacuum all the crud, and give the base, and keys a wipe. That ‘island’ style keyboard however cannot be cleaned without some serious effort.
How They Work
Basically a plastic membrane of the same layout of the location of keys is laid over a circuit board. Each ‘key’ has a slight rise, and in an ‘open’ position, pressing down ‘closes’ the position, sending that down/closed motion as a key stroke.
The Experience
These are perfect office keyboards. They’re quiet, unobtrusive, give no real personality since you can’t really customize them. Great for the dull, drab, gray office setting. Everyone that owns a computer has likely felt the ‘mushy’ feeling of the keys; unlike mechanical keyboards, there’s no feedback or click pressing down.
| Pro’s | Con’s |
| -Common -Cheap -Fairly durable -Quiet | -No customization -‘mushy’ feeling |
Scissor Switch
Common in laptops due to their very slim profile. You can find these in certain bluetooth accessory keyboards, or ultra-slim keyboards. You only need a small amount of force to actuate, and super quiet. Again, ideal for office settings. From past experience, any broken key or busted scissor component can be replaced; although it requires research into the brand, type, year, even size of key. Cleaning is a pain – since each individual key has it’s own scissor switch, it’s incredibly easy to break multiple scissor components. Just best to leave it alone, or hold upside down, and shake out all the loose crud.
How They Work
The underlying technology is basically the same as a membrane keyboard, however there’s a two-piece ‘scissor’ mechanism that pushes the keys upwards to their neutral position. Pressing down still contacts the membrane, and registers as a keystroke.
The Experience
If you’ve done work on any laptop for extended periods of time, you’ll find it’s quite comfortable. Since you don’t need to press very hard, and it’s nearly silent it’s an office-style keyboard, and low-profile saves space.
| Pro’s | Con’s |
| -Low profile -Quiet -Common | -Difficult to clean -Easy to break / difficult to repair |
Roll-up
Made of flexible plastic / silicone and can be rolled up. I’ve only used one in the past, and while it was handy to roll up the keyboard, the novelty wore off very quickly. The water-proofness meant cleaning was a breeze, however most silicone keyboards have a textured grip, meaning constant cleaning, and the type of material just attracted dust and other debris.
How They Work
Same as a membrane keyboard, only instead of rigid plastic keys pressing down, it’s another membrane on top of the circuit membrane.
The Experience
Not every keystroke registers. This is by far the most annoying part. For a keyboard, that is supposed to register each key pressed, it was easily a 50/50 chance. For any touch-typist, you are now limited to half your typing speed. There’s no actuation, no rigidity, without the feedback of pressing down, it takes some adjustment. The reasons for a roll-up, waterproof, and dust attracting keyboard is simply novelty, and little else. Someone posted that roll-up keyboards are ‘rugged’, however part of that rugged terminology means the keyboard performs all the same functions without issue – since it’s a 50% chance it registers the keystroke, this is not rugged, it’s unreliable. I do not recommend these.
| Pro’s | Con’s |
| -Cheap | -Attracts dust / debris -50% chance keystrokes register -Zero tactility |
Mechanical
Unlike membrane keyboards, each individual key has it’s own ‘switch’ that contacts directly with the PCB (printed circuit board). The switches are typically made of a housing, a spring, a slider, and sometimes additional parts. The switch connects to the PCB via direct, metal contact (sometimes gold). Wikipedia calls these ‘metal contact’, however the most common term is simply ‘mechanical’. The major producer of mechanical switches is the Cherry corporation since they patented the technology in the early 1980’s. Cherry was the exclusive manufacturer of the technology, effectively their own monopoly in the mechanical keyboard market until around 2014 when the patent expired, and multiple switch manufacturers appeared in the market around that time. Since then, mechanical keyboards have become more affordable, easy to maintain, and come with a multitude of options, connectivity and additional features. Manufacturers have also taken a queue from the hobbyist community and offer a very large range of different springs, switch materials that provide different tactility and pressure sensitivities. The combinations are nearly endless, and the mechanical keyboard community flourishes with tips, tricks, and deep research articles. Cleaning a mechanical keyboard while easy, is time consuming: removal of keycaps, removal of keyboard housing, removal of switches, and so on. While time consuming, some articles point to the ‘zen-like’ feeling of understanding the function of each individual component.
How They Work
As mentioned, each key has it’s own individual switch that connects directly with the PCB. The PCB is typically rigid, and more premium mechanical keyboards are weighted to provide a luxury feeling.
The Experience
There’s nothing quite like a mechanical keyboard. Each keystroke is crisp, and depending on the tactility or linear type of switch, the feedback is different, and altogether enjoyable. I must emphasize the sound. Hobbyists and enthusiasts alike know the unique clickety-clack tones only the mechanical keyboard is able to produce. Typing on this keyboard is an event that has to be experienced. However, the sound also means this is not an office-style keyboard, much to the annoyance of some coworkers, it can be distracting to others. Since 2014, the market has been flooded with a plethora of different options and prices, all geared to the consumer’s interests. Mechanical keyboards are offered with different styles, configurations, materials, connectivity, weight, languages; just about anything you can imagine is available. Huge online communities post their research about building, tinkering their own boards with interesting results.
| Pro’s | Con’s |
| -Tactility -Highly customizable -Large hobbyist community | -Expensive -Loud (depending on configuration) |