SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
You may not think much about the switches that sit underneath the keycaps of your keyboard, but there's a large contingent of enthusiasts who really, really care. And for those users, Cherry's various MX-branded switches are somewhat of a standard. Because they include a number of mechanical parts, though, you won't see a lot of laptop-like thin mechanical keyboards or mechanical keyboards on more than a handful of laptops.
The trend, however, is clearly going toward slim keyboards — and that's not lost on Cherry. So at CES this week, the company is introducing a completely new line of keyboard switches that may just be small enough to bring mechanical keyboards to more laptops (or at least more niche gaming laptops) and thinner keyboards. These new switches are low-profile versions of the Cherry MX RGB switch, a switch that features colored LEDs and which is especially popular with gamers. The company tells me that, if successful, it'll launch thinner versions of its other MX switches, too.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Grishnakh on Tuesday January 16 2018, @05:17PM (7 children)
Unlike PC keyboards, where you can buy and plug in any keyboard you want thanks to the USB standard (and PS/2 before that), with a laptop you're stuck with whatever POS keyboard they stick in there, unless one of these keyboard companies decides to offer aftermarket replacement keyboards for select laptop models. I think there's a grand total of 1 laptop out there right now with a mechanical keyboard, and of course it's a very expensive, specialized "gaming" laptop. I hate these island keyboards in laptops now with a passion, but even I'm not going to shell out thousands of dollars for some big, heavy laptop with mechanical keys just because of this, when I can get a good laptop (aside from the keyboard) for a few hundred (I tend to buy off-lease business laptops, but even good consumer laptops aren't that expensive). Also important is the sound: I probably wouldn't be welcome in many coffee shops if my keyboard was making too much noise.
Why can't we just have the keyboards that Thinkpads had about 5-10 years ago? Those were perfection; slim enough, easy to type on (no stupid flat-top island keys), good tactile response, not too much noise; they were the perfect balance for what you need in a business/productivity laptop. The Dell Latitude E-series keyboards were a close second BTW.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bob_super on Tuesday January 16 2018, @05:22PM (2 children)
> Why can't we just have the keyboards that Thinkpads had about 5-10 years ago?
Because Apple. The slim laptop and copy-Apple crazes killed the good keyboard.
Still have a small Dell at home with a great real keyboard. Off my cold dead carpal-tunneled hands! (anyone has a spare H key?)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 16 2018, @10:49PM (1 child)
While I normally go along with a good apple hate, at least in this case it is not at all apple's fault that the "copy-Apple crazes" came into being.
The real fault here lies with the copy-Apple crazes who decided to copy everything apple did to the most minute detail. If they had not gone "apple mad" we wouldn't have every laptop attempting to look like a low-budget apple laptop.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday January 18 2018, @05:08PM
I don't think bob_super was blaming Apple there, he was just citing them as the initial cause. Truthfully, those stupid island keyboards were first invented and commercially used by Sony years before, but it wasn't until Apple decided to ape them that they really took off. I think it's fairly obvious that the Apple-copiers are really the ones to blame; you can't blame Apple for a bunch of other idiots copying them. But Apple and their design choices are the root cause; if Apple hadn't adopted this design, most likely we wouldn't see island keyboards at all today, or maybe only on Sonys.
Honestly, I really am sick of other companies copying Apple and their crappy designs and conventions. If I liked Apple that much, I would just buy an Apple product. No one in their right mind buys a Thinkpad wishing it were more like a MacBook; that's like shopping for a full-size Ford truck and wishing it were more like a Nissan Cube.
(Score: 4, Informative) by tibman on Tuesday January 16 2018, @06:06PM
Pretty sure i despise laptops. Usually get two stand-alone monitors, decent keyboard (cherry mx clear), and decent mouse. Plug it all up to the laptop, close the laptop lid, shove the laptop to the back of the desk and pretend it doesn't exist. If companies still employ me when i'm old then they'll probably hate me.
You shouldn't have to throw out your nice keyboard when your computer gets old : /
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday January 16 2018, @09:09PM (2 children)
I'm using a laptop with a USB mechanical keyboard plugged into it right now, also a 21" external monitor... of course, I'm using it like a desktop workstation, but... if you've got the space and don't need to be mobile all the time.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Tuesday January 16 2018, @09:31PM (1 child)
Well yeah, you can do that with any laptop, that's no revelation. Lots of people who use a laptop on the same desk every day have some kind of USB keyboard they plug into it, especially in corporate settings where docking stations are the norm. But that doesn't help when you take your laptop with you somewhere; no one is going to bring their 104-key keyboard on the plane with them, or to the coffee shop, etc.
(Score: 3, Informative) by tibman on Tuesday January 16 2018, @09:45PM
Maybe not a 104 but an 87 (tenkeyless) is portable and usually the same width as the laptop. https://deskthority.net/wiki/Tenkeyless_keyboard [deskthority.net]
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.