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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: 4, Insightful) by looorg on Tuesday January 16 2018, @05:51PM (2 children)
OK I do admit that I am one of those enthusiasts that like (and require) a mechanical keyboard. It should be a IBM model M keyboard. But other mechanical once might do it in a pinch. I might try one of those as a laptop keyboard, it might be ok -- at the moment I have a separate keyboard for my work laptop just so I won't have to use the disgusting keyboard it normally comes with. The problem with laptop keyboards tho is the layout and they won't change that anytime soon as having a mechanical keyboard on the laptop just won't change the layout issues.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by inertnet on Tuesday January 16 2018, @10:44PM (1 child)
You can get the closest thing to the original IBM keyboards here [pckeyboard.com]. I bought their Classic 101 White Buckling Spring years ago and can't really work with anything else. People on the phone always complain about the noise it makes though.
(Score: 1) by dwilson on Wednesday January 17 2018, @04:06AM
Opened the comments on this specifically to make sure someone mentioned Unicomp [pckeyboard.com]. Thanks!
I own three of them, as well as numerous original Model M's in various states of disrepair. They even sell a Dvorak-layout one that's actually Dvoark, not just re-labeled-keycaps-but-still-a-qwerty-board. So nice.
- D