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[2021-10-13 13:26:33 UTC; Updated to removed duplicated 1st sentence.--martyb]
Drop's new mechanical keyboards go up to $500:
High-end mechanical keyboard and PC peripherals brand Drop (formerly Massdrop) today revealed its next lineup of prebuilt mechanical keyboards. The brand added options to three different series, with its most premium one, Paragon, priced at a whopping $500 apiece.
In addition to making its own products, Drop has a shop where keyboard fanatics can get everything from mechanical keyboard switches to unique and artisan keycaps, stabilizers, and even fancy, detachable cables. The keyboards released today are supposed to make it easier for people who don't want to build their own clacker to get an enthusiast-level option without having to deal with group buys, which take many months before you actually get a product in hand.
[...] Drop's Paragon keyboards are currently available for preorder but aren't expected to start shipping until around November 15.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 13 2021, @03:51PM (12 children)
What the hell is a "mechanical" keyboard? Isn't that what I would call a "regular" keyboard? Or is this some steampunk retro typewriter kind of thing we're talking about here?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 13 2021, @05:16PM (3 children)
Re-reading my question, it comes off as a bit snarky, but it really was an honest question: what is a mechanical keyboard? I'm typing this on some generic Dell keyboard where the keys have springs in them, but I gather from the context that this is not a mechanical keyboard given that they are also not very expensive. I also gather that we're not talking about the butterfly keyboard on my Macbook Pro (which I think is properly classified as a "PITA" keyboard".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 13 2021, @09:18PM
Mechanical is strictly in reference to the switch design. Your Dell is a mechanical keyboard, but not the desirable clackety-key kind that gives IBM fanboys such a thrill.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 14 2021, @02:00AM (1 child)
It's not necessarily about clicking. Not all mechanical keyboards click. Common keyboards are properly called rubber dome keyboards (or sometimes membrane keyboards, but that's confusing). They have a sheet of silicone rubber molded into the layout of the keyboard where there's a hollow dome under each key, and contact traces on the bottom of the dome. When you press the key, the dome collapses (this causes the tactile feedback) and the trace contacts a matching trace below it, which is how the keypress is detected. This means you have to press the key all the way to the bottom before it registers. The elasticity of the rubber is what pushes the key back up when you release it.
Mechanical keyboards have an individual self contained spring and switch under each key. When you push the key down, the plunger pushes the contacts on the switch together. By choosing the spring and switch, and how the plunger interacts with the switch, it's possible to configure the key resistance, sensitivity, tactile feedback or lack thereof, and clickiness (or not). Most mechanical keyswitches register at about 1/3 to 1/2 of the total travel, so it's possible to type without ever banging the key against the bottom stop, which is a lot gentler on the fingers, and much more responsive.
"Membrane" keyboards can also refer to sealed keyboards where the keys are simply drawn on a flat surface, like on a Speak & Spell or certain devices that need to operate outdoors or in harsh environments. Prior to the mid-90s, pc keyboards were mechanical, but modern membrane/dome keyboards were developed to lower costs.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 14 2021, @01:46PM
Great answer, thank you for responding.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Tork on Wednesday October 13 2021, @07:26PM (5 children)
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 13 2021, @09:20PM (3 children)
Not everyone cares about keyboards enough to learn the nomenclature. Normal people also hate the clicking.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Tork on Wednesday October 13 2021, @11:01PM (2 children)
So did you come visit a nerd site because you're lost and need directions to Facebook?
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 14 2021, @05:44AM
I appreciate mechanical keyboards. I'm also not delusional and fully in possession of my perceptive faculties, so I know that almost everyone else daydreams about beating you to death with your fancy loud keyboard when you start clacking away.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 15 2021, @08:24PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 14 2021, @01:55PM
Got it. So if I have my touchpad emit a "click" noise when I use it, it is by definition a "mechanical" keyboard. (Anticipating your objection, I will also note that my touchpad gives me feedback when I use it; the harder I press on it, the harder it provides me a resistive force).
Mechanical keyboards have nothing to do with "tech-nerd," by the way in that it is some superficial quality akin to whether some design has rounded corners makes it "tech-nerd" appropriate. Whether YOU may or may not have a fascination with them doesn't make it not worthy of explanation. The world may appear to revolve around you from your perspective, but rest assured it does not.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 13 2021, @08:29PM
Having recently (about 6 months) starting using the Moonlander keyboard, all I can tell you is that typing on it vs. regular keyboard is as playing on a Grand Piano vs. on a cheap $50 keyboard with unweighted keys and 5 octaves. Like that. Maybe that doesn't mean nothing to you either.
I'm about to get another Moonlander for work. Yes, it's worth it. Being able to program each key individually with multiple layers is additional benefit that's beyond of what you can accomplish with xmodmap.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 14 2021, @08:29AM
See here [mechanicalkeyboards.com] for example:
Moreover, many mechanical keyboards allow user-servicable switches, which means that individual switches can be repaired/replaced, or even the entire set of switches can be replaced by the user for a different type.