Put as simply as possible. Why do people care and pay so much for Keyboards.

[Yeet_The_Kiddies]

Imma start by saying this post is not to offend or insult people who have or do pay a lot for peripherals. I just need to know why so that I can decide what type I should get my sister (If i even should) And how much I should pay.

 

Alright. So, I have been using the same keyboard for quite a while now, And its been being used for probably wayy longer since i got it from my cousin, who had been using it for 3 years, who got it from a charity shop.

 

Now, I think it's a regular membrane keyboard, From a strange Chinese dragon company, with the American layout. Im British

 

So the main issues are these: 

The lights on it only light up orange and never turn off

Its got the American layout. yuck

and, every 30-50hrs it just stops and you have to unplug, wait ten seconds and replug it back in. (However that may just be because of my old ass pc)

 

However, If you got rid of those, Why not just get a cheap £30 rgb membrane keyboard.

What are the main advantages of a more expensive keyboard.

 

Oh! also, a little side question, Can anyone identify the company this keyboard is from? I've linked a picture. All the knowledge I have is that my cousin gave me a tecknet mousepad with it, although I'm not sure if they are actually connected.

[minibois]

because I like the feel of the nice clicks and clacks, which is not present on cheap keyboard.

it's sort of a hobby and not 100% for practical purposes.

[Slottr]

I type. A lot. A mechanical keyboard feels so much better than a membrane keyboard due to it's physical feedback

 

Granted, I dived into custom mechanicals a while back so I'm kinda far gone from what you're asking about.

[WereCatf]

5 minutes ago, Yeet_The_Kiddies said:

However, If you got rid of those, Why not just get a cheap £30 rgb membrane keyboard.

What are the main advantages of a more expensive keyboard.

I type a lot and, quite simply, a good, mechanical keyboard feels a lot, lot better to type on and I make fewer mistakes on one as well. It's nothing more than a quality-of-life thing.

[Sauron]

Typing is 90% of my job. I can definitely do it on a cheap keyboard (and mine isn't very expensive for a mech) but having to plug it out and back in every so often would drive me insane

[Letgomyleghoe]

9 minutes ago, Yeet_The_Kiddies said:

Can anyone identify the company this keyboard is from?

its from redragon

 

honestly im about to buy a hot swappable keychron k6, im tired of my membrane keyboard, its not satisfying to type on, the keys feel mushy and wobbly, and its literally straining to type on. hopefully gaeteron reds will be better.

[Yeet_The_Kiddies]

8 minutes ago, minibois said:

because I like the feel of the nice clicks and clacks, which is not present on cheap keyboard.

it's sort of a hobby and not 100% for practical purposes.

 

8 minutes ago, Slottr said:

I type. A lot. A mechanical keyboard feels so much better than a membrane keyboard due to it's physical feedback

 

Granted, I dived into custom mechanicals a while back so I'm kinda far gone from what you're asking about.

 

7 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

I type a lot and, quite simply, a good, mechanical keyboard feels a lot, lot better to type on and I make fewer mistakes on one as well. It's nothing more than a quality-of-life thing.

 

6 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Typing is 90% of my job. I can definitely do it on a cheap keyboard (and mine isn't very expensive for a mech) but having to plug it out and back in every so often would drive me insane

 

 

So, It's basically, As @WereCatf said, Its basically quality of life.

Alright, Seperate question then, is there any way to test the difference without buying a keyboard?

[Yeet_The_Kiddies]

8 minutes ago, Letgomyleghoe said:

its from redragon

 

I think it may be a redragon clone actually since the logos look pretty different

[Sauron]

1 minute ago, Yeet_The_Kiddies said:

is there any way to test the difference without buying a keyboard?

Walk in a store that has the keyboard you want and try it out.

[Letgomyleghoe]

1 minute ago, Yeet_The_Kiddies said:

I think it may be a redragon clone actually since the logos look pretty different

I doubt it's a clone, the logo has probably changed since that keyboard was made, see if you can find a product #.

[minibois]

Just now, Yeet_The_Kiddies said:

So, It's basically, As @WereCatf said, Its basically quality of life.

Sort of.

Yes, quality of life is definitely a reason, but another one for me is just that it has sort of become a hobby of mine to research keyboard (and not really try out new stuff too much though).

1 minute ago, Yeet_The_Kiddies said:

Alright, Seperate question then, is there any way to test the difference without buying a keyboard?

There are keyswitch testers.

A keyswitch is the part of the mechanical keyboard that gets triggered by you pressing it down, keyswitches have wildly different feelings from each other and a tester usually includes a variety of options that you can test out.

 

There is more that goes into the feel of a keyboard though, including the material used in the keycap (the plastic cap on a keyswitch), the backplate (plastic, aluminium, etc.) and stabilizer quality (which is there to stabilize the larger keys) among more.

So while a keyswitch tester can help you decide keyswitch option, it won't give the full feel of a keyboard.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Apart from the feel, the quality and warranty more expensive boards come with is a nice touch. With a Logitech board you wouldn't experience that weird issue you're getting every 30-50 hrs. Plus, with cheaper random boards from Shenzhen, good luck getting any sort of support if the product fails.  

[Tristerin]

Personally, I am using a $10 (got it on sale) Zalman gaming keyboard.  I like it better than my mechanical, and multiple other membrane /memchanical keyboards I have available to use.

[Jason 57]

Sadly I am still using my Logitech G110 keyboard. It is a membrane keyboard, I believe, and like 10 years old???

Funny thing is I got it for the 10 programmable keys, and have NEVER used them. 

 

It's so old, Logitech's current software (G Hub) doesn't recognize it. LOL

I thought about getting a new one, but my daughter (who shares my PC currently) doesn't like the sound of mechanical keyboards. 

[Dr0y]

On 11/19/2020 at 6:17 AM, Jason 57 said:

Sadly I am still using my Logitech G110 keyboard. It is a membrane keyboard, I believe, and like 10 years old???

Funny thing is I got it for the 10 programmable keys, and have NEVER used them. 

 

It's so old, Logitech's current software (G Hub) doesn't recognize it. LOL

I thought about getting a new one, but my daughter (who shares my PC currently) doesn't like the sound of mechanical keyboards. 

You can have dead silent mechanical keyboards, you just have to do some research about them.  Brian from bad seed tech made himself one and it's amazingly quiet.

  Also chyrosran22 did a nice review of that one which is quite silent

 

[J4ynik]

I used to have a mechanical keyboard from Logitech but sold it to a friend after a few months because I couldn't type on it as fast as on my old membrane keyboard or my membrane keyboard at work either. So I continued to use my old membrane until it showed signs of age and now I just bought a new Logitech G213 (which has membrane switches).

I can type even faster now and do not miss my old keyboard anymore. I tried typing on my old mechanical keyboard when I visited my friend and still didn't like typing on it as much, as my membrane keyboard. 

So I think it's very much down to personal preference. Don't spend too much, but get a solid one. I'm sure my Logitech one will last me atleast 15 more years.

LTT staff did a few blind typing tests and even they, who I'd say have loads of experience typing and also on all kinds of keyboard, could mostly not distinguish the "real" MX Switches from good membrane boards.