Mechanical keyboard reduced WPM, making more errors

[rik]

Hi

 

Considering the amount of hype around mechanical keyboards I find my experience with Cherry blue keyboard hasn't been as smooth as I hoped. Quite frustrating instead.

 

How many of you have tried mechanical and switched back to scissors?

 

My background - 15 years daily pc usage and working as programmer. I have gotten used to using scissor switch laptop keys, then a similar Logitech Ultrax, after that briefly Microsoft Natural 4000, then back to ultrax. Then to razer blackwidow (without lighting) with cherry blues.

 

I have given myself about a year to get used to it. But i find I too often end up hitting in the middle of two keys causing errors. I still write faster on ultrax, the fingers need to do a lot less work on the scissors. It feels like the razer keys are narrower and too high compared to scissor ultrax or laptops. I measured the distance between the key centerpoints but they are indeed the same standard width. Its just the keys are too high and getting narrower on the top that makes it feel more cramped and harder to hit.

 

Is this perhaps a problem with the particular series?

Are there keycaps available that are more flat and lower? How much would changing the keycaps affect the typing experience?

 

Of course my usage scenario don't require long typing sessions. Its more occasional typing, 50% mouse usage, switching from file to file in ide, searching scrolling, copy pasting etc. I think a typical developer work isn't keyboard heavy. Keyboards would get more heavy use I imagine with writers, people that chat a lot or use chat heavy games etc. It may be that I have had too little practice with it still.

 

The blackwidow was the cheapest available around here. Thought that as long as the switches are the same it doesn't make sense to overpay for others.

It does have a lot of downsides compared to others 

- badly designed font on keycaps (bad readability)

- Cheap and clumsy/huge/squeaky plastic housing which amplified the typing noise in a bad way. Indeed I removed the keyboard from the casing and it was a massive improvement in looks and usability. The pcb with keys itself is attached to nice black painted sheet metal(steel) with no flex whatsoever.

 

[Alex(PlayMedium)]

Can you try other switch keyboards somewhere, a store maybe?

Not everyone likes MX blues, I personally don't like them that much, I prefer browns which are much softer and quieter.

Try keyboards with other switches, if you don't like any of them(give each at least 10 minues of your time at the store) I guess you are one of the few people who don't like mech kbs.

 

EDIT: about the long travel distance, you can buy rubber o-rings which will reduce travel, but also make the bottom out softer which I don't like, but some do. (G710+ has o-rings preinstalled btw)

[Kayn]

If this is the earlier version of the BlackWidow (with blue color scheme instead of green) then it might be the keyboard itself. I have some friends that have the earlier version of the Blackwidow and they do not like the key switches at all. When compared to mine it felt like a different blue keyswitch. But if it's not the ealier version then you might just be better with the scissor switches. If you don't like the way mechanical keyboards type you can always go back to using the scissor switches, no one is forcing you to use mechanial keyboards. Use whatever feels more comfortable. I don't like scissor switches that much but I can live with it when I'm doing work on my laptop but to me Blue switches are much more comfortable at typing.

[Alterlai]

If it is possible to try an entire new keyboard with other cherry switches, you should try that.

Maybe in a local store or something. 

Perhaps you find it more comfortable typing on different cherry switches like reds/greens/whites etc.

As for the cheap feeling, I use a Ducky Shine 2 and the build quality is amazing. It also feels a lot tighter typing on a keyboard with hard build materials like metal or something instead of plastic.

[Arkatek]

I personally had the same feeling as you when using the blackwidow, the keys just feel so narrow. A few of my friends when typing on a mechanical keyboard complained that since there was no large wrist rest on most mechanical keyboards( plus the added height since most mechanical keyboards) they had to hold their wrists up instead of just laying them down on a table or on their laptop. I use a separate wrist rest with my cmstorm keyboard and the difference without a wrist rest is about 20wpm slower mostly due to mistakes. Hope you eventually come to enjoy the mechanical experience.

[Zeal]

Believe it or not, keycaps have a huge impact on Cherry MX switches. The ones found on the Blackwidow are one of the thinnest, and cheapest thin - ABS caps available. The "trapezoidal" keycaps found on the Blackwidow are also a bit more slanted than regular Cherry/OEM profile keycaps, so that's why you're experiencing more than normal typing errors.

I'd recommend you get a more robust and quality keyboard from Filco/Ducky and then switching out the original keycaps for Thick PBT ones. It's not worth purchasing expensive keycaps on a sub - par keyboard. I had the old BW Ultimate 2012 and shift, along with d, r, e, and s became non responsive after not using the keyboard for a couple hours and would require multiple actuation to "fix" the switch.

If you want lower profile keycaps, I'd suggest you take a look at Cherry profile ones. They're about 1mm lower than OEM profile ones found on most modern keyboards and they have a slightly greater curve in between the keycaps. Just remember to insert the spacebar in reverse, as the edge on Cherry profile spacebars may feel a bit too high on regular keyboards. The key travel distance will still be the standard 4mm though, as that's a standard specification for all Cherry MX Switches.

[rik]

Thanks for suggestions.

 

I will try o-rings that would reduce the travel and the suprisingly cheap blank DSA keycaps from http://www.keycapsdirect.com/marketplace.php. I will try to add transparent stickers to the side of the keys as I cant blind type. I need to leave the modifier keys as they are, it seems the stabilizers will not be compatible with the modifier set there.

 

I have realized now that the tenkeyless format and browns/clears would be a best bet for me, but as I need the "big-ass" enter and iso layout my choices are quite limited.