Discover some facts about mechanical keyboards and find the type that suits you best.
Your Journey with a Mechanical Keyboard Begins
So, you are looking for a mechanical keyboard. Now you might be thinking, “Do I need a mechanical keyboard?”, “What’s the difference?” Well, no worries my fellow keyboard warriors. We will figure it out together. Nowadays, PC gaming has become a big part of the youth and is also considered better than a PS by many! Therefore, the most important weapon for PC gamers is a keyboard.
Let’s take a look at the regular cheap keyboards we buy. These are all membrane keyboards. A membrane keyboard doesn’t have any individual switches in it. It has a pressure pad under the keycaps. Upon pressing a key, the pressure pads touch the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) and complete a circuit.
Pressing on a membrane keyboard generates very little feedback or no feedback at all. On the other hand, a mechanical keyboard has a switch under each keycap. These keys consist of several moving parts that provide great feedback depending on the type of switch you are using.
Which Type of Keyboard Should You Buy?
So, now you’ve made up your mind. You want a more pleasant and premium typing feel to your keyboard or look like a “Pro Gamer”. So, you decided to buy a mechanical keyboard. You search the internet to get one suitable for your desk.
That will feel much better to type on and look amazing too. But you are overwhelmed with the options you are presented. There are so many different brands and types of aesthetics with an endless array of switches to select from.
There are tactile switches, clicky switches, linear switches. While typing on a tactile switch you feel a small bump when you press to a certain point. On clicky switches, you find the bump but when you hit the bump you are greeted with a clicky sound. Some love it for the typewriter vibe it gives off. Some find it too noisy and distracting.
The Silent Switch or the Clicky Switch?
Now you may be wondering if you want the switch that is silent or the clicky ones. There is no switch as a true silent switch. It all depends on the way you type and how you bottom out on the keyboard. Linear switches are preferred by a lot of gamers. As the bottoming on the keyboard feels smooth compared to the clicky switches.
Clicky switches are usually labeled as green or blue switches. And the liners can range from red, white, silver, black, yellow, and more. Amongst that line is silent variants. They make next to no noise when pressed. Check out some of the quiet one.
Customize Your Keyboard
If you are feeling adventurous, you can look into the custom keyboard world. Where you can end up dishing a lot of money, time, and effort. There is a huge community seen behind the custom keyboard too. But still, the matter of clicky versus silent switches will come.
In many internet forums and blogs, you will find people being very vocal about which switch is the best. This argument is going on for as long as computers have been around. Which one is the best? There is only one correct answer to it. The one you feel the most comfortable using.
How to Pick the Best Fit for You?
You might be thinking “It’s my first time buying a mechanical keyboard. How can I possibly know which one I like?” Well, you can go to your physical computer stores and try them out. Nowadays a lot of mechanical keyboards have a small cut-out for you to press and test the keys. But still, you might have a very small range of keys to test there.
In this lockdown period, you might not be interested to leave your house at all. In that case, you have an even better option. There are mechanical switch tester kits online. They have many kinds of keys attached to them and you can try all of them side by side and compare which one you like better.
The Era of PC Gaming.
Since childhood, most of us have been playing with revolutions of X-boxes and PlayStations. These have now become memories to us as PC gaming is slowly taking over the world. As the day passes, children are investing more time and effort behind PC games
So why is this happening? A PC is a one-time investment, even though it has repair costs but you do not have to keep updating it as the newer Games change formats, like the X-boxes and Play station. In that sense, it is quite cheaper. Also, it is easier to find and download the games you want rather than physically going to the store and buying it. During this pandemic, this option sounded more convenient and hence this revolt.
A gaming PC is nothing like a regular PC as it has to have the capability of utilizing and withstanding the high RAM demands of the game. That is why this PC has separate parts like the Mechanical Keyboards that we discussed in detail, mechanical mouse, graphics card, and many more that will enhance your gaming quality and performance. This is crucial for professionals.
So, Go Ahead and Make the Choice. Pick Whatever Makes You Happy.
If you like the clicky one then by all means go for the clicky switch if you like the silent one then the silent one is for you. If you use clicky switches in your office, your co-workers might end up not liking your keyboard choice.
There is no best switch or there is no switch you must buy. It’s just the switch you want to buy. And remember you really cannot go wrong here almost all the options are a great choice.
Don’t waste another minute and get buying!