Keyboard question

So the past 6 months or so I've tried to make due without the use of a W or 2 key, and now my S key is dying. I've lost the number pad and the windows key already, and I've had to resort to using an old USB keyboard with my trusty laptop. However its an old, cheap Inland model, and the keys are big, and have a bad habit of sticking if I don't press directly down. chinese made goods at their finest.

I've heard mechanical keyboards are much better, any truth to that? What I have is functional, but its slowing me down immensely.

Comments

[Syroc]

mechanical keyboards are, I've found, easier to clean, more resistant to getting things spilled on them and are a bit more responsive. They also make a lot of sounds that I find appealing, but that's up to the individual in question. I like mine, because I am a clumsy beast who is a constant flux between spilling things and in the process of spilling things. (I write this in between sips of coffee, because clearly I make only good decisions.)

If you wanted to be thrifty, and you have a university or something where they use a lot of computers in the area, I'd suggest going to them and asking if they'd let you look through their discarded computer parts to see if there's something usable. Keyboards, mice, docking stations and screens get thrown away pretty often, because there's very little point in storing them since it's probably cheaper to just get new stuff than wasting time trying to sort out storage. They'd prolly let you go to town on it, as anything you take is less that they need to pay someone to remove. Only downside is you'd be rolling the dice on whether the stuff you get is in passable condition. (This could just be a Norway thing, but I do believe dumpster diving for computer parts is a time-honored tradition worldwide.)

[Blue Cultist]

5341919
I'll consider that an endorcement for a mechanical keyboard. whether its because of its age, cheap manufacture, or some other factor my current USB keyboard has a consistency of cheese when I press keys, and the way the keys catch when I don't press them straight down just ruins my words-per-minute.

And feel no shame, my fellow coffee junkie. I do the same thing.

[ssokolow]

The primary goal of a mechanical keyboard is to feel nicer to use (the switch activates half-way down rather than when you bottom out, so you can hit the keys more lightly and go easier on your fingers, and the feel isn't generated by a mushy rubber dome), but the key switches come in many different varieties depending on things like:

• whether you want keys to make a clicking sound or be slient when they engage
• how much force you want it to take to press them down
• whether you want a switch optimized for typing or gaming (Typing switches are generally "tactile" so you can feel when you've pressed far enough, and they generally engage further down than they disengage so that people who have learned to type with a very light touch won't accidentally enter more than one of a letter if their finger shakes slightly while crossing the threshold. Gaming switches are "linear". You'll feel the same resistance all the way down and they'll engage and disengage at the same point so that a skilled gamer can intentionally jitter their finger back and forth across the activation threshold to tap the key rapidly.)

Overclock.net has a great introduction (older version with pictures) to the relevant terminology but, if you can, I'd suggest checking whether any of your local places that sell computer parts have a key tester (Basically a row of keys you can press to test the feel of different mechanisms) or a bunch of display units you can try typing on.

I'm one of those weirdoes who prefers the IBM Model M buckling spring switches, despite how loud and heavy they are compared to the alternatives. (Though I bought a modern keyboard from Unicomp so I can have Windows keys for custom keybindings that won't conflict with application hotkeys.)

As for your current keyboard going bad, if you can find a service manual for your laptop, you could try fixing the contacts. For a membrane mechanism, you have rubber domes with pads of conductive carbon-rubber on the underside, over top of a circuitboard with contacts that get bridged by the carbon-rubber pad. What you do is:

1. Dip a cotton swab in the highest-concentration isopropyl alcohol you can find and clean the contacts, then wipe with the dry end and give any remaining moisture time to dry.
2. Take a pencil (no harder than HB and as soft as possible)
3. Sharpen the pencil
4. While the loose graphite powder is still stuck to the freshly sharpened pencil, rub the side of the pencil on the carbon pad as if you are shading a sketch.
5. Check for coverage by holding the membrane at an angle that causes the pad to catch the light. The raw graphite is more reflective than the rubber.

My brother and I use this technique for things like fixing MIDI keyboard keys that are starting to become unreliable.

[B_25]

Green keys for life

[Blue Cultist]

5342391
thanks for the info. I'm not certain what the problem is with my laptop's keys. I removed the w and two keys and one had a busted rubber dome, and the other didn't. I'll be taking a trip to the computer store today and see what I can get.

[Wacky]

5342545
Dude, if you're willing to PM me your address I'll mail you a new keyboard! Consider it payment for those wonderful stories of yours that I love so much.

[Blue Cultist]

5349415

I took my laptop down to the local Microcenter I got it from, sadly the problem is with the inner part of the keyboard, which requires a full replacement. My laptop is a now ancient HP ProBook 450 G2, running on Win7. Its an old beast but its what I'm used to. This is the machine I've written most of my stories on. They told me a replacement is going to run me at least 100 bucks if I order from them but I have no electronic knowledge so ordering the keyboard i need and installing it myself is going to be a challenge.

As for a keyboard, I just bought a cheap USB keyboard that's already a thousand times better than the others I had. I'd still prefer to have my laptop's keyboard back but this is fine for now. Thanks for the offer though.

[Wacky]

5349707
I hear ya man--I use to own a computer that I bought off a friend who worked at at Non-profit charity. Cost me $35 and was 10 years old when I got it. Lasted two more years when I was flat broke and I created some memorable art with it.

Miss that old machine...stupid blue screen of death...

[Vitae]

5349707
Clickity clack the mechanical keyboard goes snicker SNACC, and all the hallows and bellows go galunfing back oh frabious day! Galugalay!

(I'm tired and mid sentence I remembered the jabberwock...yea.)