Heresy, right? I’ve had a mechanical for the last couple of years, and while it’s served me well enough, I still don’t like the feel or clickety-clack compared to a membrane switch - and my current one is the Razer Blackwidow Stealth w/ rubber o-rings added to the base of each key, which I think is as non-clackety as a mechanical gets.
Anyway, the Blackwidow is starting to have issues - F5 key died months ago, and lately it’s been doing this annoying thing where I press a key and it registers the downstroke, but not the release, of the Tab and D keys until I pull it from its USB port and reinsert. It’s time.
…but the initial search for a replacement all I’m seeing are either mechanical or mimicking mechanical (like a membrane switch but with the big blocky keys that mechanicals use).
My favorite keyboard ‘feel’ 100% is an oldschool laptop style keyboard. Like the IBM T60 - flat, light to the touch, and no dead space in between the keys like you see in a lot of today’s laptops (the ‘island’ style… not a fan).
I don’t think my entire wish-list exists in a single product, but what I’m after is:
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That T60 style described above
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Programmable keys (remap / macros)
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Corded… unless cordless options have really improved in the last decade or so: I recall a noticeable delay, and constantly running out of battery.
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Extra keys specifically for binding macros like the Blackwidow
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Backlight. Low priority, and I don’t give a shit about RGB (or aesthetics in general), but it is nice to be able to be able to see which key is which when the room is dark.
…is anything even kind-of like that on the market, or should I just shut up and get another mechanical?
I’ve heard people mention that issue with membranes. In a gaming context, the most I ever see myself hitting would be while sprinting diagonally (shift, W, A or D), jumping (space) and using an item or ability (1), for a total of 5 simultaneous key presses.
…is 5 within reason for the cheapies? …and do any of them have supporting software that isn’t shit? I had a Logitech gaming mouse a few years ago and writing macros on that trash was a nightmare.
As adrian mentioned, it can be hit and miss. On my lenovo laptop you can’t press space when holding up + left arrows. Many other key combinations with 5+ keys work. For platformers it’s a no go, so I’d always recommend something with N-key rollover to avoid weirdness.
I have this chromebook that has some weird keyboard setup where depending on the keys you’re trying to press you might be able to press 7 or you might just be able to press two out of the three. IIRC your scenario probably would have worked fine, I think they probably gave it better abilities in that area of the keyboard.
Anyways, there’s always autohotkey for setting up macros
I never really use the macro stuff myself so I can’t answer that very well. You can use AutoHotKey and not SetPoint though.
But the roll over thing is okay. The only games I’ve ever played where it was truly a problem were things like ARMA or other deep simulations with insanely complicated controls.