- Here is how I decided to go with the Cherry MX White Switch
- Brand
- Go with best predictability
- Cherry
- Model
- Play with 8 switch types on tester for a couple weeks
- Red, Black, Brown, Clear, Grey, Blue, White, Green
- Only noted the actuation force after testing for two or three weeks
- Red, Black, Brown, Clear, Grey, Blue, White, Green
- All felt fine
- Linears felt great surprisingly
- Tactile bump makes sense
- Different the laptop because you begin the travel and then encounter another obstacle, keep pressing and then the key activates. They are two different bits of action: the energy to get the switch moving because of the weight and then the energy? to get it over the bump
- Click noise interesting to add another dimension of feedback
- Maybe also headache
- Find that all keyboard make noise no matter what so choosing something that feels right
- Play with 8 switch types on tester for a couple weeks
- Research
- Switches on my laptop
- Are not silent, but not clicky either
- Go with something close to that
- It takes 12 US 25 cent coins to activate the ALT key
- Easiest one to test, a quarter can sit on it without obstacles
- 11 will not press the key no matter how I nudge it
- Tested 3 times
- One of them weighs 5.670 grams
- Key press weight:
68.03999999999999
- Switches on my laptop
- Cherry Candidates Data
- Legend
- Color: Color
- Switch: Cherry Switch Type
- L, Linear
- T, Tactile
- TC, Tactile & Clicky
- Act: Switch activation in grams
- Δ: Difference between desired actuation force of 68 grams and actual
- Positive number means larger than desired force
- Negative number means smaller than desired force
- CE: Close enough?
- Want the actuation force as close as possible
- If competing, take smaller, don’t want extra strain
- SO: Sounds OK?
- On my laptop keyboard, I hit the keys so hard that I stop when I hear them. Never noticed this before the past few weeks testing switches. Great to know. I want sound.
- Legend
-
Analysis
Color Switch Act Δ CE SO White TC 65 -3 T T Clear T 55 -13 T T Black L 60 -8 T F Red L 45 -23 F NA Brown T 45 -23 F NA Grey T 80 12 F NA Blue TC 50 -18 F NA Green TC 80 12 F NA - Decision: White
- Comes down to the Clear and White
- White’s delta is closer, but that isn’t what sold me
- I press the key until I hear that it is activated
- With the Clear, I keep pressing until it bottoms out and I hear it, in addition to feeling it
- The feel is the same as on my laptop
- What I hope to gain from the tactile and clicky feedback is not having to pound on keys to know that they have been pressed
- If the Clear has been closer, that would have been another great thing to try. Maybe I will in the future anyway.
- Thoughts
- Switch tester was helpful
- And very different than a full keyboard!
- Fun to learn about different options
- Fun to learn what I think that I want
- Look forward to trying it out
- Switch tester was helpful