Don’t be Stingy on Keyboards and Mice, Consider Mechanical Keyboard

Keyboard and mouse the two most ubiquitous computing equipment that we always take for granted. Lately I’ve been paying attention at them again, courtesy of some conversation with my colleagues. I think the last time I really choose the type and brands of my keyboard and mouse was during my university years, basically back in my gaming days. I guess because they have the least impact to the system performance.

That is not the right mindset though, it doesn’t matter whether you are a software engineer, secretary or a blogger, if you spend more than 5 hours typing, then a good keyboard is always a good idea. The right keyboard will reduce fatigue and typing errors. It did took me a while to absorb these ideas and I stayed on with my OEM logitech keyboard.

Mechanical Keyboard

Mechanical Keyboard

Finally though I decided the shell out some cash for a good keyboard, the Coolermaster Storm Trigger.

Yes, it is a gaming keyboard, but it makes an outstanding daily work keyboard. I chose this keyboard because of my criteria below:

1. It has to be a mechanical keyboard. In this case a cherry blue switch.
2. It has to have a palm rest, so the edge of the table doesn’t cut into my wrist.
3. It has number pad, I use that a lot.
4. Backlit keys are just cool :)

Membrane keyboard

After using it for more than 2 months, I can honestly say that these type of keyboard does help with your work. Typing requires less effort and less mistakes are made. In addition the mechanical buttons are very tactile and feel extremely tough. For me the most apparent differences from my old Logitech keyboard is the space-bar and enter key. When pressing the space-bar key at the edges, the whole key is pressed without much friction. On a normal membrane keyboard, that wouldn’t happen, pressing the key right in the middle will feels much lighter while pressing the edges introduce friction.

That being said, it doesn’t mean that no membrane keyboard can be sufficient. The current Logitech Gaming Keyboard G105
that I used at home is indeed sufficient for home use and occasional gaming. Keys are tactile enough with low friction (the storm trigger is still superior) and it’s backlit too. However I would advise anyone to get the top of the line quality membrane keyboard for 5+ hours use or go with good mechanical keyboard. Stay away from the $15 keyboards, they are not worth the problem with key press error and physical fatigue.

Mice

There are not too much to talk about mouse. Basically for heavy usage, get a good high DPI laser mouse. Some people prefer wired and some wireless, I don’t really mind. Latency is not an issue for daily work, only when you play some intense gaming.

Update: Here are some suggestions on the mechanical keyboards

Categorised in: Coding, General Computing, Review, Tools