Thursday, February 23, 2017

Mechanical Keyboards are the Bomb


Buy it on Amazon!

A Post By Jonathan

Okay, folks. Occasionally we here at Across the Board do some hardware reviews, like Kimberly's Alphasmart Post back in November of 2014. I said occasionally... Seriously, have we been doing this that long? I gotta find a new gig.

*crickets*

Anyway, I am here to tell you about my new toy, The TOMOKO 87 Key Mechanical Water-Resistant Gaming Keyboard with Blue Switch Anti-ghosting Keys. No, I don't use it for gaming and no the Anti-ghosting Keys do not keep poltergeists at bay. Trust me, I've tried. This place is just straight haunted.

"I said shut up, Regina! No, you can't hang me from the yardarm!"

Where was I? Oh yeah, the keyboard. Though it can't automatically make me the Emperor Fairy of the Land of the World of Warcraft or shut my 17th century ghost, Regina, up, it does something much cooler. It types like a Mother. I'm sure there's a bunch of technical jargon I should be using to explain it, but basically the coolest thing about it --and why it's great for writers--is that the keys are super, super easy to push and super quick to recover.

I am probably one of the slowest typers (typists?) on the planet, and it definitely helps me peck along at a quicker pace. And for those who type so fast that you can type like two letters at a time before the computer realizes what you're doing, it apparently accounts for that too and allows you to get the letters in the right order all the time. By the way, I hate you.

Now I'm not saying a mechanical keyboard is going to magically improve your word count or write your book for you or even be something that you like. One con is that it is pretty darn loud. Not typewriter loud, but louder than a regular keyboard. But those of you who are looking for something new or maybe want to take some fatigue out of your fingers, this baby may just be the way to go. Pricewise, they range anywhere from $33.99 (which is how much my TOMOKO costs) all the way up to $1650.00!!! Yes, you read that right.

My advice, start cheap and see if it's something that will work for you. The biggest issue seems to be learning how to not mash the keys down. Something I'm still working on.

"HULK MASH!"

All in all, though, mechanical keyboards are the bomb! Just don't say that on an airplane.

*drops the mike, then realizes he's actually typing so no one can hear him or see him and begrudgingly puts it back in its stand*

5 comments:

Carrie Beckort said...

Congrats on your new toy, Jonathan! I should probably get a keyboard. Maybe when I break down and replace the laptop I'll go all in and get a keyboard and riser. Thanks for the recommendation! My laptop keyboard is actually kind of fun right now -- may of the letters have rubbed off from the keys. I have to really use my typing expertise to remember where the following keys are: e, r, t, i, s, d, h, and l. And n is almost gone. Soon I'll have nothing but plain black keys staring up at me... I'm actually one of those fast typists (sorry!), so I actually struggle more finding a key when I look at the keyboard. My muscle memory knows much more than my active brain :D Oh, and hopefully you can keep Regina in check!

Kimberly G. Giarratano said...

Man, I still love my Alphasmart but I don't use it very often. I should. Mechanical keyboards are fun.

Jonathan Schramm said...

Thanks Carrie! Sounds like you definitely need a new keyboard. I do still hate you, but in a very loving way. Yeah, if I keep playing pirate ship with Regina she seems to be okay. Oh, I guess we're off to pillage Tortuga again. Cheers!

Jonathan Schramm said...

That's sad to hear, Kimberly. I don't use mine either (actually it has become my son's "puter" that he uses (fort like 4 seconds) when daddy tries to use his. I bought an Alphasmart after your post and do like it, but like you said it's not something I tend to use consistently.

Cheryl Oreglia said...

This is news to me, I haven't experimented with a mechanical keyboard, sounds interesting. Thanks for shedding some light on the subject for us oldies! Much appreciated.

 
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