Mechanical keyboards that don't just die..?

[Macro Device]

The title might be a little unclear. I learnt the hard way that most no-name keyboards as well as Razer and Logitech ones just love dying right away. Either switches go kaput or PCB goes, whatever, it's a PITA to use (if ever usable) anyway.

Is there a manufacturer that won't scam me as well? I just want a basic skeleton keyboard, I don't use it for any extremities, I don't even work as a writer anymore. I just wanna have a comfortable way to type. And yes, I am not a PEBCAK kinda guy, my keyboards DO NOT receive any damage from me. I do dry cleaning every once in a while. I never spill anything on them. Circuity had been checked multiple times, keyboards receive adequate voltage and current, it's just the build quality that unfortunately doesn't exist.

And yes, spending more than $100 on a BASIC keyboard is also scam. Do I have any option?

Filtered unwanted types out. Is there anything that's likely to last?

 

[_roman_]

Just my point of view.

I bought End of January 2023 two keyboards + 9€ Shipping for a total of 79€.

One keyboard has red brown switches and one has brown red switches. What I remember those are exchangeable and very sturdy. I even washed it once under the shower and let it air dry for days. Good quality from the viewpoint from someone who learnt electronics and repair stuff for many years.

The linux kernel shows this:

[ 5.375241] input: COOLER MASTER CK351 Gaming Optical Switch Keyboard as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:11:00.3/usb5/5-2/5-2:1.0/0003:2516:014F.0001/input/input7
[ 5.431907] hid-generic 0003:2516:014F.0001: input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.10 Keyboard [COOLER MASTER CK351 Gaming Optical Switch Keyboard] on usb-0000:11:00.3-2/input0
[ 5.437896] input: COOLER MASTER CK351 Gaming Optical Switch Keyboard as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:11:00.3/usb5/5-2/5-2:1.1/0003:2516:014F.0002/input/input8
[ 5.438356] hid-generic 0003:2516:014F.0002: input,hidraw1: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [COOLER MASTER CK351 Gaming Optical Switch Keyboard] on usb-0000:11:00.3-2/input1
[ 5.444703] input: COOLER MASTER CK351 Gaming Optical Switch Keyboard as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:11:00.3/usb5/5-2/5-2:1.2/0003:2516:014F.0003/input/input9
[ 5.511722] hid-generic 0003:2516:014F.0003: input,hiddev0,hidraw2: USB HID v1.10 Keyboard [COOLER MASTER CK351 Gaming Optical Switch Keyboard] on usb-0000:11:00.3-2/input2
[ 5.518529] hid-generic 0003:2516:014F.0004: hiddev1,hidraw3: USB HID v1.10 Device [COOLER MASTER CK351 Gaming Optical Switch Keyboard] on usb-0000:11:00.3-2/input3

these were a reduced offer in 2023. I was interested in mechanical keyboards. I bought for testing purposes one red and one brown switch one. One should be used and the other one should be spare parts. My idea was - when one button dies i could swap one from the ohter keyboard and move the buttons around.

For gnu gentoo linux quite nice. i do not need any software to change the rgb lights. Just buttons for changing any color or color scheme.

I criticise a lot technical gadgets and stuff. I can not find any flaw with that keyboard. A lucky buy
TAS Cooler Master Keyboard CK351,
Brown Switch

TAS Cooler Master Keyboard CK351,
Red Switch, Optische SchalStaub- &
Wassergeschützt

 

[Chrispy_]

Genuine Cherry MX seems to be the way.

I have had several mech keyboards in various locations but my very first mechanical purchase ever is also the one that gets the most use by a huge margin, and it's still going strong, and still feels like it did when it was new 11 years ago.

(CM Storm QuickFire Stealth)​

It's not fancy, it doesn't have any software, it doesn't have any extra features or keys, it's just a heavy, well-made, simple keyboard that is currently demonstrating why Cherry MX are better than all the other switch brands when it comes to longevity. Kailh switches feel nice when they're new, as do Keychron's own optical switches, but neither of them felt like that after a few years, whilst the MX browns I'm still using are indistinguishable from new ones, well - nearly new ones. Brand new switches tend to feel very slightly scrapey and scratchey but the new switches have a bedding in period where the plastic on plastic wears itself smooth after a few weeks of use.

 

[Macro Device]

Genuine Cherry MX seems to be the way

Not available in retail. Will need to look for them on the second-hand. What brand do you recommend?

 

[de.das.dude]

im interested in this as well.

 

[Chrispy_]

Not available in retail. Will need to look for them on the second-hand. What brand do you recommend?

Unsurprising, they're 11 years old.

Stay away from Razer and Logitech. Those are ones that I've had fail for no good reason and others have shared similar stories of unreliability so I'm inclined to assume it wasn't just me being unlucky.

Honestly, I don't think brand matters. Get a keyboard that uses Cherry MX genuine switches and the less gimmicks it has, the less software it needs, and the less complex it is, the more likely it is to last forever.

 

[stahlhart]

You reminded me of the iOne X-Armor U9BL from years past that I absolutely fell in love with, only to have it irreparably fail after a few months of use.

 

[bonehead123]

Stay away from Razer and Logitech

Razerio yes....the black plague of the periph world IMHO

OTOH, Logitech, I have to disagree...

I've been using several G613's (and MX 2 Master rodents) for almost 7 years now, which still work just a well today as on day 1.

And although software is available for them, it is only required if you wanna do alot of special key/button assignments, function switching ect.....otherwise neveranottaproblemo

 

[firefly36]

My Logitech G815 is almost 5 years old and has been used everday, still working flawlessly!

Never had a Razer keyboard, but I did buy one of the recently hyped up by youtubers HE Keyboards. It worked great for about a month, expensive chinese paperweight now.

 

[Calenhad]

I have used Logitech since they basically started making keyboards. Never had one die on me, before I got bored and bought something else. I also have good experience with Steelseries. I have not liked keyboards from Corsair and Cooler Master that I have tested.

There are no products in existence with a 0% failure rate. That is physically impossible. And you should look more in detail on usage if EVERY keyboard keeps dying in such a short time it is worth complaining about. You say it is not pebkac, but it sure does sound a little like pebkac to me if there is a string of constant failures across brands.

You are basically saying you want reliable, comfortable, and cheap. In my experience you can only pick two of those at the same time. I do agree that some products come with a hidden cheap flag though *cough*Razer*cough*

I assume your available selection can't be to good in an internationally sanctioned country either. By now even branded products could be Chinese knockoffs

 

[Chrispy_]

OTOH, Logitech, I have to disagree...

I've been using several G613's (and MX 2 Master rodents) for almost 7 years now, which still work just a well today as on day 1.

My two Logitech failures were a G413SE which was using cheap switches, rather than their higher-quality Romer-G CherryMX clones, and an MX Mechanical which was faulty within warranty. The wireless stopped working entirely, even with known-working unifying receivers from other logitech hardware as well as Bluetooth. I sold the replacement because I wasn't particularly happy with it as a typing experience anyway. A guy a work had repeat failures of keyswitches within 6 months on a TKL model he bought. Looked like one of the Pro or ProX, not quite sure which.

I used to be a huge Logitech fan 25 years ago but they've downgraded their effort and quality a lot since then.

 

[Macro Device]

You are basically saying you want reliable, comfortable, and cheap.

Reading comprehension still being a huge luxury. I said I don't wanna pay a truckload. This doesn't mean cheap. If you're okay with BASIC (I repeat, BASIC!!!) keyboards going for more than $100 it's worth looking for psychiatric help.

There are no products in existence with a 0% failure rate. That is physically impossible. And you should look more in detail on usage if EVERY keyboard keeps dying in such a short time it is worth complaining about. You say it is not pebkac, but it sure does sound a little like pebkac to me if there is a string of constant failures across brands.

Also misunderstanding. I did nothing wrong and that was confirmed by certified technicians who ultimately told me I just bought very low quality products doomed to fail. What I wanna buy is a keyboard that requires me to be at least "creative" to make it die.

I have used Logitech since they basically started making keyboards. Never had one die on me

I also have never had any issue with their membrane keyboards but their mechs SUCK. Switches are soldered so badly I'm not sure if that's not on purpose. 'least I solder better. And I only soldered twice.

I also have good experience with Steelseries

After their gamepads and mice I'm unsure if I can ever trust'em. //also worth noting they design their stuff around kindergarten kids, my hands are at least two times too big for their gaming gear

 

[Chrispy_]

I also have never had any issue with [Logitech] membrane keyboards but their mechs SUCK. Switches are soldered so badly I'm not sure if that's not on purpose. 'least I solder better. And I only soldered twice.

Yeah, I dismantled my MX Mechanical to see if it was just a loose connection and I wasn't impressed by the soldering quality. I've seen worse, but didn't expect such a sloppy job on a £130 keyboard (and that was a discounted price!)

My gut feeling that Logitech's reliability had been slowly decreasing over the years was confirmed by that one, eye-opening moment. I've opened other Logitech products from 2000-2005 to replace switches or clean them properly in the past, but at some point Logitech just stopped trying to make long-lasting, good-quality stuff. Now I use them for cheap office keyboards/mice because they're fine for that and membrane keyboards usually last longer than they need too and are replaced when all the legends wear off or someone dumps a whole coffee into one.

 

[Frick]

FWIW I had a Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown and it seemed solid enough, and it was cheap. Ditched it for the glorious chunky Dell membrane though, which I think is so much better (especially for typing) than any mechanical keyboard.

 

[Chrispy_]

FWIW I had a Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown and it seemed solid enough, and it was cheap. Ditched it for the glorious chunky Dell membrane though, which I think is so much better (especially for typing) than any mechanical keyboard.

An 8115?

Those were great, I wish Dell still made them...

 

[GerKNG]

not a single keyboard in my entire life (easily 30-40) ever broke.

 

[micropage7]

Genuine Cherry MX seems to be the way.

I have had several mech keyboards in various locations but my very first mechanical purchase ever is also the one that gets the most use by a huge margin, and it's still going strong, and still feels like it did when it was new 11 years ago.

View attachment 377574

(CM Storm QuickFire Stealth)​

It's not fancy, it doesn't have any software, it doesn't have any extra features or keys, it's just a heavy, well-made, simple keyboard that is currently demonstrating why Cherry MX are better than all the other switch brands when it comes to longevity. Kailh switches feel nice when they're new, as do Keychron's own optical switches, but neither of them felt like that after a few years, whilst the MX browns I'm still using are indistinguishable from new ones, well - nearly new ones. Brand new switches tend to feel very slightly scrapey and scratchey but the new switches have a bedding in period where the plastic on plastic wears itself smooth after a few weeks of use.

Cherry MX still one of my fav, but too bad lately it looks gone from the market in here, replaced by chinese brands

 

[izy]

Optical Switches are very strong.

 

[Frick]

An 8115?
View attachment 377598
Those were great, I wish Dell still made them...

Bingo. I have several of the version with the smartcard reader. Immortal things. The good thing is that they, and the variants, were made in great quantiaties so it's still pretty easy to find them in basically unused condition.

 

[Chrispy_]

not a single keyboard in my entire life (easily 30-40) ever broke.

Membrane keyboards are almost impossible to break and extremely difficult to manufacture incorrectly because they're so simple and their membrane nature protects the incredibly simple PCB from any dust/debris/fluid damage. Even the nastiest, creaky plastic, flexing, mushy e-waste keyboards you can buy for $5 from Amazon/Wish/Temu/Aliexpress are going to work as long as their microcontrollers weren't DOA because they're almost the simplest electronics you can get with a single $0.03 IC that will do its job until the end of time unless a fault in the host PC sends too much voltage and fries it.

The issue with mechanical keyboards is that they have many more moving parts and subject to poor quality soldering, lead-free solder cracking, and the PCB/switches are generally not protected by a nice debris-proof and waterproof rubber membrane. I've never managed to break a mechanical keyboard, but they sure can wear out to the point that the switches feel looser and rattly, the keycaps can get wobbly with wear if the switches are cheap enough (a bigger problem with the low-profile swiches) and the complexity of per-key, customisable backlighting, macro-capable controllers that perform other tricks besides just sending keystrokes, and wireless/bluetooth processing all add an order-of-magnitude more avenues of failure.

 

[GerKNG]

Membrane keyboards are almost impossible to break and extremely difficult to manufacture incorrectly because they're so simple and their membrane nature protects the incredibly simple PCB from any dust/debris/fluid damage. Even the nastiest, creaky plastic, flexing, mushy e-waste keyboards you can buy for $5 from Amazon/Wish/Temu/Aliexpress are going to work as long as their microcontrollers weren't DOA because they're almost the simplest electronics you can get with a single $0.03 IC that will do its job until the end of time unless a fault in the host PC sends too much voltage and fries it.

The issue with mechanical keyboards is that they have many more moving parts and subject to poor quality soldering, lead-free solder cracking, and the PCB/switches are generally not protected by a nice debris-proof and waterproof rubber membrane. I've never managed to break a mechanical keyboard, but they sure can wear out to the point that the switches feel looser and rattly, the keycaps can get wobbly with wear if the switches are cheap enough (a bigger problem with the low-profile swiches) and the complexity of per-key, customisable backlighting, macro-capable controllers that perform other tricks besides just sending keystrokes, and wireless/bluetooth processing all add an order-of-magnitude more avenues of failure.

i only use mechanical keyboards for over 15 years.

 

[Onasi]

Honestly, if you can find a Leopold board somewhere below a 100 (which is possible) - I would just go with that. They are Cherry MX, built like a tank and are visually as “yup, that’s a keyboard alright” as it can get.

 

[sepheronx]

I purchased a blackweb from Walmart like 2 years ago. Still working perfectly fine. It's been my first mechanical keyboard since the IBM model M. It works fine, was dirt cheap (like $40 CAD) and I like the clicks to it.

 

[Shrek]

I wonder which ones can handle a run in the dishwasher (without detergent)

 

[Onasi]

@Shrek
None. You absolutely shouldn’t put mechanical boards into dishwashers, what the actual fuck. There ARE some ruggedized and rubberized membrane boards that can be cleaned like that, but no, doing it to a mechanical keyboard is a bad idea.
Before someone brings up the Linus video - they later pinned a comment under it saying that the keyboard died shortly after and that they do NOT recommend such a cleaning method.
Just pull the caps off, wash them by hand in running water, rub the case/body down with a wet cloth and blow or vacuum off the crud from the switches. Dry the caps overnight, replace, and you are done.