5 advantages of a mechanical keyboard

mechanical keyboard

If you've been thinking about changing your membrane keyboard for a mechanical one for a while, you've come to the right article. In this article I am going to show both the advantages as the disadvantages of going from a membrane keyboard to a mechanical keyboard based on my own experience.

My first steps in the world of computers, I did it with an IBM mechanical keyboard in the 90s. As the years went by, I have changed computers and equipment, as well as keyboards and mice. The first time I switched to a membrane keyboard, it was like forgetting to type (at that time you learned typing on typewriters).

However, being young, I put the change down to the keyboard being new and quickly got used to it. A few years ago, I came across my old IBM mechanical keyboard again (I kept it for some unknown reason) and tried to connect it to my computer.

Unfortunately, having a PS/2 port, my laptop doesn't have that slot, so I quickly bought an adapter. Unfortunately, when I connected it, Windows 10 told me to forget about that keyboard, it wasn't going to work even with the adapter.

ibm mechanical keyboard

Despite the adversities, I looked for an old computer that I still have (I don't know why either). I turned it on and started typing. But first, a little more background.

In addition to a used Windows laptop, I also have a Mac mini, a Mac mini that I use with the official Apple keyboard, a scissor-type keyboard very similar to the one on the laptop.

This keyboard has such a small travel that you do not realize that you have pressed a key until you look at the screen. When I got down to business with the IBM mechanical keyboard, I was reminded of my beginnings in the computer world.

The sound, the typing experience, the sound confirmation that I've pressed a key, the long key travel… Using a mechanical keyboard again after almost 25 years without having used it was a piece of cake.

After knowing my experience with keyboards, the time has come to talk about the advantages and disadvantages that we are going to find if we adopt a mechanical keyboard.

Advantages of a mechanical keyboard

mechanical keyboard keys

Feedback and better typing experience

You don't have to be an engineer to know that a mechanical switch offers us a greater sense of security when writing than a simple rubber base of membrane keyboards.

However, not all the switches that we can find inside mechanical keyboards are the same. In fact, there are so many types of switches (Cherry MX, Outemu, Razer...) that at first choosing which one might interest us the most seems like a daunting task.

Some switches have a detectable actuation point, others offer additional acoustic feedback. We also find switches designed for gaming and optimized for typing.

While the blue keyboards are great for typing, the red switches are designed for gaming. These are the two main types of switches, although we can also find other variants such as brown.

Longer shelf life

If you spend many hours in front of your computer and every year you are forced to change your keyboard because some keys have stopped working, this is because membrane keyboards have a useful life of about 5 million keystrokes.

Mechanical keyboards, on the other hand, depending on the type of switch, have a lifespan of between 40 and 60 million keystrokes. In addition, some mechanical keyboards allow us to replace the switches when they stop working, prolonging their useful life even more.

They hardly wear out

This advantage is related to the previous point. The mechanical switches barely wear out, we will always write like the first day, something that, unfortunately, does not happen with membrane keyboards, keyboards that force us to press harder and harder on the keys to register the keystrokes.

keyboard switch types

They are easy to clean and repair

Mechanical keyboards are much more robust not only than membrane keyboards, but also the scissor keyboards used by laptops, so they are much more robust and do not move as easily when we are typing.

Mechanical keyboards allow us to extract all the keys independently to clean both the keys and the base where they are located. But, in addition, some models also allow us to change the switches if one of them stops working.

Anti-ghosting and backlight

While membrane keyboards, we can only press one key after the other if we want the computer to register it, mechanical keyboards include the anti-ghosting function, a function designed for games and allows you to press several keys at the same time and that all of them execute their associated action.

Even if you don't plan to use it to play, a function that most mechanical keyboards include are RGB lights, lights that, in addition to giving the keyboard a very colorful appearance, are ideal for working with low ambient light, since they allow us to identify any key with the light emitted by each key.

Disadvantages of a mechanical keyboard

membrane keyboard

They are much more expensive

Mechanical keyboards are more expensive than most membrane keyboards. But you should think of it as an investment: if you treat your keyboard right, you won't need a new one for quite some time. And another good news is that with more producers, the mechanical keyboard becomes much cheaper than before.

You can spend less than 30 dollars to get one. Of course, it won't be as good as a brand name one, but it's still better than a membrane keyboard at the same price.

mechanical keyboard

Sound level

Mechanical keyboards are considerably louder than any other type of keyboard, especially those with blue switches. However, just as we can find noisy switches, we can also find practically silent mechanical keyboards on the market, brown switches, but with the same features of a keyboard of this type.

If the noise emitted by the keyboard is a problem for your environment, you do not have to give it up, you can opt for this type of keyboard, as long as it fits into the budget you plan to invest, since, as I have commented in the previous section, they are not cheap.

they are heavier

By having a greater weight, mechanical keyboards offer us greater stability when using them. However, if we have the idea of ​​transporting it together with our laptop, things get complicated, since both the size and the weight do not make it ideal to carry them from here to there.


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