Ask HN: How is your experience with a mechanical keyboard?

overrated and unnecessary

I have the Razer Black Widow Tournament Edition, Numpadless, Cherry MX Blue switches. I've had it since 2013, with a spotty usage record: I used it heavily at work 2013-2014, then only for gaming 2016-2019 (and I'm not a heavy gamer, mostly used it to finish The Witcher 3, maybe 180 hours over this period), and ever since I've WFHed I've been using it as a daily driver, maybe more intensely than the 2013-2014 period.

I love it! Although productivity wise, I'd say it's only a marginal psychological advantage that I enjoy typing. During the in-between period where I only used my MKB for TW3, I was issued a couple of gaming laptops for work, with tactile rubber dome[1] keys. That's when I realized that the tactile feedback is what makes me enjoy my MB. So maybe a high-end rubber dome keyboard with good tactile feedback would also do the trick for me.

Unpopular opinion these days maybe but I also like the sound of Cherry MX Blues, adds to the enjoyment. Nowadays I have to make an effort to type gently during work calls but I think that's more my sound set-up than anything (it's very basic). As I said, I've used it in the workplace/in-person office to no issue but maybe social norms can differ. But I'm of the opinion some of the complaints about the noise of blue switches is exaggerated.

It's also great for gaming, at least for TW3. I never thought I'd be one of those guys who would say their equipment affected their performance but I'm pretty sure it did here. Even with the gaming laptops from work which I used five days a week, it was noticeably easier for me to react instinctively and not miss that crucial keystroke in a boss battle. I'd say it's the physical depth of the keys; laptops by design are just too shallow, tactile feedback be damned[2]. Or maybe the fact that even by default this keyboard is already angled.

Form factor is also great. Not too wide, just about the same width as even small laptops. Very personal preference but it's how I like it, it doesn't strain my wrists.

Lastly, the honest drawbacks. For some reason this keyboard needed a lot of maintenance during the time I was using it only sparingly for games. That's despite the fact that I kept it in the sleeve it came with. Every few months or so, keys would get stuck so I'd have to pry off the keycaps, blow air/gently dust off the switches, and rinse the keycaps in soapy water. Then of course dry it off before putting them back in one by one. But with constant usage, this kind of problems don't crop up. Weird if you ask me.

[1] I'm not a keyboard nerd so I'm not sure if this is accurate wording. But I hope you get my drift.

[2] Again, I'm not a keyboard nerd.

I'm using Keychron K2 - https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-k2-wireless-mecha...

So far it was great, I love tactile sound of a mechanical keyboard. There is some sort of pleasure in it. But to be honest, it's easier to use MX keys or an Apple Keyboard. Because my hands get sore after writing couple of hours without break.

Would I suggest K2? Yeah it's a great keyboard but If I'm on a market for Mechanical Keyboard I would buy K8 or C1 because I hate to press fn key everytime I want to control volume etc.

Good: They usually have N-key rollover (or NKRO), meaning you can press many keys and all of them register. Most membrane keyboards can miss keys when you press more than 2, e.g. if you type "CD" by pressing shift+c+d.

Maybe good: lower latency down to 1 ms.

Bad: Larger key travel slows down your typing, which you can fix by stacking a few o-rings under the keys. Clicky keys are super annoying, but thankfully there are silent switches out there.

I had a Cherry MX Brown for a couple of years. It's nice, but I honestly feel that Apple's keyboards feel better for coding.

Also, an important point is that I stopped using it because my wife found the noise very annoying.