Ask HN: Should I get a mechanical keyboard?

My employer wouldn't go for it, so I sprung for a mechanical keyboard out of pocket. I got an IBM M12, which is a variant of the Model M clicky keyboard with a Trackpoint built in. It looks and works like it's brand new.

Not thrilled with the trackpoint, the sensitivity is too low for a modern hi-res display. If I turn the OS-level mouse speed way up, the trackpoint works OK but the other mouse moves way too fast. I'd love one of the modern-built clicky keyboards with the built-in trackpoint, but I can't find them. Thinking about getting a gaming mouse that can have its DPI turned way down.

Or I could learn vim or emacs and forget about the mouse entirely...

If you have something that works for you, you may just want to stick with it. That being said, I've tried a bunch of mechanical keyboards and have been using a Kinesis Advantage for about five years: http://jakeseliger.com/2011/07/17/further-thoughts-on-the-ki... and am in fact typing on one now.

Perhaps the best recommendation I can give is simple: I'd never go back if I could avoid going back.

To address pinky pain (based solely on my own experience, this is not ergonomic or medical advice), yes. In my experience, the most painful thing about typing for my fingers is the impact from bottoming out the keys while typing (which is required to activate the membrane switches found in most inexpensive keyboards). You'll want to learn how to type without bottoming out the keys (or pick up some o-rings to soften the landing), but absolutely yes.

I would recommend the Cherry MX Brown switches: they require less effort to push down than other switches, but still offer some tactile feedback when they're activated. If you're comfortable relying on muscle memory instead of tactile feedback, then the red switches will be a real joy to use. Blues are nice, but in your typical office situation they are almost universally reviled.

One advantage of going for reds - there are a number of game peripheral manufacturers which offer keyboards based on the Cherry MX Red.

I use a Kinesis (https://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage-for-pc-mac/), which is a mechanical keyboard with an ergonomic layout. It saved my wrists while writing my master's thesis. I use an MS 4k for a while, but the Kinesis is lightyears ahead in terms of comfort.

It takes about a week to learn to type on it, as the columnar layout is very different, and I had to learn to retype some characters (like x, c, and v). It's easy to switch back and forth between typical keyboards and the kinesis, so nothing's lost in the learning.

With a mere anecdote, I would also suggest having two kinds. Remember, the strain is a repetitive stress injury. Mechanical keyboards may be able to cut down on it, but RSI can still happen. I was getting pain in my wrist from using a mouse, so I switched to a trackball. I loved it so much that I bought one for work, too. A few weeks went by and suddenly I was having sharp pains in my thumb and after another week I was unable to move my thumb. I switched back to a regular mouse at work, keeping the trackball at home, and it balanced out.

So in my limited experience, just making sure you're load-balancing the stress you put on your hands every day makes a big difference. Not sure if this will hold true for a mechanical keyboard vs a regular keyboard, as it may not be enough of a difference. But it might.