Are all keyboards the same?

Notmyrealname

There is a world of difference between keyboards. The cheap ones feel spongy to me. As for mice, I have a basic Microsoft Optical Wheel Mouse I bought from Currys for a tenner. I have now had it nearly a decade. It works absolutely fine although the pads on the base have long since worn away

Notmyrealname

mttylad wrote: »

My son is a pain with his keyboards, he games a lot so wants a fast response from the keys.

He is looking at an old keyboard that has very fast switches in it so is paying £30 for a kb that is likely 10 yr old!

The switches are all the same because there are no switches, merely a contact on a circuit board. What differs is some use the same as laptops and some use a dimple thing which gives a spongy feel. There is also differences in the return mechanisms.

Myser

Cherry have been making robust keyboards for a long time. They are designed in Germany and to have a good response/resistance on the keys when typing.

You can buy them on Amazon and other computer stores.

victorZ

All keyboard has it's standard and I would say that all keyboards are the same it is just depends on the design of the keyboard. However, the pattern of the keys will be just the same.

esuhl

victorZ wrote: »

All keyboard has it's standard and I would say that all keyboards are the same it is just depends on the design of the keyboard.

But... designs differ so all keyboards are NOT the same! They might have different sized keys, flat-topped or concave-topped keys, the angle of the keys might be different, the height of the keys may differ, the colour may differ, the main alphabetic keys may be split into two sets and angled for a more natural hand position when touch-typing.

victorZ wrote: »

However, the pattern of the keys will be just the same.

Wrong again - in the UK, SHIFT+3 produces a "£" symbol, which is not present on other keyboards, the keys can be laid out in QWERTY, AZERTY, Dvorak or alphabetic layouts,
many keyboards have programmable keys, some keyboards differ in the positioning of the Insert/Delete/Home/End/PageUp/PageDown keys, some omit the numeric keypad... the possibilities are endless.

Moneybagsss

esuhl wrote: »

But... designs differ so all keyboards are NOT the same! They might have different sized keys, flat-topped or concave-topped keys, the angle of the keys might be different, the height of the keys may differ, the colour may differ, the main alphabetic keys may be split into two sets and angled for a more natural hand position when touch-typing.



Wrong again - in the UK, SHIFT+3 produces a "£" symbol, which is not present on other keyboards, the keys can be laid out in QWERTY, AZERTY, Dvorak or alphabetic layouts,
many keyboards have programmable keys, some keyboards differ in the positioning of the Insert/Delete/Home/End/PageUp/PageDown keys, some omit the numeric keypad... the possibilities are endless.

Don't argue with spammers.

Weird_Nev

No, not all keyboards are "the same". If its for casual use then anything will do, but spend wnough to get a named brand.
If you type a large amount then you really do need a good keyboard, so it would be worthwhile trying a few as you might prefer a particular feel. It makes a difference if you're an author or programmer.