Accidental Key Presses On Mechanical Keyboard

[Slowhand]

Hi everyone. I've always had problems with accidental key presses on mechanical keyboards. I've only had Cherry MX Black switches but nonetheless I keep on double and triple tapping keys.

It is user error I know because I have a tremor due to medications I take. I'm sick of making mistakes. Is it possible if I change to a rubber dome/membrane keyboard I will get less accidental key presses. Just curious. It may not help at all. What do you think about my idea. ?

 

[fralexandr]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/mechanical-switch-keyboard,2955-2.html

the cherry switches all have short activation distances (2mm)
the red/black have linear feel with point of activation being undetectable.
the brown and blue have tactile/nonlinear feel and a noticeable point of activation

If you want to stay with a mechanical, the small relative increase in resistance right before the key activates might be enough to prevent accidental key presses, depending on how bad the tremors are.

keyboards with dome switches tend to have longer activation distances which should also help reduce accidental presses. They're also usually cheaper than mechanical ones.
http://www.ergopedia.ca/ergonomic_c...ane_Keyswitches_Ergonomic_Considerations.html

if none of those work out, you can always look for an IBM Model M/buckling spring keyboards. They require more force to type on and are tactile.

 

[Ben90]

I don't have any experience with tremors, but I would think a tactile keyboard would be your best bet; even over rubber domes. The tactility helps you out in two ways. Directly after the switch activates, there is less force on the switch which makes your finger want to continue pressing down. Imagine doing bicep curls with a very heavy weight. As you get to the halfway point a theoretical switch activates, and the weight disappears. With no resistance, your hand is going to travel upwards very fast with little chance of going back down to the halfway point.

The second benefit of a tactile switch is they can have a very high hysteresis between the switch activation and resetting point. This means you need to move your finger up higher for the switch to physically reset. Cherry Blues get a bad rap on the "gaming" scene because they have a high hysteresis, but this will help you out. The switch might be a bit too light for you though.

Fortunately for you, your keyboard is terrible for your situation so pretty much any tactile switch is going to be an improvement. If noise isn't an issue, I would try looking at the heavier tactile switches such as MX Greens or Buckling Springs. If you have no need of NKRO and don't mind the noise, I would pick up a Unicomp.

 

[Slowhand]

Thank you for your posts. I am leaning heavily toward a rubber dome keyboard though. It would be an experiment at best but that's how we learn. Any recommendations for a rubber dome? Say between $0.00 and $100.00 give or take a few bucks?

Thanks again,

 

[fralexandr]

You could always go to an office supply store or best buy or something and try some out. They usually have several models out on display. They also usually have some of the Dell/HP/etc ones hooked up to their display computers.

I always liked how simple the older Dell keyboards were, but I think most of the newer ones are lower profile, which might not work for you.

You can buy the older dell keyboards, like the L100 or SK-8135, used on ebay or amazon.

 

[Ben90]

I would imagine there won't be too much of a difference between rubber domes aside from half of them being low profile. I would still probably stop by an office supply store to try some out though.

 

[Slowhand]

Good advice, thx. I'll get right on it.

 

[corkyg]

Here's another trick that might help you with any keyboard. Open Control Panel and select Keyboard. Then adjust the repeat rate slider to the minimum. This might eliminate a lot of your tremble errors.

 

[Slowhand]

Here's another trick that might help you with any keyboard. Open Control Panel and select Keyboard. Then adjust the repeat rate slider to the minimum. This might eliminate a lot of your tremble errors.

Thanks so much for this tip corkyg!! I did it and it is already helping a lot!

 

[Muse]

Thanks so much for this tip corkyg!! I did it and it is already helping a lot!

Yeah, I forgot about that one. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Here's another trick that might help you with any keyboard. Open Control Panel and select Keyboard. Then adjust the repeat rate slider to the minimum. This might eliminate a lot of your tremble errors.

Steady and unsteady hands alike -- everybody could take a little time to tweak their input devices . . .