Cherry on top: Dell shoves MX keyboard into its Alienware m15 R4 ultrabook A keyboard can make or break a computer -- just ask Apple. On that note, Dell has partnered with German outfit Cherry to bring its mechanical Cherry MX keyswitches to its Alienware m15 R4 ultrabook. Cherry’s mechanical keyswitch designs are ubiquitous in mechanical keyboards – although a significant chunk are clones produced …
Seems like marketing BS to me; these keyswitches may be great or at least better than standard laptop keyboard switches, but misleading to say they're Cherry MX.
Not sure why the makers of some of the larger form-factor laptops don't dedicate at bit more internal space to a full-throw keyboard, if there's the demand for it.
All electronics makers are blindly following Apple, and Apple would dearly like to make a phone that is just 1mm thick, but that dang battery always gets in the way.
Personally, I don't care about thin. What I want is a laptop that has power and all the ports I can possibly ever need, plus a BluRay drive and space for another internal SSD. I want to be able to slot in 64GB of DDR5 as well, and have enough battery power for a marathon session of Lord of The Rings viewing.
So yeah, thin is not going to cut it for me.
That is really spot on, this idiotic trend to make things thin leaves end users with machines which are constantly on the verge of overheating and incur unnecessary high repair bills because things are harder to fix when it is all cramped together.
A good gaming laptop should have a case of two inches high, leaving enough space for decent connectors, heat dissipation, easy replaceable battery and keyboard.
But unfortunately, these ideas is the equivalent of rowing against the stream of moronic designs in the laptop world, all designed so these things get tossed in the trash after 3-4 years.
I use an 80's Model M with open back headphones, and when I'm doing stuff I can hear the clack just enough to know I've just done actuated the key. It doesn't bother me, and the fact that it's loud and boisterous helps audibly describe its monsterous durability and girth to anyone within earshot.
Hm yes they don't sound great but there are other important factors contributing to the sound, the plastic used for the caps and the rest of the keyboard components. That's why for example PBT keycaps in a solid aluminium chassis (and other high grade internals) in, say, a vortex keyboard will always sound much better.
This one's not plastic though to be fair, it seems.
I wish there was a way to get feedback to manufacturers... like "I bought your absurdly expensive laptop solely because of the keyboard" to encourage them to keep that feature around.
Now, it's not going to sell because of the price, and Dell is going to go "oh well, people don't want decent keyboards"
Slightly off topic, but I’m still awaiting my dream keyboard.
I’ve been using Microsoft Natural (ergonomic) keyboards since the late 90s.
I’ve loved them all, except for the horrible, spongy black 4000 model.
Currently I use a grey, Surface (natural) keyboard on my workstation. Not sure what switches it uses, but it feels nice to type on.
However.....
There’s no backlight. What I’d love to be able to buy is a Microsoft Natural shape keyboard, with a backlight, and mechanical keys, plus to have a cabled option (or even the option to use it wired, or wireless)
I actually write this in the hope someone will respond “what, you mean one of these?”
I’d be prepared to pay a fair amount, for this Natural shape, mechanical keyboard, with backlight, and preferably with a wired option.
“A keyboard? How quaint! Hello, computer!”
"was purportedly inspired by the DeLorean car."
Hmm, so there is cocaine in the trunk? Hopefully it is well packaged otherwise it could cause a snow storm when the fans spin up... Although that might make a good distribution method, saving all that time rolling up bills and separating stripes with a razor on a mirror.
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