What to use my Dell credits on? Mechanical keyboard?

Not always.

I switched pretty recently and my budget knockoff (tecware) had one of the switches go after a few months of use. On the plus side it shipped with 3 replacement switches and I was able to swap it.

For work I needed something a bit quieter so picked up a DasKeyboard with “silent” switches (and the scare quotes are definately needed). Been fine so far but I’ve barely used it due to the office repeatedly closing due to plague.

I have found my fingers are much less tired at the end of the day with a mechanical keyboard.

Oooh I do like that coiled blue cable. WAIT NO STOP.

To be fair, I did say they tend to be more durable. I would never try to indicate hardware of any kind was infallible or bullet proof. :) I’m glad to hear in your case it was an easy fix! That’s one other thing about mechanical keyboards I like - they are easy to work on/clean, at least in my experience and from what I’ve read.

Yeah, the points they lost for having the switch go they got back for the moderately straightforward replacement and for including spares. That’s so rare in modern hardware. And not all mechanical keyboards have replaceable switches.

Depends on the keyboard, really. I’ve had two Corsair K70 RGB Mk.2 cherry blue keyboards in a row fail with repeating keys. RMA’d twice, same exact issue. This is a MSRP $160 keyboard (although I paid much less, of course, being me), so it isn’t exactly cheap.

I would just get something different but I really like that the Corsair has a USB hub integrated. I plug a little Windows Hello compatible fingerprint reader into the back and unlock my PC that way.

How much RAM is in your new PC? I used my Rewards to put another 16GB of RAM in mine.

I already have 32GB, so I don’t need more, but that was a good idea - thanks!

Yep, NP. I bought mine with 16GB knowing they’d hand me damn near enough rewards to do that upgrade. I still had money leftover and used that along with the rewards from the RAM (plus $$$) to get the SSD for the PS5.

I just got a mechanical keyboard (one of the budget picks from the Wirecutter recc) and it always makes me feel like I’m doing something important, even when it’s posting here.

Recommended!

Uh oh. My wife decided she may need a smart watch so she can see her work related notifications as work on her wrist…

And just like that, your dream of mechanical typing is gone forever.

It’s back on! My wife decided she doesn’t need the watch. I do have another question though. Dell has a similar keyboard that uses Cherry Brown switches, and is cheaper. That keyboard would be almost free with my credit. Any opinions on Cherry Red vs brown?

Brown:
https://deals.dell.com/en-us/member/productdetail/c4hr

Red:
https://deals.dell.com/en-us/member/productdetail/c4hb

I enjoy Chocolate covered Cherries.

Its all the advice I have.

Cherry Browns and Reds are fairly close, IIRC. They both quite light, requiring similar pressure to actuate, and they aren’t clicky like the Blues.

The key (HAW!) difference between the two is tactile feedback: Browns (which I have, and which I really like) will give you some “feel” as you press the key. Reds are linear, and go straight down with the same force until they bottom out.

OK, thanks. I went with the browns. May as well go with the cheaper option :-)