The Mechanical Keyboard Rabbit Hole

It Started with Membrane Frustration

The keyboard my company gave me was a Dell KB216. Membrane. Typing felt mushy with no tactile feedback, and after a full day of typing my fingers were tired. Hearing the crisp clatter from my coworker's mechanical keyboard made me think, "I should try one of those."

I thought I'd just buy one keyboard. That's where the mistake began.

First Purchase: Leopold FC660M

Every search for beginner recommendations kept pointing to this model. Went with red switches. 129,000 won. Connected it the second the delivery arrived, and the first keystrokes were like "oh, so this is what mechanical feels like." The tactile feedback was distinctly different -- each press had clarity and spring-back.

I was happy for a month. Then I watched a "custom keyboard" video on YouTube. That's when things went sideways.

Number Two: Getting Into Customs

I saw a video claiming that "lubing your switches completely transforms the feel." You open each switch and apply lubricant by hand. About 3 hours for 67 keys. Sounded insane, but curiosity won.

Bought a Keychron Q2 barebones kit for 138,000 won. Gateron Milky Yellow switches, 35,000 won. PBT double-shot keycaps, 42,000 won. Lube kit, 18,000 won. Total: 233,000 won.

First time lubing switches, and around key 42 of 67 I hit the "why am I doing this" wall. But when I assembled it all and started typing... honestly, it was a different dimension from the Leopold. The clicky sound turned into a smooth thock, and the spring ping vanished. (Three and a half hours of effort for this difference.)

Number Three: This Is a Disease

Two months later, I bought another one. This time an Alice layout -- an ergonomic split design. Keychron Q8. My justification was that my wrists bending inward felt uncomfortable... but really, I just wanted to buy it.

Barebones 170K + switches + keycaps came to about 260,000 won. Three keyboards combined: 622,000 won. 622,000 won on keyboards. (The first time I added it up, I was a bit shocked.)

Office Reactions

When I brought the custom keyboard to the office, reactions fell into two camps: "Wow, that sounds amazing, what is that?" vs "Why are you using something that expensive?" The person sitting next to me heard me typing and asked "don't you have a quieter option?" It was red switches -- supposedly quiet -- but still noticeable in an office.

Ended up buying silent switches separately for the office. 27,000 won more. The total keeps climbing.

What I've Learned

The essence of the mechanical keyboard hobby is that it never ends. There are hundreds of switch types, keycap profiles like Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT -- each one feels different, and the combinations are infinite.

But honestly, in terms of coding productivity, the difference between my 120K Leopold and the 260K custom is virtually zero. Typing speed doesn't increase. Error rates don't drop. It's purely a difference in typing satisfaction.

Knowing all this, I still can't stop lurking in keyboard communities. When I see group buy announcements, my fingers itch. But I've resolved not to buy any more. This is the third time I've made that resolution just this month.