The feel of a keyboard is strongly determined by its switch technology.
Rubber dome keyboard lifespan.
The principle behind the rubber.
When released the circuit is broken and the keyboard continues.
Wasd mechanical keyboards also mounts the switches to a thick steel plate before the switches are soldered to the pcb.
That s not the only benefit of dome switch keyboards however.
The lifespan of a mechanical keyboard also depends on the type of key switches used.
Membrane rubber dome scissor switch or mechanical switches.
Rubber dome chiclet keyboards.
You can also replace the switches on mechanical keyboards when they do fail further extending the lifespan of the keyboard.
Mechanical keyboards have many advantages over rubber dome or scissor switch keyboards.
The rubber dome key switches are designed for around 5 million keypresses while the cherry mx switches can provide around 30 to 70 million keypresses.
Rubber dome keyboards are the most common form of keyboard out there and most gaming keyboards are rubber dome keyboards.
All hail ripster god of all things keyboard.
This provides a more stable typing platform and gives the keyboard its rigid body and heavy weight.
It s pretty difficult to do any maintenance on a rubber dome keyboard as well.
Apart from this if a keyboard is spill proof and is easy to clean it adds to the lifespan too.
A friend of mine got suckered into buying a ttesports knucker and it was a noticeable improvement over most domes i will admit.
You can expect many years of use on your mechanical keyboard.
One thing i d like to point out is your comment on the ione plunger switches.
The key sits on top of a rubber dome when pushed down it activates a circuit that says that this key has been pressed.
Compare that to your average rubber dome keyboard which is rated to 5.
Your average rubber dome keyboard has a life cycle of 5 10 million.
The rubber piece inside a membrane keyboard is so easy to produce and so is the cheap plastic material around it.
Its simple structure and low cost makes it an ideal solution for budget keyboards.
Just check out this article on removing the keycaps.
This style also has a long lifespan when compared to other styles of keyboards.
I couldn t find a rubber dome factory but the following video is close enough to get the.
But there are also a few small disadvantages.
Most of the keyboards use one of the following three concepts.
It still uses rubber domes but a special plastic scissors mechanism links the keycap to a plunger that depresses the rubber dome with a much shorter travel than the typical rubber dome keyboard.