What the hell is this? - Cox CK30 'Blue Switch type Membrane'
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- Location: South Korea
- Main keyboard: IBM Model M(Lexmark Blue Badge, 1994)
- Main mouse: Logitech G502
- Favorite switch: Buckling Springs, Vintage MX Black, Alps Blue
So, when I was looking around the internet for some mechanical keyboards, I came across this; it was one of those 'mecha-membrane' keyboards, which was made by Cox(The sub-brand of ABKO). at first i thought it was something like razer ornata, but the strange thing was, it used a rather weird mechanism to make a clicking sound.
Apparently, it uses a discrete switch(or 'clicker'), over a rubber dome. it's like those tai-hao semi mechanical switch, with inclusion of rubber dome between membrane and the switch. the switch itself used the clickbar mechanism made by kailh, and instead of spring and contacts, they made the stem longer & thicker, and drilled a big gaping hole for it, so the stem could reach down to rubber dome.
as expected, it doesn't have n-key rollover but proudly advertises that it has '19-key anti ghosting' along with various LED modes, and yeah, they are not interesting at all.
the rubber dome itself is a bit different from what you'd see in many other rubber dome keyboards too. the dome itself is raised up and has those weird 'wall' on top of it to make the slider inside clicker mechanism dont wobble or move away. clever.
here's the typing demo by youtube user 'Dstudio(디스튜디오)', and soundwise? it's sorta 'believable' when heard like this, but i'd assume that this won't feel like mechanical switches, and more like those 'slider over dome'(since that's what this essentially is) with the inclusion of clickbar.(which would give a slight bump but not much.)
I wanted to get hands on one of those because it was both interesting and cheap(listed price was around 31 dollars) but it was discontinued long ago, so sadly i can't write about its key feel more than just simple assumption.
overall it's a weird cheap... 'thing'? i don't know, it existed at one point of time as a cheaper option, and i thought it was interesting. let me know what you think in the comments.