Cherry Cymotion Expert Keyboard - Highly Recommended

[Chandler]

I have been searching for the ultimate PC keyboard for quite some time, and I believe that I may have finally found it.  That keyboard is the Cherry Cymotion Expert.

I went through a phase of liking ultra-loud buckling-spring IBM Model M keyboards but I'm not so convinced now.  The biggest problem with them is that they simply are too loud.  I guess if you live alone they are acceptable but if you are sharing a house with somebody else, or if you're working in a modern office, they are far too loud.  I was able to put up with it but then I realised that I wanted some of the things that I'd always dismissed on keyboards such as multimedia hotkeys - I never realised how useful it is to have volume control and mute volume directly on the keyboard.

I used a Dell multimedia keyboard for a while, after I bought a Dell computer, but it was quite difficult to type on.  I found myself needing to make many more corrections than usual.  I'm not sure of the actual reason for my problems - maybe I wasn't pressing the keys down far enough, or perhaps it was simply missing the key press signals.  I found that it was necessary to bottom out the keys for them to register, which causes finger fatigue after a while.  The Dell keyboard keys also have a lot of play, in particular the space bar, which was very rattly, something which I see on the Dell keyboards that we have at work.

So next I decided to try a Cherry Cymotion Expert, after many positive reviews.  Most of the reviews were on Amazon Germany, and the Germans seem to love them, but I also found a review in a UK magazine which described the key action as being almost as good as the mechanical key-switched Cherry.  The Cymotion line are membrane type keyboards, rather than individual key-switches, but they are very different to that which other manufacturers are using.  I only need to tap the keys to get them to register, which means that I'm no longer bottoming out onto the base of the keyboard, and I can type for longer without any pain.  The review I found described the keyboard as sounding like clog dancers, and they probably aren't that far off the money.  It's a "dead" kind of clicking (as in it's mostly low frequency and kind of muffled), but quite soothing to listen to, compared to the rattling of the Dell, or the "twanging" of the springs in the IBM Model M.  The nice thing is that the feedback is in the touch, which is far from being "dead"; so it doesn't have to be loud to let you know that you've pressed a key.  From the moment I switched from the Cherry keyboard to the Dell I noticed a marked improvement in my typing accuracy - pretty much back to how it was with the IBM Model M, but without the racket, and with the convenience of multimedia keys, and a choice of PS/2 or USB connection.

The keyboard isn't heavy, but it does have a reasonable amount of weight behind it.  I'd place it at the level of keyboards 10 years ago, before the serious cost cutting and F-key madness started.  Oh, that's another point - there's none of that F-lock nonsense here.  The function keys work as function keys BUT you get an additional key next to the Windows key, which works as a shift key for the F keys and allows additional functions.  Some standard multimedia and browsing type functions are provided by default and you don't have to load any fancy drivers but if you do decide to install the software (I haven't - I like to keep things simple) you can customise them for different functions.  All regular keys are in the proper location - insert above delete, and print-screen, scroll-lock and pause/break all together.  The keys themselves have slightly larger keycaps than those on standard keyboards.  The key positions are identical, and there is still a 4mm-ish gap between them but they are larger.  It looks like the the symbols/letters on the keys may be laser-etched as well, rather than paint/decals.  If they are (and I'm pretty sure that they are, looking at them) the letters will never wear off.

In summary, I think that the Cherry Cymotion Expert keyboard is quite possibly the best "regular" keyboard currently on the market, and coming in at around Ã?£10 to Ã?£15, they're a bargain.  I tried out some Logitech and Microsoft keyboards in PC World and they are nowhere near as nice to type on, yet they cost 2 or 3 times as much.  It's not got wireless connectivity (a gimmick in my opinion) and it doesn't do anything particularly cool, but for typing it is perfect.  I have a black one, but it also comes in beige and granite if I remember correctly.  If you don't like the features of the Expert, there are several other models in the Cymotion range, and I believe that they all use the same keyboard type.

[Chandler]

For anyone reading this - the Cymotion Expert has a different feel to the more expensive Cymotion Master XPress.  The Master XPress has quite rattly keys and doesn't feel that different from any other standard keyboard.  The Expert is half the price yet feels twice that to type on.  I definately prefer the Expert because it has a smaller footprint, nicer key action and most of the additional keys on the XPress are accessible on the Expert via the F-keys in conjunction with a modifier key.  The only thing that you don't get is a wrist rest.

[scuzzy]

Which is fine by me... the wrist rest is the first thing that I throw in the trash. I can't stand them.

[Chandler]

There is another keyboard available for gamers, called the Raptor Gaming K2.  It looks very similar to the Cherry Cymotion Expert.  I read a German hardware site which had reviews of both the Raptor K2 and the Cymotion Master XPress.  They commented that the Master XPress was not as quiet as the Raptor Gaming keyboard.

I don't know if there are any ACTUAL differences between the Raptor K2 and the Cymotion Expert, but if they are the same hardware (the keys seem to be the same) then you can get the same keyboard as the Raptor for 1/3 of the price.

So once again, I highly recommend the Cherry Cymotion Expert keyboard.  I've bought myself a second one to store away for the day that my main one breaks.  It may be made in Germany but it won't last forever!  :)  I don't think that I'll find a keyboard that feels as nice to type on.

[Chandler]

The Expert has some kind of white grease applied to the keys at the factory whereas the Master XPress lacks this.  I have found that by removing the keys on the Cymotion Master XPress and applying a SMALL amount of clear silicon grease (*small* is the keyword here) the Master XPress types as well as the Expert.

Summary about the Cymotion range in general:
Pros

• Nice tactile feedback
  
• Nice typing sound (quite relaxing to listen to IMHO)
  
• Absolutely zero rattle - even from the spacebar
  
• No F-lock - function keys work as normal and only do special functions when pressing the Cherry key
  
• Print Screen / Scroll Lock / Pause-Break all present and in correct location
  
• Insert / Delete / Home / End / Page Up / Down all present and correct size and correct location
  
• Decent gap between the ESC key and F1.  AutoCAD users will appreciate this - the number of times I've gone for ESC to cancel a command and hit F1 which slowly launches Help has driven me mad.  I've not done it once with the Cherry
  
• Decent weight so doesn't slide around
  
• Letters won't ever wear off the keys

Cons

• On the Expert, the keys aren't the same shade of black as the case