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How I met my first mechanical keyboard

2025-02-26

So yeah, I fall for the memes...again. It has been a while since Luke Smith has gone away from the internet, but his videos keep making people fall for his memes. Considering majority of my readers already know Luke Smith, but do you remember that weird looking keyboard thing he had? That thinkpad like trackpointd in middle of that white old industrial looking keyboard? The keyboard he used to flex? Guy paid hundred dollars for it. Hundred. It didn't even had RGB lighting in it. One hundred dollars! for a comparison, if you earn $100 a month in the capital of my country, you are technically above the poverty line. Now I am no one to question his choice, as he is from a rich country, also that keyboard looks good enough as far as my taste is concerned. It's sturdy as well. If I were to be in his shoes I would have made the same choice of purchasing one of those cool toy. But still, even though I am not in his shoes, I still made the same decision. Kinda...I mean I can't spend $100 on a keyboard. It is almost 9k in my country at this point. "But Arjun you said that you made the same choice as him to purchase that keyboard and now you are saying you are too broke to do that..yada yada yada"

Well in my defense: What is a Luke Smith's keyboard after all?

Luke's keyboard is US made Unicomp keyboard. If one wants that in India, then there is no option but to import. Which is a weight I don't want to carry. So as I couldn't get my hands on the exact keyboard which Luke was flexing. But I, instead got my eyes on an Indian version of Luke's keyboard:

TVS Gold Prime Mechanical Keyboard

TVS Gold Prime Mechanical Keyboard

As Linus pointed out in his review that TVS Gold Prime Mechanical Keyboard is a heavenly inspired by IBM M3 keyboard. With almost identical looks and a pen holder at top (Yes this keyboard has an elevated area on the top to hold pen). Plus it offers similar things as Luke's keyboard expect that nipple like rubbery thing which he has for some reason in middle of his keyboard. Now even Lenovo has removed those trackpoints from its latest Thinkpads. Anyways, here's how my TVS keyboard is similar to that of Luke's:

There is one more distinction however, while Luke paid $100 for his toy, I on the other hand, was able to get the possession of mine for much lesser deal of $33. It may seem cheap for US readers but it is still INR 2900 in my country. Which is almost at par with the one-month rent I pay for the apartment I live in.

But now there is this nerdy part, which I was able to know just recently that the keyboard which Luke is using is a keyboard which comes with something called buckling springs. He did mention that in his video as well but when I first watched it I had no clue what it was. So what a buckling spring keyboard is, it is a keyboard with a spring beneath all of its keys. Which, when pressed and released makes that pleasant buckling sound. Hence the name buckling spring keyboard. Idea sounds good, so does the sound coming out of this sort of keyboard. But here is the hard fact of life, these kind of keyboards are not that easily available in India. And if you are lucky to get your hands on this breed somehow, it will only be possible after a big monetary exchange.

TVS Gold Prime Mechanical Keyboard

Anyhow, I did purchase which I can. TVS Gold Prime Mechanical Keyboard with red switches. "Red switches?" yes, it turns out that you can't just buy a mechanical keyboard without being a little nerd. There are basically three kind of switches TVS comes with:

Red switches: Easy to press, makes least noise. (This is what I am getting in my keyboard)

Brown: Makes slightly more sound and has a different clicking mechanism.

Blue switches: Rare to find these days in TVS, expensive and makes the most noise. But it is generally preferred the most.

I didn't have a single clue that I am getting something other than blue switches. I thought I am being able to get TVS for bit cheap because of my luck. No, it wasn't my luck but rather my ignorance that what I am purchasing "TVS gold prime" is a red switch keyboard. And it is only "TVS GOLD" (without prime) that comes with blue switches.

Still, for the person who has never had his hands on a mechanical keyboard, the colors of the switches hardly matter. After all the switches will be under the keys. So it doesn't matter which color they are: red, brown or blue (Things I have to say myself to reduce the pain of not getting blue switches).

At the end, I am really happy to purchase something which I could only dream few years ago. I finally have a mechanical keyboard. It looks like that which Luke has, and for now that is what matters to me the most. I am having the best key-press experience I have ever had in my life. The sound coming out of these keys, the response which every key-press gives is the best I have ever had. Yes I could've saved one month's rent, but then what's the point coming back from work to an apartment which doesn't even have a mechanical keyboard?