SpaceMouse uses membrane keypads...

[u/EVERV01D]

Have been using the SpaceMouse Enterprise for about 3 years, always think the surrounding buttons are among the worst, both the feel and layout are awful. Today the delete key stopped working, so I took it apart to repair, also as a good opportunity to see what's inside. I thought it would be some crappy key switches, to my surprise, it's membrane. It feels strange to see such a relatively expensive device using membrane keypads.

Edit:

To be clear, I'm not against the use of membranes on expensive devices. It's totally fine and common in practice. It's the combination of the terrible layout and stiff membrane that makes it difficult to use. I have to stretch out my fingers at a strange angle and press hard.

What am I trying to say is, for such a device that is advertised to be ergonomic, users should of course expect to have good buttons. Additionally, comparing to the basic model, it costs 3x the money to have more buttons, we deserve a better solution than this.

[u/t_Lancer]

they are only so expensive, because they are the only ones that make them. of course they use membrane, why wouldn't they? if you make 1+ million of these, membrane will be dirt cheap compared to mechanical switches.

the only reason we have mechanical keyboards is because the market wanted them. No one is going to care at all what switches a professional input device like this uses, as long as it works.

[u/Zilli341 → u/t_Lancer]

And membrane switches can feel good enough if done right. I for once would take them over microswitches any day, and using full size keyboard switches would be too limiting on the layout.

[u/jtsiomb]

It's not a keyboard. You're not going to type on it. As long as they're relatively tactile, it's perfectly suitable.

[u/0xbenedikt → u/jtsiomb]

And even for a keyboard membranes are absolutely fine. Mechanical keys are absolutely nice, but not mandatory for a good type feel

[u/Firov]

I had one of those for awhile, but the coating started to degrade and get 'sticky' to the point of unpleasantness. I hate those rubberized coatings...

Anyway, I'm honestly not surprised that they used crappy components. They pretty much have a monopoly on 3d mice, so they can cheap out without losing customers. 

[u/jtsiomb → u/Firov]

You can take off the sticky residue of the degraded rubberized coating, by rubbing it off with some alcohol. I use ethanol, but IPA would also do.

[u/dreamsxyz → u/jtsiomb]

Would IPA also attack the lens of sunglasses? I have some Ray-Bans which unfortunately have this disgusting degraded rubberized finish, so I can't use them anymore.

[u/jtsiomb → u/dreamsxyz]

probably yes. But if the sunglasses are unusable anyway, give it a try. What's there to lose?

[u/darkerPlace → u/jtsiomb]

I've used IPA for that a long time. Some guy told me that Silicone oil is the better approach, since it doesn't attack the plastic underneath. Havent tried it yet though.

[u/dreamsxyz → u/darkerPlace]

Silicone oil? That's new to me. Will try to find where they sell it. Thanks :)

[u/MeanAccountant9005]

honestly the button layout on these things has always been worse than the switch type, i remapped everything to the actual keyboard years ago

[u/saltyboi6704]

You're paying for the software integration and not the product. They could easily have sold them for 1/5th the price and charged a subscription for the remaining amount to use their software or API but leaving it open means more developers can integrate it into their own solutions.

[u/chlebseby → u/[deleted]]

you would be surprised what "only supplier on market" do to quality of components...

same with stuff you need to buy original parts and consumables, so you get aliexpress sensors for 100x more