Posted by David Nelson on 19, 2000 at 8:37 AM:
In Reply to: Leaf vs Microswitch posted by chukdotcom on 15, 2000 at 1:08 PM:
: Which type do you prefer and why?
I am partial to leaf switch joysticks AND buttons. THEY JUST FEEL BETTER. Here's some more reasons:
1) the clicking of course. I don't know about the rest of you but I live in an apartment and sometimes just the clicking of microswitches makes me feel like I'm making too much noise, I certainly can't turn up the volume to drown it out, or that WOULD be too loud.
2) I find microswitches are harder to press. Not much but significantly more effort is required to activate a microswitch button for example over a leaf switch button. On a game like Track & Field, you just can't play it with microswitches, you need to bouncy feel of leaf switch buttons to get your fingers floating over the button fast enough.
3) Maintenance on leaf switch buttons might be a chore but it's POSSIBLE. You can actually WORK with leaf switches, clean them, bend them exactly the way you want your switches to activate.
4) I've had this problem with microswitches: There seems to be a good GAP between the actual button and the switch. (perhaps I've got some mismatches buttons/switches) but often I find that there exists a GAP, so that you actually have to press the plastic part of the button down to MEET up against the microswitch before your button-press is actually clicking the switch, and I don't know of anyway to fix that except for replacing the switch or the entire button. With my leaf switches I can bend the points so the switch activates at the mere touch of the button.
Bottom line, I think leaf switches (especially in joysticks) FEEL better and are more workable.
Just my 2 cents.
-David Nelson : captain NH Video Warriors