Author Topic: Need keyboard advice (Read 3664 times)

apples · « **on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 08:52:08 »

Hello,

A little while ago my customizer died...when I spilled my beer on it. So now I need a new keyboard. Right now I'm left using an old saitek II and I really miss the clicky feel of my customizer. But before I break down a buy a new buckling spring board I figured I should give mechanical boards a try.

I've been reading a lot of reviews, both on this site and elsewhere and basically I came down to 3 boards.

Das Keyboard
Steelseries 7G
Filco Majestouch FKBN104M/EB

I am a gamer so I absolutely need n-key rollover as a feature. The problem with the Filco is that it costs too darn much. 200 dollars with shipping is more then I want to spend. 150 with shipping is basically where I draw my line in the sand.

I read on this forum that Das keyboard has some weird typing issues with how it registers key strokes, and I read on a newegg review that the steelseries suffers from the keys falling off if you don't hit them squarely on after a bit of wear. I don't know if thats true but its disconcerting.

I read about the ABS keyboard thats floating around but I don't know if that would give me the kind of tactile feedback that I crave.

As you might be able to guess by my former board, noise is not an issue.

Any comments on what board would be best, and or any rumors that can be debunked would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone knows how to get that filco board cheaper then 200 dollars shipped I would be interested to know how.

itlnstln · « **Reply #1 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 08:58:04 »

The ABS 'board would give you more tactile feedback than the Steelseries. I would try the ABS. If you don't like it, you can send it back to Newegg for a refund, but I don't think you will be disappointed. If you want, you could get a Dell AT101W from ebay for around $10. It will be very similar to the ABS (maybe even better; I will find out on Thursday

), but with Newegg's return policy, that might be a non-issue. I would stay away from the Das due to rollover issues.

apples · « **Reply #2 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 09:11:39 »

Quote from: itlnstln;18724

The ABS 'board would give you more tactile feedback than the Steelseries. I would try the ABS. If you don't like it, you can send it back to Newegg for a refund, but I don't think you will be disappointed. If you want, you could get a Dell AT101W from ebay for around $10. It will be very similar to the ABS (maybe even better; I will find out on Thursday ), but with Newegg's return policy, that might be a non-issue. I would stay away from the Das due to rollover issues.

According to reviews on newegg the ABS board has no rollover at all. Folks were complaining that something as simple as ctrl+c does not work with the ABS board. Can you confirm or deny?

itlnstln · « **Reply #3 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 09:16:56 »

Quote from: apples;18726

According to reviews on newegg the ABS board has no rollover at all. Folks were complaining that something as simple as ctrl+c does not work with the ABS board. Can you confirm or deny?

Deny. This is the same mfr. as Filco, and no one has a problem with those. This was a one-off issue (as noted in the 2 reviews out of 22) and was subject for replacement. Lemons happen, and so does user-error. I take Newegg reviews with a heavy dose of salt. If this were a real issue, 18 out of 22 reviews would not be at a 5 rating.

apples · « **Reply #4 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 10:07:01 »

Quote from: itlnstln;18727

Deny. This is the same mfr. as Filco, and no one has a problem with those. This was a one-off issue (as noted in the 2 reviews out of 22) and was subject for replacement. Lemons happen, and so does user-error. I take Newegg reviews with a heavy dose of salt. If this were a real issue, 18 out of 22 reviews would not be at a 5 rating.

Thanky for the information. I went ahead and ordered the ABS. I'll let you know here when I get what if it holds up to my gaming expectations. If not, its newegg so I should be able to return it with a fairly minimal fee.

itlnstln · « **Reply #5 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 10:10:21 »

I think their restocking fee is about 10%. I just sent something back to them for a refund, and that was about the amount the restocking fee was.

cmr · « **Reply #6 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 12:24:48 »

the das iii is too loud and distracting to be much of a gaming keyboard in my opinion. the rollover issues haven't affected me, but they might affect you if you play games that require many more simultaneous keypresses than standard first-person shooter controls do.

xsphat · « **Reply #7 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 15:51:51 »

He's right — clicky keyboards are foul for gaming. Look into the Deck, the ABS or the SteelSeries, and maybe even the Gigabyte.

FunkTrooper · « **Reply #8 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 17:14:43 »

Quote from: xsphat;18793

He's right — clicky keyboards are foul for gaming. Look into the Deck, the ABS or the SteelSeries, and maybe even the Gigabyte.

I must beg to differ. Since getting my Unicomp Customizer, I have used nothing else for gaming and I really really like it. I've been to a couple of lan/house parties with friends where we have played Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead, and I can safely say that this keyboard is far better than the Saitek GK200 "Gaming Keyboard" I was using beforehand.

lam47 · « **Reply #9 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 17:41:17 »

The only issue I have is people complaining that they cant hear what I say on skype during a game because my keyboard is making too much noise.
I find in FPS games you hold keys down for a second or so rather than have to double tap them. This would be the only issue I could see with using a clicky board for games.
There will be exceptions of course and gaming boards seem to use linear switches or domes so perhaps they know something I don't.

Chloe · « **Reply #10 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 17:51:54 »

Quote from: lam47;18820

I find in FPS games you hold keys down for a second or so rather than have to double tap them. This would be the only issue I could see with using a clicky board for games.

I find with clicky ALPS it is possible to retrigger the switch without it clicking if you release it only a little after holding it down. I prefer Cherry ML switches for gaming.

xsphat · « **Reply #11 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 17:55:25 »

If I'm on the Alps whites, I die way more than on the Topre 86. The HHKB Pro isn't too good for gaming because of the layout.

I bet the MLs would be good for gaming. Chloe, what games do you play? Man, a girl who plays games and loves keyboards — are you really the perfect woman?

Chloe · « **Reply #12 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 18:01:33 »

:lol: I have some Nintendo consoles and emulators. I love cutesy puzzle games and things like Starfox and F-Zero.

xsphat · « **Reply #13 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 18:05:43 »

You're lucky I'm married.

iMav · « **Reply #14 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 20:56:22 »

Don't mind xsphat...we frequently have to hose him down.

xsphat · « **Reply #15 on:** Mon, 19 January 2009, 21:46:01 »

Quote from: iMav;18868

Don't mind xsphat...we frequently have to hose him down.

itlnstln · « **Reply #16 on:** Tue, 20 January 2009, 06:58:22 »

Quote from: Chloe;18827

:lol: I have some Nintendo consoles and emulators. I love cutesy puzzle games and things like Starfox and F-Zero.

This completely sums up my gaming experience these days (except for the cutesy puzzle games). I love playing RPGs on the SNES emulator, but I don't have much time to get involved in them much anymore.

apples · « **Reply #17 on:** Tue, 20 January 2009, 18:15:59 »

My ABS board just came in a few hours ago (I love newegg shipping). At any rate I am pleased to report that it easily meets my expectations. The newegg reviews about it are quite wrong in that it does obviously have n-key rollover. I was able to perform normal word processing tasks like ctrl+s and ctrl+c etc without any problems.

The switches on it also are quite nice. They have no sound themselves but they make a decent amount of noise when being depressed, from vibration I believe, and they make noise when they bottom out of course. So the result is a board that is noisier then say my saitek II but quieter then my buckling spring customizer.

As for gaming, the board performs with no problems at all. I just gave it a spin with a chapter of Mirror's Edge, a fairly recent game that requires a lot of quick keyboard combos, and there is certainly no delays or misfires that I could detect.

Overall construction of the board is very impressive. Easily one of the nicest (if not the best) of any that I have owned. There is clearly a metal plate somewhere in the board as it is fairly hefty. The LEDs are blue and quite bright if you lean over and look at the board head-on. However if you sit in front the board and simply use it the LEDs appear to be quite soft. The difference is due to the LEDs being recessed into the board and some nice cloudy plastic covers going over the LEDs. The result is that they are bright if you look at them head-on but soft when seen from an angle such as what you would have when typing normally.

The keys themselves have some sort of no slip spray applied to them. I don't know what it is but it is definitely a kind of finishing compound that is applied to each key. On top of that the lettering is done in some kind of paint. I can feel that each letter is raised slightly as a result of the painting. My only concern for the board is that in the long term that lettering may not stick around. Time will tell though.

Chloe · « **Reply #18 on:** Tue, 20 January 2009, 18:22:40 »

The Filco Majestouch have a coating on the keycaps. After some use it goes a little white but you can wipe it off:
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=584

bhtooefr · « **Reply #19 on:** Tue, 20 January 2009, 18:33:37 »

I'll note that the games I tend to play are ones that I can fire up, play a couple rounds, and then close out and return to what I was doing. Altitude is great, TrackMania (Nations Forever) is great.

cmr · « **Reply #20 on:** Tue, 20 January 2009, 18:40:33 »

you can play TMNF with a keyboard?

it never occurred to me to use anything besides my USB gamepad. i guess that's the mariokart addict's approach to trackmania, eh?

bhtooefr · « **Reply #21 on:** Tue, 20 January 2009, 18:46:55 »

Yeah.

Some people actually use wheels, but everyone that I know personally that plays it just uses the keyboard.

(For the record, I found that between a 1391401, an EnduraPro, and the ThinkPad X61 internal keyboard, I got my best times on the 1391401.)

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Author Topic: Need keyboard advice (Read 3664 times)