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Author Topic: Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky  (Read 2843 times)

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Offline Natanji

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 11
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 05:13:07 »
Hey all,
my Logitech G15 just died and I want to replace it with a mechanical keyboard. As such, the Black Widow seemed really nice - it looks awesome, it has some macro keys, it has backlighting. But... it has Cherr MX Blue switches and frankly, I don't want any clickyness. I also want to use it primarily for gaming, where I read the Blue switches aren't really the best (e.g. for rapid buttonmashing)

Looking for a similar keyboard but with black or brown switches, I haven't been successful so far. Is there anything out there, or at least announced yet that *at least* has key backlighting OR macro keys? I guess I'd be fine with only one of those features already. Mind you that I'm from Germany, so some keyboards (e.g. Deck) aren't available here, further narrowing down the possibilities...
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Offline Shogunner

  • Posts: 58
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 05:33:46 »
Well... there is the ThermalTake Mecha GGGGGGGGGGGGG-Unit

http://www.ttesports.com/products/product.aspx?s=23

The Mionix Zibal 60

http://www.mionix.net/page.php?al=zibal60

Or the Corsair K90

http://www.corsair.com/vengeance-k90-performance-mmo-mechanical-gaming-keyboard.html

Those are all the gimmicky mechanical boards that are full size and have backlighting like the BW that I can think of. The ThermalTake and Mionix have MX Blacks, the K90 has MX Reds. The ThermalTake doesn't havefull backlighting, but I've tried all of these and it'd be the one I go with. It's built like a tank, and I'm usually not a fan of the whole "GAMER" look, but I think the ThermalTake looks awesome. That's just me though.
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Offline zirb

  • Posts: 266
  • Location: Germany
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 05:36:36 »
Welcome to geekhack ;)

Backlighting limits you pretty hard.

Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth (MX Brown, illuminated)
Not available in german layout tho.

Qpad MK-85 (MX Brown, illuminated)
German layout available

Qpad MK-85 (MX Red, illuminated)
German layout available

Mionix Zibal 60 (MX Black, illuminated)
German layout available
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Offline Shogunner

  • Posts: 58
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #3 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 05:38:31 »
Totally forgot about Qpad! Yea, ^^ those are probably your best bet.
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Offline zirb

  • Posts: 266
  • Location: Germany
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #4 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 05:39:54 »
Quote from: Shogunner;525367
Totally forgot about Qpad! Yea, ^^ those are probably your best bet.

Same as I did with the Corsair :)
They also have a german shop
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Offline Natanji

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 11
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #5 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 07:44:35 »
The Qpad MK-85 with Brown switches looks just like what I'm looking for! The individual LED backlight should be quite an improvement over my G15, too.
And I'm confused - it seems like the Qpad MK-85 does have a software that allows you to record and save macros. But there are no designated macro keys on it, so which keys can you map them to? Also, which key combinations do you have to use if you want to access the media keys that apparently are there together with the F1-F6 keys?
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Offline zirb

  • Posts: 266
  • Location: Germany
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #6 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 07:54:01 »
Quote from: Natanji;525392
[...] Also, which key combinations do you have to use if you want to access the media keys that apparently are there together with the F1-F6 keys?

I can only answer this one. The right Win-key is an Fn-key -> pressing that in combination with the designated F-keys leads to action.
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Offline Natanji

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 11
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #7 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 07:58:27 »
Ahh, I missed that one, was looking for it near the left Ctrl key like where I can find it on my Thinkpad. Odd placement for an Fn key, but I suppose that is quite alright. Not Like I'd use the media keys much anyways.

I also saw that aside from the MK-50 and MK-85, there is the MK-80 - what exactly is the difference between the 80 and 85? The 80 seems to use PS/2 which would be fine for me. On the other hand, I'm not sure if the macro key programming would work without USB...
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Offline zirb

  • Posts: 266
  • Location: Germany
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #8 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 08:10:38 »
I haven't named the MK-80 because it's MX Blue :p
The MK-80 is PS2 with full NKRO and USB 6KRO. The newer MK-85 provides full NKRO through USB.

I think you're right with the missing programable keys on the MK-80.
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Offline Natanji

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  • Posts: 11
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 09:05:30 »
Who exactly is iOne?
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Offline zirb

  • Posts: 266
  • Location: Germany
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #10 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 09:19:00 »
Just google that **** man :D

The iOne XArmor is basically the same keyboard as the Qpad
[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 41677[/ATTACH]

(I believe they come from the same manufacturer, what ripster is refering to)
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Offline jellowiggler

  • Posts: 293
  • Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #11 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 09:39:04 »
IOne also make the black widow line.

The 3 thermal take mekka boards are pretty nice. All have black switches. Not back lit though. Only the hunting has macro.

There is also the ducky shine for back lit.
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Mike -jellowiggler-
Filco MJ2 Tenkeyless / Rosewill RK-9000 / IBM Model M 1391401 / Logitech DiNovo Edge / MS Sidewinder X4

Offline Natanji

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 11
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #12 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 16:26:38 »
Sooo.... still struggling a little. The K90 Vengeance just looks so amazing and sturdy with the brushed aluminium, and the fact that bread crumbs will not get stuck but just fall out of the keyboard immediately seems like a nice extra to me.

I guess I just need to find a way to try out the different switches...
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Offline nar

  • Posts: 254
  • Location: Tokyo
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #13 on: Sat, 25 February 2012, 18:23:07 »
It seems like your OK with brown switches (You do know they still have a clicky type feeling, just without the noise and better double tapping ability). If you are, did you check out the Blackwidow version with brown switches?
It's the Blackwidow Ultimate Stealth (Yes it's a keyboard named Stealth that has backlighting...).
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Keyboards: Topre HE0100 | REALFORCE 103UB & 104UB-DK | FILCO Majestouch 2 Ai Cherry MX Blue | CHERRY G84-4101SPAUS

Offline Natanji

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 11
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #14 on: Sun, 26 February 2012, 05:06:55 »
The Stealth is not available with a German keyboard layout, sadly - and Razer has announced that there are no plans to change this. Otherwise that would probably be my first choice.
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Offline Horgath

  • Posts: 11
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #15 on: Sun, 26 February 2012, 05:54:39 »
I was in the same situation a few weeks ago...needed german layout..wanted mx browns...and finally got myself a Filco Majestouch 2.
No makro-keys, no backlight...at first it seemed strange, because i had a G19 before...but the first keystroke on the Filco made me forget everything about my old
blingbling rubberdome keyboard :) and i dont miss the backlight/makrokeys at all...
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Offline Natanji

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 11
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #16 on: Thu, 26 April 2012, 01:27:35 »
Sooo... I finally got the Qpad MK-85. In fact, two of them: one with red and one with brown switches.

And now I'm kinda comfused about which I should pick! I feel like I bottom out a whole lot on both keyboards - and when I try to type gently, I make quite a few typing errors. For some reason though I seem to make much less errors on the reds - which I didn't quite expect at all, since there is no way for me to feel the activation point. The tactile feel of the browns is just nicer. It *feels* better. Last but not least, I find the low activation force of *both* keyboards somewhat weird. My G15 needed a lot more pressure, so this will definitely take some getting used to. I should perhaps also note that I'm not typing with 10 fingers, but with like 6-8 fingers only.

So long story short: I don't know how to decide! And I have to send one of these two back in a few days. Any idea on certain "test" I could run to decide for either?
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Offline hard worker

  • Posts: 6
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #17 on: Thu, 26 April 2012, 04:18:59 »
Quote from: Natanji;525359
Hey all,
my Logitech G15 just died and I want to replace it with a mechanical keyboard. As such, the Black Widow seemed really nice - it looks awesome, it has some macro keys, it has backlighting. But... it has Cherr MX Blue switches and frankly, I don't want any clickyness. I also want to use it primarily for gaming, where I read the Blue switches aren't really the best (e.g. for rapid buttonmashing)

Looking for a similar keyboard but with black or brown switches, I haven't been successful so far. Is there anything out there, or at least announced yet that *at least* has key backlighting OR macro keys? I guess I'd be fine with only one of those features already. Mind you that I'm from Germany, so some keyboards (e.g. Deck) aren't available here, further narrowing down the possibilities...


You can looking for Trigger of CM storm. It should be launched in US in May.
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Offline Natanji

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 11
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #18 on: Thu, 26 April 2012, 05:07:38 »
Quote from: hard worker;582595
You can looking for Trigger of CM storm. It should be launched in US in May.

Thanks but... that's rather useless for me at this point. Sometimes it's helpful to read at least the last post before replying only to the first post in a thread. ;)
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Offline hamza_tm

  • Posts: 62
  • Location: Manchester, UK
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #19 on: Thu, 26 April 2012, 05:48:20 »
The Black Widow build quality and typing feel is SO BAD

I had both the BW and the TT Meka.

I can tell you now the Meka is a quality board with an awesome typing feel, night and day compared to the BW. Just the layout takes a bit of getting used to, but after a while its second nature

edit: about reds vs browns, you really just need to use each one for longer time periods. Use only reds for a day, then switch to only browns for a day, then switch back. Use the board as much as you can each day.

That should give you an idea of what you prefer.

Also consider giving both back and getting blacks, i loved my blacks TT Meka - so easy not to bottom out :D
« Last Edit: Thu, 26 April 2012, 05:53:06 by hamza_tm »
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Offline Exort

  • Posts: 70
Looking for a keyboard like Black Widow, but NOT clicky
« Reply #20 on: Thu, 26 April 2012, 11:54:59 »
Quote from: ripster;525440
Whoops.  I should not have included Indians in the "asian programmers suck" generalization.

http://www.networksasia.net/content/indian-vs-american-programmers-whose-code-best

I pretty sure China also won quite a few of international programming awards. Actually they have some of the best hackers in the world.
So your  "asian programmers suck" generalization should not even exist.
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