First off let me say hello, this is my first post here. I found the site while doing research for a new keyboard. My old one was some no-frills Dell plastic dome keyboard. Not really knowing much I used it for years until it finally started to give out and a cluster of keys decided to stop working all together.
I have tested out the feel of mechanical keyboards and have come to the conclusion that Cherry MX Browns feel best to me.
I'm a pretty avid PC gamer (just every type of genera), and this is a major consideration for my purchase. Having done some research elsewhere and here I realize a lot of "gaming keyboards" are little more then added macro keys and branding. Aside from gaming I program and always have some kind of media player running so media keys are kind of important (even if they're not dedicated, just some way for me to switch through music with my keyboard is a must). Finally I'm kind of a design geek, and love simple and sleek, so lots of these over-designed and over branded gaming keyboards and specialty boards drive me nuts. Seeing some of the keyboards posted here with colored, text free keys have me wanting some thing as elegant, so finding a keyboard that will easily allow me to buy custom keycaps down the line is a bit important as well.
Because of this I'm debating a few mechanical keyboards and I'd love some help narrowing the choice down.
Here's the ones I'm debating:
Noppoo Choc Mini. I dig the compact design with out having to fully sacrifice the number pad. I like the media keys clustered around WASD. The over all simplistic and compact look is appealing. I'm a little worried it will take some getting used to due to me being used to a full size keyboard. also I hear the space key isn't standard size, so a custom space key is not possible?
Cooler Master Quick Fire Stealth. Another tenkeyless. More simple and compact design. I wasn't fond of most of Cooler Master's designs (they seem to over brand their products and I'm not a big fan of their font type on the keys) so the stealth looked like a good option.
Ducky Shine 3 or Shine 2. Both look amazing, the LEDs look beautiful especially the Shine 3's light modes. I'm not sure about it's multimedia keys however, are they hidden under a function key like the other boards mentioned?
Corsair Vengeance K70. Full sized board with dedicated multimedia keys, back lit LEDs and solid looking body. I'm not sold on the looks/styling however, and the Cherry MX Brown switches seem to be low stock/out of stock every where I've checked.
Right this moment I'm leaning toward the Noppoo Choc Mini, but I'd really like some help/advise.
Thanks in advance.