RGB vs non rgb

[PTRS]

So i need to choose pcb.
What do YOU prefer rgb or non rgb keyboard?
I like rgb and non rgb so i ask you what is better

[tp4tissue]

RGB = Infinity * Kewl

That's the bottom line,   the boomers will be boomers.

[Sup]

Don't care about RGB. Every board i had with RGB i just turned it off to flashy for my eyes and makes it look like a clown keyboard.

[ddrfraser1]

RGB no... but sometimes yes... but only if it looks cool...
Glad I could help.

[Darthbaggins]

I like having RGB on my boards, normally set it to a single color of my choosing for photos.  Also if I want I can always shut it off.

[Afresh]

I tried both and after all I like custom not shine through keycaps so rbg losses meaning. Now I'm trying to get my setup without rgb at all. All personal preference tho.

[Nuclear Nachos]

if i can easily turn it off or just a static color and it doesnt add cost im fine with it. if a pcb doesnt have it doesnt really matter for me, its not a dealbreaker or anything

[moosekeyboards]

i haven't tried putting GMK caps on something with RGB backlight, but the key caps which come stock with most RGB boards are pretty bad. 

[Leslieann]

So i need to choose pcb.
What do YOU prefer rgb or non rgb keyboard?
I like rgb and non rgb so i ask you what is better

RGB means not having to choose.

If you want it off, turn it off, if you want it on, turn it on, there's not a whole lot of downsides to having it.
That said, most keycaps that work well with it are crap.

[yui]

i would say that if you have shine through caps, yeah RGB, but if you have opaque caps, no, as RGB comes at a price that could be either less other features or higher monetary price, but then the choice is yours

[MakerJake]

RGB can be super cool but I also think it can be super overboard super fast. Rgb kinda gets old after a bit. I now set all my rgb stuff to a blue.


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[jamster]

So i need to choose pcb.
What do YOU prefer rgb or non rgb keyboard?
I like rgb and non rgb so i ask you what is better

Better is the one you prefer.

Personally, I have both.

[yqqdrasil]

Hate it. Everything I have with RGB is turned off.

Underglow in a single colour is okay with me though.

[typo]

Running KAT Milkshake on RGB board with smoke color mirror plate. Underglow on this much nicer than shine through IMO. These are not junk keycaps. At least I don't think so. The combination on this board looks to have been about 400 bucks. Only thing is made in China. I find nothing wrong with them though. So I suppose that does not matter. You could get GMK,SA what have you. Probably not on a $75 board. If you hate it, this might change your mind

[hwood34]

no leds

[Findecanor]

I think that backlighting is fine only if your keyboard has switches like Omron B3K ("ROMER-G") which had actually been designed for backlighting to begin with.
Backlighting on Cherry MX is a kludge with lots of compromises. The switch had originally been designed only to fit a two-pin LED in the front of the key for use as an indicator light in switches such as Caps Lock and Num Lock. The top switch housing and Cherry keycaps had been designed together so that the keycap would fit well around the switch top when pressed.

Most backlit keyboards for Cherry MX have the switches rotated 180° so that each LED is at the back of the key, with keycaps having its legends in the top centre. Most of these keycaps have shifted symbols cramped together with the unshifted symbols so that they would be right over the LED — and that often looks like crap. Many non-English layouts have tertiary legends that often don't get backlit at all.

When these keyboards are used with other types of keycaps, because switches are mounted the wrong way round, there could be interference between a keycap and the top of the switch housing when you press a key to the bottom.  So if you don't want RGB but want to use high-quality thick-walled Cherry-profile keycaps then this can happen with the home row keys.
Even some keyboards that don't have backlighting have the switches mounted the wrong way round because they are made from some of the same parts as keyboards with backlighting, making things worse for the rest of us.

Next, there is the issue of light bleeding out the sides under the keycaps.
When RGB backlighting was introduced, some clone switches got a wider slit to fit an unusual wide four-pin RGB LED. Most "RGB switches" do however instead have a transparent housing with a hole over a surface-mounted RGB LED, which diffuses the light in all directions instead of just up — leading to even worse light bleed.
The only Cherry MX-shaped switch I have seen that avoids light bleed to some degree is the Flaretech switch that is used in some of Wooting's keyboards: but those switches are optical and not pin-compatible. A Flaretech switch has an opaque housing around a clear lens that transports the light from a surface-mounted LED to the top of the housing without bleeding out the sides.

[Alga]

I like RGB. But I prefer underglow rather than per key. But for that you need a see through case. The effect is quite cool in my opinion.

[typo]

I just mentioned my fully custom board has under glow. It uses opaque key caps, not shine through on a fully open mirrored plate. The switches are pointing up in the correct direction. It uses very powerful COB LED's. Unless you meant actually underneath the keyboard.

[vexchow]

non rgb for sure.

[funkmon]

I hear RGB ads 10 WPM

[typo]

I retract my statement. I was high. LED's are the one sure thing to fail. Only reason for me. If you can fix them and are willing, then fine. I had countless boards go in the trash since I could not repair them. Only reason on this board, I inherited it.

[Bitdrive]

Well it really comes down to your own style doesn’t it? If you have a super minimal space with all white and all that **** then without rgb is probably the way to go but if you’re already lighting your room up with rgb lights just buy rgb, either way if you change your style or workspace you can just turn it off and slap some minimalist keycaps on it and there you go, new board

[FoC_Tow]

Im voting rgb yes but hear me out why...

I personally absolutely dislike the rgb effect asthetic, so I would personally never use rgb for more then a uniform backlighting.
However I feel that rgb leds on the pcb are far superiour compared to regular inswitch leds.

Rgb leds are usually soldered to the pcb, which mean you will never have to solder leds through a switch, which is a huge additional pain in desoldering if you ever want to exchange or open a switch.
Placing leds below the switch on the pcb is imo a far more elegant solution, and will also achieve better light defusion/distribution. (also you get to change color if you ever need to... sure)

I really dont need rgb effekts, nor do I need backlighting on all my boards. But if you go for backlit, i feel rgb is the better way to go even if it carrys the stigma of beiing an "rgb" board.

[casualdehid]

Both. Both are great.
You can't beat Cherry/GMK dubleshoots, Apple, NMB and IBM Dye-subs, however there is a place definietly for RGB and Backlighting and it can look very nice too, if done well. I'm with the static color gang tho.

[Kyle_Kun]

Non RGB, feels higher quality to me for some reason, idk.

[alertArchitect]

Personally, I think both have their place. For example, RGB on a keyboard, especially if the brightness is adjustable, has the little-noticed side effect of making the keys a bit more easily visible in dark areas for people who are not touch typists and may have visual impairments. There's also the benefit of being able to adjust the lights to fit the lighting of the rest of your PC setup, if that lighting is present, so that everything fits your aesthetic.

However, non-RGB tends to avoid the "rainbow puke gamer" stigma most RGB devices have, as well as looking more professional if that's something you're looking for. Plus, PCBs that don't have RGB tend to be a bit cheaper if everything else is the exact same between it and the RGB PCB you are comparing it to, so it can help with your budget. Especially since some boards, like the Drop CTRL, may need you to get an extra light diffuser for the case for some of the lighting on the board to be properly visible. Not to mention the issues other people in this thread have mentioned regarding keycap quality and lighting.

Honestly, I think RGB comes down, as many things in this hobby do, to preference. And aesthetics, though that is also a preference. To me, the more important considerations when it comes to PCBs - at least when I was looking for one for my current build - are 1) if it's a hotswap or solder PCB, 2) if it's in the layout you're looking for, and 3) if it's 5-pin or 3-pin (depending on your switches).

[Riverman]

I just wish there was more variety for backlit keycaps.  I have a Realforce RGB that I really like, but the only "professional" looking backlit keycaps I've seen are Ducky's seamless keycaps, and they only seem to be available in black at the moment.  They make a white version, according to their website, but I can't find them for sale.  Everything else is ugly in some way, IMHO.  Some of the Tai Hao keycaps could be okay, but I hate their shift, caps lock, and tab icons, and how they've recently changed the Windows keys to say "WIN" instead of using the Windows logo.  The lack of decent keycaps is making me seriously consider selling the RGB.

[Krunchy]

I have and use both, but when I'm looking at options on new keyboards, the way I think about it is that I can always turn the lights off on an RGB board if I want, but I can never turn them on with a non-RGB board.  That said, I usually leave them off unless I'm typing in low light, but sometimes I just want to have the the unicorn parade on my desk or feel like I'm typing on an 80s cartoon keyboard, you know?

[Maledicted]

I hear RGB ads 10 WPM

Only if the color is set to red, like a sports car.

I retract my statement. I was high. LED's are the one sure thing to fail. Only reason for me. If you can fix them and are willing, then fine. I had countless boards go in the trash since I could not repair them. Only reason on this board, I inherited it.

Why not donate them to Goodwill, or ship them off to people who can either replace the LED or don't care about backlighting? I haven't had an LED fail myself, but I keep the brightness down on the few boards with LEDs that i routinely use with them on.

Im voting rgb yes but hear me out why...

I personally absolutely dislike the rgb effect asthetic, so I would personally never use rgb for more then a uniform backlighting.
However I feel that rgb leds on the pcb are far superiour compared to regular inswitch leds.

Rgb leds are usually soldered to the pcb, which mean you will never have to solder leds through a switch, which is a huge additional pain in desoldering if you ever want to exchange or open a switch.
Placing leds below the switch on the pcb is imo a far more elegant solution, and will also achieve better light defusion/distribution. (also you get to change color if you ever need to... sure)

I really dont need rgb effekts, nor do I need backlighting on all my boards. But if you go for backlit, i feel rgb is the better way to go even if it carrys the stigma of beiing an "rgb" board.

Yes. Desoldering through-hole LEDs just to be able to start desoldering a whole board's worth of switches is a pain. What's even more fun is desoldering all of the LEDS, desoldering all of the switches, trimming the LEDs, and resoldering them so that they'll now reside within the switch housing ... for switches meant for RGB SMDs. Ask me how I know. Some ancient boards used the LED holes in Cherry housings for diodes, which is also an infuriating choice.

Do any major manufacturers (gaming or enthusiast) even make single color LED boards anymore? I have specifically looked for RGB versions of K70s with the intent of swapping switches.

I think that LEDs of any kind make a small amount of sense when applied to dedicated HTPC keyboards, in which case keeping them a dim red is best for night vision, etc. You might be typing at odd angles on surfaces never meant to second as desks, so touch typing is not always surefire.

Those who are not touch typists are heretics and should learn ... so they can be lazy like me and literally have a keyboard under the covers in bed. It sure is nice to be able to be multitasking while typing though as well, like carrying out a conversation with someone without breaking eye contact, checking for mistakes while typing, reading something on another monitor while typing, etc.

Otherwise, preference and cost as others have said. Most of my boards have no backlighting. Most are neither modern enthusiast nor gamer boards though either.

[JayyReq]

Used to think RGB under the keycaps were cool until I saw the use of RGB in other forms like under glow off the bottom of the case. I've started to stray away from RGB in most cases but depending on the color scheme and the case you're using, RGB may work well without it being too much. I'd love to see your vision once your build is complete. Maybe I could get some pointers on how to use RGB better.

[LaserCrafter]

rgb is good depending on how overblown it is in the context of a desk setup. if it's just the keyboard that's using rgb and nothing else, then it can make the keyboard stand out in a way that separates everything else from the keyboard. However, if the entire desk setup is rainbow unicorn vomit, then it will get pretty boring after a while.