I basically went through this same exact thing a couple weeks ago, except price was a factor. The Das is a solid board that you can get for $103 shipped if you're a student, so that's a good deal. The Blackwidow, which I am using now, seems like a solid board to me. I am a gamer, and the weird 2/6/Nkro has yet to interfere, but it's optimized for the wasd cluster, so you may not have luck with the arrow keys. I'll test it with the latest firmware/drivers and get back to you on that. The Rosewill RK-9000s are apparently Filco quality for $100 less, so that may be worth looking at if you can find one. The Leopold is apparently at the same level as the Das and Filco, and is a middle pricepoint at EK. The Xarmor is the one I have gathered very little about. Apparently the backlighting can be a little shoddy. I think The Soluter has one, so he could probably provide better input. Watch the classifieds, or put up a WTB, and you can probably snag a good price on a blue board, since so many people have them. I got my Blackwidow Ultimate for $80, and it's a joy to type on.