Greetings GeekHack forums!
I stumbled onto this site while googling mechanical keyboard guides and was overwhelmed with guides for nearly everything. Now I'm hoping to get some opinions and suggestions based on what I have to say below.
I've been researching mechanical keyboards and am looking to get one, I've read through numerous guides on this site as well as others, and have a general idea of what I want but would like to get some input. Especially since I have never used one before.
I'm a heavy gamer and have been playing on the PC since around 1998. I mainly play FPS's such as cs1.6, TF2, BF:BC2 etc... however I'm trying to get into SC2. The majority of my PC "career" to the best of my knowledge, has consisted of rubber domes. My first desktops keyboard was definitely domes and my current board is the same (logitech g11).
From what I've gathered from the various guides I've read. Black is the best for gaming however they lack in the typing department. Also I feel like I would enjoy a lighter switch than what the blacks are described to be. Blues seem to be for typists and not so much gamers. Reds seem to be lighter blacks which sound promising but apparently they're difficult to acquire in the USA. Brown seems to be the general recommendation for a good gaming/typing middle ground so I figure I'll try that first.
I looked at the DAS, Steelseries, and Filco so far. I was turned off from the DAS due to reports of the keys wearing off a month or two after purchase and the glossy finish being a magnet for dirt or so they say. My logitech G11 is dusty/dirty but I do clean it out with compressed air every now and then. However it isn't glossy so the only place that really looks dirty is the edge of the keys. I was turned away from the Steelseries for two reasons, one being that I couldn't for the life of me figure out which cherry switch it has (its probably staring me back in the face while hiding in the corner of the specs page). Two being the key layout would bug me to no end. The tiny backspace and over sized enter key cause keys to be moved around. I'm not particularly interested in relearning those subtle changes, no matter how small they are. The Filco boards look very promising. I saw a guide that demonstrated that the keys do not wear easily, they're a solid board that comes in a variety of switches. Additionally the ones that I've seen have the same keyboard layout as my logitech G11 which is a plus. Unfortunately I don't know where I can purchase them. I did find three different boards on amazon.com
here,
here, and
here. However I'm picky when it comes to color and would prefer an all black board such as the third link there, However it has the blue cherry switch instead of the browns.
I'm not dead set on the Filcos, they just seem to be what I want at the moment. Suggestions and real world experience of products are welcome!
EDIT: ***** Does the Filco in this thread
here have plate mounted switches? They don't confirm/deny from what I can tell. *****
Are there other brands I should look at? I'm kinda overwhelmed with all the different things to consider when it comes to these types of keyboards. When I was buying a new keyboard a few years ago, I saw the G11 and was thought "oh this looks neat I'll try this" and thought nothing more of it.
Also I never use the extra macro keys on this G11 so those are not necessary.
So I suppose the essentials for what I want would be:
EDIT: I'm thinking $150-$180 max. I suppose I'll go higher if there's good enough reason.
-Same key layout/positioning as a logitech G11
-Apparently keys come in different shapes and sizes. I feel that the G11's key sizes are just fine so something like those would be fantastic. The three boards I looked at all seem to be relatively the same size as the G11 so I suppose those would be good key sizes references to.
-Black or dark grey in color
-Brown cherry switches unless someone can convince me otherwise
-Plate Mounted Switches (I don't use my hardware as a stress reliever but I want something with quality behind it)
**The not so important**
-Media macros a bonus (I guess like the ones on the steelseries 7g)
-Backlit keys would be nice. EDIT: After looking at Cruetia's suggestion. I took a peek at the Xarmor and Deck boards. Both boards have extremely bright illumination compared to the logitech G11. I feel like I would be nearly blinded by the light based off what i've seen. Could anyone give their opinion on this? thanks.
I know I left something out but I'll fix that as this thread goes along.
Thanks!