Also new from Deskthority

[TDub]

Hi everyone!

I am also new here, also from Deskthority! I bought my first mechanical keyboard (Razor Blackwidow) about half a year ago and really liked the mx blues. I really got into it keyboards and modding them when I saw the N52te/Nostromo cherry mod (already taken mine apart now trying to decide which switches to put in it). AlsoI recently bought a fairly cheap Thermaltake meka with mx blacks to try some new switches. I think I prefer the blacks over the blues but am currently looking for something in between (browns or clears) and a compact keyboard with a layout that is not as terrible as the mekas. I'm thinking: choc mini, HPE 87, Keycool 87 or 84.

[truongnd]

welcome to GH !
You must have pretty strong fingers going for blacks

[Kellybear]

Blacks aren't thaaat tough :< I use blacks daily lol.

I think there was a keycool 84 with clears in it that was like, a special edition or something on Taobao. You should get it if you're thinking of trying clears.

Welcome to gh~

[reaper]

Welcome to Geekhack and black switches ftw! 

[Kellybear]

Welcome to Geekhack and black switches ftw! 

You like black switches?! Play Amnesia with me.

[reaper]

Welcome to Geekhack and black switches ftw! 

You like black switches?! Play Amnesia with me.

Demik said you're one tough cookie and that tsangan peed his pants while playing with you guys last night or something. lol

[tsangan]

What are you talking about? I was so smart.

The game told me to follow the pink blood trail, I was smarter then that took a chair broke the window and exited the game.

ezpz

[reaper]

Suuuure.. 

[Wildcard]

I think I prefer the blacks over the blues but am currently looking for something in between (browns or clears) and a compact keyboard with a layout that is not as terrible as the mekas. I'm thinking: choc mini, HPE 87, Keycool 87 or 84.

Have you considered a board with MX reds? You're getting the linear feel of blacks but are lighter like blues.

[TDub]

Thanks for all the feedback!

The blacks don't feel too hard for me, the reason I wanted to try browns or clears is to try the tactile feeling without the click. In the end I would really like one keyboard for home (which can be as loud as it wants) and one for work which needs to not drive my coworkers insane. I just ordered the HPE 87 with browns and then stumbled onto a very cheap g80 with clears (36Euros) so I ordered that too... SOMEONE STOP ME PLS

I haven't played amnesia yet, but it looked pretty cool so maybe ill get around to playing it soon.

[Kellybear]

:3 If you do play Amnesia, tell me how it goes haha.

I think you'd like clears if you like blacks. Browns might be a bit too light, at least I would think so, since I like blacks too. I wasn't a fan of reds when I tried them. I'm trying out whites when my order comes.

[TDub]

I just got my Cherry LQCDE with mx clears and so far I really like it. Not sure if I like them better then the blacks, I think that will require longer testing. The keycaps are really hard to remove for some reason. I don't have my plastic key remover right now, so in the attempt to remove a keycap and see the clears I actually took apart the switch instead. The HPE with the browns should arrive today or tomorrow (insanely quick shipping considering it's coming from china). I'm very excited about it.

[Kellybear]

Hmm. I wonder if you will like browns if you like blacks and clears o-o. I haven't tried clears yet but I'm getting a shipment of whites soon. Depending on how I like whites, I'll see if I want to get clears or not hehe.

Sometimes you get lucky and shipping from China is pretty quick. I've gotten packages pretty fast before too.

[TDub]

Both keyboards arrived today. I don't know yet which keys i like more. In terms of construction the HPE87 wins easily, the switches are plate mounted on and the keyboard itself has a nice quality to it. It also comes with some gimmicks like additional esc, f12, wasd and arrow keys.
The cherry feels much cheaper in terms of plastic used, the switches are pcb mounted and I think the combination of the PCB mounting and the cheap plastic make the keyboard louder. The keys kinda echo if they are bottomed out.
The keycaps themselves feel slightly better on the cherry (PBT plate printed i think) then on the HPE (ABS). Both are nice though.

I am also thinking about modding some of the clears into ergos and pandas and trying those.


BTW, the HPE came from qtan's ebay shop, shipped the next day, arrived in 4 days with DHL. AWESOME.