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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: noname2020x on Sun, 16 October 2022, 21:16:48
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After a couple of years away from the world of keyboards, the YouTube algorithm has sucked me back in.
These days, I have a little more $ to throw around and I'm looking to replace my loudish board with something quieter and creamier. After doing some research and watching a few videos, I'm having a difficult time deciding which direction to take. Using the information below, please let me know what you think I should go with.
* My budget is $200
* I'm hoping for something creamy, low-pitched, and quiet
* I think I'd probably enjoy building/modding something but if a board needs to be modded, ideally it will be good out of the box too
* My current board is a Keychron and I'd prefer to branch out, though the V1 seems pretty amazing so if it's good enough I'm fine going that direction
* I prefer a 65% or 75%
* I don't care about bluetooth
* I'd love a knob
* I'd love a dedicated delete key
* Though I tend to prefer mechanical boards, there is one rubber dome board I had many moons ago I absolutely adored. I'm very tempted to try out an electro-capacitive. The Niz Plum Atom 68 looks appealing.
Thanks so much for all your help!
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https://www.mechmap.tech/themap
Everything on here is pretty great as far as budget boards go, have at it.
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IKKI68 Aurora is one of the nicer entry-level 68% boards.
It's more of a mid-level in build quality, often. It's gasket-mount, so it can be soft, which helps your 'creamy' switches.
I understand that there are kind of budget 68% available on AliExpress as well, although they are hotswap-only. These 68's don't have knobs, though. Fortunately, there are a number of 75% that do these days, including budget models.
Niz can be good. QC is a bit of a lottery. Unfortunately, the prices have gone up since the pandemic. On the other hand, at least the new 2021 switches are said to be better than previous ones. [This is under debate.]
The Keychron 75% with the knob is probably honestly good enough. You can mod it anyway. With Keychron, look up the 'force-break' mod, as it is commonly applied to many Keychron boards. For low pitch, you might need to use foam, although that creates a more uniform [and some would say, standardized] sound. Not sure what the latest best 'creamy' switches are, there are a lot. Including a new variant of Creams that's broken-in at the factory, or something.
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I'd recommend some of the AKKO Boards. Great selection for pretty decent pricing, but the only issue is that shipping takes a while.