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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: dwana on Mon, 07 February 2011, 11:36:44

Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: dwana on Mon, 07 February 2011, 11:36:44: Hi people!

Ive been looking around the various sites and googling to find my ideal keyboard.

http://search.dell.co.uk/1/2/137738-dell-keyboard-us-euro-qwerty-dell-standard-quietkey-usb-keyboard-black-kit.html

This is my current (please refrain from pointing and laughing =[ ) keyboard, the areas I like about this keyboard is its a standard regular sizing, with no added extras (IE no media keys and a thin borderline around the outer keys etc). So really id like something similar in its styling

I do game a lot, mainly FPS's etc. I also have a Macbook Pro and I like how the keys on this feel, fairly small and low in relation to the keyboards I have found so far.

I was taking a look at the steelseries 7g, and it looks like it could fit the bill quite nicely, but that has quite large keys in relation to a mac keyboard, any suggestions for something in between or some alternatives for me to think about? The other keyboard I have been looking it was the Das Keyboard Silent, although im sure if this is available to the UK!

The price of the 7g ~£110 is really the limit.

Hopefully I've painted a decent picture here, hope to speak to you soon!

Thanks

Tom.
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: keyboardlover on Mon, 07 February 2011, 11:43:02: Welcome to GeekHack! *Points and laughs* ;)

Since you game FPS you'll want a keyboard with 6-kro (see the wiki link in my sig). I believe the Steelseries fits the bill. It does have cherry blacks though which are much more stiff than the rubber domes you've been using, so I would bear that in mind.
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: dwana on Mon, 07 February 2011, 13:24:20: thanks :)

by stiff do you mean stiff when pressing down or during release?

also, is there a part of the website for decent places to purchase?

I was looking at the steelseries 7g online, and I saw most people were doing it for around £110, but on fnatic.com (which is one of the teams that steelseries sponsors) its around £20 cheaper!
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: keyboardlover on Mon, 07 February 2011, 13:36:46: I mean stiff when pressing down. I would check out the "Worldwide Buying Wiki" (click the GeekHack wiki link at the top of the page.)
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: sadbox on Mon, 07 February 2011, 13:56:45: If you don't mine waiting for just a little while I believe that EliteKeyboards is supposed to start stocking Leopold keyboards this month. I would imagine a blank Leopold would fit your crave for some minimalism =)

Though, that's assuming that EKB stocks some w/ blank keys.
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: mail2345 on Mon, 07 February 2011, 14:39:46: What about the Rosewill RK-9000? Cheap, minimalist(besides the gold USB cable), NKRO on USB, and excellent build quality. I don't know if you can get it in the UK however.
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: RiGS on Mon, 07 February 2011, 15:23:03: For fps gaming mx blacks are the best.
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: Findecanor on Mon, 07 February 2011, 16:32:41: I like that Dell keyboard more than other contemporary Dell keyboards. Light, but relatively short key travel. One that I have tried have been quite crisp at the bottom, while another has been a bit mushy.

It seems to me that you would prefer low-profile keyboards with scissor switches. There are lots and lots of them, but I don't know of any that is optimized for gaming. Some (like Apple's) are more tactile than others.
All keyboards with Cherry MX switches (the ones suggested so far) have a full key travel of 4 mm, which is a little bit more than what you seem to be used to.
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: RiGS on Mon, 07 February 2011, 16:53:06: You can shorten the key travel with or rings.
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: Chobopants on Mon, 07 February 2011, 17:34:10: Quote from: RiGS;291395
For fps gaming mx blacks are the best.

Switch preference is 100% opinion.

I game (RTS and FPS) with Browns and love them. I've touched Blacks and don't like them as much, especially for typing. One of the best Starcraft 2 players in the entire world uses Browns, another one uses Blacks. It's just preference.

Previous to getting my Filco Brown I had been using the Aluminum Apple Keyboard for a number of years and I still love the thing for a sleek little scissor switch guy. If you want slick and minimalist AND you're an OS X user it is tough to beat.
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: Superfluous Parentheses on Mon, 07 February 2011, 18:24:35: Quote from: Chobopants;291457
Previous to getting my Filco Brown I had been using the Aluminum Apple Keyboard for a number of years and I still love the thing for a sleek little scissor switch guy. If you want slick and minimalist AND you're an OS X user it is tough to beat.
Personally, I prefer the HHKB Pro, which works well with OSX (including all the special keys like lighting/dimming etc). I'm still deliberating whether I should get another one or go for a more standard 10-keyless board so that normal humans can at least use one of my computers if needed. :)
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: keyboardlover on Mon, 07 February 2011, 20:46:42: Out of curiosity, how many scissors HAVE you tried to date? Sounds kinky.
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: theferenc on Mon, 07 February 2011, 20:53:05: Quote from: Superfluous Parentheses;291474
Personally, I prefer the HHKB Pro, which works well with OSX (including all the special keys like lighting/dimming etc). I'm still deliberating whether I should get another one or go for a more standard 10-keyless board so that normal humans can at least use one of my computers if needed. :)

You would let them touch your keyboard? That's a mistake. Definitely get another HHKB. Why sacrifice the layout for other peoples' convenience.
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: poco on Tue, 08 February 2011, 11:59:54: Quote from: ripster;291476
Going from a Scissor to a Black Cherry would be quite an adjustment IMHO. I'd look at Cherry Browns or Logitech PerfectStroke keyboards. Das Silent would be a good choice from your list.

This is the nicest scissor I've tried to date.
Show Image
(http://www.logitech.com/assets/33669/keyboard-controller.png)

I love that keyboard. A friend of mine got one with his Google TV, and I kept searching for TV shows so I could type on it some more.
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: db_Iodine on Tue, 08 February 2011, 12:19:23: Some scissors are really quite nice. I certainly enjoyed my old Thinkpad keyboard and I've tried the Logitech K800 which was quite nice. Certainly not as nice as many mechanicals, but I think I'd rather type on good scissors than on my Minitouch. No offense to alps lovers.
Title: Minimalist first mechanical keyboard!
Post by: poco on Tue, 08 February 2011, 13:51:56: Quote from: db_Iodine;291816
Some scissors are really quite nice. I certainly enjoyed my old Thinkpad keyboard and I've tried the Logitech K800 which was quite nice. Certainly not as nice as many mechanicals, but I think I'd rather type on good scissors than on my Minitouch. No offense to alps lovers.

I also don't mind the scissors on my EeePC (1000HD, I believe). I bought the netbook because the keyboard felt great compared to all the other note/netbooks at Fry's. I wrote an entire book on the thing, and quite enjoyed the experience (it also helped that the keyboard didn't feel cramped, as many netbook keyboards do).