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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Gattz on Wed, 09 February 2011, 08:53:58

Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: Gattz on Wed, 09 February 2011, 08:53:58
I'm, like many others, looking to buy a mechanical keyboard. I've read good things about FILCO keyboards, but they seem to be out of stock at elitekeyboards.com, but they have a message saying that they will have a "new line coming out." I've read that Blues and Browns are a good middle point for typing and gaming, but I want to try the Blues since they have tactile sound when typing.

So, should I wait for the "new line" or should I get the Das Model S Professional Keyboard(not sure if I like the glossy finish though)? Any other recommendations are fine.

*Edit* Changed my preference to Browns because they are suppose to be "better" middle-ground.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: keyboardlover on Wed, 09 February 2011, 09:04:40
Welcome to GeekHack! The new line coming will likely have better keys than the Das also, if that matters to you.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: cgoldberg on Wed, 09 February 2011, 09:06:19
If you want a full-size Filco with blues, check out the Rosewill RK-9000.

It is the same board as the Filco (it has Cherry blue switches).  The same manufacturer makes this board.  The body and internals is identical to the Filco.  The only difference is the keycaps and the usb cable.

available from NewEgg for $99 plus shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823201040
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: keyboardlover on Wed, 09 February 2011, 09:07:33
Agreed with the Rosewill. That's a solid choice.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: Lethal Squirrel on Wed, 09 February 2011, 09:12:25
yep, I also agree with the Rosewill.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: .XL on Wed, 09 February 2011, 10:15:45
Since you're looking at typing AND gaming, maybe you'd like to take a look at the Blue and soon to come Brown XArmor U9BL, and the Clear Decks? Both have very good reviews, and a big following.

My brother has an XArmor U9BL and he loves it. It's his first mechanical, and he says he's never going back. It really is a fantastic board! I'd recommend that over the Rosewill, but it is ~$40 more than the Rosewill. Looks a lot sexier, though. And it doesn't have that big ugly Rosewill sign.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: Unicorn Fandom on Wed, 09 February 2011, 11:16:40
Quote from: .XL;292268
Since you're looking at typing AND gaming, maybe you'd like to take a look at the Blue and soon to come Brown XArmor U9BL, and the Clear Decks? Both have very good reviews, and a big following.

My brother has an XArmor U9BL and he loves it. It's his first mechanical, and he says he's never going back. It really is a fantastic board! I'd recommend that over the Rosewill, but it is ~$40 more than the Rosewill. Looks a lot sexier, though. And it doesn't have that big ugly Rosewill sign.


Xarmor looks great. The price gap drops too if you're a student.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: .XL on Wed, 09 February 2011, 11:58:21
Quote from: Unicorn Fandom;292295
Xarmor looks great. The price gap drops too if you're a student.


....STUDENT DISCOUNT!?

How much is it?? Looks like I'll shortly be the proud owned of a U9BL??

I hate you guys for this
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: Gattz on Wed, 09 February 2011, 11:58:32
Hm... thanks for everyone's advice, but I did a bit more research and now I think the browns might be better >.<.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: .XL on Wed, 09 February 2011, 12:00:52
So jump on this XArmor train with me and lets student discount the hell outta the U9BL-S when it comes out
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: .XL on Wed, 09 February 2011, 12:05:39
Quote from: ripster;292313
Wait.

Wait.

Wait.


Your lego scenes are the first things I remember from this forum. Now, almost 3 months later, I'm starting to understand why you were saying 'Don't jump' oh-so-long ago.

As an International Business and Supply Chain Management double major...it makes absolutely no sense to me why EK is taking so long to stock Leopolds. Even if he packed a container on Jan 1st and it went halfway around the world he should have had them in stock by now.

At least iOne knows what they're doing. U9BL-S, OP, you know you want it...

It's also one of the sexier keyboards I've seen. Forget what that 'microsoft windows' guy says...keyboards are sexy!
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: FireSlash on Wed, 09 February 2011, 12:07:23
After a lot of searching, I settled on the Ducky 9008 for typing+gaming

The main driving factor for me was the Ducky's ability to disable the windows key. My G15 had this and I love it to death. Nothing sucks as much as accidently tapping that windows key in the middle of a firefight.

edit: I also found blues absolutely fine for gaming, both RTS and FPS games
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: .XL on Wed, 09 February 2011, 12:18:34
Quote from: ripster;292322
Xarmor/iOne/Qtronix keyboard quality suck.  Do a search here for M10 PCB.

Cracked key stem on a Xarmor.


Weird...that thing looks nothing like my brothers. I wonder if he got lucky? My brothers is fantastic quality...though to be honest I have no previous mech keyboard experience to compare it to.

I didn't find anything torn, cracked, bent, or even scratched like the guys on OCN are complaining about. I think I'd still take a chance on it. Especially when the brown one comes out. Seems they have good customer service and have improved on their design.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: .XL on Wed, 09 February 2011, 12:25:53
Quote from: ripster;292333
Do a review when you get it.  Oddly enough there isn't a review at Geekhack in the reviews subforum (and I won't link to outside keyboard blogs.  Keyboard bloggers are kinda weird IMHO and are often tainted by taking FREE review samples.)


If the rumor is true, and EK stocks Clear Leopolds, I don't know if I'll be getting the U9BL-S.

But like you said...don't jump ;)
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: manfaux on Wed, 09 February 2011, 12:32:24
Quote from: Gattz;292309
Hm... thanks for everyone's advice, but I did a bit more research and now I think the browns might be better >.<.


also depends on your typing habits, if you are a heavy hitter and tend to bottom out a lot then browns are probably a better choice. You just don't want to bottom out on plate-mounted blues, feels like banging your head against the wall.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: itlnstln on Wed, 09 February 2011, 12:53:41
Where did that rumor come from?  Fail.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: .XL on Wed, 09 February 2011, 13:10:52
Quote from: itlnstln;292348
Where did that rumor come from?  Fail.


The new Leopold/Archiss line has gone on sale in Asia, including a Clear and I think Red switchset. I'm just hoping EK stocks them.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: keyboardlover on Wed, 09 February 2011, 13:18:00
Got a link to the source of that info?
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: .XL on Wed, 09 February 2011, 13:20:54
Quote from: keyboardlover;292366
Got a link to the source of that info?


If I can find it again, I'll definitely link it here. I've spent WAY too much time researching keyboards these past 3 weeks.

Don't believe anything I said about that until I find a source...don't want to start any baseless rumors.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: keyboardlover on Wed, 09 February 2011, 13:22:17
Definitely would like to see the source. If it's true it'd get quite a few people excited =)
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: Lethal Squirrel on Wed, 09 February 2011, 13:30:39
.XL
Once you try something nice like a filco to compare it with it will seem pretty crappy.
I thought my blackwidow was awesome quality until I got my filco, and I'm %100 sure the blackwidow is even better than the Xarmor and the BW is only $80.

Like ripster said, Stay away from Xarmor/iOne/Qtronix
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: Gattz on Wed, 09 February 2011, 13:57:33
Quote from: manfaux;292338
also depends on your typing habits, if you are a heavy hitter and tend to bottom out a lot then browns are probably a better choice. You just don't want to bottom out on plate-mounted blues, feels like banging your head against the wall.

I don't consider myself a heavy hitter typer,, so would Blues be the better choice afterall then? But typing is probably different when I'm gaming... I'm very lost here.

So, I'm feeling that I should wait a bit. If I'm going to spend over $100, it's probably better for me to let you more knowledgeable people review it first. :p
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: .XL on Wed, 09 February 2011, 14:10:08
Quote from: Gattz;292411
I don't consider myself a heavy hitter typer,, so would Blues be the better choice afterall then? But typing is probably different when I'm gaming... I'm very lost here.

So, I'm feeling that I should wait a bit. If I'm going to spend over $100, it's probably better for me to let you more knowledgeable people review it first. :p



May I suggest the Noppoo choc mini? A lot of people reaaaally love that board. Some guys got it up on ebay for about $114 for Blues.

I'm just waiting for my paycheck and I'm going to pick it up :)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110646869252 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110646869252)
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: Jef on Wed, 09 February 2011, 18:29:05
From eBay --
"Delivery:  Estimated between Thu. Feb. 24 and Thu. Mar. 3"

So there's still a wait. :(



BTW, hi, guys. 'Nother newb here. Been lurking for months, actually, signed up a while back and still mostly lurking. Fu siote, though. (Okay... that was "fun site" before my fingers tripped. I really DO need a new keyboard.)
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: keyboardlover on Wed, 09 February 2011, 18:33:39
Welcome to GeekHack!
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: stuiees on Wed, 09 February 2011, 18:34:57
Quote from: ripster;292369
If you spot the HHKB3 let me know.


This is disappointing considering there was only a 3 year span between the introduction of the original HHKB pro and pro II model.  It has almost been 5 years since then.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: .XL on Wed, 09 February 2011, 20:18:56
Quote from: ripster;292369
If you spot the HHKB3 let me know.


I actually am waiting for a review model in the mail now.

Quote from: Jef;292558
From eBay --
"Delivery:  Estimated between Thu. Feb. 24 and Thu. Mar. 3"

So there's still a wait. :(



BTW, hi, guys. 'Nother newb here. Been lurking for months, actually, signed up a while back and still mostly lurking. Fu siote, though. (Okay... that was "fun site" before my fingers tripped. I really DO need a new keyboard.)


There will always be a wait. 2-3 weeks isn't bad. Plus, I'm sure you could ask him to upgrade to DHL for a little more. I know I'm going to...I've been waiting for this moment for too long!

Oh, and I see what you did there ;) good excuse to get a new keyboard, huh?
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: manfaux on Wed, 09 February 2011, 23:34:58
Quote from: Gattz;292411
I don't consider myself a heavy hitter typer,, so would Blues be the better choice afterall then? But typing is probably different when I'm gaming... I'm very lost here.

So, I'm feeling that I should wait a bit. If I'm going to spend over $100, it's probably better for me to let you more knowledgeable people review it first. :p


I don't think you can go wrong with the blues then, as long as you can live with the "noise".

the Rosewill Rk9000 is always there, it's a little more expensive than before but still worth the money, plus newegg ships extremely fast.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: woody on Thu, 10 February 2011, 10:21:28
Quote from: stuiees;292563
This is disappointing considering there was only a 3 year span between the introduction of the original HHKB pro and pro II model.  It has almost been 5 years since then.

HHKB P2 should be near perfect then, why change?
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: xira on Thu, 10 February 2011, 11:04:13
Obligatory

(http://i.min.us/ie1Kqs.jpg)
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: woody on Thu, 10 February 2011, 11:21:57
Quote from: ripster;292858
I like how the media keys don't work in Windows.

That's a nice Linux Fanboi Feature that I'm sure was carefully planned out.

HHKB P2's media keys are Mac codes, and only available in Mac mode.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: .XL on Thu, 10 February 2011, 13:18:26
Quote from: xira;292859
Obligatory

Show Image
(http://i.min.us/ie1Kqs.jpg)


Here, have an upvote...

wait, where am i?
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: keyboardlover on Thu, 10 February 2011, 13:22:35
ROFL...nice one xira!
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: woody on Thu, 10 February 2011, 17:01:08
Quote from: ripster;292961
Yeah, so why didn't they send Windows codes when you flip DIP Switch 3 out of Mac mode?

Not 1337 enough.

Honestly, they put the rune karma signs on the bigger buttons, and left "Alt" on the smaller ones. It's a Ma[STRIKE]n[/STRIKE]c's world.

Quote
Those Topre Engineers are Dip****ches.

Agreed.
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: Jef on Fri, 11 February 2011, 23:11:14
Quote from: .XL;292618
There will always be a wait. 2-3 weeks isn't bad.

I guess I was thinking by then the Leopolds might be in stock.

Quote from: .XL;292618
Oh, and I see what you did there ;) good excuse to get a new keyboard, huh?

Well, if I admit the real reason, my wife will make me clean it!
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: 3one5 on Sun, 13 February 2011, 20:21:38
I started out on the old IBM and other mechanical keyboards.  I recently found one hidden away in some junk and thought there had to be someone out there making quality keyboards still.  So I set out looking and here I am.  I was going to wait and see what EK was going to come up with but decided to grab a Rosewill RK-9000 from Newegg.  I plan on replacing all of my keyboards with mechanical units so I'll be able to try a few different boards.  Have 3 keyboards in front of me that need to be replaced.

I figured the RK-9000 was a good choice because of price, switches and the fact that it appears to be a re-branded Filco which gets good reviews.  I spend most of my time coding and very little time gaming.  When I do game I'm not real serious about it :)
Title: Should I Wait to Buy?
Post by: BeatCrazy on Tue, 15 February 2011, 10:34:02
Quote from: Gattz;292227
I'm, like many others, looking to buy a mechanical keyboard. I've read good things about FILCO keyboards, but they seem to be out of stock at elitekeyboards.com, but they have a message saying that they will have a "new line coming out." I've read that Blues and Browns are a good middle point for typing and gaming, but I want to try the Blues since they have tactile sound when typing.

So, should I wait for the "new line" or should I get the Das Model S Professional Keyboard(not sure if I like the glossy finish though)? Any other recommendations are fine.

*Edit* Changed my preference to Browns because they are suppose to be "better" middle-ground.


I'm definitely inexperienced compared to most here, but I do have a Filco with MX Blues.  The Filco is great for typing, just a tad too much resistance for me, and too loud for the office.  So, I tried the Das Silent S Pro.  I like the resistance of the MX Browns a bit better for extended typing.  However, I must use too much force, because I type right past the tactile/activation point until the keys bottom out.  Which means, the "Silent" is not really all that silent.

I wish I could find something that was a cross between my Filco with MX Blues and the Das with Browns.  I like the 10-key for work, and do zero gaming.

I keep checking back on these boards every week thinking that the Leopolds will finally be available from EK.  Obviously folks are frustrated with waiting!